SFTD -Chapter 273 The Disappearing Evidence (Part 6)

If it was unusable, the killer would have taken it away anyway. That meant the backpack was already full and couldn’t hold any more items, so some things had to be left behind.

But then why not throw them out the window?

Tossing them outside through the window would have seemed safer. Unless… he was afraid someone would see him?

But who would see him in the middle of the night?

Standing on the balcony, Zhou Hai looked outward. Directly across Building 16 was Building 18, and Building 18 sat slightly lower in elevation. If someone stood at a higher floor and looked toward Room 201 where Zhou Hai stood, it wouldn’t be difficult to see inside.

Besides, there were no curtains blocking the living room. The interior was practically fully visible.

“Zhang Chao, were there any owners in Building 18 who had already begun renovations or moved in before December 8th, 2010?”

Zhang Chao shook his head.

“We didn’t record that at the time. When we counted the residents who had moved in, only one apartment in Building 18 had completed renovations — Unit 702 in Building 4. But it was a wedding apartment waiting for the couple to get married, so nobody stayed there at night.

As for apartments under renovation, or renovated units that had been rented out, we never checked those. Back then we only went door to door several times looking for anything suspicious that had been left behind. We’ll need to conduct another full investigation.”

Xu Biao poked Zhang Chao.

“Chief Zhang, arrange for people to start checking immediately.”

Only then did Zhang Chao realize the implication. He quickly made a phone call, instructing the officers he had brought with him to begin door-to-door inquiries in Building 18 on the south side.

“Hai Zi, you think someone was watching the killer?”

Zhou Hai pointed at the rope on the floor.

“These things shouldn’t have been left here. If the backpack couldn’t hold them, he could’ve thrown them downstairs. Leaving them behind like this feels rushed — like he suddenly changed his mind after being disturbed. So I suspect someone across the way either saw him, turned on a light, or made some movement that startled him.”

Zhou Hai didn’t finish his thought.

If the killer had been frightened and still managed to leave with all the valuables, then he must have had a hidden location nearby — definitely not far away. Perhaps even inside the residential complex itself.

If that were true, this case would be extremely difficult to solve.

People always said the darkest place was under the lamp. If the culprit never left the neighborhood, how would they ever identify him?

Shaking away the thought, Zhou Hai picked up his case and exited Room 201. Zhang Chao followed him downstairs.

Just before reaching the first floor, Ji Jianguo from Room 101 was already waiting at the entrance, insisting they come inside. Rarely, Zhou Hai did not refuse. He waved for the others to return to the car, then brought Xu Biao along and followed Zhang Chao into Ji Jianguo’s home.

Originally, Zhou Hai had wanted to come downstairs and take a look anyway.

The dining area layout on the first floor differed from the second floor. Standing at the entrance, Zhou Hai remained still, staring intently at the additional wall that had been built beside the dining area.

Zhang Chao followed his gaze.

“They have three children, so the three bedrooms weren’t enough. They partitioned off part of the dining room and turned it into another bedroom.”

Pointing at the converted room, Zhou Hai asked, “May I take a look inside?”

Ji Jianguo quickly stood and opened the door wide.

“Of course, go ahead. This is my second son’s room.”

Following Ji Jianguo inside, Zhou Hai was surprised by how simple and spotless the room was. There were almost no decorations — only a bed, a cabinet, and a tiny bedside table.

The bedding was perfectly smooth without a single wrinkle. There wasn’t a single photograph or personal item in the room.

“Your son cleaned this room himself? It’s very neat.”

Ji Jianguo smiled and nodded.

“The second one has always been like this. Doesn’t talk much, just likes things clean.”

Afterward, they casually toured the other rooms while Ji Jianguo introduced the family members.

The eldest son worked as a technician at a feed factory and had decent treatment and benefits. The youngest was a daughter studying in Zhejiang. The second son had just returned after three years in the military and hadn’t yet secured formal employment, so for now he was working under Zhang Chao as an auxiliary police officer.

Zhou Hai glanced at Zhang Chao.

Because the case remained unsolved, Zhang Chao probably felt guilty toward this family and had done his best to help them. Otherwise, even becoming an auxiliary officer in the public security system wasn’t easy these days — staffing quotas were limited.

After listening, Zhou Hai turned to Ji Jianguo.

“Master Ji, do you have any family photos?”

Ji Jianguo paused, then turned toward the television cabinet and quickly brought over a group photograph.

The family of five stood together in the picture. One man in military uniform stood out immediately — tall and thin, at least a head taller than Ji Jianguo.

The other two children were nowhere near that height. The eldest son was roughly Ji Jianguo’s height, about 1.7 meters. The youngest daughter was about the same height as Ji Jianguo’s wife, probably under 1.6 meters.

The second son was clearly an exception.

Pointing at the photo, Zhou Hai asked, “Your second son is really tall.”

Ji Jianguo nodded proudly, his wrinkled face lighting up with satisfaction.

“My second son’s name is Ji Cheng’an. Didn’t study much, but he’s the smartest of the bunch. He’s also the tallest — 1.82 meters. He’s doing pretty well working under Chief Zhang now. Just hasn’t found a girlfriend yet, and that worries me.”

Xu Biao grinned.

“With looks like that, what are you worried about? People with builds like mine should be the worried ones. Besides, your second son only came back two years ago. He’s still young, right? Twenty-three yet?”

“Not young anymore. He’s twenty-three by traditional reckoning this year.”

Xu Biao let out an “oh.”

“But this kid’s really tall. Way taller than his brother and sister.”

Ji Jianguo laughed.

“When he first enlisted, he was about the same height as his older brother. Military training built him up — otherwise he wouldn’t have grown this tall!”

“What year did he enlist?”

Zhang Chao thought for a moment.

“He joined the September 2010 batch. Left directly for Langfang in Hebei on September 5th. He handled all the registration procedures at the police station himself.”

September 2010 enlistment — perfectly overlapping with the time of the murders.

Zhou Hai raised his eyes and glanced at Zhang Chao. Apparently Zhang Chao had noticed the same thing.

Zhou Hai stood up.

“Let’s head back first. We’ll wait for the new test results and reorganize the case files.”

After saying goodbye to Ji Jianguo, the three left Building 16 and drove straight back to the Criminal Investigation Division of the Mocheng Municipal Bureau.

Xu Biao went to arrange the examinations. To avoid mistakes, Da Liu stayed directly in the forensics lab. He had worked under Sister Zeng years ago and was very familiar with all the procedures, so he personally helped with the extraction work.

The wooden flooring had been there for a long time. If they wanted to identify substances that had once existed within it, it would be extremely difficult.

As for the alarm clock, that was much simpler. Xu Biao directly extracted the fingerprints while the bloodstains were also sent for analysis.

Holding the fingerprint data, Xu Biao returned to the conference room.

Zhou Hai and the others were reviewing case files nearby, while Captain Huang and Xiao Hu were analyzing video footage.

Xu Biao uploaded the fingerprints and compared them against the records of the four victims from the scene.

The result appeared quickly.

Zhou Hai’s guess had been correct.

The fingerprint belonged to Zhu Lixiang.

Xu Biao hurriedly printed the comparison report and handed it to Zhou Hai.

“The fingerprint on the alarm clock belongs to Zhu Lixiang. Looks like she threw the alarm clock at the killer.”

Zhou Hai seemed lost in thought. Suddenly interrupted, he looked up and paused slightly.

Taking the report, he set down the stack of photographs he had been holding.

Curious, Xu Biao picked them up and took a look.