FBH Chapter 7

The photos showed a scene of devastation after a fire: three bodies, either lying on their backs or prostrate, were charred beyond recognition on the wet ground – these were the bodies of two adults and a child. The hair and clothing of the three victims were burned, completely stuck to their skin, with only the parts of the bodies in contact with the ground unscathed; the walls of the room were blackened; the sofa was burned into a black charcoal frame; the TV, vases, tea sets, and toy cars were shattered and scattered on the ground; the glass separating the room from the balcony and the multiple window panes were shattered…

This was a shocking and heinous case that occurred on July 18th, nearly fifty days ago. The crime scene was located in Apartment 703, Unit 3 of Prosperity Garden in Jincheng City. It was a two-bedroom apartment.

On the day of the incident, Wu Shuqi, following instructions from the command center, led criminal investigation and technical investigation personnel from her unit, the Golden Sea Tang Public Security Bureau, to the scene. By the time they arrived, the fire had been extinguished by firefighters. Officers from the local police station had arrived before the criminal police from the branch bureau and had secured the scene.

Wu Shuqi saw three severely burned bodies in the living room, and the room was filled with lingering smoke and the smell of burning. The first thing she did when she and her colleagues entered the scene wearing gas masks was to check her watch: 16:52.

The police determined that it was a fire caused by a gas leak (the gas tank and gas stove valve in the kitchen had both been opened, and gas was leaking from the nozzle through a rubber hose). The cause of the gas explosion was likely spontaneous combustion of a charging children’s toy car. The open flame came into contact with the indoor air, which was mixed with a large amount of carbon monoxide. The charred plug of the toy car still plugged into the power outlet on the living room wall was proof of this.

It was inferred that the room had been sealed after the gas leak.

Judging from the posture of the bodies at the scene, it could be determined that the victims were already dead when the fire occurred. If they had been burned to death, the corpses’ legs and arms would usually be in a curled position, and their fists would be clenched.

Judging from the surface of the three corpses where they were in contact with the ground, which showed no burns, the lividity was cherry-red (or possibly bright red. Due to the dim lighting at the inspection site, there may be visual identification deviations), which is consistent with the characteristic manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Who opened the gas stove and gas cylinder valves?

Why open them?

If it was carbon monoxide poisoning, the gas leak would have a strong, pungent smell. Wouldn’t the victims have smelled it?

One mystery after another lingered in the minds of the investigating police, and they all looked serious.

They were still shaken when the police took their statements.

When the police asked if they had noticed anything unusual in that room after the fire, the three of them said that they hadn’t, they had been working on the renovations inside.

However, a middle-aged worker said that he had seen the woman and the little boy in that room. It was four hours before the fire, when he received a call from his daughter in Shenzhen. He thought the sound of the cutting machine in the room was too loud, so he went out into the hallway to talk to his daughter.

After finishing the call, he took out a cigarette to smoke. Suddenly, he looked up and saw a five- or six-year-old girl leaning against the door, looking at him. The child had a sturdy build, and he smiled at the child. The child turned around and walked back into the room with a blank expression, looking a little timid.

He knew that Li Yuehua was doing We-Commerce because Li Yuehua was always trying to get him to join. Every time Li Yuehua saw him, she would instill in him the idea of how to get rich quickly by doing We-Commerce. He was a little annoyed by Li Yuehua, so he made all kinds of excuses to get past it.

Once, he asked Li Yuehua where her wife and children were. Li Yuehua said that they were all in her hometown. He also asked Li Yuehua why she didn’t bring them over to live with her. Li Yuehua said that she was afraid she wouldn’t take good care of them. He was a little puzzled, thinking to himself that his wife was not a three-year-old child, why would she need him to take care of her? But out of politeness, he did not ask Li Yuehua the reason.

Wu Shuqi called her partner Sun Rumin to the side and said, “Combining the analysis of the resident Mr. Zhou on the 9th floor and the renovation workers, the woman in red and the fat boy should be Li Yuehua’s wife and son. They may have just come from their hometown.”

Sun Rumin agreed, then sighed and said, “The wife took her son to visit her husband, which should have been a happy thing, but she didn’t expect to be separated forever before they even met.”

Wu Shuqi sighed in agreement.

