Volume One (Prequel): The Seventh Reader - Chapter 3: Am I the Murderer?
When Xing Zhisen walked into the office in the morning, the autopsy report and the scene investigation report were already placed on the desk.
The deceased was named Zhou Jun, a 21-year-old man from Guangxi, a third-year law student at the Normal University. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia, occurring between 11:30 pm and 12:30 am the next day. Based on the ligature mark around the neck measuring 8mm in width and the residual fibers on the skin, it was determined that the murder weapon was likely a hemp rope. The victim was likely squatting in the toilet when someone suddenly strangled him from behind. A few skin tissues of the victim were left on the cement wall between the first and second squat positions, matching the abrasion on the back of the victim's neck, indicating that the victim had struggled to stand up but due to his small stature (1.65 meters) and the height of the cement wall (1.48 meters), he ultimately couldn't escape the fate of being strangled to death. After the murderer strangled the victim, he bent the victim's knees and leaned his back against the cement wall, making it appear as if he was still squatting, until he was discovered in the morning.
No valuable fingerprints could be extracted from the victim's sport pants. A vague shoe print was found on the second squat position, but it had no evidentiary value. Additionally, it was found that 11 people had entered the toilet from 11:30 pm until the body was discovered in the morning, and the scene was basically destroyed.
Ding Shucheng from the Criminal Police Unit reported on the investigation and visits conducted yesterday. The incident took place in the left-side bathroom of the second dormitory building for male students at the Normal University. The building had four floors, with a total of 221 rooms, including 210 dormitories, 8 bathrooms, 1 library (located on the first floor), 1 storage room (located on the second floor), and 1 duty room (located on the first floor). There were a total of 1,311 male students from the departments of Mathematics, Foreign Languages, Physics, Law, and Arts. On the night of the incident, there were 83 non-residents, including 17 students renting off-campus accommodation (all of whom were cleared and had no alibi for the time of the crime. Ding Shucheng mentioned that all 17 of them were indisputably engaged in sexual activities with their girlfriends at the time of the incident). One person (Wu Han, a third-year law student residing in Room 352) was on duty in the duty room. According to the duty officer Sun Mei, Wu Han chatted with her in the duty room from 11 pm until 3 am, and then he went to the inner rest room to sleep and didn't come out again. Sun Mei stayed in the duty room, knitting and listening to the radio until 5 am. At exactly 5 am, Sun Mei opened the dormitory door. Around 5:30 am, Sun Qingdong rushed down and reported that someone had died on the third floor. 22 people were watching videos all night at an off-campus video hall, and it was confirmed that they had no alibi. Another 20 students, who lived with their families in the city, went home to watch the early morning European Champions League match between Hertha Berlin and AC Milan. (Hertha Berlin won 1-0 against AC Milan. Ding Shucheng said, "I watched that game too. Based on the investigation, the descriptions of the match by these 20 students were basically accurate, and according to other evidence, it can be confirmed that they had no alibi for the time of the crime.") In addition, 23 other non-residents were still under investigation.
Xing Zhisen looked at Ding Shucheng, who appeared exhausted, and said, "You've worked hard."
Ding Shucheng smiled and continued his report.
From the scene of the incident, it was not only the unverified individuals who were suspected of the crime, but also the possibility of outsiders being involved in the crime couldn't be ruled out. The Normal University was located in a bustling area of the city, with a complex flow of people. The university's walls were only 1.9 meters high, easily scalable by an adult, and the outside of the second building faced a major street in the city, across from the botanical garden. Considering the age of the building, although the ground floor's main door was tightly locked, the windows were in a dilapidated state. The ground floor windows were fitted with iron bars, but on either side of the main entrance, there were bicycle sheds, making it entirely possible to climb onto the second-floor window ledge from the shed and enter the building after opening the window.
Looking at the social relationships of the deceased, Zhou Jun was an outgoing person with a wide range of interests. He was acquainted with many people not only within his own department but also in other departments, and investigations into his external social relationships were still ongoing. Based on the investigation and visits, Zhou Jun was generally easy-going, enjoyed joking around, and had no known grudges with anyone. There were no valuable items found among the deceased's clothing. His pocket contained 32.8 RMB, and it was unlikely that someone would commit robbery and murder in a toilet. Therefore, the possibility of the crime being motivated by material gain could be basically ruled out. As for the search for the victim's belongings, no valuable clues were found.
"That's the basic situation. Also," Ding Shucheng closed his notebook, "The chief asked about the specifics of the drug trafficking case from yesterday afternoon. Would you like to go up and report on it?"
Xing Zhisen sighed and buried his face in his hands.
Recently, the municipal criminal police raided a hotel and arrested several drug users. After intense interrogation, the drug users divulged the identities of several drug traffickers. After studying the case, the bureau decided to send one of the drug users to act as a buyer, to lure the biggest drug trafficker in the adjacent city of A into a transaction, in order to completely dismantle the drug trafficking group. The operation was arranged quite meticulously, but unexpectedly, the drug user used as bait was also one of the drug traffickers. Consequently, during the operation, he used a pre-arranged signal to tip off the target, leading to the failure of the operation. Not only did the bait and the target escape, but two police officers involved in the operation were severely injured. Just before going to investigate the murder case at the Normal University, Xing Zhisen had just returned from A in defeat.
