FBH Chapter 24

A cordon was set up outside a residential building, and several police officers were maintaining order.

The deceased was 54 years old, a locksmith who lived alone in room 401 before his death.

However, a careful inspection of the gas stove in the kitchen revealed that both the “main valve” and the “small valve” were closed, and there was no gas leak. In addition, the windows were open, and the ventilation was good. Even if a gas leak occurred in this situation, it generally would not cause carbon monoxide poisoning. The police initially determined that it was cyanide poisoning.

The forensic doctor performed tests on the deceased’s blood and stomach contents, confirming the police’s judgment that the deceased did indeed die from cyanide poisoning, and the estimated time of death was approximately 12-14 hours.

Outside the refrigerator in the crime scene, the police also found five whole, undamaged loaves of bread in a transparent plastic bag, but no cyanide was detected in these breads, nor was cyanide detected on the plastic bag.

The forensic doctor also performed toxicology tests on the food remnants, tableware, and vegetables extracted from the scene, but no cyanide was detected either.

The police extracted several unfamiliar fingerprints from the “poisoned bread” and the plastic bag containing the bread, excluding those of the deceased. In addition, some black trace fibers were extracted from the bread.

Several fingerprints were also extracted from the bread found in the refrigerator, but no fibers were found. After comparison, these fingerprints matched the fingerprints on the “poisoned bread,” but they did not match the fingerprints on the plastic bag. No suspicious footprints or fingerprints were collected from other places at the scene.

The police suspected that this was a criminal case and that a perimeter investigation should be launched as soon as possible.

In Wu Shuqi’s office, Sun Rumin asked her in a tone of discussion: “Captain Wu, why do you think Zhu Houshi died from homicide rather than suicide?”

Wu Shuqi raised her eyebrows and said: “First of all, the trace evidence technician extracted cotton fibers from the ‘poisoned bread,’ which may be glove fibers. If Zhu Houshi intended to commit suicide, would he go to the trouble of wearing gloves to put poison in the bread?

“Secondly, Miss Zhu said that she had a very good relationship with her father, and her husband also had a good relationship with his father-in-law. Zhu Houshi did not have any unresolved emotional issues in terms of family relationships. Miss Zhu also said that she had never noticed her father having suicidal tendencies.

“Therefore, based on this, it is judged that Zhu Houshi would not commit suicide by taking poison for no reason. Furthermore, even if he wanted to commit suicide, how could an ordinary person with a not very complex social network obtain cyanide?”

Sun Rumin nodded: “If it was homicide, then where and under what circumstances would the murderer have committed the crime?”

Wu Shuqi said: “I am also thinking about this issue.”

Sun Rumin said: “The fingerprints extracted from the bread and the bag containing the bread, it is not yet known whether they belong to the murderer. If the murderer went prepared, without leaving fingerprints and biological material, then the situation would be complicated! But fortunately, there is surveillance. I hope to discover suspects by retrieving surveillance videos.”

Wu Shuqi said: “Surveillance colleagues have retrieved surveillance footage from diagonally opposite the crime scene building, but they did not find any suspicious persons entering or leaving the building.”

Wu Shuqi said: “We are checking.”

Wu Shuqi said: “If it really was killing for money, then the murderer should be familiar with Zhu Houshi, otherwise the murderer would not have the opportunity to strike.”

Sun Rumin said: “Yes, I suspect that the murderer gained the victim’s trust, and then tried to obtain the victim’s WeChat and Alipay payment passwords, bank card passwords, and then quietly transferred or withdrew the victim’s money. The murderer was worried that things would be exposed, so he found an opportunity to put poison in the bread.”

Wu Shuqi nodded: “It is understood that the victim used WeChat QR code for business and rarely used cash transactions. He didn’t have the habit of taking the cash out and putting it on his person or at home. Let’s check his recent WeChat, Alipay, and bank card statements to see if there are any suspicious transfers or withdrawals.”

Human life is at stake, and this matter is very important. Wu Shuqi quickly organized manpower to investigate Zhu Houshi’s bank card, Alipay, and WeChat account statements, but the result was that no money was found to have been taken or transferred, ruling out the possibility that Zhu Houshi was killed for money.

Could it be that Zhu Houshi was intentionally murdered by the other party because of an emotional dispute? Or could it be that he interfered in someone else’s marriage and was retaliated against by the other party’s husband? Although the deceased’s daughter said that she had not heard her father say that he had an emotional entanglement with any woman, the police decided to launch an investigation in this direction, because perhaps Zhu Houshi did not tell his daughter about his personal emotional matters.

Next, the police investigated the deceased’s call records and WeChat chat records, but they did not find that the deceased had any emotional entanglements with any woman. In addition, the police also visited merchants near Zhu Houshi’s stall and some residents of the crime scene community, but no one saw the deceased having close contact with any woman, ruling out the possibility that he was murdered due to personal emotional problems.

Not murdered because of emotional entanglements, not murdered because of business competition, and not murdered for money, then why was Zhu Houshi murdered?

Could it be that he knew someone’s unspeakable secret and was murdered by the other party to silence him?

However, after the autopsy results came out, the investigators retrieved the surveillance video near Zhu Houshi’s stall (surveillance video from the two days before the crime) and checked it carefully and repeatedly, but they never found any suspicious person approaching him.

In addition, Wu Shuqi and Wu Zhi also conducted a detailed investigation of the family members of the two households in the crime scene building who had not moved out, and found that they had no motive for committing the crime and had no dealings with Zhu Houshi, at most they greeted each other on the road or in the stairwell.

Sun Rumin retrieved the surveillance video of the store one day before Zhu Houshi’s death. The timestamp showed: 2018/09/13 17:42:21. Zhu Houshi, whose hair was almost gone, entered the bakery empty-handed. He looked around and walked to a glass display cabinet and stopped, pointing to a bread in the cabinet and telling the proprietress that he wanted this one, give him two jins (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 1.1 pounds).

The investigation is constantly advancing, but no clues of the suspect can be found, which makes the investigators feel very strange and confused.

Could it be that the murderer is like a ghost, coming and going without a trace?

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