“We’ll know when Li Yuehua comes back and asks,” Wu Shuqi said. “Has Li Yuehua been notified?”

“Da Wu contacted the property management, and the property management said that he has been notified. He is rushing back from out of town,” Sun Rumin continued. “According to the firefighters who participated in the fire response, they used demolition tools and spent about two minutes to open the security door. The door was not locked from the inside, which means that in a normal, quiet situation, the door would not form an obstacle to escape;

“In addition, no blunt or sharp instrument injuries were found on the deceased, and no blood was found at the scene, so the possibility of human injury causing limited mobility and passively inhaling carbon monoxide can be ruled out. Could it be cyanide poisoning? If that’s the case, it would be incredible! The heavy fog must be cleared by our police. Captain Wu, it looks like we’re going to be busy for a while.”

Wu Shuqi expressed her approval of her partner’s detailed analysis. In fact, that was what she thought too.
——————

At this time, a middle-aged woman ran out of the community like a lost soul. She was Li Yuehua, the owner of Apartment 703, Unit 3.

An hour and a half ago, he was giving product knowledge training to his We-Commerce team in the neighboring city of Wutong City when he received a call. The property management said that a fire had broken out in his house. He immediately stopped his speech and called his wife, but her phone was turned off. He realized that the situation was not good, so he asked an acquaintance at the meeting to drive him, and he rushed over at full speed.

Wu Shuqi looked at the anxious middle-aged woman and asked, “Are you Li Yuehua?”

Li Yuehua “ummed” and said anxiously, “Tell me quickly, how are my family members?”

Wu Shuqi took the SLR digital camera from the police officer Wu Zhi next to her, found the photos of the victims taken at the scene, handed them to Li Yuehua, and said in as gentle a voice as possible, “Please take a look.”

At the same time, Sun Rumin quickly turned on the body-worn camera he was carrying and pointed the lens at Li Yuehua.

Li Yuehua took a closer look, and his face suddenly turned black. He staggered two steps and collapsed to the ground, tearing at his hair with both hands and wailing in despair. Wu Shuqi was not good at dealing with grieving family members, so facing this heartbroken woman, she could only shake her head and sigh softly, but could not think of any words of comfort.

The reason why the forensic doctor had to wait until tomorrow to perform an autopsy on the bodies of Li Yuehua’s wife and children was because there were still two bodies parked in the forensic laboratory waiting for the forensic doctor to perform an autopsy. The forensic doctor was not a machine and needed to rest properly.

Many onlookers had gathered in the community, and everyone was talking about it, feeling sorry for the huge disaster that had befallen Li Yuehua’s family.

Wu Shuqi told him the cause of the fire and the police’s investigation of the scene.

Li Yuehua beat his chest and stamped his feet and said, “If I had come back immediately after receiving her call, they wouldn’t have… woo, woo woo…”

The names of the victims were: Ning Yaohong, Li Zihan, and Lü Yuchan. They were Li Yuehua’s wife, son, and friend, respectively.

Li Yuehua choked, his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and it took him a long time to say, “No.”

Wu Shuqi thought to herself, if Lü Yuchan didn’t pick up the key, then what did she go there for? Was her death related to Ning Yaohong? Or was the death of Ning Yaohong and her son related to her? The true relationship between Li Yuehua and Lü Yuchan must be clarified in order to help uncover the truth of the case.

“We… we have known each other for a while. We are just business partners. Usually, we go back and forth… basically for business needs,” Li Yuehua said with a slight frown.

“To visit my wife,” Li Yuehua said, lowering his head.

Wu Shuqi pressed on, “Does your wife know her?”

“No… no,” Li Yuehua stammered.

“I asked her to go,” Li Yuehua explained, “My… my wife just came from her hometown, Qingqing. I was afraid she wouldn’t take good care of herself, so I asked Lü Yuchan to go and see her.”

“What’s wrong with your wife?” Wu Shuqi asked curiously.

Wu Shuqi asked, “What was her condition like before she came? Who took care of her in her hometown?”

Li Yuehua nodded.

Li Yuehua told Wu Shuqi the name of the hospital, but he said that he did not remember the hospital’s phone number. As soon as he finished speaking, he burst into tears again.

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