Chapter 234: Chapter 234

The heavy rain lasted all day and night and only stopped early this morning.

Ren Qiang and his team didn’t sleep all night. Two search teams started from the riverbank where the body was found and searched up both sides, meter by meter.

When the body was discovered, it was in a state of active decay, indicating that it had not sunk into the river immediately after the victim’s death.

Otherwise, the body would not have decayed.

Based on the scene analysis, the body was likely washed into the Bailan River by the heavy rain and then discovered on the bank.

If that’s the case, where was the initial point where the body entered the river?

It is certain that it’s somewhere upstream of the Bailan River, and the distance shouldn’t be too far.

Otherwise, if the body had been soaking in the river for a long time, the maggots might have been entirely washed away.

With wind and rain, the night search progressed with significant difficulty.

The progress was also very slow. If it hadn’t rained, there might have been some traces near the decaying body.

And they should have been relatively easy to find, like the smell of decay.

But due to the heavy rain, the smell of decay and any remaining maggots were difficult to track.

"Brother Hui, we’ve searched all night and still found nothing. Should we keep looking?"

Lu Chuan was picking up Forensic Doctor Shen while Zhang Hui continued searching on the left bank of the Bailan River.

After the heavy rain, the riverbanks were muddy, the temperature was low, and no one had eaten all night. Everyone was extremely exhausted.

The walkie-talkie crackled with a voice from the team searching the right bank.

Zhang Hui looked ahead. It was just dawning, the rain had stopped, but the sky was not clear.

Dark clouds covered the sky, making it gloomy.

Turning back, Zhang Hui checked the time on his phone: "How far have we searched so far?"

"About three kilometers."

Where Zhang Hui and his team were now was three kilometers from the spot where the body was discovered.

A kilometer further on was a branch of the Bailan River. If nothing was found there, they would have to double the manpower.

But there was no guarantee of finding anything.

For three kilometers, the two search teams used the riverbank as a boundary, extending twenty meters and searching meter by meter.

It was practically a carpet search. If the body had entered the river within this range, it should have left some trace that Zhang Hui and his team, with their experience, wouldn’t have missed, even with the heavy rain.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Hui turned on the walkie-talkie: "Let’s search until the river branch ahead; if we haven’t found anything by then... let’s ask for further instructions."

The search continued, but everyone now had a goal. The river branch... was less than a kilometer away.

Now it was daytime, and they estimated they would finish searching in about two hours.

"Brother Hui! There’s something!"

Less than five minutes after the last communication, the leader of the search team on the right bank shouted loudly!

"Shoes that weren’t found with the body!"

Half an hour later, Zhang Hui rode over to the opposite side of the Bailan River.

In a nest of grass, half a shoe was sticking out, the toe wedged into the water.

"Did anyone touch it?"

"No, no, we called you as soon as we found it."

Zhang Hui stepped forward for a closer look.

The shoe was canvas, a Warrior brand, the same brand and color as the left shoe found on the body.

The inner edge had a brownish stain that could not yet be confirmed as blood.

"Bag it and send it to the Crime Scene Investigation office."

Zhang Hui stood up, pointing around with excitement in his eyes: "The right foot’s shoe was found here, which suggests the body was likely washed into the river nearby. Search thoroughly from here. Be careful not to disturb the scene!"

The right shoe was missing, possibly washed away with the body into the river and then washed ashore here unexpectedly.

But the position where the shoe was found was about ten meters from the bank, making it unlikely to have been washed ashore.

Another possibility is that the body was nearby and then washed into the river by the rain, with the shoe being lost in the process.

With a target, everyone worked with renewed vigor.

Ignoring the hunger gnawing at their empty stomachs from not eating all night, they searched with bloodshot eyes, scouring every inch of the surroundings.

"Brother Hui! Over here!"

In less than three minutes came the good news from the edge of the low woods near the bank.

Zhang Hui sprinted over.

12:30 PM, Criminal Investigation Team’s meeting room.

"We discovered the missing right shoe of the corpse at the first location where the murderer dumped the body."

Zhang Hui was briefing the related situation.

"Here’s a map showing the geographical location of the first dumping site."

Early that morning, Zhang Hui and his team found the first dumping site on the right bank, less than a kilometer from the Bailan River’s branch.

"It’s a wild shrubbery area, seventeen meters from the riverbank."

"This is where the shoe was found, ten meters from the riverbank."

"Although the shrubs aren’t tall, they’re quite dense. We asked the nearby villagers, and no one usually comes here."

The body decayed in the shrubs, and the smell of decay was strong.

But because there were no nearby residents and it was almost a kilometer from the road, no one noticed.

"But there’s a problem: the shrubs are higher than the riverbank. Although it rained heavily yesterday, the river flooding didn’t reach this area."

Qin Yong listened intently to Zhang Hui’s report: "Are you saying... the body wasn’t washed into the river by the rain?"

"No, we conducted a detailed simulation at the site; unless the Bailan River’s water level rose by more than half a meter, it would not have washed the body away."

"Also, Captain Qin, look at this: the missing shoe’s toe was stuck in the grass nest, with the toe facing the riverbank when found."

"We drained the water from the grass nest and found drag marks."

In the projection, the grass nest where the shoe was found showed faint drag marks despite the rain-soaked soil.

"So what do you think happened?"

"We suspect someone deliberately threw the body into the river."

Zhang Hui’s judgment sent a shiver down everyone’s spine!

The body decayed in the shrubs, was then thrown into the river, and there’s also the sharp murder weapon found at the body discovery site!

What on earth is the murderer trying to do?

Baffling and elusive, Qin Yong had never seen anything in his long police career.

"What’s the status of the forensic examination?"

Wang Changjiang straightened slightly: "The autopsy is complete, and I’ll go over the basic details."

"The deceased is a female, height 1.59 meters, weight 50 kilograms, aged between 25 and 30 years."

"Cause of death was exsanguination from a sharp instrument puncturing the heart, leading to shock."

"Because the body was in advanced decay, having reached active decay by the time it was found, determining the time of death is challenging. Considering recent weather in Haizhou City, we estimate it to be about a month ago."

The forensic examination and analysis yielded no unusual results.