SFTD -Chapter 54 The Tragedy of an Entire Family (Part 7)

Chu Menghan paused for a moment and glanced once more at the itinerary record in her hand.

“Yes, that’s right. Yunlian Port.”

“Is this the scheduled route provided by their shipping company?”

Chu Menghan nodded.

“In this family massacre case, the biggest beneficiary is Liu Handong. I had someone make a rough estimate. The Zhang family owns four properties, plus all their savings and securities. The total value is enormous. Such a coincidental time and distance…”

Captain Liu glanced at Zhou Hai and handed him his phone map.

From Yunlian Port to Dongnan City, the total distance was about 252.7 kilometers. If someone was familiar with the roads, it would only take around three hours to drive home. There would still have been plenty of time to commit the murders.

But the child didn’t make sense…

Zhou Hai suddenly looked up.

As a man, what was the one thing he absolutely could not tolerate?

Could it be… the child wasn’t his?

“We can bring him back for comparison testing. Compare his DNA with the boy’s DNA. If they are not father and son, Liu Handong immediately becomes a prime suspect. Also, we found a ring-shaped bite mark on Zhang Junya’s outer ear. Two spots were deep enough to draw blood. The shape of the incisors has already been cast, and we extracted DNA as well. In addition, swabs were taken from the lips and cheeks of the remaining five victims. We found another DNA sample, though no match appeared in the database. But we can still use it for direct comparison.”

Captain Liu could no longer suppress his grin and slapped Zhou Hai on the shoulder.

“With evidence like this, why didn’t you say something earlier?”

The scalpel handle flipping between Zhou Hai’s fingers stopped. He glanced sideways at Captain Liu and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“I just wanted to see how capable Criminal Investigation was.”

Captain Liu laughed even harder.

It was rare for Zhou Hai to crack a joke.

He gave Zhou Hai and Chu Menghan a meaningful look before turning to discuss matters with Director Song. After a brief exchange, Director Song made the decision.

“Contact the shipping company. Have everyone remain where they are and do not alert Liu Handong. Chu Menghan, take your team and bring him in.”

Chu Menghan stood at attention and saluted.

“Yes, sir! But… there’s still the report from the third team.”

Zhou Hai raised an eyebrow as he watched the slightly agitated Chu Menghan. His mood was surprisingly good.

Last time, she had dragged him all over Dongnan City in the middle of the night. Seeing her anxious now finally felt like payback.

“Then hurry up and report.”

Chu Menghan shot Zhou Hai a vicious glare.

Was this man deliberately withholding his conclusions?

Despicable!

She had just praised him moments ago.

“The third team delivered the jeweled gold hairpin that Technician Xu sent over to the Dongnan City Museum for Elder Wen to examine. He recognized it immediately. It’s a gold-inlaid pearl and gemstone double-butterfly peach-bat patterned hairpin.

An antique from the imperial palace.

I asked Elder Wen how he remembered it so clearly. He said he had seen this item ten years ago, when a vice president surnamed Zhang from Dongnan University brought it to him.

But back then, what he brought was a full set of eight hair ornaments.

They were stored in two exquisite rosewood boxes. Elder Wen said the boxes themselves were also antiques from the late Qing Dynasty. Calling it ‘buying the box and returning the pearl’ wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.

This is the inventory list Elder Wen provided. Fortunately, he records every appraisal he performs.

Vice President Zhang said these items had been passed down through the Zhang family for generations and were discovered in the cellar of their ancestral home during renovations.

I asked Elder Wen how much the jewelry was worth now.

He said… priceless.”

Everyone sucked in a cold breath.

Who would have guessed that the Zhang family’s most valuable possessions were these antiques?

As she spoke, Chu Menghan handed over a printed A4 sheet.

One pair of gold-inlaid pearl and gemstone double-butterfly peach-bat patterned hairpins.

One pair of gold-plated pearl kingfisher feather floral ornaments.

One pair of eastern pearl step-shaking hairpins.

