Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 158 The Hand of God 11
Jinxiu Jiayuan residential community is located in the old town area of ​​Beimen. It consists of old walk-up buildings, with the highest floor being no more than five stories. Because there are several primary and secondary schools nearby, most of the residents here are families with children who bring their kids to school.

The murder occurred in room number 8 on the fifth floor of unit 2.

Tan Jia arrived at the residential area with the criminal investigation team and immediately noticed the problem upon getting out of the car.

"Another fire?" Tan Jia asked in surprise.

Although it wasn't as fierce as the fire Huang Yilin set off the night before last, and the affected area wasn't large, a window on the fifth floor was blackened by smoke, and people downstairs were pointing at it and speculating about what had happened.

Zheng Yan pinched the bridge of his nose and said in a deep voice, "A different kind of fire."

Once they got upstairs, they realized why things were different.

In the three-bedroom, one-living-room house, only the room furthest from the kitchen was burned the most. When the charred door was pushed open, the deceased's head was found stuck between the window bars, and the skin and flesh below the neck were burned open.

It appears she tried to escape but failed, and ultimately burned alive. Her death was quite different from Zou Yuxuan's.

The posture was rather frightening; I kept feeling like that head might suddenly turn around.

Forensic pathologist Lao Li was already conducting a preliminary examination, straining to lean his head against the guardrail, peering at the deceased's head with his eyes slanted, and using a tool to slightly pry open the deceased's mouth.

"How's it going, Lao Li?" Zheng Yan asked.

"The deceased was a young man with extensive burns on his limbs and minor head damage. The preliminary assessment is that he died of asphyxiation caused by inhaling a large amount of hot, dense smoke." Old Li carefully collected some samples and pointed to the open window.

"The window was probably opened by the deceased himself, perhaps to breathe or call for help. But this action only added fuel to the fire at the time. In a closed room, a fire can be controlled and will gradually subside as oxygen runs out. But once the window is opened, air rushes in, and the fire can instantly grow several times larger."

Tan Jia, observing from the side, asked, "His head was sticking out of the window. Although the safety railing blocked his head, he could still breathe fresh air. Why did he eventually die of suffocation?"

Old Li gestured for her to look at the corpse's limbs: "His climbing movements weren't obvious. When his head got stuck, it tilted slightly backward. It didn't look like he was struggling to squeeze it out; it was more like he was out of strength and could only rely on his survival instinct to wedge his head into the gap. He must have inhaled a lot of smoke before opening the window, and his burns were already very severe. Look, the patch of scalp that touched the guardrail..."

She actually went closer to look at her scalp, frowning as she found the smell unbearable in the high temperature.

"But that's strange. The fire started, didn't he know to open the door and run out? Why did he insist on squeezing through the fence where there was no way out? Before the fire was extinguished, it had only reached the living room, and the fire wasn't too big then. He had every chance to escape."

Unless the room door couldn't be opened at the time.

Zheng Yan went back to check the door and found no signs of damage other than burn marks, indicating that the rescuers did not force their way in to put out the fire.

He waved to the police officers who had arrived at the scene first and asked, "I didn't see any fire trucks downstairs. Who were the people putting out the fire?"

“It was some neighbors. According to them, someone from the seventh unit across the street was passing by this building on his way to work when he suddenly heard crackling sounds and discovered that there was a fire. He ran up to knock on the door to rescue the person, but no one was home at the time, so he called a group of neighbors to help.”

"Was the deceased already dead when they entered?"

"Yes, but they were delayed outside the door for a long time and couldn't open the iron security door. In the end, someone had to call the deceased's family back to open the door and put out the fire by pouring buckets of water on it."

So the scene was a complete mess.

The helpful neighbors have gradually left, leaving only the deceased's family members, an old man, who collapsed to the ground, crying so hard he could barely breathe.

Zheng Yan's gaze swept across the old man's face, and he asked again, "Was the door locked when the people who were helping came into this room?"

The police did ask, "No. According to the neighbors, the doorknob opens with a simple turn."

That's even stranger. "The door wasn't locked, so why didn't the deceased open it to escape?" Tan Jia was surprised again.

Judging from how desperately he tried to stick his head out of the window, he didn't seem like someone who had lost all interest in life and wanted to commit suicide. If he wasn't trying to commit suicide, and the door was open normally, why didn't he run outside?

Xiao Chen had a suspicion: "Is there something wrong with the deceased?"

For example, low IQ or mental illness.

Police officer: "We haven't been able to get any information out of them yet. When we arrived, most people had already left for work. The deceased's father was crying so hard he almost fainted, so we couldn't ask him anything properly. However, a neighbor said they had contacted the deceased's older brother, who is on his way."

"Father?" Xiao Chen glanced at the old man again. "Seventy years old, right? Is he really the deceased's father?"

Not Grandpa?

Police officer: "It is the father, that's what the old man said, and the neighbors also said that they are father and son, but they don't know the exact age."

We'll have to wait until the deceased's older brother arrives to find out.

“You just said that most of the neighbors who helped were at work? It’s definitely work time at this hour,” Tan Jia glanced at the time. “Was the deceased alone at home when the fire broke out? His father was so old, he shouldn’t be at work, right? Where was he at the time?”

This was explained by a neighbor who stayed behind: "Most of the people living in this house are Grandpa Li and Little Li. Grandpa Li goes out for a walk and buys groceries every morning. He goes to the market with my mom and the others to pick out the freshest produce, and then walks around the North Square before coming back."

"What a coincidence, the house caught fire almost as soon as he left?" Tan Jia pondered.

Zheng Yan: "The key question is, how did the fire start?"

The exact point of origin of the fire was not visible at the scene. The front door of the house was locked. This was on the fifth floor, and the inside of the house was essentially a crudely constructed enclosed room. It was unlikely that someone would sneak in and deliberately set the fire.

Could it be that the deceased accidentally started the fire? Or was it just an accident?
Or does the murderer have a key to this house?

Zheng Yan thought for a moment, then arranged for someone to check the surveillance footage and have someone visit the entire community.

Tan Jia didn't want to watch the surveillance footage anymore, so she stayed at the scene and searched the room for traces with the forensic team.

Old Li was leading his apprentice to saw through the guardrail and carry the body out when they ran into another family member who was rushing over.

The other person was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a refined appearance and wearing silver-rimmed glasses. He looked like someone who worked in education.

He trembled as he saw the gruesome corpse.

"Xiao Xin..."

Upon hearing his voice, the old man Li, who was wailing inside, immediately burst into tears again, crying out, "Shixun! Shixun, something has happened to your brother! I only glanced at him for a second and failed to keep an eye on him!"

Li Shixun stared at the room, which was completely destroyed by fire. His body was still trembling, and he muttered, "How could this be, how could this be..."

Upon seeing his father, he asked urgently, "What happened? How could you let him play with fire in the house!"

Something was definitely wrong with those words, so Tan Ming went up to ask and received a message—

The deceased did indeed have mental health issues. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder because he witnessed a fire as a child. He would scream and shout whenever he saw fire and could not control his behavior.

(End of this chapter)