flstandardbreds Chapter 1000, Crime Scene 1
Chapter 1000, Crime Scene 1
The morning sun slanted across the iron gates of the criminal investigation team, and two police cars, their lights flashing, slowly drove out. Qin Dahu, handcuffed, sat in the back seat of one of the police cars, flanked by two heavily armed officers. He gazed at the familiar street scene outside the window, a self-deprecating smile tugging at his lips. He used to drive his million-dollar luxury car through these streets; now he was a prisoner.
The first stop was a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The rusty iron gate had already been sealed off by the police. The police car stopped, and Qin Dahu stepped out under police escort. The early autumn wind swirled the fallen leaves at his feet. He squinted at the warehouse, as if he could see that bloody night again.
"Go inside," the police officer nudged him on the shoulder.
Qin Dahu slowly walked into the warehouse, the concrete floor beneath his feet echoing hollowly. The warehouse remained exactly as it had been when the police discovered it. Although the bloodstains had been cleaned up, the bluish-purple marks left by the luminol reaction were faintly visible in the sunlight, like scars that would never heal.
“I killed Zhang Peng right here.” Qin Dahu stood in front of a rusty pillar where half of a broken iron chain still remained. “That night, I had my henchmen lure him here, saying I had something important to discuss. As soon as he came in, he sensed something was wrong and turned to run away. I grabbed a wrench from the corner of the wall and chased after him.”
He raised his handcuffed hands and gestured as if swinging a wrench: "He resisted fiercely, dodging and cursing me for being inhuman. I was so enraged by his curses that my mind went blank, and I just kept hitting him, once, twice, three times..." Qin Dahu's voice grew softer and softer, "When I came to my senses, he was already lying motionless on the ground, and blood was flowing everywhere from the cracks in the ground."
Li Ming stood to the side, carefully taking notes in his notebook: "Where's Li Xiaoman? How did she get here?"
“I called her and told her that Zhang Peng was in my hands and that she should come alone.” Qin Dahu walked to the center of the warehouse. “She came very quickly. When she saw Zhang Peng’s body, she pounced on me like a madwoman, scratching several bloody marks on my face with her fingernails. I was afraid she would make a commotion, so I covered her mouth and nose with a towel soaked in chloroform that I had prepared beforehand.”
He closed his eyes, seemingly smelling the pungent odor of chloroform again: "She struggled desperately, kicking over the iron barrel next to her, the sound echoing in the warehouse. I held her down tightly until her body slowly went limp." Qin Dahu opened his eyes, his gaze empty, "At that moment, I knew she couldn't leave here alive."
After leaving the warehouse, the convoy headed towards the construction site. From afar, Qin Dahu could see the land that had once been overgrown with weeds, now dug up. The police tape was still there, several police cars were parked nearby, and many workers and onlookers were pointing and gesturing from a distance.
“This is it.” Qin Dahu stood at the edge of the pit, looking down at the place where the bodies had been buried. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “When we drove here in the truck, it was still dark. The henchman dug for a long time with a shovel. The soil was very hard, and he was sweating profusely.”
He squatted down and drew a shallow trench in the ground with his finger: "The pit was about two meters deep. We threw Zhang Peng's body in first. His body was already stiff and difficult to handle. It took us a while to put him down properly." Qin Dahu's voice trembled slightly. "Then it was Li Xiaoman. When I picked her up, she felt as light as a feather."
"Why put Li Xiaoman on top?" Xiao Zhou asked from the side.
Qin Dahu shook his head with a wry smile: "I don't know what I was thinking at the time. Maybe I thought that if I kept her closer to the ground, she could 'see the light of day' sooner. Thinking about it now, it's really ridiculous." He grabbed a handful of soil, letting the soil particles slowly flow through his fingers. "When I was filling the soil, my hands were shaking the whole time. I kept feeling like they would crawl out of the soil. The henchman told me to hurry up, saying that it was almost dawn."
“You’ve added insult to injury to Li Xiaoman.” Li Ming’s voice was icy cold.
Qin Dahu's body trembled violently, and a pained expression appeared on his face: "I...I was afraid that she might not be completely dead. I bought that knife on the way here, and it was in the toolbox of the truck." His voice grew softer and softer, "When the knife stabbed her, the blood splattered on my face, it was warm."
The scene identification lasted for nearly two hours. When it was all over, Qin Dahu was escorted back to the police car. He looked back at the land one last time and said in a low voice, "Perhaps from the moment I buried them here, I had already dug my own grave."
The police car started up and sped away, kicking up dust. At the construction site, technicians were still busily collecting the last pieces of evidence. Forensic pathologist Zhang Lin, holding his notebook, meticulously checked the details against Qin Dahu's description. Not far away, photos of Li Xiaoman and Zhang Peng were displayed on a makeshift board; their bright smiles in the photos contrasted sharply with the cold crime scene. This month-long manhunt finally came to a somber end, thanks to the killer's identification.
Three days later, the criminal investigation team received another report.
"Captain Lu, a body has been found under an unnamed bridge in the west of the city. Old Zhao, a shepherd, reported it. The situation at the scene looks ominous!"
Li Ming immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie: "All personnel move out! Major Crimes Team One, follow me to the underpass in the west of the city! Xiao Wang, lead the men to conduct the perimeter questioning, Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun, prepare the investigation equipment!" The sound of sirens broke the silence of the early morning, and five police cars, flashing red and blue lights, sped towards the scene of the crime.
The bridge was located in the suburbs, bisected by a dried-up riverbed, surrounded by overgrown weeds, with only a narrow, winding path leading to it. When Li Ming got out of the car, Old Zhao, the shepherd, was sitting trembling beside the police car, his shepherd's whip still shaking involuntarily. Xiao Wang immediately brought over a folding chair and handed the old man a bottle of mineral water: "Grandpa, don't panic, tell me slowly, how did you find the body?"
Old Zhao swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "I... I herd my sheep here to graze every morning. Today, when I got near the bridge, I... I smelled a strange odor, worse than a dead rat. I mustered my courage and went over to take a look, and oh my god! A person was lying there stiffly, covered with a tattered plastic sheet, and his exposed hands were all purple..." The old man gestured in horror as he spoke.
"Did you touch anything at the scene?" Xiao Wang asked while taking notes.
"I didn't dare touch it! I ran away as fast as I could, and only called the police when I got to the place with the buzz cut."
Meanwhile, the investigation under the bridge was in full swing. Xiao Yang, wearing a headlamp, squatted down next to the body and carefully observed: "Team Leader Lu, the deceased's face was disfigured by a blunt object. The preliminary judgment is that the injury occurred after death, and it should be that the murderer deliberately destroyed his identity."