One pair of triple-row pearl earrings.

“Could these be the missing items from the master bedroom drawer?”

After hearing Zhou Hai’s words, Director Song pondered briefly.

“Xiao Chu, take Criminal Investigation Team Three to Yunlian Port. You must bring Liu Handong back. Xiao Hu, take Team One. Xiao Zeng, take Team Two. Bring in the five people on that list for DNA screening. Alright, move out.”

Zhou Hai and the others from Team Two also stood up.

Truthfully, he really wanted to follow along and watch—after all, Fang Qing was on the list.

Captain Liu immediately grabbed Zhou Hai.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Go along and…take a look…”

Captain Liu’s face darkened.

“Take a look at what? You people hurry up and get some sleep. Once they’re brought back this afternoon and the statements are taken, they’ll come over for DNA testing.”

Zhou Hai nodded helplessly.

After walking a few steps, Captain Liu suddenly turned back.

“But how did Tong Xinwei know about the hairpin?”

Zhou Hai sighed. Before he could answer, Xu Biao had already leaned in.

“They say wealth shouldn’t be flaunted. Show it off, and disaster follows. Even a live-in son-in-law with such an awkward status knew where those valuable items were kept. That naturally breeds envy and greed. No matter how scholarly a person is, it’s hard to resist the temptation of money.”

Captain Liu followed Zhou Hai back to the office.

“Tell me about Tong Xinwei’s condition when he died.”

Zhou Hai pointed at the glass whiteboard that had been moved back into place.

“Tong Xinwei died at the intersection between the staircase and the kitchen. Right beside Zhang Junming’s body. When he collapsed, his head was facing the entrance hall. He had such valuable items hidden in his pocket. Most likely, he stole them from upstairs and had just come down when the murderer—who had already finished killing everyone—discovered him. After all, we also found his fingerprints in multiple places inside the master bedroom. It was obvious he had searched through the room.”

“Then if we follow your theory that there were two killers…what was the relationship between them?”

“No relationship. All under heaven bustle for profit; all under heaven hustle for gain. If there was any connection at all, it would only be shared interests. Revenge… and money.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes. Revenge. But all our current analysis lacks concrete evidence. We should wait and see the interrogation results first.”

Captain Liu nodded.

“Fine. Go get some sleep. Xu Biao, supervise him.”

The moment Xu Biao heard that, he immediately snapped into a salute.

“Yes, sir!”

Captain Liu had already turned and left.

Since Chu Menghan had gone to Yunlian Port, Captain Liu had to remain stationed at Changhe Branch.

Throughout the day, the five suspects who had once been romantically involved with Zhang Junya were brought in one after another for questioning. Investigators also looked into Tong Xinwei, since his death had been the most gruesome.

But the five men’s evaluations of Zhang Junya differed drastically.

Her personality, behavior, and habits described by each person had almost nothing in common.

The officers conducting the interviews became completely bewildered. At one point, they even suspected the men were talking about entirely different women.

To compare notes, Captain Liu later found several of Zhang Junya’s colleagues and friends.

Everyone described her differently, but there was one unanimous opinion:

Zhang Junya was emotionally unpredictable.

One second she would be cheerful and happy, and the next she would suddenly turn hostile.

Because of that, her relationships with several boyfriends were constantly breaking up and reconciling.

Still, afterward, Zhang Junya would always sincerely apologize.

A beautiful young woman from such a wealthy family naturally received more tolerance and indulgence from those around her.

By noon, Captain Liu felt like he was on the verge of collapse from listening to it all.

Finally, at one in the afternoon, Captain Liu had Zhou Hai and Xu Biao head over to Changhe Branch to watch the interview recordings.

Afterward, Zhou Hai turned to look at Captain Liu.

“If none of them are lying, then Zhang Junya probably had dissociative identities. Based on their descriptions, she seemed to have three distinct personalities.”

Captain Liu suddenly understood.

“Like Timmy in 《Identity》?”