Detective: From the Police Academy

Chapter 267 Buried Alive
Haijiang District, Xiahewan.

The crime scene was in a forest on the outskirts of the city, with a river on the left side of the forest.

Three police cars were parked on the muddy road, beams of their headlights shining onto the river.

Stimulated by the light, a group of wild ducks swam towards the deeper water plants, and the ripples caused by their feet sliding on the water spread on the calm river surface.

When Luo Rui arrived, it was already eleven o'clock in the evening.

As soon as he got out of the car, the police officer who was maintaining order at the scene immediately came over and led him to the crime scene.

In the woods, some of the uniformed police officers were standing, some were squatting, and all of them had solemn expressions.

Three searchlights have been set up around the area, and there is also a camera on a tripod.

The technical police officer was holding a camera and taking pictures of a pit.

Luo Rui walked closer and saw that the pit had been dug out. A young man was curled up in the pit, his body was covered with brown mud, and his face was covered with bloodstains.

His face was childish, his eyes were closed, and there was a lot of dirt under his eyelashes and between his mouth and nose, so it was difficult to see what he looked like.

Du Feng saw Luo Rui standing aside, stood up, and sighed: "You are here."

Luo Rui nodded, his eyes fixed on the body in front of him. "It is indeed Xia Bing. How could this child die here?"

Du Feng shrugged and pointed to a pickup truck outside the woods.

"The two fishermen called the police. They were the ones who found the body. They haven't taken a statement yet."

Luo Rui looked over there and saw two people standing next to the pickup truck, and two policemen were guarding them.

"Okay, leave it to me." Luo Rui responded, then squatted down and looked at Zhao Chunlai who was performing the autopsy.

"Uncle Zhao, did you find anything?"

Zhao Chunlai glanced at him and did not answer. Instead, he said to his eldest disciple Yi Chunlin: "Lift up the head of the deceased."

"Okay, Master."

Yi Chunlin walked to the direction of the corpse's head and carefully lifted it up.

Luo Rui clearly saw that there was an obvious wound on the right temple of the deceased, and there was a large amount of coagulated blood on the neck and behind the ears, and there was a lot of dirt stuck to the blood.

Luo Rui blinked: "Blunt force trauma? Is this the cause of death?"

"No." Zhao Chunlai shook his head, grasped the dead man's chin with his right hand wearing a blue latex glove, and then squeezed it open.

The deceased's lips were open, and Zhao Chunlai took out a flashlight and shone it into the deceased's mouth.

"Look for yourself."

Luo Rui moved his feet and squeezed closer to Zhao Chunlai.

When he looked around, he saw that the dead man's mouth and nostrils were filled with a large amount of dirt.

Luo Rui's heart trembled: "Buried alive!"

Zhao Chunlai nodded: "That's right, this child was buried alive! The shape of the wound on his head should be caused by a shovel or something like that. The blood is mixed with mud. The wound should have been caused before he was buried alive."

Du Feng stood aside and shook his head: "Who the hell is so cruel to attack a young man!"

Zhao Chunlai ignored him and instead instructed his second apprentice to use a cotton swab to remove the dirt from the victim's mouth and nostrils bit by bit and put it into the evidence bag.

Luo Rui looked at the deceased's wrist, then pointed: "Uncle Zhao, the deceased seemed to have been tied up before he died?"

Zhao Chunlai rolled his eyes at him and said, "You are not a rookie. Do I need to tell you something so obvious?"

Luo Rui smacked his lips. Zhao Chunlai had always been sharp-tongued, especially after he came back from Pingyang County. Because he had received a high-level reception in the local area, when he returned to the Haijiang Branch, no one paid much attention to him. The old guy seemed to be very resentful.

Zhao Chunlai's forensic skills and experience are both top-notch. Luo Rui didn't want to offend him, so he asked in a flattering tone: "Uncle Zhao, when can the autopsy report be released at the earliest?"

