National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 756 - 699: Shocking: Cryptography Professor Dies, The Truth Behind a Sinister Crime

Chapter 756: Chapter 699: Shocking: Cryptography Professor Dies, The Truth Behind a Sinister Crime

When Qi Changye came to interrogate the nanny, he specifically made the trip.

However, he arrived a little later than expected and by the time he got there, the main part of the interrogation was essentially over.

Without waiting for Qi Changye to say anything, Tao Lu called Liu Cheng over to report in person.

Liu Cheng sat upright, hands on his legs, and said, "We found the aconite the nanny, Li Shuyi, had disposed of in the green belt near Zhou Xiangyang’s home through the police dog. After showing it to her, Li Shuyi confessed to everything..."

"What was the motive for the crime?" asked Tao Lu.

Liu Cheng first glanced at Tao Lu, then continued, "This year, the nanny Li Shuyi is 56 years old, and has worked for Zhou Xiangrong’s family for four years. Roughly after the first year of her service, which was a year or two ago, a few of Zhou’s nephews and nieces thought highly of Li Shuyi’s meticulous work, good attitude, and strong ability. They hoped she would stay with them long-term, so they promised her that if she could work for the Zhou family for five years, or until the old master, Zhou Xiangrong, passed away, they would secure a job for her son, either temporary work at a school or a public institution in Beijing, the kind with social security..."

Pausing for a moment, Liu Cheng continued, "Li Shuyi planned well, but her daughter-in-law unexpectedly became pregnant. The couple initially did not want children, so this was quite a surprise, and Li Shuyi was delighted. However, her daughter-in-law was planning on having an abortion on the grounds that there was no one to take care of her during her confinement, look after a pregnant woman, or help with the baby. Li Shuyi was in a dilemma. She wanted to resign to take care of her daughter-in-law, but also did not want to give up the promise from the Zhou family, so she came up with this ’best of both worlds’ idea."

Qi Changye listened with knitted brows.

Truth be told, nannies committing murder was nothing new to the police; similar cases like the Hangzhou nanny case were not uncommon nationwide, including those where the nanny turned into an "angel of death," specifically targeting elderly people to collect "deposit fees."

But Qi Changye always felt it was too straightforward, which did not match the case proceedings he was familiar with, nor the nature of the cases he had dealt with.

Moreover, the first half of the case seemed to have a considerable amount of concealment and complexity.

Unable to resist, Qi Changye asked, "So after the crime, the nanny was at the scene, right? Did you let her go home afterward, or did you bring her in?"

"After recording her statement that day, we allowed her to go back," Liu Cheng thought for a moment and added, "She was brought back again the next day."

Qi Changye appeared somewhat disappointed; if the nanny had died or disappeared, it would indeed have been a major case, possibly necessitating asking for help and conducting a city-wide search.

Although it seemed troublesome, wasn’t that what made it a major case worthy of attention?

Feeling somewhat unsatisfied and uneasy, Qi Changye probed further, "Did anything strange happen during that day, any unusual phone calls, or any other unexpected incidents? Traffic accidents?"

"Cough cough..." Liu Cheng understood Qi Changye’s intentions and shook his head helplessly, saying, "Director Qi, as far as we can tell, she is just an ordinary nanny. We asked, and there were no strange occurrences. We did some digging into the nanny’s background; her son and daughter-in-law have been married for over three years, with no plans for children until the unplanned pregnancy, which is true..."

Under Qi Changye’s gaze, Liu Cheng detailed the evidence obtained and other information.

In conclusion, Liu Cheng emphasized, "Li Shuyi’s uncle used to be a barefoot doctor, and she learned about the extreme toxicity of aconite and the even greater toxicity of fresh aconite from him at a very young age. These are all details Li Shuyi confessed herself."

"Alright. I get it," Qi Changye shrugged, looking somewhat conflicted, but more so, he was just not accustomed to such a smooth proceeding of events, his frown remaining throughout.

