SFTD -Chapter 32 Giant Cadaveric Swelling (Part 12)

Zhou Hai slowly raised his head and looked at Captain Huang.

“You’re right. But what if Xu Zekai… isn’t Xu Xiangyuan’s son? You have to remember: Xu Zekai and Wan Zhiyong share the exact same birthday; there was DNA on the waterproof tarp wrapping Yu Lijuan’s body that was extremely similar to Wan Zhiyong’s; and then there’s the hereditary broad palms…”

Captain Huang’s mouth fell open. Following Zhou Hai’s line of reasoning, he instantly became restless.

“You suspect the two children were switched at birth? That Xu Zekai is Wan Ziyun’s son, while Wan Zhiyong is Xu Xiangyuan’s son?! That’s unbelievable! If that were true… how could they not have noticed anything all these years?”

Zhou Hai continued.

“No. Xu Xiangyuan already knows Wan Zhiyong is his biological son. That’s why he appeared at the scene and helped Wan Zhiyong destroy the corpse and cover up the evidence. But this deduction still needs to be verified through Xu Xiangyuan’s immigration records. And if we can find his DNA inside his home, even better. As long as the DNA matches, the chain of evidence will be complete. After all, there’s no extradition treaty between our country and the UK. Even through diplomatic channels, handling this would be extremely difficult. The rest depends on whether you can bring Xu Xiangyuan back to China.”

Captain Huang stared into Zhou Hai’s eyes for a long moment before finally pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

“Did you get the vehicle up yet?”

“Captain Huang! Perfect timing. We just hoisted it up. What, you want us to package it and send it over to you?”

“You guessed right! Find me a tow truck and deliver it to the East District Criminal Investigation Division courtyard. Our Forensic Doctor Zhou wants to perform an autopsy on that Cayenne.”

“No problem. It’ll be there within an hour!”

After hanging up, Captain Huang let out a long breath. At that moment, the fax machine beside him started whirring.

Xu Xiangyuan’s immigration records had arrived.

“Alright, study these first. I’m going to secretly apply for a search warrant now. The Cayenne will also be delivered shortly. The rest is up to you.”

Zhou Hai grabbed the fax and switched on the computer, comparing it with the previous three immigration records.

Just as he expected, Xu Xiangyuan’s travel records over the past six months almost completely overlapped with Wan Zhiyong’s.

The only exception was March 8th–10th, 2014, when Xu Xiangyuan had briefly returned to China for just three days.

Less than an hour later, the Cayenne arrived.

Xu Biao and Fengzi followed Zhou Hai downstairs.

Circling around the vehicle, Xu Biao kept sighing in amazement.

“Damn, damn, damn… a luxury car! These rich kids are really wasteful! They actually shoved a car this expensive off a cliff?! The base price alone is over 800,000 yuan! Over 800,000!”

Luo Yunfeng curled his lips and shoved Xu Biao’s shoulder.

“That’s the regular version. This one’s custom-made. The price is definitely more than double what you said.”

Xu Biao’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Holy crap, that expensive?!”

“And that’s just the base price. Doesn’t even include import taxes.”

“Fengzi, not bad. You really know your stuff.”

“When you can’t afford one, of course you study them more. Looking costs nothing. At least I’ve got something to brag about with friends.”

Luo Yunfeng’s honesty improved Xu Biao’s opinion of him considerably.

“Quit pretending to be poor.”

At that moment, Zhou Hai’s phone rang. It was Captain Huang.

“We got the search warrant, but we’ll need to bring Xu Xiangyun along as a witness since she’s family. Officially, we’re saying we’re collecting Xu Xiangyuan’s hair or toothbrush for comparison with Xu Zekai. She already agreed. Just don’t let anything slip.”

“I’ll have Fengzi go with you.”

Xu Biao and Luo Yunfeng both turned to look at him. Zhou Hai raised his eyes just in time to catch their surprised expressions.

“What?”

