SFTD -Chapter 34 Giant Cadaveric Swelling (Part 14)

Zhou Hai’s face darkened.

“There are thousands of roads to take. Why insist on choosing the hardest one?”

Captain Huang froze.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Extradition is the most official method. It’s also the method of last resort. Otherwise, why are there so many fugitives from different countries hiding in nations without extradition treaties? If you want to bring someone back to the country, the best way is to strike where it hurts most. Right now, all you need to do is find his sore spot.”

Captain Huang frowned.

“Xu Xiangyuan is rich. Even confiscating his properties would barely affect him. Last time we informed him of Xu Zekai’s death, he brushed it off with excuses. This time, Wan Zhiyong has been arrested, so he should already know about it, yet there’s still no sign of him returning to China. A man who won’t bend to either pressure or persuasion… I honestly can’t think of any weakness or pain point he has.”

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“No. He definitely has one. After twenty years abroad, what supports his wealth and status? His company. The authority and position the company gives him. That’s his pain point.”

Captain Huang slapped his thigh.

“Right! How did I not think of that? I’ll go find Liu Da immediately. Alright, you should head back and rest early. See you tomorrow morning.”

July 31, 2014 — 9:00 AM

Zhou Hai arrived at the East District Criminal Police Brigade with the members of Team Two.

The group headed straight to the second-floor conference room. The forensic center was far from the East District office, and they still had to collect reports; a round trip alone took nearly two hours.

By the time they entered the meeting room, almost everyone had already arrived.

Captain Huang strode over and firmly shook Zhou Hai’s hand, his grip as powerful as ever.

“Are all the reports finished?”

“Mm. Any progress with the interrogation?”

Captain Huang laughed heartily and glanced at his watch.

“Haha, let me keep you in suspense for now! I can only say everything is progressing very smoothly. Once the time comes, we’ll begin the meeting.”

Patting several of them on the shoulders, Captain Huang took his notebook and sat on the other side of the round table.

Liu Da, Bureau Chief Song, and a senior municipal political-legal official were discussing something together. Many others sat outside the round table as well.

In truth, Liu Da had long since been promoted to deputy bureau chief, but he still concurrently managed affairs at the Criminal Police Brigade, so everyone below still habitually called him “Liu Da.”

Liu Da scanned the room, asked Bureau Chief Song beside him something quietly, then tapped the tabletop.

“Everyone’s here. Let’s begin. Forensic Doctor Zhou, why don’t you first summarize the evidence your team organized?”

Zhou Hai opened the reports before him one by one.

“Yesterday, Forensic Doctor Luo found a manual razor in Xu Xiangyuan’s home. Fortunately, we managed to extract Xu Xiangyuan’s DNA sample from it and conduct comparisons. Through examination of the Cayenne with license plate Dong L0008, fingerprints belonging to two individuals were found on the steering wheel: One belonged to the deceased, Xu Zekai. The other belonged to the suspect, Wan Zhiyong. The mud attached to the vehicle’s two left tires matched perfectly with samples collected near the unnamed pond in Xifu Town.

Two hairs recovered from the trunk belonged to the deceased, Xu Zekai.

Fibers found on the trunk support frame matched the material used to wrap the victim.

A bloodstained baseball bat was discovered in the trunk. The blood belonged to Xu Zekai. Three sets of fingerprints were recovered from the bat: Xu Zekai’s, Wan Zhiyong’s, and Xu Xiangyuan’s.

However, Wan Zhiyong’s fingerprints were located only at the lower edge of the bat, and consisted solely of partial prints from his right thumb and index finger. We concluded that such a grip would have been incapable of carrying out a striking action.

Additionally, during the vehicle examination, we discovered Yu Lijuan’s ultrasound report, along with a paternity test report involving Xu Zekai, Wan Zhiyong, and Xu Xiangyuan.

We subsequently compared the DNA of all three individuals and confirmed that Wan Zhiyong and Xu Xiangyuan share a biological father-son relationship.

At the same time, during Yu Lijuan’s second autopsy, an embryo was discovered in the uterus, and testing was immediately conducted.

DNA comparison results showed that the embryo’s biological father was Xu Xiangyuan. Judging from the thickness of the uterine wall, Yu Lijuan had previously undergone multiple abortions.

Furthermore, besides Wan Zhiyong’s DNA, another person’s DNA found on the rope used to wrap the bodies belonged to Xu Xiangyuan.

Therefore, we infer the following:

Yu Lijuan was acquainted with both Xu Zekai and Wan Zhiyong, and may have been romantically involved with one of them.

At the same time, after meeting Xu Xiangyuan, she maintained a sexual relationship with him and became pregnant.

