On a June day, the small town was already as hot as a steamer, and the children running around had their little faces flushed red.
The green leaves on the roadside provided a shade. The sanitation worker sat under the tree, leaning against the trunk, holding a straw hat and fanning constantly.
Zhou Zhimo was sitting in the office, feeling uncomfortable. He wanted to go out and take a breath.
He went to the Luoqing River alone again, stood on the river embankment, holding on to the stone railings with both hands, looking at the rolling river water, and fell into deep thought...
Early in the morning, the office phone rang suddenly: "Someone, come quickly, there seems to be someone dead in the river."
After receiving the alarm call, Zhou Zhimo rushed to the scene with his team members.
As soon as we arrived here, a middle-aged woman with curly hair came over: "You guys are here, look, it's outside here."
A group of them followed her and stood on the river embankment, holding on to the railing. When they stuck their heads out, they saw a person lying on the beach outside.
Zhou Zhimo asked Liang Yinuo, who was standing next to him: "Can you go down?"
Liang Yinuo looked at it and said: "Boss, this is fifteen meters high. There is no handhold, so you can't get down."
"You wait, I'll get the rope."
With that said, he ran towards the parking spot.
Soon, Liang Yinuo came back and tied the rope to the stone railing. He and another police officer climbed down the rope one after another.
After landing, Liang Yinuo stood gently and then looked around.
There were no footprints or other traces in the soft sand.
He signaled to his colleagues, and the two continued to approach.
After taking pictures first, the two put on gloves. Liang Yinuo stretched out his hand and gently probed the man's neck: "It's cold."
He stood up, looked up at the embankment, and said to Zhou Zhimo: "Boss, I'm out of gas."
Zhou Zhimo frowned and ordered, "Call the forensic doctor."
He walked along the road, looking for a way down, but finally gave up.
The beach that lacked water was close to the embankment, and there was a large green grassland between it and the river, which was very lush and had no way to go.
Soon, forensic doctor Su Ruyi arrived.
Zhou Zhimo had no choice but to tie her with a rope and slowly slide down with her.
After landing, Su Ruyi put on a mask and gloves and took photos from all angles. She squatted down and, together with Liang Yinuo, turned the man over.
"The deceased was a male, about 30 years old, 1.68 meters tall. The time of death was probably between 11 and 12 o'clock last night."
"The face was swollen and deformed after being soaked in water for too long and suffocating to death."
After listening to Su Ruyi's words, Liang Yinuo asked in surprise: "Did this person drown?"
Looking at the puddle of water in front of him, which was only as big as his face, Liang Yinuo couldn't believe that this could drown someone, even a young man.
Liang Yinuo's first reaction was that this must be a homicide!
Even if there are no traces of anyone else, it could still be homicide.
Liang Yinuo asked Su Ruyi: "Could it be that he drowned somewhere else and dumped his body here?"
Su Ruyi denied his conjecture: "Judging from the deceased's facial swelling and rigor mortis posture, this is the scene of the first crime."
"As for whether it was homicide, it needs to be investigated carefully."
Su Ruyi stood up: "Okay, let's hang him up."
"Go back to the house and take a closer look."
Liang Yinuo and his colleagues moved the body up, briefly protected it, and called to the colleagues above to pull it up.
After returning to the station, Zhou Zhimo ordered: "Try to compare and find the information of the deceased."
"After finding out, contact the family members as soon as possible."
The body is being stored at the funeral home and cannot be autopsied until the family is contacted.
Su Ruyi checked it carefully again and told Zhou Zhimo: "Zhou Suo, the deceased died of suffocation due to drowning and no struggle."
"The place where the deceased was found was the first scene of the crime."
Zhou Zhimo nodded, touching the tip of his nose and thinking: "I have arranged for people to seal off the crime scene."
The small town had always been peaceful, but the sudden occurrence of such a murder in the hot weather made Zhou Zhimo very irritable.
The chirping of cicadas among the leaves made Zhou Zhimo even more upset.
Zhou Zhimo stood by the river embankment and carefully observed the situation nearby.
The long embankment has railings on the outside and the Luoqing River on the outside; there is a three-story old building on the inside.
According to the comparison of information in the database, the identity of the deceased was revealed: Yang Chenlin, 30 years old, a local, whose home was Shuanglong Village.
After Zhou Zhimo received the news, he ordered the police: "Contact the township government now and inform them to find the family members."
"Let the family members come and claim it."
After giving instructions, Zhou Zhimo rushed back to the office.
He had just looked carefully and found that the place where the accident happened happened to be a surveillance blind spot. There was no complete surveillance video to record everything that happened.
The family members arrived quickly, and a couple in their fifties, accompanied by a man in his thirties, walked into the hall.
The couple are young, but their hair is gray.
The man announced his family name: "My name is Yang Chenxi, and these are my parents."
"We received a call from Murakami saying that something happened to my brother Yang Chenlin and asked us to come."
He asked the police: "What did my brother do?"
The police officer who received them led them into the office, asked them to sit down, and then told them: "You must be mentally prepared."
"In the morning, we received a call and when we went to the scene, Yang Chenlin was already dead."
The couple stumbled to their feet, and Yang Chenxi hurriedly reached out to help them.
Yang Chenxi's mother cried so much that she could not speak. His father tremblingly asked the police: "What's wrong with my son?"
The police couldn't bear to see it and told them the truth: "He was found in the Luoqing River and drowned."
Yang Chenxi held back his grief, took his parents' arms, and asked the police: "Where is my brother now?"
Soon, Yang Chenxi and the others saw Yang Chenlin, lying there, his swollen face larger than usual and his lips blue.
His mother couldn't bear it anymore and rushed over, kneeling on the ground, grabbing Yang Chenlin's cold hand: "Son, mom is here..."
The old father moved slowly, staring directly at Yang Chenlin, fearing that his son would disappear in the blink of an eye.
Finally reaching him, he reached out with trembling hands and touched his son's swollen face, his lips trembling: "Chen Lin, dad is here."
"Why did you fall asleep? Get up quickly and go home with dad..."
Yang Chenxi looked at his brother who would never wake up again, tears rolling down his eyes.
After a long time, he told the police: "My brother will not drown in the river. He has been able to swim since he was a child."
"There is a river in front of the door. In the summer, we often swim in the river."
"In all these years, going back and forth in the water, he's never had an accident."
Yang Chenxi said excitedly: "It's impossible for him to drown!"
