Chapter 50

Chapter 50

The Grand Cherokee is moving at a high speed on the empty highway.  They pass by fields on either side of the road.  Occasionally, one can spot lights from houses located near the highway, but they are few and far between. 

The crime scene is in Hongyun Village in Daxin District, about an hour’s drive from B City centre.

Bo Jinyan hasn't told Jian Yao much about the phone conversation.  She only knows it’s an urgent case, and that they have very little information on it at the moment.   

Jian Yao is sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver.  Bo Jinyan looks calm and collected as usual.  Her mind is still thinking about what happened in her room less than an hour ago. 

The incoming call was like a bucket of ice water that poured over them.  They are completed cooled down after the phone call.

The events of the last few days had been a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions for Jian Yao -

Three days ago, he was still the aloof professor.  He didn’t know a thing about love.  Suddenly, he started pursuing her relentlessly.  He successfully captivated her heart, which was already leaning towards him in the first place. 

Her brain has been in a state of drowsiness since their….proper first kiss.  Then he proceeds, with lightning speed to lead her from her first kiss to her 'first night'...

(NOTE from TB:  'First night' in chinese is often the term use for the day one loses their virginity.)

They’ve only been together for three days, and she ends up in bed with the guy!  Bo Jinyan is definitely a ‘bad influence’.  She never imagined that she will behave this way. 

It’s hard to imagine this prim and proper man driving next to her is the same hot and passionate man that was on lying on top of her just a while ago.

Jian Yao blushes.  The pace of their development is too fast for her to handle.

So, the phone call came at a timely moment.  They would take things a little more slowly, to make sure they are building a relationship that will lasts.  

Perhaps she has been quiet for too long.  Bo Jinyan says in a cold tone: “I will make the murderer regret what he did.”

Jian Yao: “Huh?”

Bo Jinyan says with a cold smile: “He chose to kill during such an important moment for me.”

- Important moment?

She laughs.  He is still angry.

She recalls.  After the phone call, they quickly got dressed.  When he came out of his room, his handsome face was still red, and there was still an obvious bulge in his trousers….

He turns to look at her: “I won’t make you wait too long.” He said in a low voice.

Jian Yao: “…. It’s ok.  There’s no hurry.”

Bo Jinyan pauses.  He notices a micro-expression on her face.  

He asks: “Do you regret it?”

Jian Yao retorts “No… it’s just that…”

“Is it me?  Is there something I’ve done that’s not good enough?” He asks in an incredibly pompous tone. 

Jian Yao answers immediately: “Of course not.  You are great.”

He sweeps her a look: “I thought so.  Then what is the reason?”

Jian Yao thinks for a while, then holds his hand on the steering wheel.  

 

“It’s not that I am unwilling.” She laughs uncomfortably. “It’s just that… it seems unreal.”

We are finally together.  And tonight… you almost…

This is how she feels in her heart.  There’s no other meaning to it.  But to her surprise, Bo Jinyan looks dumbfounded.

“Oh..” 

He gives a little sigh of disappointment. 

Jian Yao doesn’t understand why he gave such a response.  But there’s no time to ask.  The phone rings again.  She picks it up.

Bo Jinyan is driving, but his heart is covered by a layer of melancholy.

She said it felt unreal.

His techniques are not good enough?

——————-

His moods plunges after Jian Yao’s comments.  When the team leader gets a ‘more cold than usual’ reception from Bo Jinyan, he more or less guessed what they were doing when he called them earlier.  He thought it would be wise to keep to the topic: “Let’s have a look at the crime scene.”

And Bo Jinyan’s response is ….

He starts walking to the area fenced off the police.  A smile appears on his handsome face: “Well… come on then.”  He turns back to hurry them along.  

They are used to seeing a proud and not very friendly Bo Jinyan, but they have never seen him behave like this before.  There’s like a layer of cold air around him. And there’s mockery and contempt in his tone.  

What’s up with him?

Jian Yao stands behind him.  She finds it amusing.  This murderer will be caught in record breaking time.  

There are ten villages in Daxin District.  Hongyun Village is one of them. There’s nothing special or famous about this village compared to the other ones. Even though, it’s geographically part of B City, it’s a rural village that’s far away from town.  There is an unsealed road that leads to the house.  

