Just as Mu Xingjuan said, Hao Lianshan’s ho is very clean, not like a cri scene. After a round of inspection by the technical staff, there were no signs of a struggle, and it was not a cri scene. The victim should have left on their own.
He then notified the traffic departnt to retrieve the video surveillance from the intersection for a look.
The video also confird Cao Gang’s speculation. The deceased rode out on an electric bike on the morning of April 8th, past 8 AM. The electric bike he was riding matched the one seen in the surveillance video at 2:20 AM on April 10th, which the killer used to dispose of the body. It should be Hao Lianshan’s electric bike.
"Continue tracking his movents."
The killer’s movents were not tracked, but Hao Lianshan traveled on main roads, making his whereabouts easy to trace.
Cao Gang instructed the video surveillance team to quickly rule out possibilities and sent soone to the communication company to retrieve Hao Lianshan’s call records to see who he last spoke to.
As the case progressed, more and more clues, like snowflakes, accumulated with Cao Gang, but the difficulty of solving the case exceeded his earlier estimates.
The killer was obviously preditated, having considered every step.
The last sighting of Hao Lianshan was on Jiang’an Road. After that, he was lost from sight and reappeared on April 10th at 2:20 AM, dismbered, stuffed into a woven bag, and dumped in a foul ditch.
"Hao Lianshan’s last appearance was on Jiang’an Road, and the place where the killer appeared was also in this area. Therefore, sowhere here must be the first cri scene."
Cao Gang drew a circle with a red pen on the map in his hand, signifying that the first site of the killer’s actions must be inside this circle.
Now, it’s ti to continue adding personnel and conduct a thorough search in this area. Through extensive visits, soone should find the last whereabouts of Hao Lianshan.
After Li Xiang and Mao Ji finished questioning Mu Xingjuan, they questioned so of Hao Lianshan’s friends and coworkers. Everyone rated him highly, saying he was an honest and straightforward person who never held grudges, preferring to suffer minor losses himself rather than argue with others. It was unlikely a revenge killing, which also confird Li Xiang’s suspicion.
But if it wasn’t a revenge killing, a robbery, or a romantic killing, then what was the reason?
What was the killer’s motive for murder?
The day’s intense investigation flew by quickly.
The next day, as usual, everyone from the first squad gathered for a eting. They reviewed all the clues in their hands.
"Mao Ji, what are the findings from your investigation yesterday? Tell everyone."
Mao Ji took out his notebook, where he had recorded the findings and so speculative doubts from the investigation yesterday, to discuss at the eting:
"Yesterday, Li Xiang and I visited the deceased’s wife, Mu Xingjuan, his daughter Hao Jia, and so friends. Mu Xingjuan and the deceased divorced three years ago after their daughter’s college entrance exams. Though the daughter lived with her mother, she frequently interacted with her father during college and even wanted them to reconcile. However, Mu Xingjuan was always opposed. This ti it was because the daughter couldn’t contact the deceased for a long ti and discovered his disappearance, leading to the police report."
At this mont, everyone felt a chill of fear. If Li Xiang hadn’t taken his coal ball for a walk, the severed finger wouldn’t have been discovered. If Hao Lianshan had cut ties with his daughter after the divorce and failed to report it promptly, he could have vanished unnoticed after death.
Fortunately, there wasn’t an ’if.’ A higher force seed to ensure that Hao Lianshan’s death wouldn’t go unnoticed.
"Through the investigation, we found the deceased was honest and treated people fairly, making a revenge killing unlikely. He was always doing odd jobs, which probably ans he didn’t have a financial grudge. His wife left him, making a financial motive less likely, and with no money or looks, it seems unlikely he was involved romantically in a fatal way. Therefore, the motive for the cri remains uncertain."
"Could it be a random killing?"
After hearing Mao Ji’s analysis, Zhou Man also raised a question. If it’s not a revenge killing, not for financial gain, nor a romantic killing, what could it be?
The biggest possibility, and what the police were least willing to see, was a random killing.
But this speculation was quickly denied by Captain Cao: "This was definitely not a random killing but a preditated one. The killer deliberately chose the cri scene and body dump site, purposefully avoiding most public caras. Furthermore, we retrieved the deceased’s call records, and the last contact was with soone nad Wang Yuanli. But when we found him, he claid not to know Hao Lianshan and never called him, saying his phone was lost during that period."
Captain Cao took out the map circled yesterday and pinned it on the blackboard. The red circle marked the likely first cri scene where the dismbernt happened.
"Hiss~ This killer is too cautious!"
After hearing Captain Cao’s words, everyone took a breath, realizing how ticulous the killer was.
Every step follows a plan, suggesting this opponent is not simple for the police.
If the severed finger hadn’t been discovered, Hao Lianshan might have died without clarity.
And no one would have known if he was dead or alive.
"Currently, we need to intensify the search in this area. If anyone has ideas or useful suggestions for solving the case, please share them for discussion."
Li Xiang looked at the circle on the map and rembered that when he found the severed finger, the pieces of flesh had lost their color, resembling pork from a at market. Moreover, when the killer disposed of the body, the weave bag was already torn, and there was no blood on the ground, leading Li Xiang to wonder: where did the victim’s blood go?
With grandmaster-level forensic experience, he knew that soone weighing 65 kg would have around 5,000 cc of blood. Where did so much blood end up?
It must be at the dismbernt site.
And handling the site would require a lot of tap water.
Thinking of this, Li Xiang raised his hand and shared his view: "Since the killer dismbered the body in this area, if it was done at ho, there would be cleaning up. Thus, the water consumption at ho that day would surge."
"That’s right. It’s impressive you thought this far. I’ve already arranged for people to investigate the water usage in this area with the water company. I believe there will soon be results."
As the captain of the criminal investigation team, Cao Gang had naturally considered this. However, Li Xiang, as a mid-career detective, reacted quickly and focused on residential water usage, highlighting his attention to detail.
Although he only drew a small circle on the map, with over 3,000 households in the area, checking each one would take ti. Fortunately, this could be handed to the water company’s staff, who could check the water ters.
"Captain Cao is truly experienced." Li Xiang scratched his head, surprised the captain had already arranged for this investigation, proving why he’s the captain.
"Back to the original question, what is the killer’s motive?"
Determining the motive for murder could guide the police’s investigation, avoiding flying blind without a direction.
Facing this question, everyone exchanged glances, not knowing how to answer.
"Historically, affairs often lead to murder. Could it be an affair? This calculated murder doesn’t seem like a cri of passion. The killer should have planned for a long ti. Analyzing the tiline, the victim left ho on the morning of the 8th and likely encountered trouble then, with the murderer dumping the body on the night of the 10th. If the killer worked alone, they must have ticulously prepared. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy."
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