"You won't ask me to do the autopsy overnight, will you?" Zhao Chunlai said unkindly, "Just wait, you can come find me the day after tomorrow morning."

"It's too late. You don't have to do it yourself." Luo Rui curled his lips and looked at Yi Chunlin: "When you were not at the unit, it was Chunlin who handled the last family massacre. I think he did a good job."

When Yi Chunlin heard this, he felt bad and quickly lowered his head.

As expected, Zhao Chunlai snorted, "That's great? There are four bodies in a family waiting to be dissected, and he can't tell which body will be dissected first and which one will be dissected later. He is brainless. He only knows how to do things step by step!"

Luo Rui defended himself: "Isn't this too serious?"

Zhao Chunlai snorted twice again and looked at Luo Rui: "In a case where there are multiple bodies that need to be dissected, the first thing to do is to look at the symptoms and carefully examine the body surface.

The female victim was obviously pregnant, but he didn't notice it and even put this body last to be dissected. How can you call this good technique?

I heard that you were the one who noticed something strange?"

"I'm lucky too." Luo Rui blinked. The female victim the other party was talking about was Shen Lan who was involved in the family massacre.

He originally wanted to praise Yi Chunlin, but he didn't expect Zhao Chunlai to be so disrespectful to him.

When Yi Chunlin heard his master's criticism, he lowered his head even lower.

Luo Rui sighed, patted his knees, stood up, and looked a little disappointed.

Zhao Chunlai rolled his eyes at him and said, "I'll give you an approximate time of death. We just measured the body's rectal temperature and preliminarily determined that the deceased died three days ago, between December 12 and December 1. If you want to be more precise, we can only measure the liver temperature after the autopsy. I'll try to give you the autopsy report tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay." Luo Rui nodded and prepared to talk to Zhao Ming who was collecting evidence nearby.

He turned around and walked a few steps. He heard Zhao Chunlai yelling at Yi Chunlin, "Are you dozing off? Don't you know to lift the head of the corpse a little higher? I tell you, this corpse is now in your hands for dissection. If you can't do it well again, don't even think about me writing you a recommendation letter in the future."

"I understand, Master." Yi Chunlin replied in a low voice.

Luo Rui turned his head and took a look, and could clearly see joy in the other person's eyes.

Although Zhao Chunlai has a sharp tongue, he has a good heart.

In the police system, the tradition of master-apprentice training has been passed down from generation to generation.

What you learn in school is just knowledge, practice and experience, which are taught to you by your master.

This is true for the Eight Tigers of Criminal Investigation and all criminal investigation experts at the provincial level and above.

Luo Rui thought of Zheng Rong. He hadn't seen the old man for several months. He was considered Luo Rui's formal master. Luo Rui thought to himself that he must find time to visit him.

Zhao Ming was squatting in the mud not far away, spraying the solution into the soil with a spray bottle filled with luminol reagent.

The technician next to him shone the long light in his hand, and blue spots suddenly appeared in the mud.

Seeing Luo Rui coming over, he stood up and rubbed his sore knees.

Zhao Ming nodded to him and said, "We found several footprints and extracted a lot of hair, but we have to wait for the forensic examination before we can give you the results."

"I just want to ask a question."

Zhao Ming frowned: "What do you say?"

Luo Rui pondered and said, "The deceased's name is Xia Bing. His mother You Qiumei also disappeared with him. Now he died here, so where is You Qiumei now? This is the question I am most concerned about now.

She may be dead or alive, and we urgently need to find her whereabouts.”

"Do you have a picture of her?"

Luo Rui did not ask the reason, but took out his mobile phone and showed the photo of You Qiumei in front of Zhao Ming.

"Okay, I understand."

Zhao Ming nodded, then walked to the metal investigation box and took out a transparent bag from it.

He held the transparent bag in front of the searchlight and waved to Luo Rui.

"This is the hair found at the scene. Half of it is yellow and half is black. Although DNA matching has not been done yet, this hair is suspected to be You Qiumei's. You also saw the photo just now. She must have dyed her hair before, and the hair that grew back was half black.

