Chapter 287: Hitchhike Murder[1]

The place where the case was committed was also within the range of Wang Sunxu's activities. When Lin Qiupu and his party arrived, Peng Sijue was taking people around to collect evidence at the scene.

“What's the situation?” Chen Shi said.

Lin Qiupu glared at the guy who was usurping his authority and said, “Captain Peng, explain the situation!”

Peng Sijue said, “The female homeowner was the one who died. The time of death should be around noon. She was stabbed to death in the middle of a nap. The husband had taken his child out, found her when he came back and reported the case at 4PM... There was half a bottle of that beverage left, and there was that type of bottle cap again.”

Lin Qiupu picked up the drink on the coffee table and twisted it open. There was a cookie box on the lower shelf of the coffee table, which contained various receipts and ticket stubs. There was a list of supermarket receipts to prove that the family had indeed bought the drink.

In the bedroom, the victim lay on the bed in her pajamas, and her death seemed to conform closely to Wang Sunxu’s methods.

Outside the door, her husband was weeping while several neighbors tried to comfort him.

Lin Qiupu asked the husband to come in for questioning and the husband waved his hand desperately and said, “I don't dare to come in. I dare not see my wife looking like that, I'll...” As he spoke, the husband wiped away a few drops of sad tears again.

Lin Qiupu went outside to conduct the questioning.

Chen Shi was very interested in the line of footprints that the forensics team found on the floor of the living room. It was obviously the woman's bare footprints. Only the first half of her feet seemed to be touching the floor and the footprints could be seen going towards the door and back.

Chen Shi went to the bedroom and did not go to look at the body, but squatted on the ground to study the pair of plush slippers. One of the slippers was beside the bed and the other was kicked under the bed.

Chen Shi mumbled, “The victim probably didn't find the slippers, so she opened the door barefoot. But if a stranger came in, the footprints wouldn’t be so neat when she came back in.”

Lin Dongxue said in a low voice, “Do you suspect that it was a hitchhike murder?”

“Old Peng, do you think this was done by Wang Sunxu?” Chen Shi asked.

“The approach is relatively similar, but I wouldn’t know until I have conducted an in-depth autopsy to be sure.”

“Go and check the knives in the kitchen.”

So, the three went into the kitchen and sprayed all the knives with reagents. No human blood was found on them.

Chen Shi pointed to the sink, “Here.”

There was also no blood in the washbasin.

Then there was the toilet. As soon as the toilet lid was lifted, Chen Shi noticed a strong smell of disinfectant. Testing found no blood , but Peng Sijue judged from experience that the toilet had been cleaned vigorously.

Lin Dongxue frowned, “Why are you guys so morbid? The husband was the one who reported the case, so you’re going to suspect him?”

“It's not that we're morbid, but the crime scene is very suspicious.” Chen Shi walked to the refrigerator, opened it, picked up the row of drinks and checked them one by one. “Look, these drinks have all been opened and caps were screwed back. If it was the victim who did it, it can’t really be explained away. Why would she unscrew all the bottles and drink the one with the bottle cap that’s asking for murder? After drinking it, she put it on the coffee table, as if she intentionally wanted to summon Wang Sunxu.”

Peng Sijue said, “Examine who the person who drank the beverage was!”

“Good idea!” Chen Shi said in praise.

Peng Sijue compared the victim’s saliva with the salivary enzymes found on the bottle but found that they didn’t match. He went outside; while the husband was vividly describing the scene at the time to Lin Qiupu, Peng Sijue said, “Open your mouth.”

“Why?”

Lin Qiupu, who had figured out his intentions, said deliberately, “All DNA has to be sampled in order to facilitate exclusions.”

“Oh, I understand.”

After collecting the husband's saliva, Peng Sijue did a simple identification using his testing kit. He said, “It roughly matches. It’s most likely the same person.”

Chen Shi said, “The wife was killed and then the husband calmly drank half of the drink and put it on the table, before reporting the case. This is obviously illogical. The hitchhiking murderer hasn't left at all!”

“This man is actually so dark and evil.” Lin Dongxue said disdainfully.

The three walked out of the door and the husband was still recounting his experience with a lot of emotion and eloquence. Lin Dongxue whispered a few words in Lin Qiupu's ear. The husband noticed that something was wrong and suddenly stopped talking.

Lin Qiupu asked, “What's your surname?”

“Liu.”

“Mr. Liu, I want to ask you to come back with us to assist in the investigation.”

“Assist in the investigation?” The husband raised his voice and looked at the neighbors. “Is there anything that you can't ask here? My family has suffered this misfortune. You’re not going to catch the murderer, but you’re bringing me back instead? If people don’t know and random rumors spread, it wouldn’t be good!”

“I hope you will cooperate.”

“Are you doubting me? What are you police officers doing? You only know how to mock us common people. I already said that I was out with my son for a stroll at the time.”

Chen Shi said, “You should understand what the four words ‘assist with the investigation’ means. It’s good if you are well aware. Since we helped you save face, you should just cooperate. Don’t make a scene in front of your neighbors.”

“I don't know what you're talking about...” The husband was sweating and then suddenly ran towards the stairs. As a result, a yelp was heard as he fell on the stairs.

The police rushed forward and arrested him.

Chen Shi smiled, “What did I say?”

Lin Qiupu looked at him coldly, “Don't interrupt. Would you take responsibility if the suspect hurt himself?”

Chen Shi shrugged. “Since there’s nothing left for me to do, I’ll be leaving for the day. See you tomorrow.”

Amidst the neighbors’ wagging tongues, the husband was taken away. The man was weak in character and couldn’t stand the psychological warfare that Lin Qiupu subjected him to in the interrogation room. He immediately confessed the truth.

It turned out that he had wanted to kill his wife long ago but was unable to find a suitable method. The serial killing had occurred so suddenly. He thought that it was a godsend, so he went to the supermarket to buy a bunch of the drinks, and he won the prize.

The wife had a habit of taking an afternoon nap. At noon, he took his child out for a walk. When the child was playing in the children's playground, he ran back and stabbed his wife with the knife he had prepared. Then he drank half of the drink on the table and washed off the blood on his body as well as the murder weapon. After that, he went back and continued to play with the child nonchalantly, went home at four, only to “discover” the murder and call the police.

He thought it was seamless, but he didn't know that in the face of police investigation and experience, it was full of flaws.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Chen Shi had just arrived home and received a text message from Lin Dongxue, “The killer has been arrested.”

It is unwise to commit hitchhike murders. The police have been in continuous contact with similar cases, and when a copycat emerges, it’s easy to pick it apart. Moreover, the police cannot disclose all the details of serial killing cases. The police would know, the killer would know, but outsiders wouldn’t.

Chen Shi originally wanted to say this, but it was troublesome. So he only said simply, “It's been a hard day. Go home early to rest and pay attention to your safety on the road.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.” Lin Dongxue replied, and Chen Shi could feel the warmth of a lover in her level reply.

Tao Yueyue was doing homework at home. Chen Shi was exhausted that day. He casually made a bowl of noodles to eat. Tao Yueyue came out and asked, “Have you caught the bad guys yet?”

“No, you must remember to go home together with your classmates the next two days.”

“Is the bad guy that guy?”

“No.”

“Uncle Chen, let me make you a drink!” Tao Yueyue secretly took out a paper pouch from her pocket...

1. Similar to a copycat murder. Using the precedent set by the previous murders to execute your own murder.