There are not many street lamps in that area.  And the lightbulbs are low voltage bulbs.   All the villagers are standing behind the cordon area to find out what happened. Jian Yao scans the neighbourhood.  The closest neighbour is approximately fifty metres away. 

The house at the crime scene is a farmhouse made with red bricks.  The entrance is just a wooden gate, it would have been easy for the murderer to access the house.  The interior looks old and shabby.

Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan walks toward the gate.  A young officer rushes past them.  His face is sickeningly pale.  He leans over by the wall and starts to vomit.

Jian Yao’s heart twinges.  Bo Jinyan takes a quick look at the officer and walks on.

An older officer recognises Jian Yao.  He pauses and asks: “Jian Yao, are you sure you want to go inside?  It’s rather …chaotic.” Another older officer also adds: “Perhaps you should stay here.”

Jian Yao already knows the whole family had been brutally killed.  She stops and think for a while. Bo Jinyan looks at her.

“I’ll go in.”
“She’ll go in.”

They said together.  

A smile appears on both of their faces.

————————

Once Jian Yao steps inside the house, she holds her breath. 

There is a strong smell of blood in the room, covering the original grassy scents from the countryside. Lying near Jian Yao is a man drenched in blood.  His head has been chopped off, and rolled to the side of a coffee table.  On the sofa, an elderly man lies motionless.  Between the bedroom door and the corridor, there’s the body of a naked woman.  Her clothes are taken off and dumped onto the floor next to her.  There are a lot of wounds on her body, more than any of the other bodies.  

The bodies of two children, the son and nephew of the owner lies in the bedroom.  They look like they have been stabbed to death. 

According to forensic results, all five victims died under the same knife.  Time of death is around four hours ago - 9pm.  Each body was stabbed more than ten times.  Besides the owner being beheaded, his wife’s body wounds shows that she was attacked the most times - even her breasts and private parts had knife wounds.

—————-

From the evidence they have gathered so far, cases that involves the death of the whole family can be classified into the following types:

1. Conflict between family members -  Father kills the son’s family, husband kills the wife’s family, neighbours murdering the family that lives next door…
2. Money issues - Thief or robbers killing the family when they tries to resist.
3. Unsolved mysteries - where members mysteriously disappears or dies.  There’s no suspects or witnesses

Type 1 cases are the most common. 

The killer left behind a lot of evidence in this house.  There is a long knife, with visible fingerprints on it.  From the position of the prints, it is highly likely that they have found the weapon.

Next, a man’s jacket.  The jacket is black and dirty. It’s so dirty that you can’t tell what is its original colour.  And it’s soaked with blood.  

Then there are some bowls with leftover food that have bloody fingerprints on them.  

The closet in the room looks like it’s been searched. There are bloody fingerprints there too. 

Lastly, the police found a lot of bloody footprints that, after initial analysis, belong to the same person.  From the footprints, they can tell the shoes are worn out.  And it most possibly belongs to a male.  A young adult.

So, there are lots of clues for the police to follow up on.  

The Team leader says to Bo Jinyan: “Professor Bo, I have some questions about the case.  I’ve arranged for the following to be done: DNA matching, fingerprints analysis…”

Jian Yao knows these procedures take time.  It can be days or even up to a month before they will get the results. 

“Secondly, I’ve talked to all the neighbours.  They get on with everyone in the village.  At this point, we don’t think it’s done by one of the neighbours .  Of course we will continue to talk to everyone in the village, and ask if anyone can recognise the weapon and the jacket we found.”

“Thirdly, I have requested for more officers from other stations to help us search the nearby area.  We have set up road blocks on the highways to check all incoming and outgoing vehicles in the area.”

Bo Jinyan nods: “Good job.”  Jian Yao is impressed too.  The Team Leader has considered all the different angles of the investigation.

Bo Jinyan seldom gives praises to people.  The Team Leader smiles.  Then he get to the point: “But there are a few things that are not right.  Why is the owner of the house beheaded?  And why did the killer mutilate his wife? And the bowls with the bloody finger nails…”

“You have made the correct decision.” Bo Jinyan interrupts him “By the time you wait for the results from the DNA matching, it’s too late.  Get your men over here.  I will give you a criminal profile now.  Every minute counts.”