Chapter 33: I have just one question for you: how long until the case is solved?

[Page 1 of 3]

Although Chen Guangzu had worked as a forensic pathologist all his life, Zhulin County was a small place where serious cases were rare.

A headless, blood-soaked corpse like this was simply too shocking to behold.

Chen Guangzu felt as though he could hardly breathe. The reek of blood filled his mouth and made him nauseous.

Qin Chuan was even worse.

At least Chen Guangzu had performed autopsies before. For Qin Chuan, this was his very first time.

Fortunately, the criminal-investigation scene examination skills he had obtained through the system’s lottery included all kinds of corpse presentations and methods of examining them.

“Old Chen, put on shoe covers and stay behind me.”

Qin Chuan had indeed harbored some reservations about Chen Guangzu.

Chen Guangzu had examined Dong Zhijun’s corpse, and the result had nearly cost Qin Chuan his uniform.

At first, Qin Chuan had thought Chen Guangzu was in league with Song Hui.

But in reality, Chen Guangzu truly had not detected that Dong Zhijun had been poisoned.

It was not that Chen Guangzu had lacked a proper attitude. He simply lacked the necessary ability.

As for Qin Chuan becoming deputy captain and seeking revenge or something of the sort—

Qin Chuan was not that petty.

Still, he could not possibly leave the scene examination entirely to Chen Guangzu. He did not trust him.

This case would determine whether Qin Chuan could establish himself in the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

He had to give it everything he had. There was no room for the slightest carelessness.

After speaking, Qin Chuan put on shoe covers and white gloves himself.

Then he crouched at the doorway, pressing his head close to the floor and examining it meticulously with his eyes angled toward the light.

Chen Guangzu was, in truth, somewhat uneasy around Qin Chuan.

He knew that the Dong Zhijun case had nearly cost Qin Chuan his police uniform.

Yet he had always believed that he had not made any serious mistake.

Under those circumstances, anyone conducting the autopsy would probably have reached much the same conclusion.

The autopsy had shown that the man died of intracranial hemorrhage.

Who could have imagined anything as absurd as a dog walnut?

Still, Chen Guangzu had thought it through. Even if Qin Chuan truly wanted revenge, at most he could make things difficult for him. It was not as though he could have him dismissed.

As for Qin Chuan’s abilities…

Chen Guangzu felt that luck had played the greater part in Qin Chuan’s examination of Dong Zhijun’s corpse.

Crime-scene investigation and forensic identification depended on details and experience.

How many days had it been since Qin Chuan graduated from the police academy?

He had captured several wanted criminals, but this might well be his first murder scene.

When Qin Chuan had just called him to enter the room, Chen Guangzu had already made up his mind.

If Qin Chuan went straight inside without taking any protective measures and contaminated the scene, Chen Guangzu would risk offending him again and stop him.

But Chen Guangzu had not expected Qin Chuan to remain outside the room entirely. After putting on shoe covers, he crouched down and began examining the floor.

From that position, Qin Chuan could see the footprints clearly against the light.

This was the first step when entering a murder scene: determine the distribution of footprints throughout the room, take proper protective measures, and only then go inside.

“Give me the chalk!”

“Oh, right…”

[Page 2 of 3]

Chen Guangzu froze for a moment, then quickly handed the chalk to Qin Chuan.

Starting at the doorway, Qin Chuan moved along the wall, marking the outlines of the footprints on the floor one by one with chalk.

“Have the scene-examination officers arrived?”

“They’re here, they’re here.”

There were two scene-examination officers in the Criminal Investigation Brigade, both assigned to the First Squadron under Lu Zhiguo.

“Pay attention to the doorknob and the shoe cabinet on the right. Start dusting for fingerprints. I’ve already marked the footprints in the room, so don’t touch them by mistake.”

“Yes, sir!”

Qin Chuan did not proceed quickly.

After marking some of the footprints, he would crouch beside them for a while.

It took nearly twenty minutes before he finally reached the sofa in the living room.

By then, Chen Guangzu was following behind Qin Chuan and began preparing to examine the body.

The victim’s body had slumped diagonally across the center of the sofa.

The head was gone, and blood spatter covered both the floor and the walls.

Chen Guangzu touched the corpse’s arm and felt clear signs of rigor mortis.

“The body has stiffened, but there’s still some residual warmth. The time of death should be within the past twenty-four hours.”

