I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 127 Focuses on the Investigation of Pan Xia
10 PM.

Lu Zhanpeng was taken from the detention room to the interrogation room. The procedures were complete, and he could leave immediately.

Pan Xia also arrived; the First Squadron had previously notified her to come and pick them up.

Pan Xia breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that her son would not go to jail. Thankfully, nothing had happened; her son hadn't committed murder or gone to jail, and everything was back to normal.

"Go back and pack your things quickly to get away from him. Or you can come back to our hometown with me," Pan Xia said to Lü Zhanpeng.

Lü Zhanpeng shook his head: "It's not easy to find a good job in Qingchang. I'll just move to a different place. I won't contact him anymore."

Pan Xia didn't say much: "Okay."

He knew his son was ambitious, disliked the poverty of his hometown, and hoped to make a name for himself in a big city.

"Just sign it and you can go." Fang Zhou placed the document in front of Lü Zhanpeng, not forgetting to educate him, "Murder is a serious crime. Once it is committed, your life will be ruined. You will ruin yourself and your parents. You must never have the thought of harming others in the future."

Lü Zhanpeng nodded slightly: "I understand."

The mother and child left.

Han Ling and Tong Feng organized and archived the data. After that, they could leave work. Ten o'clock wasn't too late, and they might be able to have a late-night snack.

"It's been a while since I've had seafood, wanna go?" Tong Feng asked.

Han Ling had no objection this time: "Where should we eat?"

Tong Feng: "The usual place, right? We locals eat Qingchang seafood, don't we know where to go? Today I'll get you a king crab."

Han Ling shook his head: "That place's king crab is so-so, how about bread crab, stir-fried bread crab?"

Tong Feng smiled and said, "I'll listen to you."

Half an hour later, the two walked out of the branch office building and were about to get into the car when hurried footsteps came from the main entrance of the building.

Turning around, I saw Hu Lihui and Fang Zhou leading the way, both with very serious expressions, clearly indicating that something major had happened.

"Han Ling! Tong Feng! Return to the team at Ping An Garden!"

Du Juncai is dead!

"Team Leader Ji will be here soon!"

Tong Feng: "???"

Han Ling was surprised and thought a lot in a second. Could this have been done by Lü Zhanpeng?

The distance was very short, and the criminal investigation team arrived at the scene of the crime in just a few minutes. By then, the patrol officers from the local police station had already arrived, and a cordon had been set up. A small number of residents from nearby communities were watching.

Han Ling glanced around and saw that Pan Xia and Lü Zhanpeng were there; they must be the ones who called the police.

The two were probably frightened, sitting on the stone edge with blank and confused expressions.

Facial expressions are for reference only. If someone is capable of murder, they are generally a good actor.

In his past life, he heard about a case where a husband dismembered his wife, flushed the body down the toilet, and then reported her missing to the police. His acting was phenomenal from beginning to end; it would be a shame if he didn't go into acting.

Police eventually drained the septic tank and found the victim's body tissue.

Hu Lihui led his men into the building quickly. He glanced at the mother and child as they passed by, but ignored them. Their priority was to ascertain the situation at the crime scene.

Upon reaching the entrance, everyone put on shoe covers and gloves.

Du Juncai lay on the living room floor, his body curled up like a shrimp, his face pale and red, foaming at the mouth. He had clearly died from poisoning, and the symptoms matched those of cyanide poisoning.

The water glass was on the coffee table. Han Ling knew it belonged to Du Juncai, so he picked it up and smelled it.

On the other side, Chief Forensic Doctor Jiang Haichuan, after a preliminary examination of the body, said: "Cyanide poisoning."

Upon confirming that the cause of death was cyanide, Hu Lihui frowned and immediately thought of Lü Zhanpeng.

"When did he die?" Hu Lihui asked.

After observing briefly, Jiang Haichuan gave a rough estimate: "About four hours. For a more precise estimate, we'll need to go back to the branch office for a full autopsy."

four hours.

