TPODN Chapter 43

Three days later—

Li Ke was driving, with Hu Shi, Lu Yao, and Wang Linfei in the car, heading towards Maoyuan Building.

“To summarize, is it correct to say this? The crime scene is on the top floor of Maoyuan Building, and outsiders cannot access that floor. The victim, Zhou Runmin, chairman of ‘Maoyuan International Group Co., Ltd.,’ had lunch with General Manager Liu Ziqi and Product Planning Department Head Zhao Menglin on the same floor at noon, and then, as usual, took a nap in his office. This would be around 12:30 PM. At the same time, Director Zhao also returned to his room for a nap. Unlike the Chairman, Director Zhao rarely had such a habit.”

“Yes, Captain Hu.”

“Manager Liu went out, and two of the three secretaries also went out for lunch. The only people left on the floor were Chairman Zhou and Director Zhao, who were napping in their offices, and Secretary Jiang, who was on duty during the lunch break. It’s currently estimated that Chairman Zhou Runmin died between 12:59 PM and 1:15 PM. During this time, only these three people were on the entire floor.”

“Yes.”

“The two secretaries who went out for lunch returned to the company before 1:45 PM. Then, after 1:50 PM, Manager Liu also returned. At that moment, the window cleaner found Chairman Zhou collapsed in his room and notified the security office. The security guard called the secretary’s office two or three minutes after Manager Liu returned to the office. Manager Liu and the three secretaries then discovered that Chairman Zhou had died from a head injury. Afterwards, Manager Liu was alone in the office for one or two minutes to check the situation.”

Wang Linfei nodded. Hu Shi’s ability to remember even the detailed timing after hearing the explanation only once was astonishing; he truly deserved to have worked in the provincial criminal investigation department.

“After Manager Liu came out of the Chairman’s office, he and the secretaries went into Director Zhao Menglin’s office. Director Zhao was sound asleep, as if he had been resting in the office all along.”

“He was pretending to be asleep.” Wang Linfei replied decisively.

“Even so, Manager Liu suspects Director Zhao because it was difficult for others to enter the floor during the time of the incident. Moreover, he believes that there are no security cameras in the corridor behind the Chairman’s office, making it impossible to avoid the cameras to enter the Chairman’s office.”

“The surveillance footage must have been checked, right? Does it show any suspicious individuals entering the Chairman’s office, Linfei?”

“The footage shows that no one entered the Chairman’s office during that time.”

“After receiving the report, we immediately checked the surveillance cameras, which showed no one entering the Chairman’s office. Moreover, the forensic examination results showed that Chairman Zhou Runmin’s death was caused by a head injury that resulted in a cerebral hemorrhage. The impact wasn’t very strong; an average person wouldn’t have died from it, and might have only gotten a concussion at most. However, according to the secretaries, Chairman Zhou had a pre-existing condition.”

“What condition?” Hu Shi asked.

“He had brain aneurysm surgery last year, and part of his skull was removed.”

“So, if this is murder, the killer even took that into account.”

“Based on my personal analysis, the killer might have known it all along. Many people in the company knew about the Chairman’s surgery.”

At this moment, Hu Shi, sitting in the back seat of the car, turned his head to Lu Yao. Lu Yao immediately understood and said, “According to the final forensic examination results, Chairman Zhou Runmin’s head wound was caused by a blunt object with a flat surface. Although no such weapon was found in the Chairman’s office at the crime scene, trace amounts of blood were found on the glass coffee table.”

“I found the first suspicious point. Linfei, why did I rule out the possibility of an accident? Why do I suspect homicide?”

Hu Shi naturally trusted Wang Linfei’s judgment, but he still wanted to hear Wang Linfei’s analysis, because if it had been determined to be an accidental death, they wouldn’t be having this meeting three days later.

“Initially, I also suspected that the Chairman, being elderly, had fallen forward, causing trauma to the back of his head,” Wang Linfei said.

“Yes. Besides being elderly, this is very likely to happen especially after just waking up,” Hu Shi said.

“But I discovered some unreasonable phenomena.”

“What do you mean?”

“Based on the location of the head injury, Chairman Zhou suffered an impact on the area where his back of the head meets the top of his head. After performing virtual experiments with real people, Li Ke, Lu Yao, and I found that to naturally hit those areas, the body would have to be in a nearly horizontal position, or falling straight down feet first. Any other scenario is impossible.”

“I see. If it were a natural fall, even if the back of his head was injured, it should have hit a slightly lower area. But I have a question: what if Chairman Zhou hit the table with his shoulder first, and then his head followed? Is that possible?”

