Chapter Five: The Crime Scene

Ning's mother had no answer to Ning's father's words. Though she felt uneasy, she gave up her original plan.

Ning Shuyi had not said a word all this time, quietly calculating the dates in her mind. Only after her parents had talked enough, and her sister had finished eating, did she sit with the family of four in the living room and offer a suggestion: “Since your brother-in-law is away on an inspection trip for the next two weeks, why don’t you let our parents stay at your place, Sis?

“The neighbors upstairs here have been a bit noisy lately, and I was worrying whether it would keep them from resting properly day and night. Just as well, they can go stay with you for a while, keep you company, and Dad can make some good food to help nourish you and get your strength back!”

“I think that sounds fine,” Ning’s mother said, somewhat tempted. “Aren’t you two always talking about wanting a child? A while ago, Nie Guang said it was because your body was weak, so you hadn’t prepared properly. Your father and I can help take care of your daily meals; that’s no problem.

“But if we do that, won’t it be a bit much for Xiaoyi to be home alone?”

“It’s fine! No problem!” Ning Shuyi hurriedly said. “I’m on duty at my unit for half this month, so I won’t even be home every day. Don’t worry about me!

“Our unit has a cafeteria, and if I get tired of the food there, I can just go to my sister’s place and eat with you. Anyway, this time of year is usually pretty quiet for me. I just wrapped up a case, so there won’t be anything urgent for me to do for a while!

“Just go stay at my sister’s place with peace of mind! By the time brother-in-law comes back, the upstairs neighbors should be moving out too, and when you return home, you’ll be able to enjoy some quiet at last!”

In the end, Ning’s father and Ning’s mother agreed to Ning Shuyi’s suggestion.

A mother’s heart is the same for both daughters, one in each palm. Though the younger daughter, whose work was harder and required running about everywhere, was pitiable, the elder daughter, married for several years yet unable to successfully prepare for a pregnancy because of her health, was equally a precious piece of flesh from their own hearts.

So the next day, Ning’s father and Ning’s mother first froze a refrigerator full of dumplings and wontons for their younger daughter, then packed up their things and moved to their elder daughter’s home to keep her company.

The upstairs tenants still made plenty of noise at night. Even after Zhao Dabao had gone to their door, they seemed to have become even more brazen, as if they knew the lease had only half a month left, that their “days were numbered,” and they had fallen into a kind of last-ditch frenzy.

Ning Shuyi was glad she had guessed right and persuaded her parents to go stay at her sister’s place; otherwise, how could the two elderly people have endured such torment?

Ning’s father and Ning’s mother were equally worried about their younger daughter and called every day to check in. As always, Ning Shuyi told them that all was calm, another uneventful day, nothing exhausting at work, just some paperwork to handle.

Unexpectedly, on the morning of the third day, the very words she had spoken about the season being quiet and having just closed a case, with nothing likely to land on her head for the time being, were thoroughly proven wrong.

That morning had been proceeding peacefully when Ning Shuyi and the others suddenly received notice that a murder scene had been discovered inside an apartment building in W City, and they were to set off at once to handle it.

They did not dare delay and immediately departed, driving to the address.

The residential complex where the body had been discovered was located in an old district of W City. The buildings here were generally old and run-down, managed in an open style with no property management to speak of. Even the building doors had long since broken down, leaving only a blackened doorframe standing there. Let alone locks, there was no trace of actual doors at all.

But because it was an old district, the number of long-time residents was still considerable. The buildings were close together and the streets narrow, so population density was high. Most of the people living here were old residents of W City, generally advanced in years.

Ning Shuyi and the others spent quite a bit of effort before finding a place where they could park without blocking the road. As soon as they went upstairs, they saw that the forensic team had already arrived, bustling in and out, and judging by the atmosphere, everyone seemed to think this crime scene was a troublesome one.

“What’s going on?” Ning Shuyi recognized Dong Huihui, a female classmate from her own cohort in the forensic team, and hurriedly asked, “Why does everyone over there look so worried? Is the scene too clean, or too messy?”

Dong Huihui let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, wearing a bitter expression. “Neither. It’s too hard.”

“Huh?” Ning Shuyi was stunned. She did not understand what Dong Huihui meant.

Dong Huihui pointed inward. “See for yourselves. This time we’ve really run into a genuine hard nut.”

The more she said it, the more curious Ning Shuyi became. Compared with Ning Shuyi, Huo Yan had far less experience at scenes, and he too looked baffled.

The two of them put on shoe covers and went inside. It was a modest two-bedroom apartment with an old-fashioned layout. Immediately inside the entrance, the bathroom was closest to the door.

Older homes had never had the concept of separating wet and dry areas; the bath and toilet were combined, and this place was no exception. The bathroom was not large, and seven or eight people were packed inside.

Ning Shuyi had no advantage in height. Standing at the doorway and rising onto her toes, she still could not make out what was happening inside. At the moment, the forensic team members were all in a state of utter frustration, and she did not want to disturb them.

Fortunately, if she was not tall enough, there was someone nearby who was.

“Can you see what’s going on inside? What kind of scene is this, anyway, and why is everyone so troubled?”

Huo Yan strained to look inside and quickly grasped the situation. Looking down at Ning Shuyi, he said, “That person was right just now. It really is ‘too hard.’

“The body was sealed in concrete inside the bathtub.”

Ning Shuyi was startled. Standing at the bathroom door, she could already faintly catch an unpleasant smell, which by experience should have been the stench produced after a corpse began to rot.

But the odor was not especially strong. She had been guessing what sort of scene this might be, never expecting it to be concrete.

“But if it’s sealed in concrete, shouldn’t that block out air and make the body less likely to rot? For a scene covered in concrete, isn’t this smell a bit too strong?” she asked in confusion.

Huo Yan had seen it clearly and could naturally answer her question. “It wasn’t sealed completely. There are cracks where air can get in.”

Only then did understanding dawn on Ning Shuyi.

That made sense. Because the concrete had cracked, air could enter, and thus it could not prevent decomposition from occurring.

Although in such a case the decay would still progress much more slowly than if the body had been directly exposed to the air, the problem was that once a body began to decompose, it became especially fragile and easily damaged. Even in an exposed scene, it was already very difficult to inspect the body without disturbing its original condition; let alone this time, when it was also wrapped in a layer of concrete.

To get the body out, the concrete would have to be broken apart. If the force was too light, it would be like scratching an itch through a boot, utterly useless. If the force was too great, the concrete might come away, but the flesh and tissue on the body might come away with it as well.

Especially since they did not yet know what posture the body was in beneath the concrete, nor the victim’s sex, age, height, appearance, or anything else. If the corpse were damaged too severely, it would affect the later investigation.

End of chapter.