But this is my speculation, and everything will depend on the results after verification.”

"I understand." Luo Rui wanted some evidence, so he asked, "What about the footprints?"

"We did find several female footprints at the scene, size 36 shoes with wavy soles. We also found a lot of male footprints, from two men. Size 41 leather shoes and size 43 sneakers."

Luo Rui knows a little about footprint identification. "A size 36 footprint is shortened by one centimeter to size 35. Without measuring the width of the foot, we cannot judge the weight. We can infer that the height is between 155cm and 163cm. You Qiumei's height is 158cm.

This footprint should be hers. Could it be that You Qiumei was at the scene at that time?"

Zhao Ming praised: "Not bad, your guess is correct."

Luo Rui remained expressionless in response to Zhao Ming's praise. Instead, he said with some concern, "Director Zhao, I have a favor to ask of you."

"You said."

"I want a systematic map of You Qiumei's footprints at the crime scene, including the depth and direction of the footprints. Even if they are incomplete or fragmentary, I want them all. Please make a report for me."

Zhao Ming nodded, didn't ask the reason, and continued to work.

The scene cannot be dealt with in a short time, probably after midnight.

Luo Rui walked towards the roadside where the car was parked. The person who called the police was still waiting.

The police officers maintaining the scene naturally knew Luo Rui, because Luo Rui had been so dazzling in the previous major operations.

His photo is on all internal brochures and is posted on the bulletin board of every police station.

Seeing him coming, two policemen made way.

Luo Rui showed his ID to the two people who called the police and leaned against the car, then asked, "Who found the body first?"

One of the bald middle-aged men raised his hand. "It's... me."

He seemed to be still in shock and did not dare to look into the woods.

Moreover, it is now late at night and the temperature has dropped sharply. Anyone would shiver when the night wind blows.

Luo Rui nodded: "Tell me what happened."

"Uh... Lao Li and I made an appointment to come here to fish tonight. We came at eight o'clock and had set up a nest here before..."

Luo Rui interrupted him: "It's early winter now, you still come to fish?"

"I come here whether it's thundering or raining. This is my only hobby."

"Okay, go on."

"At 8:30 in the evening, I wanted to go to the toilet, so I went to the woods, but halfway there, I tripped over something. I stood up and saw that it was a branch, so I ignored it.

However, when I returned the same way, I saw that the place where I tripped was not a branch, but a person's hand.

I was terrified and ran to the river to tell Lao Li..."

Luo Rui was a little surprised: "A person's hand?"

"Yes!" The man looked at his companion and said, "Old Li still didn't believe me, so I took him to the woods and let him take a look. It was indeed a human hand, with a clenched fist and covered in dirt."

Previously, Luo Rui had carefully observed the earth pit where the bodies were buried, and the pit was indeed not deep, only about one meter.

A hand stretched out from the soil. It was definitely not the murderer's carelessness. As Zhao Chunlai speculated, the deceased was buried alive. Before he died, the desire to survive made him want to climb out of the pit. But in the end, he still died, buried alive.

Luo Rui thought, if it weren't for the damage to his brain, would he have the strength to crawl out and have a chance of survival?

The deceased's name was Xia Bing.

A child with excellent grades and a helpful heart was brutally murdered.

Luo Rui exhaled and looked at the two people who called the police: "Besides this, have you seen any other people or suspicious vehicles around here?"

The bald man shook his head: "I didn't see it. No one else would come here except the fisherman."

"Did you come here to fish on December 12st and December 1nd?"

"I didn't. I was at work these past two days." The bald man said, looking at his companion.

"Me too, officer."

"Okay, one last question." Luo Rui lowered his head and looked at their feet.

"What size shoes do you wear?"

The bald man glanced at his sneakers, then took a few steps and said, "A police officer just took samples of our shoes."

"Okay! That's no problem." Luo Rui nodded.

