Our wedding was held right after I was discharged from the hospital. I remember on the day of the wedding procession, Gao Mingqiang woke up early. He was even more nervous than I was, looking as if it were his own wedding. I, on the other hand, was very calm, tidying my suit in front of the mirror. This time, I would cherish this marriage properly and wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past.
As for the secret of my divorce, I intended to keep it hidden.
The cars drove towards Liu Yuning's home. I had actually met her parents a few days ago, and everything went smoothly. Although her parents mentioned that my job had low income and was not safe, Liu Yuning said at the time, "I want to dedicate my life to criminal investigation. A woman like me needs a man who is also good at criminal investigation, otherwise, my life would be wasted."
Her words convinced her parents.
The wedding cars were police cars, driving towards the Liu family's villa. She was no longer staying in her own apartment; she must have gone home for such an occasion.
July 5, 2022, 13:42.
The wedding convoy was heading towards the Liu family's mansion. Flowers were being scattered along the way. The entire Guangming City had heard that Detective He was getting married and people came out to bid them farewell. The entire road was filled with lavender and peach blossoms. The citizens were extremely enthusiastic, clapping wildly all the way. I thought, "What's going on?" I never expected the news to spread so quickly.
I had only imagined such scenes in romantic novels, never thought they would happen in reality. No wonder people say art originates from life, and is higher than life; drama is like life, and life is like drama.
All along the way, my colleagues were cheering. Because of my influence, everyone had become famous. The prestige of China's Sherlock Holmes had already shaken the entire nation. Among those who came to bid us farewell were also enthusiastic citizens from all over the country.
They cheered and shouted, "Detective He! We wish you happiness! Because of you, our Guangming City's crime-solving rate has reached 100%!"
"Thank you, Detective He, you are our hope, the nemesis of criminals, and all our light!"
"Detective He, the goddess who is with you must also be an extraordinary being!"
The atmosphere was very emotional, attracting many admirers. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, but pinching my face a few times, I realized it was all real.
After some time, we finally left the crowd and arrived at the Liu residence, standing before a luxurious stainless steel gate carved with ancient patterns. Gao Mingqiang and Xiao Yuande led the way and knocked on the door. I, however, pulled them back, saying, "This is a fingerprint lock!"
"Uh, then call them!" Xiao Yuande suggested.
As I picked up my phone, the door automatically opened. They must have seen us on the surveillance cameras. A luxury home covered in plants and with an elegant environment would surely have its share of surveillance and infrared anti-theft devices.
But strangely, no one came out after the door opened.
I was quite curious. What was going on? Was Liu Yuning and her family playing some trick?
I told everyone to be careful and not disturb anyone inside. More than a dozen colleagues, including Director Zhang and Bureau Chief Huang, followed me, like curious mice entering a maze. However, as I entered the hall, an extremely bloody and foul odor hit me!
Not good!
The keen senses of a criminal investigator and forensic doctor, along with the skills of the He family's mortician, made me realize immediately that a murder had occurred here!
And there was more than one victim!
How could this be??
I immediately ran in the direction of the strongest bloody smell. It was a room. I had been to the Liu family's house before, but not everywhere. After all, when you visit someone's home for the first time, you can't just wander around unless invited.
When I reached the room, I found no one, yet the bloody smell was clearly coming from here.
A moment later, Xie Chuchu, Zhang Keying, and others also ran in. We searched frantically but found nothing.
It was too strange. At this moment, I suddenly noticed something under the bed...
I immediately asked Gao Mingqiang to help me. Together, we flipped over the bed. A naked male corpse, lying prone with its face down, appeared before everyone.
I recognized the person immediately. It was Liu Yuning's father, Liu Dahai!
I saw a fruit knife stuck in his back. The ground was covered in dense spray-like blood. I observed that there was no blood on the surrounding wardrobes and walls, which indicated that he had bled after falling to the ground.
When a person's heart is stabbed, there are two scenarios for death: First, cardiac arrest. In this case, the person would immediately lose consciousness and die, and there would be no spray-like blood at the scene. Second, the heart is cut, and it bleeds internally. In this situation, there would be a large amount of spray-like blood at the scene, and the person would bleed out slowly until death, leading to death by excessive blood loss. Based on the scene, the victim's fall caused low-position spray, which matched my inference.
This also indicated that Liu Dahai's situation was the latter.
I collected the fruit knife with an evidence bag. It was a very common household fruit knife. I instructed a police officer to take it back for preliminary testing. Then, we moved the body out from under the bed. As we flipped the body over, its face was covered in countless infant handprints!!
"It's him again! That guy got away last time. He's quite bold to dare harm my family!" I said, and immediately went to search for others. I was worried that Liu Yuning might also have been harmed. Today was my wedding day!
I had no mood for autopsies and left it to Zhang Keying and the others. I led some people and searched all over the Liu family mansion. The disadvantage of a large house was that it took longer to search in case of an incident. The first floor of the Liu mansion was searched, and no bloodstains or anything were found. We proceeded to the second floor. In the study on the second floor, we found the second body. As I expected, the Liu family had likely all been victims.
But I still held onto a sliver of hope. Huang Yaxian, Liu Yuning's mother, was completely stuck between two bookshelves. Based on the traces on the ground, the bookshelves were moved to hold the body upright after death, presumably to keep the corpse standing.
I first had people pull the bookshelves apart and then supported the body as it carefully fell to the ground. Upon examination, I found no weapon on the deceased, but her chest was bleeding, and the blood had soaked through a blue nightgown. Unlike the male victim, she was still wearing clothes. I examined the wound and found that the wound cavity was very similar to the fruit knife used as the previous weapon.