Chapter 9: New Victim

Chapter 9: A New Victim

Is there really so little blood in this house?

What does that mean?

"Xiao Shen?" Wei Zhengyi finally turned around and looked at her: "What are you up to?"

Shen Qingye suddenly snapped back to reality and hurriedly said, "Ah, nothing, I just thought I had found another bloodstain, but it turned out I was mistaken."

She walked over, handed the items to Wei Zhengyi, and watched as he carefully removed the bloodstain and placed it in the bag. She stood still, but her mind raced.

If her thoughts were correct, it would prove that a murder had indeed taken place here, validating her deduction; it would also further confirm that her speculation about this ability last night was not wrong.

But if that's the case, how did Cai Chengyong commit the crime? After all, the dust here doesn't seem to be man-made, or perhaps... this isn't his only crime scene?

Shen Qingye was puzzled and wished the voice would say more, but it had fallen silent, perhaps because the old man had dozed off again.

Her doubts multiplied, and her frown deepened. It wasn't until Wei Zhengyi handed her the collected bag that Shen Qingye reached out to take it. She looked at the evidence bag in her hand and, after a moment, shook her head with a wry smile.

Really... solving a case doesn't happen overnight. The Zhou Meihua case was already a stroke of great luck; she couldn't expect someone to hand her the answers every time. In fact, the few hints that voice had just given were extremely crucial clues for them, and she shouldn't be too greedy.

Shen Qingye composed herself, pushed aside other thoughts, scanned the room, and revisited what she had just heard.

Given that a murder had indeed occurred here, the existing bloodstains were definitely more than just this little. So where were the other bloodstains?

Shen Qingye scanned the room and was surprised to see Yue Lingchuan crouched before a patch of peeling wall, his fingers lightly tracing something.

"Captain Yue, what is it?" She walked over, squatted beside him, and looked at the yellow mud wall, asking with some confusion.

"Here," Yue Lingchuan glanced back at her, his thumb rubbing against the wall, his expression slightly serious: "There are friction marks."

Friction marks?

Shen Qingye leaned in for a closer look and, upon careful inspection, spotted the difference between this patch and the surrounding mud wall.

The soil particles here were coarser, not as fine as the surrounding aged mud.

She reached out and lightly touched it, feeling a slight indentation—subtle, but noticeable against the flatness around it.

The two exchanged a glance, and Yue Lingchuan asked, "Do you have Luminol?"

Shen Qingye quickly dug through the bag Zhou Qiming had handed her: "Yes, I have it."

Yue Lingchuan took the reagent and carefully sprayed it on the mud wall. Though Shen Qingye had long known about the reagent, she had never seen it in action and couldn't help holding her breath.

Older houses didn't have good lighting, and with Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan blocking the light, the room grew even dimmer. Because of this, when the reagent was sprayed on the wall, the fluorescent blue glow was particularly noticeable.

Both perked up, and Yue Lingchuan sprayed other spots too. The patch of mud wall, roughly the size of two palms, suddenly lit up with scattered blue spots.

Zhou Qiming and the others noticed the activity and hurried over. Seeing the scene, they were both shocked and thrilled: "This..."

Wei Zhengyi couldn't help but ask, "Why is it like this? Logically, if there were bloodstains on the wall, the glow shouldn't be so faint." It had turned into points of light.

Yue Lingchuan's expression darkened slightly as he said, "This wall's been polished. The killer clearly scrubbed away the visible bloodstains, leaving only traces invisible to the naked eye—hence this effect."

He stood up, looking at the white wall: "The range of the bloodstains is definitely not just this little; there's more behind it."

Wei Zhengyi immediately became excited: "So, Xiao Shen's speculation is correct? This is indeed the crime scene?"

Yue Lingchuan didn't say a word.

Wei Zhengyi urged, "Hurry up, let's peel off these white wall coverings and see what's behind them!"

The wall coverings were already peeling off, and it was easy to peel them open along the cracks. But after working for a while, Wei Zhengyi realized no one was moving around him. He turned around to see the four of them standing there, motionless.

"What's the matter?" he scratched his head, puzzled.

Yue Lingchuan clapped his hands and walked over to Shen Qingye, noticing her slightly furrowed brow. He asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Shen Qingye looked at the peeled wall and pursed her lips, saying, "I'm wondering when Cai Limin painted this wall white."

Yue Lingchuan replied, "Judging by the peeling, it's probably been about ten years." He smiled at her, "Definitely more than a couple of years, anyway."

Shen Qingye looked up at him, "But the first victim we found wasn't until two years ago, right?"

Yue Lingchuan nodded lazily, his gaze deep as he looked at the wall. "Yeah."

Zhou Qiming's expression also turned grim, "So, there are still victims we haven't found."

Shen Qingye said, "I have a pretty unsettling guess."

"Fun," Yue Lingchuan said, with his hands in his pockets, "me too."

"Huh? What are you all talking about?" Wei Zhengyi stood up in confusion, looking at the wall and then at them, "There are still victims we haven't found?"

"We've already found five, how can there still be more..."

Jiang Cheng reminded him, "It might not have been Cai Chengyong's doing."