Two men's footprints were found at the crime scene. Luo Rui didn't know if they were theirs, but judging from their heights, they didn't look like them. He was not sure either. Everything had to wait for the results of Zhao Ming's identification.

"Officer, our family has called us several times to urge us to leave. We have said everything we need to say. Can you please let us go? Look, it's too late now."

"Not yet. You have to go to the police station with me to make a detailed statement." Luo Rui comforted him, "Don't worry, it's not a big deal. We will arrange a midnight snack for you and you should be able to leave in the morning. But don't tell anyone about what happened here, not even your family."

The bald man sighed and nodded.

Luo Rui greeted Du Feng, then drove the two people who called the police back to the police station.

A detailed record needs to be put on paper and signed by the person who reported the incident.

After all this was done, it was already four o'clock in the morning.

Luo Rui returned to the office tiredly and turned on the light.

The office was empty with only him there, and Luo Rui seemed a little at a loss for a moment.

He put two office chairs together, lay down on them, covered himself with a blanket, turned off the lights, and fell into a deep sleep.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Luo Rui was awakened by a nightmare. In the dream, a hand emerged from the mud. The hand had a clenched fist and kept waving it around, as if it was unwilling to die like this.

The white light from outside the window shines through the gaps in the curtains and onto the whiteboard.

In the photo, Xia Bing's smiling face appeared in Luo Rui's vision.

For a moment, Luo Rui was a little dazed. He rubbed his eyes and then turned over.

Because the criminal team had received the task yesterday, they will not come to the office, but will go directly to investigate.

Luo Rui yawned, washed up in the bathroom, went to the cafeteria to have breakfast, and then drove to Zhongpeng Apartment.

When we arrived, it was already eight o'clock in the morning.

Fang Yonghui was already waiting downstairs.

Seeing Luo Rui park the car on the side of the road, Fang Yonghui hurried over, helped him open the door, and handed him a piece of information in his hand.

"Master Luo, this is Xia Lijun's information. I have an appointment with him to meet here. He should be here soon."

Luo Rui nodded, and then saw Yang Bo and Tian Guanghan had also arrived, along with a survey vehicle.

Zhao Ming got out of the car and blinked.

Luo Rui walked forward and asked with concern: "Didn't you sleep all night?"

Zhao Ming shook his head, as if trying to sober himself up. "The case is important. I'll go back and catch up on some sleep after I finish investigating this place."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Luo Rui patted his shoulder.

"Has the landlord arrived?"

Fang Yonghui replied: "Director Zhao, the landlord is on the fourth floor. I just came down from the fourth floor."

"Okay, let's go upstairs first." Zhao Ming nodded and took the three technicians upstairs.

Luo Rui looked at Yang Bo and Tian Guanghan: "Follow me up and visit the residents on the fourth floor to learn about the situation of You Qiumei and her son. But before that, the police from the police station haven't arrived yet, so you should ensure the safety of Director Zhao and the others first."

"I understand!" Tian Guanghan nodded.

Yang Bo was a little confused: "At this time, the residents should all be at work, right?"

"You Qiumei rented a house in the city specifically to accompany her children to school. She doesn't have a job. You need to ask her what she does during the day and who she is most familiar with.

I asked you to come during the day to ask those residents who live in this building and do not have a stable job. They should be able to notice You Qiumei's movements.

In addition, there is one more thing, Xia Bing found it."

"Found it?" Fang Yonghui was stunned.

Tian Guanghan was also surprised, especially Yang Bo. Before leaving get off work last night, he asked Luo Rui why the criminal team chose this case to investigate. Luo Rui felt that this case was strange and not a simple disappearance case.

Unexpectedly, the person was found a day later.

Luo Rui saw his expression and added: "The person is already dead, buried alive. The details are waiting for the appraisal results of Zhao the Forensic Doctor and Director Zhao.

Now, this case has risen to a murder case, everyone should be careful and try to catch the murderer as soon as possible."

