Chapter 354: The Second Murder (1/2)
Awoken by the ring of my cell phone, Dali said in a daze, ”Dude, I'll drive you there!”
”Alright, I'll let you know when I'm ready!”
I didn’t wake him but quietly slipped out the door and called for a cab.
The crime scene was an underground parking lot which was already cordoned off. Several police cars and ambulances had arrived at the scene. Passers-by on the night shift stood outside watching the bustle. Passing the barricade tape, I noticed the technical team taking photos and bagging up the evidence. Then, I saw the murder scene.
I was greeted by a gruesome picture–the victim's upper body was an indistinguishable bloody mess. Like a pancake, her body lay smack on a concrete column, surrounded by blood spatter. Only one of her legs was attached to the body, still dressed in a skirt, with one foot wearing a sandal.
On the other side of the victim were several parallel tire tracks on the ground.
The murder occurred at about 10:00 pm last night. At the time, the couple had a fierce argument in the parking lot. There was no one around but surveillance videos recorded the entire incident.
The wife turned and walked away when the husband accelerated and hit her with the car, slamming her against the wall. But he didn’t stop there; he repeatedly reversed and pounded his wife into a meat patty before finally stopping!
Then, the husband drove away in the damaged car, bumper still badly deformed, heading to an automatic car wash five kilometers away. The car wash manager noticed the blood and quickly called the police.
At about midnight, the suspect was stopped by police on a highway out of the city and arrested on the spot.
I glanced at the body, noticing indentations that were indeed left by the impact of the front bumper. I turned to Xiaotao, ”Why do you think it’s our hitman?”
”It’s just my gut feeling!” she replied. “The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable and it's very similar to the previous case. I called you in to have a look. It’s better to be thorough than wrong an innocent man.”
”I agree!” I nodded.
Putting on rubber gloves, I began the autopsy. The victim was female, in her thirties, similar in age to the previous victim. The time of death was indisputable–four hours ago when her internal organs ruptured.
The victim had a platinum wedding ring on her right hand and seemed to be holding something. I opened up her palm to see a cell phone. Xiaotao confirmed that the last call was from her husband.
Although the body was in a ghastly state, there weren’t many clues to because the murder wasn’t committed by the killer’s own hands.
”You don't drive, so you may not know. But there is one technique–step on the brakes and accelerator at the same time and the moment the brakes are released, the car accelerates very quickly,” explained Xiaotao. “But this damages the engine of course.”
”What do you think of this guy's driving skills?” I asked.
Xiaotao studied the brake marks on the ground. ”He was able to repeatedly reverse and crash into the victim in a swift motion, avoiding even the car that was parked so close to him. He’s definitely got skills!”
”Does the suspect fit the profile?”
”The suspect is a driving instructor, and his driving skills are definitely first-class,” she laughed. “It’s consistent with the case.”
”Alright then, let’s have a look at the surveillance video!” I urged.
We headed to the security room and asked for the surveillance video shot at the time. The video was divided into two sections which were taken by two cameras. One was the scene of the suspect and his wife quarreling in the parking lot which clearly showed their identities while the other was of the husband crashing the car into his wife at a high speed. Unfortunately, the angle made it impossible to capture the driver’s face.