Chapter 399: An Accomplice (1/2)

Unfortunately, the entrance had been trodden on by the officers. The footprints overlapped, layer after layer so the bottom ones were no longer visible.

”Let's make an assumption,” I began. “At the time, they were in the midst of the excitement when someone suddenly entered the room. The four suspects must have been frightened.”

”Wouldn't they have killed the man?” asked Xiaotao.

“They aren’t as strong as you think,” I said, shaking my head. “They might even be weak, especially since they were half-naked and in a mess during the rape. They must have been scared half to death when they realized they had a witness.”

”But this person didn’t call the police,” Xiaotao pointed out. “Did they bribe this person?”

”No, he helped them!” I exclaimed.

”Helped the murderers?” Xiaotao stared at me wide-eyed.

There were several anomalies in the case. The female victim’s body was gently taken down but the male victim was thrown to the ground. How could their behavior pattern display such a contrast in a matter of minutes?

The answer was–it was another person’s doing! The intruder was the one who placed the female victim down on the ground.

I was uncertain what the intruder said to the murderers, but the four ended up believing him, leaving the intruder to deal with the scene. An experienced man, the intruder first destroyed the victims’ faces, making it impossible for us to identify them. Then he burned all the items in the room and perhaps destroyed some other evidence.

Xiaotao sighed, ”How did it suddenly become so complicated? Why did the man help them?”

I was struck by an idea–the stranger who appeared unannounced near the breeding compound!

”By the way, did you find the man who was spying on us when we were on the hill opposite the breeding compound?”

”As if we’d be so lucky!” lamented Xiaotao. “When my men got there, they found nothing, not even footprints. They thought I might have been mistaken...”

While I meditated in silence, Xiaotao interrupted, ”Should we go back to the hill to take a look?”

”Not for the time being,” I said with a wave of my hand. “After all, this man hasn’t killed anyone. He’s not our focus. Perhaps he’s one of the suspects’ fathers, hence the ease in which he gained their trust. We will continue tracking the murderers.”

”Yes, we mustn’t allow a third murder to happen!” vowed Xiaotao.

”Are there any surveillance cameras in this building?” I asked.

”No, there’s only one security guard,” replied Xiaotao. “He was hired by the construction team, mainly to guard against thieves who might steal building materials at night or the occasional tramp who tries to sneak in.”

The construction site was surrounded by a low wall and the security room was at the entrance. Xiaotao looked up and said, ”Wouldn’t it be easy to climb over this wall?”

”No, they couldn't have climbed over the wall because they were with the victims! They must’ve gone around the wall.”

However, we didn’t find any gaps in the wall as we walked to the security room. The security guard was an old man. ”Officer,” he greeted. “Are you done with the investigation?”

”Not yet,” I replied. “I’d like to inquire about your working hours.”

The security guard explained that he only started work at six every evening, got off at around eight in the morning and went for a patrol of the premises at midnight.

Xiaotao asked, ”With your age, isn’t it hard staying up all night?”

The security guard smiled bitterly, ”I have no choice. I need to pay for my children’s school tuition. In fact, the job is relatively easy, not as taxing as a neighborhood security guard.”

”Is there no construction going on today?” I queried.