Chapter 72 Reconstructing the Crime Method

Verify?

How do we verify this? By reconstructing the crime scene?

Before Long Hao could figure it out, Chen Mo walked to Lin Dahai's right side.

At this moment, blood was still oozing from the man's body, and the bedsheets had long been soaked through.

As he approached, the metallic scent grew stronger, but he had long grown accustomed to it.

"Feng Juan is visually about 1.65 meters tall, and the bed is exactly one meter high."

"Regarding these three nails in the left ribs—if she were the killer, their placement is a bit problematic."

As he spoke, he gestured as if holding a steel nail in one hand and a hammer in the other.

Long Hao also moved behind him, trying to understand Chen Mo's meaning based on his movements.

"The position is wrong?"

As he spoke, he leaned over Lin Dahai's abdomen to look at the position of the three nails on his left ribs.

Once he made that movement himself, he understood what Chen Mo meant.

"You mean if Feng Juan were the one who drove these nails in, the ones in the left ribs wouldn't be so low down?"

The reason he understood immediately was that he found that standing on the right side, across a meter-high bed, the action of driving in the nails felt just right.

"But Feng Juan isn't tall enough; the only place she could reach would be Lin Dahai's abdomen near the left ribs."

"So, based on height, Feng Juan shouldn't be the killer."

"But!"

"What if Feng Juan moved Lin Dahai's body? Like, turning him on his side to drive them into the left ribs."

"Moreover, it's also possible that Feng Juan got onto the bed and moved to his left side to hammer the nails in."

Both were possibilities and wouldn't be difficult to do—one involves turning a reclining person over, and the other involves taking off shoes and moving to the other side.

"I thought of that too, but I've already ruled out Feng Juan as a suspect."

"While the placement is wrong, the angle of entry is also incorrect."

Chen Mo held up his index finger, mimicking a nail.

"If Lin Dahai were turned on his side, the nails should have been driven straight down. However, these nails are slanted, looking more like they were driven from the right side toward the left by someone of our height."

Long Hao thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement with Chen Mo's view.

He couldn't help but agree, because if the person were turned over, the nails would be straight down; even with a slight deviation, it wouldn't be by much.

Taken together, these points were quite persuasive.

"As for whether Feng Juan moved to the left side, comparing the nails on the right ribs with those on the left would provide the answer."

At this point, the suspicion that Feng Juan was the killer could be mostly ruled out.

The situation in this room at the time should have been...

Lin Dahai had drunk a lot of alcohol outside, then came home and beat Feng Juan to death. While Lin Dahai was sound asleep on the bed, the killer walked in, a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, and drove all sixty steel nails into his body.

Two questions.

What was the killer's motive for murdering Lin Dahai?

Hatred!

With sixty steel nails driven into a human body, the hatred was palpable.

Who hated Lin Dahai?

When he thought of this, a tear-streaked face appeared in Chen Mo's mind.

Lin Xixi?

The child is only five years old...

"How is that possible!"

"Didn't you say the killer's height is the same as ours?"

Long Hao thought back to Xiao Xi crying just now, still feeling a bit of heartache.

He was at the age to be a parent, but despite his and his wife's nightly efforts, they couldn't conceive. He was incredibly envious whenever he saw other people's children.

To put it simply, he viewed children through rose-colored glasses.

"The height is indeed that tall, but couldn't Xiao Xi have done it by standing on a stool?"

"In terms of motive, her mother was beaten to death by her father, and living next door, she must have heard it. She had the time, though logically, she shouldn't have the capability."

"But Lin Dahai was drunk last night. If we're being honest, even though Xiao Xi is only five, it's not necessarily impossible."

After this bit of Reasoning, Long Hao shrugged.

"Though I don't want to suspect a child who just lost her parents, your analysis is indeed well-founded."

"Let's find some time to go back and ask her together."

A slight smile appeared on Chen Mo's face; across two lifetimes, he was nearly fifty.

Naturally, he understood the frustration of thirty-year-old Long Hao being married without children; it was normal to be fond of them.

His reluctance to suspect her was also out of fear of causing Xiao Xi secondary trauma.

It had nothing to do with professionalism; it was just human nature.

"Yeah."

Just as he finished speaking, Xiao Zhang came rushing in from outside.

"The investigation results are out! They're out!"

He panted heavily as he approached.

"Whew."

"According to the investigation, the family moved here from Binhai a month ago. Their household registrations are both in Binhai, and the house was found through an agency."

"The man is Lin Dahai. His parents died in a car accident years ago. He currently works as a chef at Delicious Abode. According to his colleagues and boss,"

"he has a very good temper—the type who won't talk back even if you scold him. He just chuckles, appearing like a 'nice guy.' No one has heard of him having any enemies."

"A nice guy?"

"A good temper?"

"Meek and subservient to the outside world, but a brutal tyrant at home?"

"The woman is Feng Juan. She didn't look for a job after moving here; she was likely a housewife, staying home full-time to look after that little girl."

After saying this, he handed two sets of printed documents to each of them.

"Captain Long, Brother Mo, this is something I discovered by chance during the investigation."

Flipping open the documents.

On them was a man named Feng Guoliang. According to the records, he was a very successful businessman whose conglomerate was involved in creating shoe brands, from production to sales, with massive capital.

"This is Feng Juan's father. I found this while checking the household registrations."

"Then I contacted the Feng Family by phone. The person who answered was Feng Juan's brother. He told me that after Feng Juan graduated from college, she eloped with Lin Dahai. He didn't know the specifics."

"Eloped?"

At this moment, everyone's first thought wasn't whether the daughter had been mistreated or if the Feng Family would hire a killer.

Instead, anyone with a shred of empathy would feel that it wasn't worth it for Feng Juan.

Right now, she was lying on the floor, her body covered in bruises. Wounds from beer bottle shards and countless cigarette burns were clearly visible.

All of these were gifts from Lin Dahai.

"What's with this Lin Dahai? Setting aside the mismatch in educational backgrounds, she was willing to give up a privileged life to elope with a man who had nothing."

"And then he domestic-abused her every single day!?"

Long Hao's expression was one of suppressed anger.

No one would have a good impression of a domestic abuser.

Looking at the yard, the house, and even the tabletops, everything was kept in perfect order; she was a model of a virtuous wife and mother.

A girl who loved him so much, yet he didn't cherish her.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that for now."

"Chen Mo, do you think the Feng Family would hire a hitman?"

"From the Feng Family's perspective, eloping is one thing, but seeing her live such a miserable life all these years... given they have the money, I think it's entirely possible they'd harbor a desire for revenge."