"Ah, the motive is unclear. We can only use actual materials to sort out this mess. There is no other way. Come on, take a look at this first." With that said, Tian Chunda handed the paper on which he had just written something to Hao Dong. Hao Dong unfolded the paper with both hands and read it: This was something like a list, with densely written words on it:
(1) Meng Xiangyu. Around 4 pm on the 12th, I went out shortly after receiving a call from someone. His whereabouts remained unknown for 14 hours until his body was discovered on the morning of the 13th. An autopsy revealed that Meng Xiangyu was killed between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Assuming that the Huimin Road Coal Storage Yard was the scene of the crime, the situation would be as follows: Meng Xiangyu left home around 4 pm on the 12th, and his whereabouts were unknown for about 7 hours after that. Meng Xiangyu was killed between 10 pm and 1 pm. The whereabouts of the body remained unknown for the next six hours. During this time, the criminals moved the body. At 6:30 in the morning on the 13th, the victim's body was found in the woods in the eastern suburbs.
(2) Lu Tian and Chen Xiong came to Ji Chuan’s house to drink at about 7:30 pm on the 12th. Three neighbors can prove it. Lu Tian and Ji Chuan drank together until dawn the next day (3:30), and then left Lu Tian and three neighbors to stay in Ji Chuan. Sleep until 7:30 in the morning.
(3) Chen Xiong. Left Ji Chuan's house at 11 p.m. I took a taxi to my lover's house at 11:30 and slept until dawn.
Hao Dong pointed to the place with black dots on the paper and asked: "The black dots have been added in these twenty minutes. Isn't it a questionable time?"
Tian Chunda nodded: "Yes. These twenty minutes were the only blank time that Lu Tian did not have a third party to prove during Meng Xiangyu's murder."
Hao Dong said: "However, it is obvious that the crime scene was at the Huimin Road coal storage yard. The victim seemed to have inhaled coal powder in his nostrils and lungs before death, which was probably similar to the carbon quality of this coal storage yard. are the same. The results of the test will be known soon. In this way, even if there is a twenty-minute blank time, it is simply impossible for Lu Tian to rush from Jichuan's house to the Huimin Road coal storage yard. We It took fifty-six minutes to take the police car from the Huimin Road coal storage yard to near Ji Chuan's house. Even if it was faster, it would probably take forty minutes! The round trip would take eighty minutes, and there would be extra time. It’s time to commit the crime. This twenty-minute blank time probably won’t play any role in solving the case.”
47
The results of the two investigations ordered by Tian Chunda came back.
The first is a report from a university. Test results proved that the pulverized coal collected by Tian Chunda from the scene and the pulverized coal inhaled by the victim were of the same carbon quality.
"The scene of Meng Xiangyu's murder was the Huimin Road Coal Storage Yard. Now it's time to be sure!" Hao Dong said.
However, Team Leader Tian Chunda was unhappy.
Hao Dong understood his mood. If the scene of the crime was the Huimin Road Coal Storage Yard, then neither Lu Tian nor Chen Zhiming had the time to commit the crime.
The second is the reply from the weather station. Before dawn on the 13th, the rainfall in the Huimin Road area occurred between 3:00 and 4:50.
"Yes! That's the problem, Hao Dong."
Tian Chunda said and handed the rainfall schedule to Hao Dong.
"That's the breakthrough."
"What? Breach?"
After hearing the team leader's words, Hao Dong couldn't help asking a strange question.
Tian Chunda said: "Didn't the little girl who picked up the bag say that the bag was not wet? The policeman who received the handbag from the girl also said that it was not wet. Isn't this strange? The little girl picked it up around eight o'clock, so There is no doubt that the handbag should and must have been soaked by the rain for nearly two hours. However, the handbag was not wet at all. What is the reason?"
"By the way, the handbag was thrown away when Meng Xiangyu was killed. Logically speaking, it should have been wet by the rain that started around three o'clock!"
"Then, why didn't you get wet?"
"That is to say, the handbag was left at the scene after the rain stopped, that is, after five o'clock."
"Yes, that's exactly it. Objective logic can only be like this."
"But, team leader, the deceased was murdered between ten o'clock and midnight, but the handbag was dropped at the scene after five o'clock. This is not logical."
"Yes, that's what I just said is unreasonable. However, objective facts are difficult to overturn. We can only say where our reasoning is wrong."
What exactly went wrong?
All of these are facts, disjointed and independent of each other. It's like a set of out-of-sync gears that don't fit together and can't move.
"However, although these clues are not related to each other, they do not seem to be false. Especially the handbag, which was left at the scene after five o'clock, is a bit unexpected, but it is this that is the breakthrough of this case.
48
That evening, Hao Dong was called to the team leader's room again.
Team leader Tian Chunda seemed particularly happy. As soon as he saw Hao Dong come in, he immediately said with a smile:
"Hao Dong, that handbag is indeed a breakthrough! I looked through the previous inquiry transcripts again and found something new."
"Oh? Tell me quickly."
"Ah, come on, look here."
The team leader pointed to a section of Chen Xiong’s interrogation record, which read:
At around 5 a.m. on the 13th, Meng Xiangtian left Ai Yuting's house saying he had a quarrel with Ai Yuting. "
"Ah! That's it."
The handbag was left at the scene just after the rain stopped at five o'clock.
"These two gears finally closed their teeth at five o'clock." Tian Chunda said excitedly:
"It only takes about twenty minutes by bus from Ai Yuting's home to the Huimin Road coal storage yard. I left Ai Yuting's house at five o'clock and arrived at the Huimin Road coal storage yard at about 5:30. "
"Are you saying that Chen Xiong put Meng Xiangyu's handbag there?"
"Yes. Send someone quickly to ask Ai Yuting if Chen Xiong was carrying something when he went to Ai's house."
The criminal policeman who was sent to Ai's house soon came back to report: "Ai Yuting said that when Chen Xiong came for a tryst that night, he brought a newspaper bag that looked like a big lunch box. Ai Yuting asked him what it was, and Chen Xiong I ignored her. Ai Yuting couldn't ask any more questions."
After listening to the criminal police report, Tian Chunda was very happy, and his expression suddenly became clear. However, he was a little angry and couldn't help nagging regretfully: "It would have been better if the criminal policeman who initially went to investigate Ai Yuting had asked about this earlier. It seems that he forgot to ask Chen Xiong whether he had brought anything with him at that time. This is an important issue."
