National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 775 - 718 Lost

Chapter 775: Chapter 718 Lost

Huff puff.

Huff puff.

Cui Qishan gasped for air, his arms stretched straight, his feet pushing hard; it took a good ten seconds before the resistance in front suddenly released.

Whoo...

The car in front pulled out of the trap, emitting a dull roar and sending a clump of mud into Cui Qishan’s mouth.

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey...

Cui Qishan spat several times, still tasting the fresh mud flavor mixed with the foul smell of tires in his mouth.

"Cui Da, get in the car," Xiao Si, who came along, couldn’t be bothered to comfort him. He used to be annoying and unappreciated at Squad Seven, but nobody there hassled him.

It was nothing like how it was after being kicked over to Cui Qishan; each day’s work became heavier than the last, and now he was simply off on a long trip. Thinking about the hardship he endured, not even the squad leader eating shit would appease him.

"Pass me a bottle of water," Cui Qishan grumbled as he got into the car, his mouth as uncomfortable as if it were filled with cement.

"I’ve drunk from it, you want it?" Xiao Si offered a bottle of Farmer’s Spring water.

"Who else has water?" Cui Qishan asked again.

Li Jiang, "I’ve drunk mine."

Wang Chao, "I’ve drunk mine too."

Both presented their Farmer’s Spring water bottles from their pockets.

Seeing this, Xiao Si also handed over his bottle of Farmer’s Spring water.

Cui Qishan looked down at the three bottles of water, then up at the three people, wondering whose bottle might have a milder taste of some mischievous kid.

Before noon.

The battle-worn Santana, tested by time, dropped off a group of people at the entrance of Zhanggang Village.

Cui Qishan was the first one out of the car, looking as pale as if he would vomit on the spot.

"Cui Da, hold on, huh," Xiao Si wasn’t speaking idly; he was just asking his superior to stay strong.

"Won’t kill me," Cui Qishan huffed, wiping his mouth and turning back to glance at that wreck of a car, "The vehicles I rode in as a kid weren’t any better than this."

Li Jiang laughed upon hearing this, "Maybe it’s the same one."

Cui Qishan rubbed his prayer beads, silently chanting "don’t hit people" several times before he gradually calmed down.

The beads were made of old mountain sandalwood, not expensive, but they were a gift from Jiang Yuan’s master, Wu Jun. Compared to Jiang Yuan, Wu Jun indeed appeared more like a revered elder. Cui Qishan liked the beads a lot, especially today—whenever he felt carsick or about to faint from anger, smelling them or clutching them tightly always made him feel a bit better.

"This village is indeed poor."

Li Jiang hopped in place a few times, then observed the surroundings.

Zhanggang Village in Balitang Township, Ding’an County, Shu Province—just hearing this address indicated it wasn’t exactly a wealthy place.

"Poor village, those who don’t go out to work mainly rely on subsistence allowances; they have enough to eat but not well," a local police officer emerged from the driver’s seat of the damaged car, clutching his back and staggering.

"Life’s tough," Cui Qishan muttered, then asked, "Where does Zhang Lizhen live?"

"The village chief will be right over," the local officer, who also served in the township, wasn’t quite clear on the details in the village.

After asking around, the group finally found Zhang Lizhen’s home.

Upon opening the door, they were first hit by a strong smell of alcohol.

Looking at the fairly large courtyard, it was littered with beer and liquor bottles...

A few old men and women passing by to enjoy the spectacle also pinched their noses and commented, "Drank himself to death, right? You here to collect the body?"

The village chief shooed the onlookers away, then hollered, "Uncle. The police are here for you."

The village chief, a man in his forties, was among the younger generation that remained in the village. After shouting, he turned and said, "My uncle’s leg got injured before; it hurts so much that he loves to drink. Now, with money sent by his daughter, he tends to drink too much."

As he spoke, the village chief pushed open another door, turned on the light, and went inside; soon after, he led out a tottering old man.

Just seeing his drunken state, Cui Qishan could already guess why he hadn’t called the police.

"Make sure the body cameras are on," Cui Qishan tidied up his appearance, then turned on his body camera, systematically introduced himself, and asked:

"When was the last time you contacted your daughter?"