There was a strict sequence to a postmortem examination. Chen Guangzu took out the autopsy form and checked each item one by one, marking every completed examination.

While conducting the scene examination, Qin Chuan also observed the behavior of those around him.

Chen Guangzu and the two scene-examination officers who arrived later all worked in a highly procedural manner.

That showed that the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Zhulin County maintained fairly solid routine training.

The officers could not be called exceptional, but they were competent and orderly.

“Captain Qin!”

Lu Zhiguo shouted from outside. “Director Zhou is here.”

Zhou Xuexi?

“All right. I’ll be right out.”

The sort of scene often shown in television dramas—where a superior arrives, rushes straight to the crime scene, points at the corpse, and starts issuing orders—was pure nonsense.

A genuine murder scene was not a place just anyone could enter.

Qin Chuan rose onto his toes, avoided every footprint, and left the scene to meet Zhou Xuexi.

By then, Zhou Xuexi had already come upstairs and reached the entrance to Room 301.

He had not expected to see Qin Chuan again so soon after announcing his appointment that morning.

“How is the situation?”

After leading the leadership team in announcing Qin Chuan’s appointment, Zhou Xuexi had not returned to the county public security bureau. Instead, he had gone to the county government offices.

He was in County Magistrate Chen Mingguang’s office when the director of the emergency dispatch center called to inform him that a murder had occurred.

Magistrate Chen had instructed them to solve the case as quickly as possible.

Zhou Xuexi was accompanied by Zou Mingyi, secretary of the County Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

“Secretary Zou, Director Zhou.”

“All right, enough with the formalities. Get to the point and tell us about the case.”

[Page 3 of 3]

Zou Mingyi waved impatiently, his expression grave.

Qin Chuan was slightly taken aback. He did not think he had offended this superior’s superior.

Still, given the urgency of the situation, there was nothing strange about him being impatient or speaking sharply.

“The Criminal Investigation Brigade received the call from the emergency dispatch center at ten this morning.”

“We’ve already assigned officers to investigate the caller, the victim’s neighbors, and the nearby surveillance footage.”

“The scene examination is still underway.”

Qin Chuan had arrived at the scene less than thirty minutes ago.

Everyone was still in the process of gathering information.

Besides, he had already used the Eye of Sin at the Criminal Investigation Brigade that morning. If he activated it again now, he would not be able to withstand the strain.

After listening, Zhou Xuexi nodded. Qin Chuan’s arrangements could not be called outstanding, but they were orderly and appropriate.

“Qin Chuan…”

“Captain Qin,” Zhou Xuexi began, only to be interrupted by his own superior, Zou Mingyi. “After all this time since the crime occurred, is that all the information you have?”

Qin Chuan looked up at Zou Mingyi, surprise flickering in his eyes.

If Zou Mingyi interrupting his greeting could still be explained by the urgency of the case, then this was clearly an attempt to target him.

Qin Chuan had received the notification and arrived at the scene in less than an hour.

What significant information could possibly have been obtained in such a short time?

Zou Mingyi could not have been unaware of that.

“Secretary Zou, we still need time to investigate the specific circumstances. We—”

“That’s enough. Don’t tell me any of that. I’m not listening!”

Zou Mingyi did not give Qin Chuan any chance to explain.

“Qin Chuan, you are the newly appointed deputy captain of the County Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Brigade, and you are currently in charge.”

“Your responsibility is to protect the lives and property of the people throughout the county and maintain social stability!”

“Just now, I was accompanying Secretary Gao at an investment-promotion symposium in the county. And you go and cause such a massive problem.”

“Several investors who came from Xing’an City already know about this.”

“They are now extremely concerned about the public-security situation in Zhulin County!”

“I’m asking you only one question: how long will it take you to solve the case?”

Using the investors’ concern over Zhulin County’s security environment as a pretext, Zou Mingyi was pressuring Qin Chuan to solve the case.

On the surface, it sounded perfectly righteous.

But anyone with eyes could tell that Zou Mingyi was deliberately making things difficult for Qin Chuan.

For one thing, Qin Chuan had taken office less than a day ago. He knew nothing about the Criminal Investigation Brigade and had immediately encountered a murder case.

Responding quickly and arranging the investigation in an orderly manner was already commendable.

For another, less than an hour had passed since the report was filed. The investors already knew?

And they were supposedly worried about the investment environment?

Who did he think he was fooling?