We searched the girl's room and the man's. From some photos, it was evident that the mistress of the house had disappeared five years ago.
I cross-checked with the household registration department. No one had reported her missing. Her name was Hou Xiqian, and she was 30 years old at the time. I had initially assumed she had absconded. However, during the scene investigation, we discovered a hollow wall in the house.
"Smash this wall! Hurry up!" I ordered Xiao Yuande, who was beside me.
"Right away!" Xiao Yuande nodded and swung a hammer at the wall, which then gave way. We continued to smash it together until a dried skeleton fell out. Xiao Yuande then remarked, "If that's the case, the woman was likely murdered by the man. He only claimed she ran off to cover up his crime."
"Let's take the body back for verification first. Don't jump to conclusions without scientific evidence!"
"Alright!"
The two skeletons were thus removed from the house. This time, the police dogs, Feihu and Xiao Niu, were also deployed. I hadn't used Feihu for a long time. Ever since Dahei was gone, I should have really let Feihu do something.
It was Feihu who actually discovered that suspicious wall.
Back at the provincial department, we separated the remains for examination and identification. This time, I decided to conduct the autopsy myself.
From the shape and size of the pelvic bones and the degree of tooth wear on the two skeletons, we could infer they were a male and a female, both between 30 and 35 years old. At this point, the female skeleton was likely Hou Xiqian's, and the male was probably Liu Quanhui, Liu Siya's father.
I used bone steaming techniques in the morgue. Oh, right. My long-time friend, Mr. Song, recently introduced me to a new method of bone steaming: hydrochloric acid steaming. Compared to white vinegar, this stuff seems to be more effective. You see, Mr. Song is a descendant of the renowned Song Ci, a judge of the Song Dynasty. His expertise in forensics is as authoritative in the esoteric world as the Zhengyi Dao of Longhu Mountain. Although he has his own unique set of forensic techniques, our He family is merely a sect of scattered cultivators. Therefore, I naturally learned from him with humility.
I've read some online feng shui novels before. My situation is probably similar to that of the male protagonists in those stories.
Mr. Song also gave me a book, "Song Family Forensic Manual," which I studied and found very beneficial.
The results of the bone steaming revealed that the male skeleton had not been administered any anesthetic. However, the female skeleton had been given ether. Furthermore, we discovered a fatal blow to the victim's skull, inflicted by a wrench. It is estimated that the woman was first drugged by the man and then her skull was smashed with a wrench, causing it to shatter. Blood and possibly brain matter must have splattered at the time.
Then, the man, before his daughter returned from school, smashed open the wall and hid the body. He then sealed it with similar mud and water. When his daughter returned, he told her that her mother had run away. The daughter would certainly not have suspected her father of killing her mother, so she believed him.
Moreover, the place where the body was hidden was a utility room behind the house, a place the girl probably rarely visited.
It was dark and damp there, and constantly infested with rats and cockroaches.
If it weren't for Feihu at the time, we might not have discovered any clues.
Regarding the time of death, since only bones remained, I could estimate it to be between five and six years ago. The male victim likely died only two days ago, which matches the dates in Liu Siya's diary. It should be correct.
There's another thing. Liu Siya has still not been found. This girl must have fled home after seeing her father dead. We don't know where she has gone now.
The Criminal Case Conference Room.
At the meeting, Gao Mingqiang informed me that the previous interrogation had not gone smoothly. Gongsun Kangcheng had still not divulged any more useful information, which made him very frustrated. If this continued, it was unknown when Gao Meng would be found.
"We still need to find Liu Siya. There's so much to do. I didn't expect this case to uncover so many issues. Another crucial point is how those rats appeared in Guangming City. Weren't they eradicated in the ancient castle before?" Liu Yuning said, looking at the slideshow.
He Xin, twirling a red pen, replied, "Since there are rats in that house, they will probably spread. That place and the ancient castle seem to be in the same direction!"
"Exactly. It seems the worst-case scenario has occurred. It's probably impossible to prevent the plague from spreading to Guangming City. Therefore, we must address the root cause and apprehend the scientist to stop his criminal activities! Then we can deal with the rats!" Xiao Yuande suggested.
Gao Mingqiang said, "That's the only way. However, we have no clues about the scientist's whereabouts yet. By the way, I think we should find Liu Siya first. This girl seems rather extraordinary, managing to escape from such a dense rat infestation!"
"Mm, but didn't she have a cat with her at the time?" He Xin questioned.
"A cat should not have been able to fend them off, considering the number of rats... if the diary entries are entirely true." I then looked at Dao Zhiyong. He and the newly arrived Su Yaxin had been studying Liu Siya's diary.
At this moment, Su Yaxin said solemnly, "Wrong, completely wrong! It's not handwritten at all. Didn't you notice?"
"What?" We all looked at Yaxin in surprise.
"It's printed. Look at the ink distribution; it's very consistent. Handwriting could never achieve this level of uniformity. You know, when a person writes, their mood, physical strength, and habits can affect the writing. The characters written at different times will also vary.
Furthermore, in general terms, there are printed fonts and handwritten fonts. This is a very rough classification, indicating that one is suitable for printing, displaying uniformity, beauty, and readability.
Handwritten text is text written purely by hand using a hard or soft pen. Handwritten text represents the essence of Chinese character culture. These handwritten characters vary in size and form, making it difficult to achieve a natural, varied effect in computer font libraries. They can only be passed down through manual writing.
Printed text, on the other hand, refers to fonts used in printing or fonts resembling those used in printing. English printed fonts include Times New Roman and others. Printed characters are horizontal and vertical, with standardized character frames."
"Indeed, you're a graduate of the document examination department. Your analysis is correct. But why would it be printed? Does that mean the original was taken by Liu Siya?" I asked.
"Yes. Why would she do that? It's likely she did it intentionally. If it's connected to the scientist, I believe he's trying to create a diversion!"