SFTD -Chapter 274 The Disappearing Evidence (Part 7)

Several of the people had very distinctive features — broad faces, long narrow eyes, and somewhat flattened nose bridges. At a glance, it was obvious they were not Han Chinese.

“These people are Koreans? No… ethnic Koreans from Yanbian? Are they the former tenants of Room 101?”

Zhou Hai nodded. After reading through the report, he used magnets to pin it onto the whiteboard. He also pinned up the photos of the four ethnic Koreans from earlier. Beneath each photo were their names: Li Zhongji, Jin Shanjin, Li Zhongzhi, and Li Chenhua, with “Room 101” marked underneath.

The photos taken that morning at Ji Jianguo’s house were also attached to the board. Ji Cheng’an and his older brother Ji Chengjun had been circled in red marker, with the numbers 101 and 102 written below them as well.

Staring at the whiteboard, Zhou Hai called out to Xiao Hu behind him:

“You can extend the comparison timeframe to 8:00 a.m. on December 9th. The police arrived at the crime scene at 8:30 after the report was made that day. Anyone who left before that time, as long as their build matches, should be considered a screening target.”

Xiao Hu looked up and smiled.

“I was just about to bring that up with Director Zhou. If we only look at the one hour after the crime, there are only two people in the surveillance footage whose body types match. But both of them have alibis for the time of the murders and can be completely ruled out.”

He immediately opened several more screenshots.

“But if we extend the comparison window to 8:00 a.m., then there are eight more people whose height and build match the profile Xu Biao gave. Take a look.”

Zhou Hai stared at the screen, examining the blurry surveillance captures one by one. The images were extremely unclear, probably because of the long distance. It was especially difficult to distinguish details during that dim period before dawn.

“With footage like this, there’s no way to identify anyone!”

Xu Biao patted Zhou Hai on the shoulder.

“Don’t forget — we’ve got Dr. Nan. Xiao Hu already sent the images back earlier. We should have results soon enough. Let’s eat first. Zhang Chao already picked up the boxed meals. We’ll keep working after lunch.”

Zhou Hai glanced around at everyone and finally nodded. This case would not be solved in a matter of hours. He could not keep everyone pushing themselves this hard indefinitely. Otherwise, before they finished handling all the cases, the entire team would collapse from exhaustion.

“Alright. Let’s eat.”

Captain Xu understood Zhou Hai’s personality well. When Zhou Hai got absorbed in a case, asking him out for a meal was pointless, so he had simply arranged for lavish boxed lunches instead. Xu Biao kept sighing in admiration.

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have suggested going out to eat. Even the boxed meals here in Mocheng are this impressive. Delicious!”

Zhou Hai finished quickly and sat in his chair drinking water while staring at the whiteboard. Huang Zhongsheng walked over, dragged a chair beside him, and sat down.

“Haizi, tell me what you’re thinking.”

Zhou Hai pondered briefly.

“The evidence chain is already far more complete than before. The killer went to the Ji family for dinner on December 8th and drugged them before leaving. Of course, we still need lab confirmation for that.

Everything that happened afterward — the silencing murders — shows that the killer had to be someone the Ji family knew well. Definitely not a stranger.

That narrows the scope considerably. We still need to start with all of Ji Heping’s social connections. As for the surveillance comparisons you’re doing, the goal is to identify which people connected to Ji Heping appeared at Zhongcun Residential Complex during the time of the crime.

Then there’s the DNA found on the alarm clock. We should have the results in about another hour. After that, we can compare it directly.

The reason this case remained unsolved back then wasn’t because the local investigators lacked ability. First, some key physical evidence wasn’t discovered. Second, the technology at the time simply wasn’t advanced enough.”

Just then, a coughing notification sound came from Xiao Hu’s computer. Still biting onto half a chicken drumstick, Xiao Hu shot over to the keyboard and began typing rapidly.

In an instant, eight photographs appeared on the large screen opposite Zhou Hai and the others. They still weren’t as clear as ID photos, but compared to the previous blurry mess, the improvement was enormous.

Zhou Hai walked over and examined them one by one. Two of the images immediately caught his attention.

One person wore a baseball cap pulled low, deliberately hiding everything above the brow ridge. He wore a padded winter jacket and military-style pants.

The other person wore a mask and hood, but his long, narrow eyes were still extremely distinctive.

Pointing at the two photos, Zhou Hai shouted to Xiao Hu:

“Forget the others for now. Enlarge these two.”

Xu Biao quickly rolled the whiteboard over, and everyone crowded closer to inspect the photos. Zhang Chao and several local officers leaned forward as well. The moment Zhang Chao saw the photo of the man in the baseball cap, he sucked in a sharp breath.

Hearing the reaction, Zhou Hai turned around and looked at him.

“You recognized him, didn’t you? What about the masked one? Do you recognize him too?”

Zhang Chao nodded stiffly, disbelief written all over his face. Though he clearly found it hard to accept, he still spoke slowly.

“The one wearing the baseball cap is Ji Cheng’an. Back then he was still thin and pretty short. The masked man looks like Li Zhongzhi, the eldest son of the Yanbian family who rented Room 101. But Ji Cheng’an should’ve been serving in the military at that time. Why would he appear here?”

Zhou Hai tapped the table with his finger.

“Call the military unit where Ji Cheng’an used to serve. Check his leave records from that period. We should be able to verify it.”

This time Zhou Hai did not even need to prompt him. Zhang Chao immediately called Ji Cheng’an’s former unit. Since they had dealt with each other many times back then, he was already familiar with them.

Skipping all pleasantries, he directly asked about Ji Cheng’an’s leave status on December 8th and 9th, 2010.

After a brief wait, the other side located the old registration records.

“Officer Zhang, regarding those dates, there’s no record of Ji Cheng’an requesting leave.”

Hearing that, Zhang Chao visibly relaxed a little. But then the officer continued: “However, on December 7th, during training, he injured his arm while saving a fellow soldier. He went to the hospital that day for stitches. On the 9th, before his injury had even healed, he already returned to duty. He was actually commended for it afterward.”

Xu Biao had already raised a sheet of paper with a sentence written on it. Zhang Chao read it aloud:

“He received treatment at a civilian hospital, right?”

The officer on the other end laughed.

“That’s right. We happened to be conducting field training outside, and there was a hospital nearby, so we sent him there directly. I remember it clearly — I personally led that batch of recruits.”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhang Chao, who was still holding the phone even after hanging up.

“Zhang Chao, don’t let personal emotions interfere with the investigation. Otherwise, you’ll lose your judgment. Can you tell me more about the former tenants of Room 101? I checked the files — there are only a few photographs, and it seems the investigation into them was fairly limited.”

Zhang Chao hurried to another table, found a file box, and handed Zhou Hai a dossier.

“These used to be included in the original case files too, but there was too much paperwork, so a lot of seemingly unimportant material got separated out.

The family who rented Room 101 beneath Ji Heping’s apartment consisted of four people, as I mentioned earlier: Li Zhongji, his wife Jin Shanjin, their eldest son Li Zhongzhi, and younger daughter Li Chenhua.

According to the security guards at the residential complex, they moved out sometime in mid-to-late November. They bought a home at Jiangjia Garden not far from here. The restaurant run by Li Zhongji and Jin Shanjin was directly across from Zhongcun Residential Complex.

Their son Li Zhongzhi had just been admitted to Southeast University in 2010. He should’ve been around eighteen at the time and normally lived on campus. Why he appeared here during this time period still needs to be verified.”

Zhou Hai thought for a moment and glanced at Zhang Chao.

“Investigate Li Zhongzhi first. Is Li Zhongji’s restaurant still operating?”