"How much money does she send you each time?"

"Have there always been calls?"

Cui Qishan asked question after question, paying particular attention to the other party’s facial expressions and movements.

One advantage of questioning someone face-to-face is that it’s easier to detect if the person is lying.

Of course, as drunk as Zhang Bao was, it was impossible for him to hide a lie. He didn’t even seem willing to lie and basically responded to every question he was asked.

As the questioning progressed, Zhang Bao sobered up a bit and, as if just remembering, asked, "Where’s my girl? How is she doing?"

"We’re still not sure," Cui Qishan did not give a direct answer.

Although the police had already identified the victim as Zhang Lizhen, the DNA collected here had not yet been sent over, and the report had not come out, so it couldn’t be 100% confirmed.

Another thing, Cui Qishan had to complete the record of Zhang Bao’s statement. Frankly speaking, Zhang Bao was also a potential suspect.

Zhang Bao somewhat realized something was amiss, wiped his face with the cold water from the yard, and began to wake up, answering more and more earnestly:

"She called me earlier, said she was going abroad for a business trip or something, that she’d be out for three years, and when she came back she could get a promotion or something. And she’d make more money."

"She transferred ten thousand yuan to me at that time. I said it was too much..."

"Right... she gave me a new phone number, saying she had to change numbers when going abroad, and calling this number would be a bit cheaper."

"I called once, but the call didn’t go through. She said it was because she was overseas or something... The last time... It’s been about two months, I think. We only talked a few words that time; she said she was very busy..."

Cui Qishan exchanged looks with Xiao Si and others while asking questions.

Xiao Si, who was responsible for taking notes, even took the time to record the timing of the calls mentioned by Zhang Bao on the side. It was easily apparent that Zhang Bao had continued to communicate with his daughter even after the time when the victim had died.

Although they only spoke about once or twice a month, and each call was only for a minute or two, sometimes even just tens of seconds, Zhang Bao evidently had not noticed any discrepancies.

Even more, these calls had been going on for the past six months, only with a different phone number.

Cui Qishan frowned deeply. This was frightening, and moreover, why was the murderer so deliberate and calculating?

A normal murderer would just dig a hole, bury the body, and be done with it, wouldn’t they?

You’re still contacting the victim’s father?

Probable use of AI voice, such fraud cases have been increasing in number

But that’s easier said than done. If they had the skill to perpetrate fraud, that would be enough. Murder doesn’t fit the bill.

Moreover, to make a call every once in a while, even changing phone numbers and transferring money, isn’t it easier just to bury the body in a pit?

The written record was nearly completed in no time.

At best, Zhang Bao is a clumsy middle-aged man; to put it bluntly, Zhang Bao is a foolish, confused, selfish drunkard, with limited clues to offer.

"Do you have anything else to add?" Cui Qishan began to move toward the concluding process.

Zhang Bao shook his head: "No nothing else."

"Is what you’ve said the truth?"

"It’s the truth."

"Please look at this record. Does it match with what you’ve said?"

Zhang Bao: "I... don’t know so many characters."

"Read it to him," Cui Qishan sighed.

As per regulations, at the end of the statement, the respondent is supposed to read through it all and sign, usually adding something like "I have read the above record, and it conforms to what I have stated."

But if the person can’t read, or can only read a little, then the police officer has to read the statement line by line to the person. Finally, they will write "The above record has been read to me and matches what I have stated."

This task is a bit tiring; Xiao Si read until foam formed at his mouth, continuously reaching for a cup of water to drink.

Zhang Bao was a bit embarrassed and whispered apologetically, "Sorry about this, there aren’t any young people left in the village, otherwise, they could have read it to me."

Xiao Si nodded.

Zhang Bao continued, "When Chunfang was around, she could help, but then she disappeared too. Ya’er disappeared as well."

Cui Qishan, who had been somewhat distracted, furrowed his brows, "What do you mean ’disappeared too’? Did they go to another place?"

"They’re just untraceable, no news from them. It’s the same with several young women in the village; I was prepared for this," Zhang Bao let out a long sigh.

Cui Qishan sat up straight, and immediately said to Li Jiang beside him, "Go get the equipment from the car, we need to have another talk with the village chief here."