Yang Bo nodded: "Okay, Luo Da!"

"Go ahead."

Tian Guanghan and Yang Bo walked into the apartment building.

At this time, Fang Yonghui looked at the roadside and saw a Qianjiang motorcycle parked on the side of the road. The middle-aged man riding the motorcycle was wearing a black coat. He did not get off the motorcycle, but looked up at the apartment.

Fang Yonghui whispered to Luo Rui: "This is You Qiumei's husband, Xia Lijun."

Luo Rui didn't say anything, but walked straight towards the motorcycle.

Xia Lijun looked at the two strange men walking towards him and instinctively touched his lower back.

Luo Rui noticed his movements and saw that there seemed to be something hidden in the other person's clothes.

When approaching the other party, Luo Rui quickly stopped Fang Yonghui, took out his ID, and said to Xia Lijun: "Are you Xia Lijun?"

The other party did not look at the ID, but stared at Luo Rui with a fierce look in his eyes.

"who are you?"

Luo Rui shook the ID in his hand: "Look here, don't be nervous, don't stare at me."

"Oh, it turns out to be a policeman." Xia Lijun muttered, and his expression relaxed a little.

Luo Rui took back his ID and did not walk forward, but pointed at his lower back.

"You are hiding something, take it out."

A trace of panic flashed across Xia Lijun's eyes, and he shook his head: "Nothing... nothing."

"Xia Lijun, we are the criminal police responsible for investigating the disappearance of your wife and children. If you are hostile to us, I have the right to handcuff you."

Fang Yonghui glanced at Luo Rui, then took out metal handcuffs from his waist.

Xia Lijun was still on the motorcycle. He spread out his hands and pretended to be innocent: "Officer, look, I really didn't hide anything!"

Luo Rui had dealt with countless criminals, so he naturally knew that he was lying.

Luo Rui glared at him fiercely: "I'll give you one more chance, take out the things!"

Fang Yonghui walked to the back of the motorcycle and began to fight.

"Okay!" Xia Lijun compromised, looking a little dejected.

Luo Rui saw him reach behind his waist and pull out a rusty axe from his coat.

Fang Yonghui was startled and his hand had already touched the handle of the gun.

Luo Rui narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Throw the axe on the ground and get out of the car."

"Officer, I'm telling you honestly, I'm not targeting you and I have no ill intentions." Xia Lijun defended himself as he threw the axe to the ground.

"Don't touch the motorcycle keys!" Luo Rui saw his actions and immediately scolded him.

"Okay!" Xia Lijun sighed, raised his left foot, and got off the motorcycle from the right side.

Fang Yonghui ran over quickly, grabbed one of his hands, and quickly handcuffed him.

Xia Lijun did not resist and cooperated very honestly.

Seeing that his movements were restricted, Luo Rui took out a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and picked up the axe on the ground.

The handle of the axe was only one foot long, and the axe blade was covered with rust, indicating that it had not been used for a long time.

"Two officers, please let me go. I really am not targeting you!" Xia Lijun begged bitterly.

Luo Rui did not respond, and Fang Yonghui began to search him according to the procedure.

Not long after, Fang Yonghui took out a half-foot long fruit knife from his coat pocket.

"what is this?"

Xia Lijun kept silent, clenched his teeth, and his face was full of resentment.

Fang Yonghui handed the fruit knife to Luo Rui.

The fruit knife had a sheath, as if it had just been bought, and there was a label hanging on the handle.

Luo Rui looked at Xia Lijun: "Tell me, what are you going to do?"

Xia Lijun's eyes widened, and after he exhaled, he replied fiercely: "I will kill Sun Baoming!"

"Sun Baoming?"

Luo Rui rolled his eyes. He had no impression of this name.

Fang Yonghui reminded from the side: "This person is You Qiumei's landlord."

Luo Rui nodded and looked at Xia Lijun: "Why do you want to kill him?"

Xia Lijun's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth and said, "He fucked my wife!"

(End of this chapter)