I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 48 The Deceased's Mother

Zhao Xingbang readily signed the search warrant with a wave of his hand.

The Criminal Investigation Brigade is the main body responsible for handling cases, and he never asks any questions about the requirements of the Criminal Investigation Brigade as long as they are within a reasonable range.

As long as the case can be solved, that's fine.

Meanwhile, the criminal police officers in the squadron had already notified Hou Jiarou's parents.

"Captain Ji, Hou Jiarou is from a single-parent family. Her parents divorced a long time ago, and she has been living with her mother, Li Hui, ever since."

"Li Hui is on her way and should arrive in three hours."

The police officer reported the situation to Ji Bowei.

Ji Bowei nodded: "After she arrives, arrange for two policewomen to accompany her and keep her calm. Once she's calmed down, then let her meet with Yang Qi."

When a daughter dies unexpectedly, a mother-in-law's grief will inevitably turn into anger, and she will vent it all on her son-in-law, possibly resorting to verbal abuse or physical violence.

In this situation, the criminal police cannot consider "assault as a crime"; they can simply try to stop it.

Besides, Yang Qi was in the wrong, and he couldn't possibly sue his mother-in-law for assault. He would rather feel better after being hit a couple of times.

Officer: "Yes, Captain Ji."

Hu Lihui hasn't returned yet, and the visits to the sales office will continue for quite some time, focusing on colleague relationships.

Are there any emotional disputes? Are there any financial disputes? And so on.

In the early stages of the case, it was impossible to determine who the suspect was, so it was necessary to investigate and verify all the leads that could be found.

Fang Zhou took the search warrant, asked Yang Qi for the key, and then set off with some officers from the First Squadron and the Criminal Technology Squadron.

If Yang Qi doesn't give it to them, they can just break down the door.

Han Ling, Yang Rui, Tong Feng, and Sun Yujie are all here; the new police officers just need to observe and learn more.

Fang Zhou asked Han Ling to ride in the same car with him, and they talked about the autopsy results on the way.

Winter had just passed, and the body was left exposed in the wilderness. The temperature greatly increased the margin of error, so the forensic doctor could not pinpoint the exact time of death and could only rely on further investigation by the detectives to narrow it down.

Based on the warming temperature in Qingchang City after the Lunar New Year, and considering multiple variables such as environmental humidity, fly species, egg-laying rate, and degree of decomposition, the forensic doctor determined that the body began to decompose rapidly around March 19th.

Before the 19th, the decomposition of the body will be very slow, basically at a standstill.

In other words, the body was already in the wild by the 19th.

Yang Qi mentioned arguing with his wife on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. If he wasn't lying, then Hou Jiarou was still alive on that day.

Therefore, Hou Jiarou's time of death must have been between January 30th (the fifth day of the first lunar month) and March 19th.

The squadron members have already checked Hou Jiarou's call records, and the electronic evidence room will also try to crack and log into Hou Jiarou's QQ account. If they find anything, the time of death will be updated again.

They may then conduct extensive visits to Hou Jiarou's relatives and friends to further shorten the time of death.

Inside the car, Fang Zhou said, "On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the deceased had a fight with her husband and left home. She should have taken money with her. Now, no valuables or cell phones have been found on the body. It's very clean, as if... it had been ransacked."

If a stranger robs and murders you, that would be a real problem.

Han Ling listened silently without offering any opinion.

Fangzhou had not yet dismissed his suspicions about the deceased's husband, but at the same time, he had not ruled out the possibility that a stranger had committed the crime.

Very rigorous.

Suspecting everything when clues are scarce and carefully verifying information—that's the quality of a qualified criminal investigator.

Fangzhou didn't ask Han Ling; there were too few clues, and asking would be pointless.

Upon arriving at Yang Qi's home, everyone began a search. The forensic and trace evidence examiners focused on the bedding, extracting fibers to take back to the branch office laboratory for comparison.