Wang Linfei shook his head.

“We discussed that possibility as well, but the angle doesn’t work. Moreover, there should have been a mark where the initial impact occurred, but there wasn’t even a bruise found, except for the head.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s even more bizarre.”

Hu Shi murmured.

“Does that mean the killer had the strength of a sumo wrestler, lifting the Chairman up and smashing his head against the table upside down? Or did the killer use a judo over-the-shoulder throw to throw the Chairman into the air and then impact him? The more I think about it, the less I understand…” Hu Shi shook his head, the bizarre nature of the case making him joke involuntarily.

“That doesn’t make sense, but I believe there’s another weapon.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a large crystal glass ashtray in Director Zhao’s room. I believe that hitting someone with the bottom of the ashtray could create the same wound.”

“Were traces of blood found on the ashtray?”

“No. I thought of the ashtray at the time, but Director Zhao’s handkerchief, clothes, and the papers in the room were all checked. There was no evidence of any blood being wiped off, or any items used to cover the ashtray.”

“Director Zhao shouldn’t have had the chance to dispose of such evidence, right?”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“Furthermore, if there was another weapon, then the bloodstains on the glass coffee table would be misleading planted evidence.”

Hu Shi fell into deep thought.

“Since there’s an ashtray outside the office, does that mean Director Zhao smokes?”

“Yes.”

“Does the Chairman also smoke?”

“No. He hates the smell of smoke. He can’t even stand other people smoking. It’s said that Director Zhao can only secretly smoke in his office.”

“So, it’s impossible for Director Zhao to take the ashtray to the president’s office just to smoke. Furthermore, deliberately bringing a weapon from his office, accidentally killing someone, and then rushing to clean up afterwards is also hard to believe. But if all the details are planned, that would be too stupid. How could anyone deliberately act in a way that makes them the prime suspect… to commit the crime?”

“Exactly! So Director Zhao couldn’t be the killer,” Li Ke said while driving.

Wang Linfei felt that even though everyone was pointing the finger at Director Zhao, he firmly believed that Director Zhao was not the killer based on his own reasoning.

“If that’s the case, we can only assume that someone wants to frame Director Zhao…” Hu Shi said.

“However, even if we think that way, there are still some inexplicable doubts.”

“If it were me, if I really wanted to frame Director Zhao, I would do it more thoroughly. For example, put the ashtray with the director’s fingerprints at the crime scene, not in Director Zhao’s office. Moreover, the force of the impact wasn’t great, which makes me suspicious. In fact, the chairman didn’t die on the spot, right?”

“That’s right. When the Chairman’s body was discovered, his pants were rolled up and stained with fluff from the carpet. It was judged that he was attacked in the center of the room, and then crawled to a spot near the door on his own.”

“That makes it even stranger.”

Hu Shi said, staring ahead.

“If the Chairman was left alive, then the killer’s identity could easily be exposed. In that case, why didn’t they deliver the final, fatal blow?”

Li Ke drove the car into Maoyuan Building. Although there were four parking spaces on the first floor, they were all full. Li Ke used the private elevator to enter the underground parking lot.

After the four climbed the stairs to the first floor, they walked to the elevator lobby. After confirming that exiting the building from the elevator lobby required passing through the security room, the four walked out of the building.

The four stood on the side of the building for a long time, observing the building and the surrounding environment.

“It should be difficult to break in from the outside without going through the entrance, right?” Hu Shi asked Wang Linfei.

Faced with Hu Shi’s question, Wang Linfei looked around with a blank expression, and then said:

“Rather than difficult, it’s almost impossible to break in without leaving a trace. Because all the windows in this building are fixed.”

Wang Linfei seemed to understand at a glance. But what did he mean by “almost”?

“The killer is also a person, and there must be flaws. Even if Houdini were reincarnated, I would make him lose his magic!” Wang Linfei didn’t believe in magic.

The four circled around the side entrance and entered the building. Along the corridor next to the elevator, they inspected the side door passage from the inside.

“On Sundays, there’s only one security guard, who’s holed up in this small room. However, if someone squeezed in through the side door, they could enter the building without being detected.”

Wang Linfei looked at the window of the security room thoughtfully.

“I have a general idea. Next, please take me to the crime scene, Linfei.” Hu Shi hadn’t gone to the crime scene with Wang Linfei and the others three days ago because he was at a meeting in the city.

After the four entered the elevator, Hu Shi pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, but the light didn’t turn on. Wang Linfei then pressed the button for the fourteenth floor, and the light turned on, and the elevator began to operate.

“The button for the fifteenth floor seems to be locked,” Lu Yao said.