Let alone four hours, Lu Zhanpeng was still at the branch office an hour ago.

"Was the poison added beforehand?"

Hearing Hu Lihui's mutterings, Han Ling said, "Captain Hu, when we came here to search this morning, we encountered Du Juncai on his way home from get off work. I was walking at the very back and I saw him fill a cup with water and drink a lot of it. There was definitely no poison in the water at that time."

Upon hearing this, Hu Lihui said, "In other words, Lü Zhanpeng did not have the time to commit the crime."

Han Ling: "Absolutely not. He couldn't possibly have had the opportunity to poison Du Juncai, but... Pan Xia did."

Pan Xia left in the morning, giving her a whole day to commit the crime.

"Pan Xia?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Yes, theoretically Pan Xia did have time to commit the crime, but the fact that she brought her son to the police station to turn herself in, and then went back to her rented room to poison him... sounds a bit bizarre.

"A coordinated murder?" Fang Zhou spoke. "First, completely clear Lü Zhanpeng of suspicion, and then do it yourself? That seems a bit redundant. And where did the cyanide come from? Did Lü Zhanpeng give it to you? Would he let his mother do something like that?"

Hu Lihui waved his hand: "Stop guessing. Leave the scene to the forensic doctor and trace evidence examiner. Fang Zhou, go and talk to the mother and son. Whatever the result, bring them all back tonight!"

Ark: "Yes!"

Du Juncai's poisoning process and Lü Zhanpeng's murder plan were highly consistent, so the criminal police would definitely make them their first targets for investigation.

Han Ling and Tong Feng followed them away. The latter whispered, "Han Ling, what are this mother and son up to? If it really was Pan Xia, what's the difference between killing someone outright and killing someone after turning yourself in?"

Han Ling: "Of course there is a difference. Lü Zhanpeng is 100% not the murderer."

Tong Feng: "One hundred percent?"

Han Ling: "Lü Zhanpeng has been at the branch office the whole time. There's no way to determine if he's the murderer, including... some abnormal interrogation methods. This case has been determined from the beginning that Lü Zhanpeng couldn't be the murderer; even suspicion has been dropped. As for cooperation or knowledge, that's very vague. Do you think Pan Xia would betray her son?"
The bond between mother and child is the strongest contractual relationship.

Why is it that when you're going down a deep well, your mother is the most reassuring presence above you? Because a mother's protection is the most reliable and enduring, something that a wife and children cannot match.

Tong Feng: "Uh, you've brought up such a high-level topic that you suspect Pan Xia."

Han Ling: "Our first reaction would definitely be Pan Xia."

The two chatted as they walked out of the building and stood in front of Pan Xia.

Hu Lihui first inquired about the police report.

"I...I brought Zhanpeng back to pack my things, and when I opened the door I saw Du Juncai lying there..." Pan Xia was speaking, and the process of discovering the body was very simple.

Hu Lihui: "Where did you go after you left the branch office this morning?"

Pan Xia: "I went to book a hotel. Didn't you say I could stay in a hotel temporarily?"

Hu Lihui: "Which hotel?"

Pan Xia pointed: "It's not far from the exit of the residential area, it's called... Chensu Hotel."

Hu Lihui: "You spent the whole day in the hotel?"

Pan Xia: "I went out for lunch and dinner in the afternoon, and spent the rest of the time at the hotel."

I've only been to Qingchang a few times; I'll get lost if I wander around aimlessly.

Hu Lihui: "Tell me where we'd like to eat."

Record the information carefully. The First Squadron will investigate and verify it tomorrow. It's too late today, and the gates are already closed.

Ji Bowei arrived twenty minutes later, and Hu Lihui went over to report the situation to him.

In the morning, Pan Xia and her son turned themselves in to the branch office. Lü Zhanpeng was suspected of preparing a crime, but the matter was not serious. Lü Zhanpeng was detained, while Pan Xia was released.