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Xing Zhisen lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and fell into deep thought for a while.
"I'll go upstairs to report to the chief later. You take two people and start investigating," he said.
Ding Shucheng seemed a little upset because he had been hoping to be involved in the major drug trafficking case and had witnessed the miserable condition of his two comrades. As a police officer, he was even more eager to personally bring the drug traffickers to justice. However, orders were orders, so Ding Shucheng nodded in obedience.
Xing Zhisen noticed Ding Shucheng's emotions and got up to pat him on the shoulder, offering some encouragement.
In the eyes of the C City Public Security Bureau, the murder case at the Normal University was just a small, inconspicuous case, with several such cases occurring in C City every day. However, to the police officers, Zhou Jun's death was just a pile of documents awaiting analysis, cold and impersonal data and information. Yet, in the tranquil environment of the Normal University, especially in the dilapidated second building, it was an extremely sensational event.
The news of Fang Mu being called in for questioning by the security office spread throughout the law school on the same day, and as it circulated, it became increasingly sensational. In just one day, the version Fang Mu heard was that he was caught on the spot in the classroom, resisting arrest, and was eventually subdued by several armed police officers, to the extent that when Fang Mu returned to his dormitory in the evening, several classmates from other departments in the same building looked at him strangely: "Didn't they catch you?"
The attitudes of the people in the dormitory towards Fang Mu were also quite unusual, evasive, as if they unintentionally knew some secret about Fang Mu. He felt both angry and amused, not knowing what to say, so he lay on his bed reading a book alone. Later, when the others saw Fang Mu's gloomy face, they also refrained from asking anything, and one by one, they quietly slipped out. At 10 o'clock in the evening, they returned one by one, also quietly. Finally, the student on the upper bunk, Lao Wu, couldn't help but ask Fang Mu, who was lying on the bed: "What did the security office ask you about today?" Without lifting his eyes, Fang Mu replied, "They asked me if I killed first or raped first!"
"Hehe, you," Lao Wu smiled embarrassingly, and the atmosphere in the dormitory suddenly relaxed, with several people gathering around, asking about the situation. After thinking for a while, Fang Mu felt that since the police had not told him not to talk about it, he recounted the process of the questioning at the security office in the afternoon. After hearing this, everyone fell silent for a long time. After a while, Lao Da said slowly, "This case... it's clearly not a suicide!"
"Damn!" Several voices said in unison.
"Heh heh," Lao Da made a dodging gesture, "But it's really scary. Lao Er from Room 348 said he went to the toilet last night. Perhaps Zhou Jun was already dead by then."
"Yeah, I dare not go to that toilet at night anymore. Hey, do you guys think..." Lao Wu said mysteriously, "Could it not be the work of a person?"
"Get lost, are you just reading too many ghost stories?" Lao Er said.
"I didn't say that," Lao Wu said aggrievedly, pointing his hand downward, "he did."
Seeing everyone staring at him, Fang Mu felt flustered and said, "Damn, it's just a joke. You all have received higher education, and you believe this? Besides, he didn't die of fright."
Everyone burst into laughter, and then, feeling that something was amiss, they all consciously fell silent.
At that moment, the door opened, and Wu Han walked in, looking exhausted, with his sleeves rolled up high and a lot of water stains on his chest.
"You're all here."
"San Ge, are you on duty tonight?" Lao Wu asked.
"Huh? No, Xiao Chen from the Mathematics Department is on duty." Wu Han let down his sleeves, "Sun Auntie didn’t dare go into that bathroom, so I cleaned it. Damn, I'm exhausted."
"Aren't you afraid?" Lao Da said admiringly.
"Afraid of what," Wu Han climbed onto his bed and rested his legs on the edge of the bed. "If I see that kid, I'll have a good chat with him. I might even solve the case and earn some credit." He lowered his head, "Fang Mu, what did the security office ask you about this afternoon? Give us some inside information."
"Damn, San Ge, aren't you suspecting me too?" Fang Mu said.
"Hehe, you definitely are not the murderer."
"San Ge knows me best!" Fang Mu pretended to be moved.
"You don't have the guts!" Everyone burst into laughter. Wu Han retracted his legs, spread the blanket, and said, "Killing someone is not a simple matter."
Fang Mu wanted to argue but opened his mouth and couldn't say anything.
As the lights were about to be turned off, everyone took out their washbasins, towels, toothbrushes, and soap, preparing to go wash up. They pushed open the door and, without a word, headed for the bathroom at the other end of the corridor. Fang Mu was the last to leave and saw Wu Han lying motionless on the bed. He asked, "San Ge, aren't you going?"
Wu Han, covering himself with the blanket, mumbled, "I'm not going. I'm tired. I want to sleep."
Fang Mu shrugged, closed the door, and left.
That night, everyone slept restlessly, occasionally hearing the creaking of the bed. Around 1 am, Fang Mu heard Lao Wu say softly, "I need to go to the toilet. Anyone coming with me?" After a long silence, Lao Wu said awkwardly, "Well, then I won't go either." Fang Mu chuckled secretly but found it even harder to fall asleep. He lay with his eyes closed, but his mind was constantly turning. It was only after a long time that Fang Mu realized he had been thinking about what Wu Han had said, "Killing someone is not a simple matter."
Killing someone was indeed not a simple matter.