Liu Cheng did not dwell on it, as he was now used to cases resolving smoothly. He smiled at Tao Lu and said, "Tao, I’ll be heading back if there’s nothing else. The guys have combed through thousands of meters of green belts and dozens of trash cans today; they’re all waiting for me to treat them..."

"Go ahead, go ahead," Tao Lu waved him off and then turned back to Qi Changye.

Having said all there was to say, logically, it was time for Qi Changye to take his leave. Of course, if he felt there were doubts and wanted to continue investigating or even take over the case, that was his prerogative, and Tao Lu couldn’t interfere.

"Captain Jiang, I still have one more question," Qi Changye said, turning his gaze to Jiang Yuan, who had remained silent throughout.

Jiang Yuan was a half-step slow to react, but then he smiled diplomatically and said, "Please speak, Director Qi."

"I wouldn’t dare claim such courtesy," Qi Changye modestly declined twice, then smiled and took out an envelope, saying, "I have some photos here, and I’d like you to have a look at them, if you would?"

"Sure," Jiang Yuan received them and took a glance, saying without surprise, "These aren’t photos from the current case, are they?"

The photos in his hand were of a distant shot of a storefront, giving off a vibe that didn’t quite fit with the Zhou Xiangyang case.

"These are photos from another case. I must apologize for withholding the specific details of the case, Captain Jiang. Please help us see what you can find, and just say whatever you can, no matter how much or how little, deep or shallow."

Tao Lu didn’t even glance at the stack of photos, but simply picked up his heavy cadre mug and said, "Jiang Yuan, just talk about the technical aspects, only mention what you’re more certain of."

Qi Changye sighed, "Tao, it’s not that serious."

Tao Lu just smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Yuan then began looking at the photos one by one.

From the perspective of the scenes shown in the photos, this was a case of a storefront being burglarized.

The shuttered storefront, after being pried open, had its contents ransacked, and the remaining items were scattered messily all over the place. On closer inspection, they were mainly hardware and building materials.

Jiang Yuan had seen many similar scenes before. Each burglary had its differences, but the core elements were mostly the same.

However, this didn’t mean burglary cases were easy to crack.

Most burglary cases were easy to solve, often due to the carelessness of the perpetrators—of course, this could also be seen as inevitable because burglary tends to be a long-term activity. The more one does it, the harder it is to remain rational, meticulous, thorough, and disciplined over the long term...

Conversely, if the burglars were careful enough, the case would be very difficult to solve.

Just considering the motive, burglary cases are often annoyingly random. The objective of burglary is usually to seek wealth, but that wealth isn’t necessarily in plain sight. The burglars themselves can be quite capricious, with some preferring visible riches, others preferring the degree of difficulty, and some might just like certain numbers, or the color of a door, the direction of a window, and so on...

If the burglars don’t turn their crimes into a series, dealing with purely random burglary cases is even harder than shaking off a frenzied crowd.

The photos of the case brought by Qi Changye seemed difficult. There were no fingerprints, no footprints, no DNA, and no surveillance footage. Even a special case team equipped with considerable resources would frown upon such a case.

Jiang Yuan was also looking at the photos, one by one, then flipping through them again, and again...

Qi Changye waited until his teacup was dry, and seeing that Tao Lu didn’t offer a refill, he cleared his throat twice and said, "Captain Jiang, maybe I should just leave the photos here, and you can take another look when you have time. Of course, if you think it’s necessary, you can also visit the scene, but it’s already been cleaned up, so you would only see the peripheral circumstances."

Jiang Yuan, who was looking at the photos, responded a bit obtusely with a "Hm."

Qi Changye didn’t mind, stood up with a smile, and said, "Let’s leave it at that for now. If there’s any update, just let me know, we can update each other at any time..."

Jiang Yuan looked up, his response delayed, "Speaking of updating each other at any time..."