At noon, Fang Zhou and his group searched the rented house. During this time, Du Jun returned, drank water from the water dispenser, and showed no abnormalities.

Around 6 p.m., Du Juncai returned home from get off work and died from poisoning.

At 10 p.m., Pan Xia and her son left the police station and returned to their rented room, where they discovered Du Juncai's body and called the police.

After listening to Hu Lihui's words, Ji Bowei looked at Pan Xia not far away and said, "Focus on investigating this woman and verify her whereabouts today."

Hu Lihui nodded: "I know, there are surveillance cameras at the entrance of the community. If she came here, they would definitely have filmed it."

Ji Bowei: "What did Lü Zhanpeng's company say? Was there any loss of cyanide?"

If Pan Xia was indeed the one who poisoned him, then the cyanide most likely came from her son, Lü Zhanpeng. As an ordinary woman from a county in another province, it would be almost impossible for her to have access to cyanide.

Hu Lihui: "It's hard to say now. Even if it's lost, the company's management won't admit it today."

But now that a murder has actually occurred, I feel I need to go again to inform the other party of the consequences of lying.

Ji Bowei: "Well, let's conduct an on-site investigation first. We should interview as many residents as possible in the community to see if anyone has seen Pan Xia today."

Everyone shared the same goal: to focus their suspicions on Pan Xia.

If Pan Xia lies about her whereabouts, it's almost certain that she's the one who poisoned her.

As for the motives, plans, and whether Lü Zhanpeng was aware of them, that's a matter for later and can be found out through interrogation; there's no need to speculate now.

Upstairs, the forensic team carefully examined the door lock, and everything was normal, ruling out the possibility of tampering. The person who poisoned the room most likely opened the door with a key.

Everyone who has a key is here. Excluding the deceased Du Juncai, Lü Zhanpeng has a key, and Pan Xia probably does too.

As for the others, we'll have to wait until we finish investigating Pan Xia before we can talk about them, such as Du Juncai's girlfriend.

All the detectives from the First Squadron and the police officers from the local police station joined the door-to-door investigation. The purpose of the investigation was twofold: first, to find out if Pan Xia had been seen in the community today; and second, to find out if any strangers had entered or left the building.

It's hard to ask strangers when they come and go because there are too many outside tenants in Ping An Garden. Today your neighbor is a woman, tomorrow your neighbor may be a man. There is a lot of turnover, but you should still ask.

Pan Xia is currently a prime suspect, but other possibilities cannot be ruled out. After all, surrendering before committing murder is a rather provocative move, even bordering on taunting the police.

I first told you I was going to kill someone, and then I actually did it.

At this moment, Fang Zhou and other police officers who were in charge of the case during the day felt very awkward.

"Call the property management and ask them to come over even after they've finished get off work. Go through the surveillance footage again," Hu Lihui was still giving instructions.

The surveillance footage at the community gate is key. The time frame can be shortened to a few hours, from when Du Jun left home for work in the afternoon until his death at six o'clock. It can be watched very quickly at double speed.

Furthermore, there are surveillance cameras directly facing this unit. There are four units in total, and the cameras not far away can capture them all, which is the most direct view.

"Officer, this surveillance camera... is broken."

Some members of the public saw Hu Lihui observing the surveillance camera and mustered up the courage to remind him.

"Something's wrong?" Hu Lihui looked over. "How did you know?"

The other party replied, "My daughter's scooter went missing a while ago. I went to check the security camera footage, and the property management said it was broken and they were repairing it. It's been almost two months, and it's still not fixed. They just take money and do nothing."

His tone conveyed strong dissatisfaction with the property management company.

"Oh... thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

Hu Lihui looked up at the surveillance camera facing the unit and noticed that the infrared light was off, while the infrared lights of other cameras were on to make the image clear in the dark.

What a coincidence?

The community's service management is indeed very poor. It's not surprising that broken cameras have been left unrepaired for a long time, which makes the police investigation more difficult.

(End of this chapter)