Chapter 44: A Block of Copper! Not a Flower?

Right now!
Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant!
Zheng Yuanqiao and Qin Shan were supervising police officers as they continued their search throughout the factory.
Since this place was most likely the kidnappers' base back then, clues couldn't possibly be limited to the cement pool.
Even though twelve years had passed, a single speck of blood or a stray hair could become the key to cracking the case.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
Zheng Yuanqiao's cell phone suddenly rang.
He answered it immediately.
"Xiao Xu, did your team find anything?
What? You found copper blocks in the graveyard? So fast?
And there are skeletal remains mixed inside?
Alright, alright, alright, I'll head over right away!"
Zheng Yuanqiao hung up and looked at Qin Shan beside him, only to find the latter staring straight at him with undisguised amazement in his eyes:
"They actually found a body?"
"That's right!
Judging by Xiao Xu's description, it seems they have.
She's still very reliable after all."
Zheng Yuanqiao marveled, "I never expected it. Shen Ting was right again."
Qin Shan quickly urged, "Stop talking, let's go, hurry over and take a look!"
Twenty-some minutes later, the two drove to the grave slope.
As soon as they got out of the car, they saw from a distance that technical personnel wearing white gloves were tinkering with several dark metallic blocks on a white cloth.
It looked like they were trying to piece them together!
Qin Shan glanced around the graveyard in bewilderment and asked:
"Weren't these metal blocks dug up from the grave pit?
They were dug up in front of it?"
Xu Xinyi, who had hurried forward to greet them, nodded with a smile:
"At first, we instinctively assumed the copper blocks might be buried inside the grave pit.
But after digging for a while, we found nothing.
We deduced further that the relatives of the accident victim might have felt it was disrespectful to bury the enemy directly inside the grave pit.
Therefore, they probably buried the copper blocks in front of the graveyard to make him repent.
Sure enough, when we dug there, we found them."
Zheng Yuanqiao was also thrilled. "We've dug up four copper blocks in total?"
Xu Xinyi nodded. "That's right!
Though there should be more than four.
After piecing them together, the technicians found that it's incomplete..."
The technician working on the white cloth immediately looked up:
"We should still be missing one piece—the most crucial head!"
Hardly had his voice faded when the sound of clashing metal rang out from nearby.
Xiong Beibei's excited voice echoed: "Found it, we found another one!"
Wearing white gloves and covered in dirt, he raised his head from a pit.
In his hands, he was cradling something dark and heavy.
He ran over and handed it to the technician!
The technician took the copper block and placed it at the top of the existing four, and it fit precisely.
Furthermore, once assembled, it formed the exact shape of that cement pool.
"Got it!"
The technician exclaimed excitedly:
"The criminals must come from these five families!"
As Zheng Yuanqiao surged with excitement and was about to issue an order for arrest, he looked at the dark metallic blocks and paused, perplexed:
"Wait a minute, copper doesn't seem to be this color."
"Of course!"
The technician explained: "Pure copper blocks are naturally not this color.
But the criminals weren't actually smelting copper back then.
Besides, refining pure copper requires very complex techniques, which they neither possessed nor had the equipment for, and they were short-handed.
Back then, the criminals merely wanted to mimic the accident, so they simply melted down copper ore and poured it into the cement pool.
Not only were the impurities not refined out, but even more impurities likely got mixed in, so having this color is completely normal!
The more crucial part is that on the cross-section of the copper block, I found bone matter embedded within it."
The technician showed the cross-section of the copper block to everyone.
There were indeed charred black marks visible on it.
In certain spots, it strongly resembled a cross-section of bone.
The forensic doctor picked up the copper block, examined the cross-section closely, and spoke a moment later:
"It indeed looks very much like the carbonized remains of a human body.
I wonder if DNA testing is still possible."
"We can discuss those details later. For now, I think we're ready to make arrests!"
Zheng Yuanqiao looked at Qin Shan, and seeing him nod, Zheng Yuanqiao immediately instructed the police officers to lock onto the suspects and carry out the arrests.
...
The news that people had been found was quickly transmitted back to Chaoyang Public Security Bureau.
An officer found Shen Ting, who was slumped over his desk with his face resting on his arms, leisurely browsing restaurant reviews.
"Consultant Shen, stop playing around. In the graveyard you mentioned, they actually found copper blocks.
Five blocks in total!
Here are the accident victims from those five graves, along with the files of their corresponding family members.
Captain Zheng asked me to bring this to you first!"
The officer said excitedly.
"Alright, just put it down there!"
Shen Ting's eyes lit up as he stared at his phone:
"This restaurant looks pretty good. 3.8 stars, neither too high nor too low, just right.
The atmosphere is also very suitable for a date!"
The officer scratched his head. Wasn't this a bit too calm?
Having solved a nationally publicized kidnapping case, he was still acting like it was no big deal?
If it were him, he'd probably be jumping with joy—jumping straight up to the roof!
Could it be that he had anticipated all along that copper blocks would definitely be found in the graveyard?
That's why he wasn't the least bit surprised?
Lost in bewilderment, the officer turned to go join the arrest operation.
Before he could fully leave the office, however, he heard a soft "huh?" from behind him.
"Wait!"
Shen Ting had originally planned to just casually flip through the suspect files, but the moment he opened them, he straightened up from his seat.
His expression of casual disinterest instantly transformed into one of surprise.
"Consultant Shen, what's wrong?
Did you find something new?
Is this suspect list incorrect?"
"No!"
Shen Ting shook his head. "I actually know this suspect."
Shen Ting glanced at the time on his phone:
"At this hour, I roughly know where he is."
"Ah? Where?
We'll dispatch people to arrest him immediately!"
"I'll go with you!"
As Shen Ting spoke, his expression shifted again, suddenly recalling the ten-petaled flower imprint found inside the cement vat at the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant.
The identification team had been studying it, but until now, they hadn't been able to determine what kind of flower it actually was.
Shen Ting suddenly realized that wasn't a flower at all!
Even as he got into the police car with the officers to head out for the arrests, he contacted the identification team:
"Director Ma, stop trying to identify the ten-petaled imprint on the cement vat as a flower.
It shouldn't be a flower, but rather a strawberry calyx!
Those ten 'petals' are the sepals of a strawberry!"
A strawberry has five main sepals and five accessory sepals, making precisely ten lobes!