Chapter 114: You Are the Killer!

After I finished speaking, Huang Xiaotao shot a sharp, penetrating glare at Zou Wei. Suddenly, he laughed nervously and defensively.

"Officer, your imagination is a little too wild. This plot could be straight out of a horror movie. I can't believe you came up with this."

"Zou Wei, cut the nonsense and come with us!" Huang Xiaotao snapped fiercely.

Zou Wei refused to back down. "Sorry, but I want to see your search warrant! No warrant, huh? I'm starting to doubt whether you two are even cops. I'll call Captain Zhang right now to check if you're really from the Public Security Bureau."

Huang Xiaotao and I were shocked. We never expected him to dare call the leader of the special task force that investigated him a year ago. This could be trouble.

Zou Wei dialed the number. After a brief conversation, a sinister smile crept across his face.

"Ah, so you're conducting an unauthorized investigation. And one of you isn't even a police officer. You almost had me fooled."

I said, "So, you're saying you nearly confessed to the crime?"

Zou Wei's eyes blazed as he yelled, "Nonsense! I didn't kill anyone. There's no crime."

I asked, "Mr. Zou, have you recently woken up with a bitter taste in your mouth, frequently had mouth ulcers, night sweats, or reddish urine?"

His face instantly paled. "How do you know that?"

...

...

"You once molested a corpse, and the corpse toxins entered your liver. It's strange if you don't have those symptoms."

Zou Wei slammed the table angrily. "That's nonsense! That was a year ago..."

Suddenly, he fell silent, realizing he'd said too much. Huang Xiaotao seized the moment.

"What happened a year ago?"

"This is coercion! It's invalid. I want security to escort you out!" Zou Wei shouted, jumping up.

Just then, Huang Xiaotao's phone rang. It was Captain Lin, sternly ordering her to return immediately. Huang sighed, then said to Zou Wei, "Mr. Zou, we'll be leaving for now. We'll come visit again."

After leaving the company, Huang Xiaotao asked if the "corpse toxins in the liver" thing was true.

I told her it was a bluff. Fresh corpses don't have toxins like that. I deduced from his complexion that he had symptoms of liver heat and weakness, so I tricked him.

I had recorded that conversation, but it had no legal weight. Zou Wei was right—it was a forced confession and couldn't be used as evidence.

Still, Huang Xiaotao and I were certain of one thing: Zou Wei was the wife killer. The biggest challenge now was finding solid evidence!

Back at the station, Captain Lin called Huang Xiaotao in. I went with her. Captain Zhang was there—a middle-aged, dark-skinned man. Lin harshly berated Huang Xiaotao, threatening to suspend her if she acted on her own again.

Captain Zhang advised, "Xiaotao, I appreciate your intentions, but I've checked that case inside and out. There's no suspicious point. I've been a detective for over thirty years. Don't you think I can tell? Investigating my old case like this just slaps me in the face."

Huang Xiaotao said, "But there are really doubts about that case. Back then—"

Lin cut her off sharply, "Enough. Reflect on yourself. The Public Security Bureau isn't your home to do as you please."

After leaving, Huang sighed. Lin forbade reopening the case, but there was an unspoken truth: if Zou Wei was proven guilty, Captain Zhang would be held responsible for negligence and possibly punished.

The worst part was Zou Wei already knew I wasn't a cop. I couldn't investigate alone anymore. I asked Huang Xiaotao what to do.

She said, "Keep digging. If I have to be demoted like Wang Yuanchao, so be it. If it's just about climbing ranks or making money, I wouldn't be a cop."

I praised her, "A real tough woman!"

I suggested we avoid contacting Zou Wei directly—one phone call could get Huang Xiaotao suspended. Instead, we would gather evidence from the outside, and when we have airtight proof, let's see how he tries to wriggle out.

The next day, Huang Xiaotao emailed me some information Wang Yuanchao had found. Zou Wei used to be an insurance claims adjuster. The company was notorious for being ruthless and stingy—never paying out without a fight, even on genuine accidents. Zou Wei's professional caution made him meticulous at every step.

Another document came from a repair shop: the brake cable on the car had indeed snapped—not cut by hand.

I proposed a theory: Zou Wei had replaced the brake cable with an old, worn one beforehand. But it was just a guess; the car had long been disposed of.

Days passed without progress. What should have been a straightforward case stalled, making us anxious.

About a week later, Wang Yuanchao made a startling discovery: the victim, Ma Xiaoli's body, had never been cremated. She'd signed a body donation agreement before death, so the medical school had taken her remains for anatomical specimens.

Hearing this, I perked up. That night, Huang Xiaotao, Wang Yuanchao, and I met at a secluded spot. To avoid attention, we parked in an empty junkyard. Wang Yuanchao opened the trunk and pulled out a bag. Inside was a human skeleton.

Huang Xiaotao covered her mouth in shock. "How... how do we examine this?"

Wang Yuanchao calmly lit a cigarette. "The victim was smashed beyond recognition. Her organs are unusable, so the medical school turned her into a skeleton specimen."

The skeleton had fractures, clearly from the crash, glued back together during specimen preparation.

Since it was a specimen, it was coated with preservatives, and the periosteum was thoroughly stripped away. Even a veteran forensic pathologist would be stumped by these bleached bones.

I stared at the skeleton, lost in thought. Huang Xiaotao called me several times before I snapped out of it.

She asked, "Song Yang, any ideas?"

I suddenly hypothesized, "The killer inserted a sharp piece of glass into the victim's throat. Why didn't she resist?"

"Tied up?" Huang Xiaotao guessed.

"No, that would leave marks. Zou Wei isn't that stupid. He probably used an inhaled anesthetic—something very hard to detect."

"But there are no organs left. How can we test for that?" Huang Xiaotao sighed.

"Trace amounts of drugs remain in the bone marrow. I have a method to test it, though I can't guarantee success."

Huang Xiaotao jumped up excitedly. "That's what I wanted to hear. Tell me what you need, and I'll get it right away."

"White vinegar, mugwort, alcohol, a shovel, and a straw mat," I quickly listed.

Huang Xiaotao rushed to gather the materials. I said we needed a quiet, open place, so we went to a deserted area on the city outskirts. I asked Wang Yuanchao to dig a pit two meters long and one meter wide, with a flat bottom.

He dug quickly. Surprised, I asked how he was so fast.

"I dug tens of meters of trenches alone during the border war. This soil is soft like tofu. Easy," he said, carrying his shovel.

Huang Xiaotao praised, "Few people here, but plenty of talent."

I poured alcohol onto the pit floor and set it ablaze. The roaring fire illuminated the vast wilderness, creating an imposing sight.

Huang Xiaotao joked, "From afar, anyone would think someone's burning evidence."

I laughed, "Old habits die hard."

When the fire died down, the pit was glowing red hot. I asked Wang Yuanchao to spread the skeleton evenly on the pit floor, then sprinkled white vinegar over it. The vinegar evaporated instantly, filling the air with a sharp sour scent. Before the steam faded, we covered the bones with the straw mat and weighed it down with bricks.

After a while, we uncovered it. The bones showed no change.

Huang Xiaotao was disappointed. "No effect, Song Yang!"

I reassured her, "It's okay. This is the first of three steaming tests. We have to keep going!"