Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 363: On-Site Identification

The benefits at Zhang Chao’s workplace are quite good, with a monthly salary and bonus totaling over 7,000 yuan.

Moreover, there isn’t much work at the office, so it’s not very busy.

With great benefits and a light workload, the direct result is frequent get-togethers and dinners with colleagues.

"There are 6 people in our office, and basically, we get together once a week."

Without Sun Jun having to ask, Zhang Chao started explaining himself, "We don’t go to any particularly upscale places; it’s just us gathering for some barbecue, drinking some beer, and typically, it’s about three to five hundred yuan for the six of us."

"For our office of six, taking turns to host a meal about every one and a half months, spending three to five hundred yuan isn’t much, right?"

Sun Jun approvingly nodded; that amount wasn’t much. His salary wasn’t as high as Zhang Chao’s, but he also had to spend a few hundred each month dining out with his team.

Smoking added another three to five hundred each month.

Of course, this was Sun Jun’s highest monthly expense.

Meals at the squad, clothes weren’t a priority, mostly wearing the police uniform or just a few sets of casual outfits—he wasn’t too picky about these things.

"I’m not a heavy smoker I spend ten yuan on cigarettes, and twenty packs a month are enough, around two hundred yuan."

"But Wang Huifang only gives me three hundred yuan each month."

"Only three hundred!"

"I earn seven thousand a month; why does she only give me three hundred?"

"Do you know what my colleagues at the office call me?"

"They say I’m a penny pincher, never spending a dime, not chipping in for meals or sharing cigarettes."

"I’ve had enough!"

"Really, I’ve fucking had enough!!"

Sun Jun exchanged a glance with his colleague at the interrogation, feeling a sense of pity.

According to Zhang Chao’s account, before he got married, he lived a very carefree life, spending every bit of his 7,000-yuan monthly salary.

No idea where it went, seemingly without buying clothes, just meals with colleagues, smoking, drinking, hitting the bars, and the money was gone.

When he first got married, things were a bit better initially, as Wang Huifang did not demand he turn over his salary.

However, two years after marrying, Wang Huifang asked him to turn over his salary, citing the need to buy a car, and everything changed.

"Tell us how you killed Wang Huifang, give us the specific details."

"You’re not wrong, I used a delayed killing mechanism—something I learned from a movie."

Talking about this, Zhang Chao seemed inexplicably excited.

"That morning, before going to work, I knocked her out, tied her to the bed; I’d heard that tying with rope leaves marks that can be seen during the autopsy, so I used wide tape wrapped with cloth strips to secure her to the bed."

"Then I used elastic rubber bands bought online to secure the knife, made a switch with a candle, so when it burned halfway, it would sever the string, and the knife would go in."

"I tested it many times beforehand to ensure it was foolproof."

In the meeting room.

Sun Jun was reporting on the interrogation.

"Zhang Chao had been planning the murder for a year before it happened. He got the idea from a foreign film, which featured delayed killing techniques."

"He learned from it, improved upon it himself, experimented numerous times, and then acted three years ago."

"As for Zhang Chao’s motive...he claims it was because Wang Huifang took all his money each month, leaving him with only 300 yuan for pocket money."

Three hundred yuan?

Ren Qiang took a deep breath, "Did he smoke?"

"Yes, so the amount was just about enough for cigarettes."

"Because there wasn’t much money, he nearly cut off social interactions with colleagues, rarely going out to eat, and even if he did, he couldn’t pick up the tab."

"Over time, his colleagues grew distant and gossiped about him being a penny pincher."

"Plus, Zhang Chao himself was somewhat withdrawn, not having many friends; most of his acquaintances were coworkers."

"With already few acquaintances, and gradually not interacting with them, he possibly...I think the pressure was significant."

This case...

Though unsolved for three or four years, discussing it now felt somewhat baffling.

Three hundred yuan, and from three hundred yuan came a murder case like this.

"Maybe Zhang Chao had psychological issues; if he felt short of money, he could ask his wife, right? It’s not like he could just murder without saying anything?"

Zhang Hui was completely puzzled. His salary card was with his wife too, and he didn’t have any pocket money either, but he would just ask if he needed money.

Sun Jun sighed, "He asked, but his wife didn’t give it."

"Couldn’t he ask more often?"

"He asked every day, but he never got more."

Zhang Hui...

Clack, clack.

"Alright," Qin Yong tapped the table, "Action team, bear with it a bit more; follow up on the procedural aspects of the case to try and close it as soon as possible."

After speaking, Qin Yong called over the office director, "Inform the union, see if we can have some psychological experts come over in the next couple of days to give our squad colleagues a lesson, something like handling marital relationships."

"Sure, I’ll make arrangements right away."

"Also, Old Sun, promptly take the suspect to the scene for identification and re-enactment of the mechanism, let’s get that done, and the murder weapon, make sure those details are covered."

"Understood."

Actually, in comparison to current cases, cold cases often have higher requirements.

Take the murder weapon, for instance. It might have been available at the time of the crime, but it’s uncertain whether it’s still around after three or four years.

In processing cold cases, due to the passage of time, some key evidence chains might be missing, requiring thorough explanation for this absence.

Luckily, Zhang Chao’s case was somewhat better; the items used in the murder he didn’t dare discard, instead burying them under the old locust tree at the edge of his hometown village.

It was a place Zhang Chao grew up with, where he would bury secrets under the tree as a child.

That afternoon, Sun Jun, with a team, escorted Zhang Chao to West Valley Village of Mawang Town under Haizhou City’s Ning County.

"In this direction, it’s about over a meter deep."

Under Zhang Chao’s guidance, a few criminal police officers began digging with shovels.

The guy buried it quite deep back then, taking two people almost half an hour to find a black bundle.

"Is this it?"

"Yes, everything’s in there."

Although it wasn’t a large scene, Sun Jun nevertheless requested the Crime Scene Investigation team to come over, and Yang Sen, donning shoe covers, jumped into the pit, put on gloves, and opened the black bundle.

The package was made of genuine leather, of good quality, not completely decomposed even after four years underground.

Upon opening it, the contents were revealed to everyone.

A rusty dagger and several broken segments of rubber-like material, presumably the elastic band Zhang Chao mentioned.

An intact, half-burned candle was present too.

Yang Sen completed the inventory, took photos, numbered, and processed everything.

"That’s about it, there’s still blood on the dagger; we’ll take it back for a comparative test."

And thus, the murder case of Wang Huifang was solved.