Luo Yunfeng shook his head.

“Nothing. It’s just… hearing you suddenly call me ‘Fengzi’ makes me feel strangely honored. It sounds so friendly.”

Black lines immediately appeared across Zhou Hai’s forehead.

Xu Biao was already laughing so hard he nearly lost his breath, clutching his stomach while pointing at Luo Yunfeng.

“Trust me, based on my understanding of him, Hai-zi definitely isn’t trying to sound friendly.”

“Then why?”

“Idiot. To save himself one syllable!”

“……”

Zhou Hai waved his hand impatiently.

“Enough nonsense. Fengzi, go with Captain Huang to Xu Xiangyuan’s house. You’re more familiar with what kinds of items can provide usable DNA. Xu Xiangyun will be coming along. Captain Huang will explain the excuse. Just follow along. Xu Biao stays with me to examine this car.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Captain Huang emerged with Xu Xiangyun.

Fengzi immediately understood that now was definitely the time to speak less. Carrying his forensic kit, he quietly left.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hai and Xu Biao began inspecting the vehicle.

Although the Cayenne had been pushed off the cliff, the vegetation below had cushioned the fall. It hadn’t plunged into the sea or smashed against the reefs and exploded.

Still, the roof and doors were completely deformed.

Using tools, they cut away the rear door and roof before beginning a meticulous, inch-by-inch search.

They collected soil samples from all four tires.

Fingerprints and DNA samples were lifted from the detached steering wheel.

On the carpet of the back seat, Xu Biao discovered a diamond-studded earring with a missing stone. Excited, he immediately bagged it—it would likely yield DNA.

The front doors were still being dismantled, forcing the two to temporarily abandon the cabin inspection.

After collecting fingerprints from the trunk lid, Xu Biao pried open the deformed trunk with a crowbar since it could no longer be opened normally.

Inside the trunk, a large patch of dried water stains came into view.

Zhou Hai and Xu Biao exchanged glances.

Smacking his lips, Xu Biao muttered:

“So this really was a corpse disposal vehicle. Rich people’s world makes no sense to me. Seriously, I don’t get it. Couldn’t they just use some junk car to transport the body? Why use such a distinctive luxury car? Or better yet, dump the car somewhere secluded with the corpse inside and set the whole thing on fire. That’s the least likely way to leave behind evidence. Too much education really does make people stupid.”

Zhou Hai glanced up at him. Xu Biao immediately shrank his neck in fear.

“Whenever there is contact, there will be traces left behind. No matter how thoroughly someone tries to destroy evidence, something will remain. If the killer chose to do it this way, there must have been a reason. Not every killer is like Wang Yu from the Faceless Female Corpse case. If it really were that kind of situation again, we’d be busy for a long time.”

Xu Biao shuddered violently.

“I’m taking back what I said. That Wang Yu case nearly worked us to death. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! I retract my words!”

Zhou Hai ignored him.

Still, one thing Xu Biao said was correct—the destruction of the vehicle had been handled extremely sloppily.

Was the killer overly panicked?

Or had they miscalculated?

After all, slightly farther east beneath the cliff was a bay full of massive reefs. With just a little more momentum, the car would either have exploded on impact or sunk directly into the bay.

If that had happened, they would never have recovered any evidence at all.

Zhou Hai shook his head, forcing himself not to overthink it, and continued searching carefully with a magnifying glass.

Suddenly, he noticed several strands of hair stuck to the dried water stains.

This should have been where the victim’s head had rested.

The Cayenne’s trunk wasn’t very spacious, and Xu Zekai had been tall and broad-built.

The hairs were probably left behind while they were forcing the corpse into the trunk.

Just as Xu Biao was preparing to inspect another area, the shape of the trunk’s partition suddenly made him pause.

It looked like the compartment panel on the left side sat slightly higher than it should.

Xu Biao reached out and lifted the black partition cover.

His eyes instantly widened as he shouted:

“Hai-zi, look at this!”