At that moment, a knock sounded at the door of the interrogation room.
“Come in!”
As soon as Lin Chengfeng finished speaking, a forensic pathologist in his sixties pushed the door open and walked in, holding a document.
“Xiao Lin, this is the autopsy report for the deceased.”
Lin Chengfeng stood up with a smile, taking the autopsy report as he replied, “Thank you, Elder Zhou!”
Zhou Zhengrong waved his hand dismissively. “The deceased, Yu Hua, died around 11:30 a.m. His clothes were covered in thick dust, but there were no signs of other people’s fingerprints, tearing, or struggle. The frontal bone suffered a severe impact, resulting in a fractured skull, cranial fracture, cerebral contusion, broken nose bridge, and so on. The specific cause of death was coma due to the intense impact, leading to fatal blood loss.”
“So, there are no signs of human involvement? He died accidentally from a fall?”
Zhou Zhengrong nodded in response. “That’s correct, based on the current findings.”
At that moment, Ye Xuan quickly raised his hand to interrupt their conversation. “Wait!”
Both of them turned their gaze toward Ye Xuan simultaneously.
Ye Xuan looked at the autopsy report and asked, “Officer Lin, could you let me take a look at the autopsy report?”
Lin Chengfeng frowned and instinctively glanced at Zhou Zhengrong.
Seeing Zhou Zhengrong nod in agreement, Lin Chengfeng handed the autopsy report to Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan quickly took it and carefully flipped through the pages, his brow gradually furrowing. “There’s no soft tissue contusion or joint sprain in his lower limbs?”
Zhou Zhengrong gave Ye Xuan a surprised look before finally nodding. “That’s right.”
Lin Chengfeng asked in confusion, “What does that indicate?”
Ye Xuan slowly explained, “When a normal person goes downstairs, even if they’re in a hurry, their ankles are bound to twist if they fall. But the deceased’s feet show no injuries at all, not even on his knees.”
Hearing this, Zhou Zhengrong immediately became intrigued and narrowed his eyes. “What if he slipped while going downstairs due to excessive force, losing control of his body and flying down the stairs?”
“That’s also impossible. I often visit that neighborhood. The stairwell is about four to five meters high and equally long. The floor of the stairwell is made of poured concrete, not tiled. Concrete has excellent anti-slip properties. Unless he was wearing slippers, and they were wet, there’s no way he could have slipped. Yet, the autopsy report says he was wearing sneakers.”
Then, Ye Xuan spoke again. “Even if he did slip, when a person’s feet are off the ground and their body leans forward, they couldn’t fly that far—at most, maybe one meter.”
After hearing Ye Xuan’s explanation, both Lin Chengfeng and Zhou Zhengrong felt that his reasoning made sense.
Lin Chengfeng looked at Ye Xuan with puzzlement. “How do you know so much about this?”
A slight smile curled at the corner of Ye Xuan’s mouth as he replied with a hint of pride, “I was too bored in college, so I flipped through a few books on medicine, law, and psychology.”
Lin Chengfeng and Zhou Zhengrong exchanged a look of surprise.
“So, what are you suggesting?”
After a moment of thought, Ye Xuan stated firmly, “He must have had contact with someone while going downstairs, or… he was pushed down!”
Lin Chengfeng and Zhou Zhengrong exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.
Lin Chengfeng immediately stood up and walked to the door, addressing the officer outside: “Investigate the social circle of the deceased Yu Hua again right away. See if he had any conflicts with anyone.”
“Yes!”
Zhou Zhengrong looked at Ye Xuan with a smile and said, “Kid, you’ve got some skills.”
Faced with Zhou Zhengrong’s praise, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but rub his nose, looking rather awkward.
If it had been Lin Chengfeng praising him, Ye Xuan might have lifted his head a little with a hint of pride.
But with Zhou Zhengrong’s praise, Ye Xuan felt he couldn’t muster any pride at all. For some reason, a trace of guilt even surfaced in his heart.
At that moment, Lin Chengfeng walked over and said to Zhou Zhengrong, “Elder Zhou, I plan to go to the crime scene again.”
Seeing this, Ye Xuan immediately spoke up, “Officer Lin, what about me? Can I go back now?”
Lin Chengfeng shook his head seriously and said, “No, you’re the primary suspect, and you don’t have an alibi. You’ll need to continue cooperating with the investigation.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan looked helpless.
He was starting to feel claustrophobic in this small room.
Then Ye Xuan spoke up again, “Officer Lin, since I can’t go back, can I go with you to the crime scene to take a look?”
Just as Lin Chengfeng was about to refuse, Zhou Zhengrong spoke first, “Yes.”
Lin Chengfeng looked at Zhou Zhengrong with confusion, his eyes filled with incomprehension.
Hearing Zhou Zhengrong’s response, Ye Xuan immediately stood up eagerly.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go, time waits for no one!”
Seeing that Zhou Zhengrong had spoken, Lin Chengfeng had no choice but to take Ye Xuan along.
Lin Chengfeng led Ye Xuan into the police station lobby and pointed at Wu Zhen, who was standing dazedly at the entrance, saying, “That’s the deceased’s wife, Wu Zhen.”
“She’s been crying for hours, and her eyes are still swollen. Her husband is dead, and they have no children. Now she’s truly a widow. No one could bear such a blow.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan immediately stopped and observed carefully.
Wu Zhen turned her head and saw Lin Chengfeng and Ye Xuan, then slowly walked over.
With red eyes, Wu Zhen asked, “Officer, how is the investigation into my husband’s case going?”
Lin Chengfeng comforted her, “Ms. Wu, please accept our condolences. Your husband’s cause of death is somewhat suspicious, and we’re still investigating. Please give us a little more time.”
Wu Zhen immediately nodded, her voice slightly hoarse as she said, “Thank you, Officer. Please, you must seek justice for my husband!”
Lin Chengfeng nodded firmly in response, “Ms. Wu, rest assured, we will definitely get to the bottom of this!”
Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow, as if he had noticed something subtle.
At the entrance of the police station.
“Captain Lin!”
The detectives were already waiting at the entrance for Lin Chengfeng.
Lin Chengfeng nodded to everyone and said, “Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Everyone nodded in unison, then looked at Ye Xuan beside Lin Chengfeng with puzzled expressions.
However, they didn’t ask any questions and strode toward the police cars.
“Brother Zhao, is Captain Lin taking the suspect to the crime scene?” Wu Gang asked Zhao Zongfei curiously.
“I don’t know either,” Zhao Zongfei shook his head, equally puzzled.
Beside Wu Gang, Xu Guanglei looked at Lin Chengfeng, then at Ye Xuan, and pondered, “Maybe Captain Lin wants to take the suspect to the scene to verify the details?”
At that moment, Li Xiaoran slipped into the driver’s seat and said, “Alright, stop guessing. Taking the suspect to the scene is perfectly normal.”
Seeing this, Xu Guanglei instantly wore a panicked expression. “You still dare to drive? Last time we rode with you to catch a thief, you drove like you were flying a plane—you nearly totaled the police car, and we got chewed out by Captain Lin. And you still dare to drive?”
Li Xiaoran patted her chest calmly, brimming with confidence. “Don’t worry, this time we’re just revisiting the scene, not chasing down a suspect. I’ll drive slowly.”
Xu Guanglei swallowed nervously, quickly grabbing the handle on the window, then turned a pleading gaze toward Zhao Zongfei.
Feeling Xu Guanglei’s stare, Zhao Zongfei spread his hands and shook his head helplessly.