When Xu Zekai learned of the relationship between Yu Lijuan and his father, he also received the DNA report concerning his father, Wan Zhiyong, and himself. Suddenly faced with two additional claimants to the family inheritance, he was unable to accept it.

In a fit of rage, Xu Zekai brought Yu Lijuan home, interrogated and tortured her, and finally injected her with an excessive dose of sedative narcotics, causing her death.

Based on the injuries on Yu Lijuan’s body and the presence of decomposition venous patterns, we concluded that the second victim, Yu Lijuan, was left at room temperature for thirty-six to forty-eight hours after being tortured to death before Xu Xiangyuan discovered her.

A conflict then broke out between Xu Xiangyuan and Xu Zekai. Xu Xiangyuan swung the baseball bat, knocking Xu Zekai unconscious, then submerged his head in the bathtub and drowned him.

We detected liquid components from Bathtub Number One inside Xu Zekai’s alveolar tissue, confirming it was the same liquid.

Wan Zhiyong was later summoned by Xu Xiangyuan, and together they wrapped the bodies of Yu Lijuan and Xu Zekai and placed them into the freezer.

Based on the available evidence, these are the conclusions and analyses we’ve reached.”

After speaking, Zhou Hai sat down directly.

Xu Biao let out a long breath. Fortunately, Hai Zi had resisted mentioning his own mistake; this guy’s stubbornness was truly on another level.

Liu Da and several leaders exchanged glances, visibly pleased, and took the lead in applauding. Captain Huang nodded repeatedly as well.

“Forensic Doctor Zhou’s deductions align almost perfectly with the interrogation results. Huang Zhongsheng, quickly brief everyone on last night’s interrogation.”

Captain Huang raised a thick stack of printed A4 papers.

“Last night’s surprise interrogation of Wan Zhiyong was extremely successful.

We simply handed him a photograph of Yu Lijuan and asked him whether her death had been tragic.

He immediately covered his face and burst into tears, completely breaking down. He stopped hiding anything.

Wan Zhiyong admitted to helping Xu Xiangyuan conceal the bodies, dispose of them, and abandon the vehicle.

He also confessed everything regarding how Xu Xiangyuan killed Xu Zekai, the paternity relationships among Xu Xiangyuan, Xu Zekai, and Wan Zhiyong, as well as the child-swapping incident from years ago.

His account matches Forensic Doctor Zhou’s analysis exactly, so I won’t repeat the details.

When speaking about Yu Lijuan’s wavering relationship between Xu Zekai and Xu Xiangyuan, he showed deep affection and pity for her. It was obvious he cared for her deeply.

Combined with the evidence obtained by Forensic Doctor Zhou’s team, the case can now be considered ironclad.

The problem we now face is this:

How do we bring the criminal suspect Xu Xiangyuan back to China?”

Halfway through, Bureau Chief Song took the interrogation records from Captain Huang.

After briefly flipping through them, his expression visibly relaxed.

“I want to commend Team Two of the Municipal Bureau’s Judicial Forensics Center. This case was handled beautifully. Your direction of analysis was incredibly accurate.

At eleven last night, Xiao Huang came to Deputy Director Liu to report the interrogation results.

Afterward, Deputy Director Liu came to see me and explained the frontline team’s plan.

I don’t know who came up with the idea, but although it may not have been entirely proper, it was extremely effective.”

Just then, Bureau Chief Song’s phone began vibrating repeatedly.

He raised a hand apologetically.

After glancing at the screen, a smile immediately appeared on his face as he swept his gaze across the room.

“No more suspense. I’ll continue.

Through Secretary Zhong of the Municipal Party Committee, we contacted Dongxiang Construction Group. Since it’s a state-owned enterprise, their political awareness is very high, and they cooperated fully with our work.

Coincidentally, there was an issue involving personnel stationed in West Africa. Everyone within the company knew about it, but no replacement candidate had yet been finalized.

At 8:00 this morning, the chairman of Dongxiang Construction Group personally called Xu Xiangyuan.

He informed him that he needed to return to China this week for a temporary reassignment to the West Africa branch. He was instructed to hand over his current projects to his deputy, while follow-up personnel would later arrive to take over completely.

After stabilizing operations in the West Africa branch, the company would then decide his future assignment location.

Xu Xiangyuan became extremely anxious. Once he left, he likely wouldn’t be able to return to the UK again.

Just moments ago, we received confirmation that at 9:10 Beijing time, he boarded a flight in the UK. He’ll arrive in Beijing tonight at 21:10.

So? I completed the task your team assigned me.

Are you all satisfied now?”