novelslam Chapter 50 News of the Gun
Chapter 50 News of the Gun
"Hmm, that's good!" Cao Dahua's eyes showed a hint of surprise. "I didn't teach you this, did I? Who taught you? Old Xu?"
"You didn't teach him?" Xu Bin looked at Cao Dahua in surprise. "I didn't teach him either!"
"I interned at a police station for a few months during my senior year of college. An older policeman told me this."
Wu Song started making things up on the spot.
Anyway, they won't go to the policeman to exchange statements.
"Oh." Liu Shutong nodded thoughtfully. "You've gained more useful knowledge. Song-ge, what else can you do? Can I ask you for some pointers sometime?"
"I wouldn't dare take Captain Xu's job!" Wu Song shook his head. "Take it slow. The more cases you see, the more you'll naturally learn. Most of the time, this kind of thing is a matter of experience."
How did you develop your experience in catching murderers?
"..." Wu Song paused for two seconds, "...probably a minority outside the majority, perhaps, what we call talent?"
"Xiao Song, what else did you figure out?" Xu Bin asked.
"This killer's marksmanship wasn't very good," Wu Song recalled with a start. "When he killed the male victim, the bullet entered through his forehead, which seemed quite accurate, but the problem is that the two of them were extremely close. The bullet hole in the female victim's forehead was a bit off, but the two of them were only about two or three meters apart. It doesn't seem like the skill of an experienced gunman."
"What else?"
"We can't completely rule out the possibility that it was an inside job. After all, my earlier speculation about the male victim opening the door was just a deduction, and it's possible that the perpetrator was someone the victim knew."
"Hmm!" Xu Bin turned to the forensic doctor, Liu. "The time of death?"
"Your people's judgment is correct; it should be around five hours. The two victims died at roughly the same time."
"Okay!" Xu Bin took a deep breath. "Old Cao, you and Wu Song visit the neighbors next door and the two floors above and below. Also, after their sons come back, you two visit their relatives and friends as well."
In most cases, the perpetrators have a reason for committing the crime.
Many of these cases were committed by acquaintances.
Considering that this case doesn't seem like the work of a seasoned thief.
The theft of valuables may have been a pretext; the real purpose was likely murder.
In this case, there must be a social relationship between the murderer and the victim.
Xu Bin decided to send Wu Song to investigate the other party's circle of relatives to see if they could preliminarily rule out the possibility that the crime was committed by an acquaintance.
"Okay!" Wu Song and Cao Dahua immediately agreed.
"Jiang Yang, you and Xiao Wu go and visit all the security guards, cleaners, and property management staff in this community to see if they have seen any suspicious people around 7:40 in the morning, and especially whether any staff members have left in the past month."
"clear."
The four men left the crime scene after receiving orders.
Wu Song and Cao Dahua went straight to the door across the hall and rang the doorbell.
"Ring ring ring".
Just a dozen seconds after pressing the button, the door opened.
Across from me was a middle-aged woman. She glanced back at the crime scene with lingering fear. "Officer, the Gao family are good people! You must catch the murderer."
"Do you know the deceased?"
"We live across the hall from each other, and my child is a freshman in high school this year. During the winter break at the beginning of the year, Gao Feng from their family tutored my child a lot, and wow, he helped my child improve by several tens of points," the middle-aged woman said.
"Where were you at 7:40 in the morning? What were you doing?" Wu Song asked.
"It's 7:40. My son left at 7:30. After I finished eating, I went to wash the dishes while I was washing them, and I was watching the morning news on TV."
Did you hear any gunshots?
"Gunshots?"
"Two gunshots rang out, not far apart."
"Was that a gunshot?" The middle-aged woman's eyes widened suddenly. "Now that you mention it, I remember. Yes, there were two shots while I was washing the dishes. But the New Year is just a month or two away, so I thought it was some kid playing with firecrackers."
Sigh, look at my alertness! If I had realized it was a gunshot and called the police immediately, maybe we would have caught the bad guys!
The main problem is that we didn't even consider that possibility!
"It's alright, it's not your fault!" Cao Dahua said reassuringly. "Do you know which neighbors or friends the old couple had conflicts with?"
"No, they are both very amiable in their interactions with others, and I have never heard of them arguing with anyone."
"Okay, contact this number if you have any other leads."
"No problem, helping the police solve cases is what I should do."
……
in the afternoon.
Office of the Third Major Crimes Squad.
Everyone held a case analysis meeting.
"Two neighbors heard the gunshots around 7:40 a.m., so Wu Song's assessment should be correct. Also, the two victims had a very harmonious relationship with their neighbors, and we haven't found any conflicts between them and their neighbors yet. Furthermore, the two deceased had a son and a daughter, both of whom lived in other provinces. The son is expected to be back around 10 p.m.," Cao Dahua reported to Wu Song on their investigation results.
"The security guards and cleaners said that there are still many tenants in the Shulin Shijia community, all of whom are there so that their children can attend the No. 3 Middle School. The time before 8 o'clock is the busiest time of day, and they did not see any unusual people coming or going, especially those wearing baseball caps and masks to cover their faces. As for the security guards, because the wages in this community are quite high, no one has resigned in the past three months," Jiang Yang reported.
"The forensic investigators found what appears to be the perpetrator's bloody footprints at the scene." Xu Bin picked up a photo and turned it towards everyone. "Based on the forensic investigators' assessment and the forensic doctor's measurement of the bullet's angle of impact, the perpetrator is about 1.6 meters tall, male, and should be around 40 or 50 years old. That's basically it."
In addition, two spent cartridge cases were found at the scene. They were 7.62x25mm pistol cartridges, which were the same as those found in the gun that Xia Yusheng lost.
Of course, to determine whether it is a gun or not, we need to take the two shell casings and the shell casings left at the scene of the 95 armored truck robbery and murder case for ballistic testing. As we all know, the testing center is slow, and it will take at least a week to complete the test.
But we can't just wait around. Old Ma, I'm leaving it to you and the clerk. Let's continue the investigation that Old Cao and Wu Song were conducting.
"Old Cao, you should go through the victim's social relationships."
"clear!"
End of the meeting.
Considering the deceased, especially her husband who had only retired a year ago, Wu Song and Cao Dahua first went through their former colleagues in the afternoon.
No information was found.
As they walked out of the school where the deceased worked, it was already evening. They needed to talk to the deceased's son to find out what had happened, so they decided they wouldn't be able to sleep early tonight. They found a restaurant nearby and ate there.
Halfway through the meal, Cao Dahua's pager went off.
Cao Dahua's eyes widened as soon as he picked it up and glanced at it.
"What's wrong?"
"Look." Cao Dahua turned the pager over.
There was a line of text written on it.
"Officer Cao, I have a clue about the gun you're looking for."
A short while later, another message arrived, this time a string of numbers.
"It looks like a phone number," Wu Song said. "Master, call it back right away."