“Yes. The top floor is for the exclusive use of executives. Unless a password is entered, or it’s operated from the floor below, the elevator won’t stop there.” Usually, in situations where a password is required, there isn’t a separate keypad; instead, the floor number buttons are used. Although this was Wang Linfei’s second time at Maoyuan Building, he still leaned over in front of the control panel to carefully observe the floor number buttons.

The elevator stopped on the fourteenth floor, and the doors opened.

As soon as the doors opened, Xu Hao, the head of the publicity department, walked quickly from the front. Judging from the wrinkles on his face, he was probably in his early forties, but perhaps due to the stressful nature of his job, his forehead was starting to recede, and the hair on the top of his head was gradually thinning.

“Officers, thank you for your hard work.”

“Hello. This is Hu Shi, the captain of our Fengyun City Public Security Bureau’s ‘Special Criminal Investigation Unit.'”

“Captain Hu, Captain Wang Linfei, is this case really an accident?” Director Xu seemed very worried. The company was currently preparing for an IPO, and in this situation, let alone an IPO, even normal work couldn’t be carried out. All of Maoyuan International Group’s employees were on standby, and no one knew what the company’s future would be after the chairman’s death.

“In any case, let’s start by investigating the surroundings. The key to solving the locked-room murder might be on this floor,” Wang Linfei said.

The five entered the elevator. Director Xu stood close to the control panel, and while pressing the “close” button with his left hand, he quickly pressed a few other buttons with his right hand. Although Wang Linfei and the others were police officers, he probably didn’t want visitors to see the password out of instinct. The button finally lit up, and the elevator started moving. At this moment, Wang Linfei leaned over, observing the elevator buttons.

“By the way, the password… may I ask,” Wang Linfei asked suddenly.

“Approximately how many people know it?”

Turning his head, Director Xu had a confused expression, unsure whether to say it or not, but after looking at all the police officers, Xu Hao reluctantly replied, “Including me, there are fifteen important leaders in the company. Of course, the building’s management company and others should also know it.”

The elevator doors opened.

A man sitting at the secretary’s desk bowed with a smile. Wang Linfei remembered her name – Jiang Kefan.

Xu Hao, Wang Linfei, Lu Yao, and Li Ke stepped out of the elevator one after another, but Hu Shi remained inside alone.

Xu Hao turned his head with a puzzled expression.

“If possible, I’d like to take a look at the stairwell first; it’s my first time here.” Hu Shi said, something Wang Linfei and the others definitely didn’t investigate in detail the first time they came.

“Besides the elevator, there’s also the staircase that’s usually used, it’s over here,” Xu Hao said.

Xu Hao pointed to the iron door on the left-hand side.

Hu Shi walked to the iron door, pressed the metal doorknob, and opened the door. The faint echo of metal clanging sounded from inside the stairwell.

“It’s an automatic lock!”

Hu Shi pointed to the lever handle and keyhole so that everyone could see it clearly.

“It’s like the fire doors in hotels. From the floor side, you can freely turn the handle to open the door, but from the stairwell side, you have to use a key.”

“Who has the key to this place?”

“The deceased Chairman, Manager Liu, Director Zhao, plus the three secretaries. Also, Director Zhao’s product planning department has one. Ah… and of course, the master key in the security room can also open it.”

“So, there are eight in total.”

Hu Shi squatted down, carefully inspecting the lock, seemingly very knowledgeable about locks.

“Inspection complete.”

Hu Shi stood up.

“Did you find anything, Captain Hu?” Wang Linfei said.

Faced with Wang Linfei’s inquiry, Hu Shi replied in a relaxed manner, “Have you ever heard of ‘lock-bumping’?”

“No. Captain Hu, that’s a knowledge blind spot for me.” Wang Linfei really didn’t know about locks, but everyone in the case team knew that Hu Shi had worked in the provincial criminal investigation department, so he had a wealth of knowledge in that area.

“Lock-bumping?” Li Ke and Lu Yao also looked surprised.

“It’s about destroying the entire lock. You can even buy special tools for destroying lock cylinders on the market now. As long as you use a blank key attached to the end of an electric drill, you can forcefully turn it open.”

Wang Linfei frowned; he roughly understood what Hu Shi meant.

“You mean it can be easily destroyed in a few simple steps?”

“If the killer is an expert, they can use special tools to destroy the lock in less than a minute without making too much noise. Therefore, if a professional thief broke in from here, they would most likely destroy the lock before entering. But… what we see now is the opposite.”

Hu Shi pointed to the keyhole.

“Completely intact.”

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