"If it wasn't Cai Chengyong, then who was it?" Wei Zhengyi retorted, his voice trailing off under their gazes.

His not-so-quick mind turned over the thought. Yes, the wall was painted over ten years ago. How old was Cai Chengyong back then? At most, he was in his early teens back then. Could he have been killing people at that age?

But if it wasn't Cai Chengyong, then...

Wei Zhengyi suddenly thought of something, his face filled with shock.

Yue Lingchuan sprayed the newly exposed mud wall with the reagent again and saw similar signs as before. He sighed softly, "Let's get the Trace Examination Unit over here."

Jiang Cheng went out to make the call, while Yue Lingchuan tossed the car keys to Wei Zhengyi, saying, "Take these samples to the tech department first." Have them expedite the process to see if they can extract DNA and compare it with the victims'... and also with Cai Chengyong's.

Wei Zhengyi's expression turned serious, and he nodded, "Got it," before turning to leave.

Zhou Qiming watched his hurried departure and joked, "The Trace Examination Unit is going to be pissed at us now." They had been working all night and probably just got to bed before being called back.

Yue Lingchuan chuckled, "Who can sleep well until this case is solved? We're giving them a big opportunity. What's there to hate?"

He then turned to Zhou Qiming, "Old Zhou, let's split up. You and Jiang Cheng take one route, Xiao Shen and I will take the other. Let's go around the village and ask more questions, especially about Cai Limin and his wife."

Zhou Qiming raised his hand, "Understood."

·

Zhou Qiming and Jiang Cheng headed to the west side of the village, while Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan went to the east.

There weren't many young people in the village; most of those left behind were elderly. When asked about Cai Limin and his wife, many still had memories of them. Most described Cai Limin as an honest and decent man who always greeted people with a smile and never had any serious conflicts. After marrying the daughter of the Lü family from the neighboring village, life was stable. Later, he went to the city to work and only returned once a year, so interactions became less frequent.

After asking around, most people said they had never seen Cai Limin and his wife argue. Occasionally, there were minor disagreements over trivial matters, but nothing serious.

When asked about Cai Chengyong, they knew even less about him, only mentioning that before his mother ran off with someone, he appeared obedient and sensible whenever he returned for the New Year. After his mom took off, the kid had no one to keep him in line and slowly turned wild, even rumored to have turned into a delinquent in the city.

Shen Qingye caught the key point in her words and asked, "You said Cai Chengyong's mother ran away with someone? How did you know that?"

The old lady was startled, "Of course, Cai Limin said so."

"Cai Limin said so?" Shen Qingye said, "So you didn't see her run away with your own eyes?"

The old lady laughed, "They were in the city, and we were in the countryside. Was she supposed to come back and tell me before she ran off?"

Shen Qingye changed the question, "Then do you remember when Cai Limin's family whitewashed their walls?"

"Whitewashed walls?" The old lady thought for a long time, hesitating, "It should be 86... no, 87, in 87! I remember clearly, it was shortly after his wife ran away, he came back to whitewash the walls. He said his wife thought he was poor, didn't earn much, and he wanted to spruce up the house, maybe his wife would come back one day. At that time, few people in our village whitewashed their walls, so everyone remembered it clearly, and many went to check it out."

"After his wife ran away?" Shen Qingye's eyes flickered, "But wasn’t it said that his wife cleaned out the house? Where did he get the extra money to whitewash the walls?"

"Well..." The old lady hesitated, then shook her head, "I don't know, I really don't know..."

She seemed to sense something was wrong and asked uneasily, "Officers, why are you asking about this? Has Cai Limin done something wrong?"

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged glances, and she gently stepped forward, "Don't worry, it's just a case involving him, we’re just conducting routine inquiries to get a better grasp of the situation. Just tell us whatever comes to mind, no need to worry."

The old lady shook her head, still somewhat uneasy, "I’ve told you everything I can remember. I really don't know anything else, Officers, maybe... you should ask someone else?"

Seeing her expression seemed sincere, Shen Qingye asked a couple more questions and didn't press further.

After leaving there, they went to a few other houses, and the results were much the same.

They walked and talked the whole time, their throats dry, but still didn't get any useful clues.

Yue Lingchuan said, "Sometimes working on cases is like this, you might be busy all day, talk until you're blue in the face, and still not get a single clue."

But Shen Qingye looked at him and said, "At least we have gained something today, so this trip was not in vain. Even though we didn't get more clues, it helps us eliminate some hypotheses."

Yue Lingchuan looked at her for a while, then slowly smiled, "You're right."

Such a sharp and perceptive person... what a shame.

Shen Qingye stopped in her tracks.

They had reached the last house in the area, and Yue Lingchuan raised his hand to knock on the door.

According to the villagers, this house was occupied by Ma Laizi, who had a face full of pockmarks and a very rogue personality. Every time the villagers mentioned him, they showed disgust and disdain.

"Who is it?" came an impatient voice from inside, sounding sleepy and slurred, as if still asleep.

Shen Qingye looked down at her watch; it was almost twelve o'clock, still sleeping at this hour?

Yue Lingchuan raised his hand and knocked on the door again, saying in a deep voice, "Police!"