A few years earlier, before the branch office had a physical evidence laboratory, comparisons had to be done at the municipal bureau, and even earlier, at the provincial bureau, which was very troublesome.

Technological advancements have brought convenience to criminal investigations, but they have also facilitated crime—a double-edged sword. The house has four bedrooms and two living rooms, one of which is a study, making a total of three bedrooms.

Yang Qi and his wife had no children. They lived alone in the master bedroom, and the second bedroom was very clean with no signs of anyone living there. Fang Zhou and the others went to the last south-facing bedroom.

Upon entering, there is a custom-made wardrobe, a desk on the right, and a large bed that is 1.8 meters wide in front. There is a clothes rack by the window, but it is empty.

The group glanced around and saw a portable dressing table on the desk, concluding that it was probably a woman's temporary residence.

It could be Yang Qi's mother, or it could be the mother of the deceased Hou Jiarou.

After checking and finding nothing suspicious, the group left.

Fangzhou and his subordinates inspected the bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom... everything was normal.

Upon entering the master bedroom and opening the top shelf of the wardrobe, Fangzhou found it stuffed with spare sheets and duvet covers. He reminded Xu, "Captain Xu, don't forget these."

"I understand. Don't worry."

The man referred to as "Captain Xu" responded that he was the deputy captain of the Criminal Technology Squadron, and that they were of equal rank and cooperated on almost every case.

Han Ling looked over and memorized the person's appearance and surname. He would have to deal with interpersonal relationships again when he got to the branch office, which would be a rather troublesome matter for him.

The search lasted for several hours, and by the time everyone returned, it was already evening.

The deceased's mother, Li Hui, arrived at the branch office.

The door to the reception room was open, and Han Ling glanced at it a few times as he passed by. Inside, a battle between an old woman and her husband was unfolding.

Of course, it was Li Hui who made the move, so Yang Qi definitely wouldn't dare to fight back.

"I married my daughter to you! And you let her die without knowing why?!"

"Bastard! You beast! I'll beat you to death, you beast!!"

Li Hui has curly hair, silver earrings, a wool coat, loose jeans, and ankle boots, making her look very fashionable at nearly fifty years old.

At this moment, the fashionable middle-aged woman had completely lost her mind. She grabbed her son-in-law by the back of his collar and went into a frenzy of hysteria, repeatedly hitting his head.

"Calm down...please calm down."

Nearby, criminal police officers from the squadron tried to pull the woman away, but unfortunately, she was very strong due to her anger, and the slap was still coming down.

Yang Qi sat there quietly, not daring to speak or resist, letting his mother-in-law vent her anger on him.

"She's my only daughter! How have you taken care of her! How have you taken care of her..."

In the end, Li Hui seemed to lose all her strength in an instant, her body went limp, and she burst into tears.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the police officers quickly pulled her away, keeping her away from Yang Qi.

"Hey, let's go." Tong Feng patted Han Ling on the shoulder.

It's normal for a mother to have any reaction to her daughter's death. Yang Qi is Hou Jiarou's husband and has to bear it.

Hu Lihui has returned and reported to Ji Bowei the results of his visit to the sales office; no suspicious points were found.

Hou Jiarou has only been working at the current sales office for two months, and her interactions with her colleagues are superficial, resulting in a relatively weak presence.

According to her colleagues, Hou Jiarou is an introverted person who rarely speaks, and people don't know much about her.

Hou Jiarou did not return to work on the seventh day after the Lunar New Year. Her supervisor made several phone calls but could not get through, so he assumed she had resigned and did not pursue the matter further.

For a place like a sales office, having one more or one less employee won't have any impact.

Since no problems were found at this sales office, we should continue to visit Hou Jiarou's previous workplace. Murder is a very serious matter, and it is common for the victim and the murderer to have long-term conflicts.

Once Li Hui and Yang Qi had calmed down, Ji Bowei took them to separate interrogation rooms to continue gathering information.

(End of this chapter)