Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 338: Investigation and Interviews

The investigation has been ongoing for a day, and the basic details of the case have been mostly gathered.

The parents of the deceased have arrived in Hengzhou City for DNA comparison, and the results show that the deceased are Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia.

"Ahem."

Ren Qiang cleared his throat: "Let me start by saying this."

"From the results of the crime scene and autopsy reports, the murderer’s motive seems to boil down to two points."

"First, murder for robbery or theft."

"The wardrobe and desk in the room show signs of being rummaged, and the safe was pried open with its contents missing, coupled with the disappearance of the victim’s electric scooter, all indicative of murder for financial gain."

"Furthermore, our initial investigation into the social backgrounds of Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia indicates that their lives are relatively simple, working at a cotton factory without known enemies or significant relationships."

"Additionally, since the cotton factory pays in cash rather than via bank transfer, it is possible that the victims kept some cash at home, making robbery a likely motive."

"The second possibility, according to the autopsy results, is that the female victim’s body bears post-mortem injuries, which, as Forensic Doctor Wang Changjiang pointed out, could be a finishing blow or retaliatory hacking."

"The disturbed scene, missing electric scooter, and pried open safe may very well be the murderer’s smokescreen to obscure the true intent."

"Moreover, considering the absence of post-mortem wounds on the second victim, I think the likelihood of a finishing blow is low."

"After all, considering the gender dynamics, a man poses a greater threat to the murderer; if the perpetrator intended to strike again, there’s no reason to target the woman alone and not the man."

"Therefore, the possibility of the murderer harboring a grudge against both, particularly against Zheng Caixia, resulting in retaliatory murder, cannot be ruled out."

"As for the arson, regardless of the motive, the murderer likely intended to destroy evidence and erase traces of themselves at the scene."

Ren Qiang provided thorough analysis, covering the two most likely scenarios.

"I agree with Group Leader Ren’s view, and I believe the likelihood of retaliatory murder is the highest."

"The reasoning is the hacking wounds on the first victim’s body; if the motive was financial, it would not necessitate such action."

"From the crime scene, it appears the murderer delivered a fatal blow, causing Zheng Caixia’s immediate death, but Zhao Ming’s body has a knife wound only on the abdomen."

"This suggests that the perpetrator likely did not specifically target Zhao Ming, otherwise, given Zhao Ming’s physical stature as a male posing the most danger, he should have been the focus of the lethal attack, rather than Zheng Caixia."

"Regarding the use of the wardrobe to pry open the safe, it might have been a smokescreen, or simply seizing the opportunity since the murder was already committed, taking some cash is normal."

Sun Jun’s views generally aligned with Ren Qiang’s.

"Group Leader Sun, I have a question. Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia only worked at a cotton factory, with a combined monthly salary of less than 10,000 yuan."

Zhang Hui stood up and posed a question.

"However, there was a safe in the apartment rented by Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia. I asked the landlord, and the safe was not part of the apartment, meaning Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia bought it after moving in."

"For two factory workers, what amount of money or valuable items would require the use of a safe?"

"Although the quality of the safe is average, I checked, and even if bought online, it costs two to three thousand yuan, and possibly four to five thousand if purchased offline."

"Would someone with their income level spend thousands of yuan on a safe?"

A safe...

Even Qin Yong, none of the criminal investigators present, have a safe at home.

Everyone fell into deep thought; Zhang Hui’s question was excellent, why was there a safe in the rented home of Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia?

What was inside the safe?

Was the murderer after the contents of the safe or were they targeting the lives of these two people?

Both scenarios are clearly possible.

As for the fire, everyone agrees it was to destroy evidence and eliminate traces of the crime.

However, there’s a detail worth noting.

Firefighters found traces of gasoline burning at the scene, indicating the arsonist used gasoline.

Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia worked at a cotton factory, usually commuted by electric scooter, and had no other uses for gasoline at home, suggesting the gasoline was brought by the murderer.

This implies that the perpetrator certainly planned beforehand to set the scene ablaze.

"It was a crime by someone familiar!"

Ren Qiang’s words were firm: "Whether it was retaliatory or for the contents of Ma Ming’s safe, it was likely committed by someone familiar."

"Agreed."

"Yes, it must have been someone familiar."

"Indeed, retaliatory murder surely involves deep entanglements with the two; as for the safe, one must know that Ma Ming had valuable items beforehand."

Otherwise, if the murderer truly killed for gain, and the victims had no savings, it would be a pointless murder, wouldn’t it?

"Gentlemen, one detail: during my visit to the cotton factory, I learned that Zheng Caixia was quite young and beautiful."

Zhang Hui presented another hypothesis.

"Zhao Ming and Zheng Caixia were from the same hometown, and before marriage, Zheng Caixia already worked at the cotton factory where many pursued her. Later, she returned home for an arranged marriage and then brought Zhao Ming to work at the factory."

"A young, beautiful woman with many suitors, yet marries another; could the murderer have killed out of love?

"Considering the hacking wounds on Zheng Caixia’s body, I suggest focusing the investigation on Zheng Caixia’s acquaintances, especially the men!"

While the Criminal Investigation Team held a case analysis meeting, Lu Chuan’s crime scene investigation finally made a breakthrough.

On the east wall of the burning building, near the roadside sandy soil, Lu Chuan discovered a complete electric scooter tire mark.

The tread pattern and wear matched those found indoors, suggesting it was the same vehicle.

The mark was fresh, likely made recently, and fortunately, it wasn’t ruined by the firefighting efforts.

Simultaneously, beside the tire mark, Lu Chuan discovered half of a footprint.

However, the footprint was not as fortunate as the tire mark; it had been washed away by the firefighters’ water, with the heel portion destroyed by another tread.

"Half is half; let’s take it back to examine it further."