I am a super cop

Chapter 3012 Unrelated Conditions

The phone rang a few times before being answered. A middle-aged man responded from the other end: "Director Gu, what can I do for you?"

"Director Liu, didn't you handle a case a few days ago where a man suddenly died at home?" Gu Chen asked.

"That's right, we've handled one case before," said Director Liu on the phone.

Gu Chen quickly added, "On the same day, two residents on the sixth floor of this building also died."

"I just found out about this myself." Upon hearing the result, Director Liu appeared quite calm and slowly said:

"Because we were handling a case of sudden death, the process was relatively simple, but we also heard that someone upstairs had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning."

"At the time, I wondered if there was any connection between the two?"

"You realized that too?" Gu Chen asked curiously upon hearing this.

Director Liu on the phone echoed, "Yes, but unfortunately, the family members on the first floor are in a hurry to cremate the deceased."

"Because the body was from out of town, we couldn't keep it in the morgue indefinitely, so we were in a hurry to cremate it."

"Sigh." Hearing this, Gu Chen also sighed, "I find these two deaths rather suspicious."

"It is impossible for two separate incidents involving three deaths to occur in one building and one unit within a single day."

“We were originally going to conduct an examination and investigation on the deceased, but now the family has cremated the body.”

"Director Gu, you don't need to worry." Seeing Gu Chen's disappointment, Director Liu quickly comforted him.

"Because the family was in a hurry to cremate the body and take the deceased back to their hometown to handle the funeral arrangements, we couldn't stop them."

"But before the cremation, I had someone draw a vial of blood from the body and send it to the city bureau's technical department for storage."

"At the time, I thought that if there was something wrong with the cause of death, then this vial of blood might be able to help find out some of the reasons. Otherwise, there was nothing I could do to help."

"You mean, you drew a vial of blood from the deceased's body before cremation?" Gu Chen was overjoyed to hear Director Liu's explanation.

On the phone, Director Liu slowly said, "Yes, I was just being cautious, just in case."

"Thank you, Director Liu. Your preparation is crucial." Gu Chen was also overjoyed. This was definitely good news for him.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Director Liu, Gu Chen quickly hung up the phone.

"Get in the car quickly, we're going to the Municipal Bureau's Technical Section." Gu Chen said as he quickly got into the driver's seat.

Seeing this, Lu Weiwei quickly got into the passenger seat and asked anxiously, "What's going on?"

"Director Liu drew a vial of blood from the deceased on the first floor before sending him for cremation as a record, and it has been sent to the city bureau's technical department for safekeeping."

"We can go check with Gao Chuanfeng and see if we can find any clues," Gu Chen said.

"This Director Liu is really capable, but the deceased's family members are far too impatient." Lu Weiwei was both relieved and filled with emotion.

……

……

The vehicle sped along and soon arrived at the Municipal Bureau's Technical Section.

After everyone parked the car, Gu Chen dialed Gao Chuanfeng's phone number directly.

Shortly after, the call connected, and Gu Chen quickly asked, "Gao Chuanfeng, did Director Liu send you a blood sample from a deceased person a few days ago?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Takagawa Kaede asked.

"The deceased lived in the same building and even the same unit as the person in the case we are currently investigating," Gu Chen said.

"Yes, I just saw it too. This blood test was done by my assistant." Gao Chuanfeng quickly explained the situation after hearing Gu Chen's words.

So Gu Chen quickly asked again, "Have the test results come out yet?"

"I don't know, I'll ask my assistant later," Gao Chuanfeng said on the phone.

"Okay, I'm downstairs in the technical department building right now, I'll be right up."

"You're downstairs? Okay, come over here quickly."

Hearing that Gu Chen was already downstairs, Gao Chuanfeng echoed in agreement.

Afterwards, Gu Chen, along with Lu Weiwei, Officer Wang, and Yuan Shasha, went directly into the building and arrived at the floor where the technical department was located.

As the elevator doors opened, Gao Chuanfeng was standing at the doorway, holding a report in his hand.

Upon seeing Gu Chen, Gao Chuanfeng handed the report directly to Gu Chen: "My assistant has completed the testing."

"What's going on?" Gu Chen took the report, glanced down at it, then suddenly looked up: "The deceased also died of carbon monoxide poisoning?"

“Yes.” Takakawa Kaede nodded silently, and said without further ado:

"The circumstances are the same as the two deceased we examined before; they both died from carbon monoxide poisoning."

"How could this be? Is this also a coincidence?" Hearing Gao Chuanfeng say this, Lu Weiwei immediately felt that the situation was not good.

Gao Chuanfeng crossed his arms and slowly said, "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but my assistant has determined that the deceased died from carbon monoxide poisoning."

"It can't be such a coincidence." Gu Chen crossed his arms and said without hesitation, "There's definitely something wrong here. I think there's something wrong with this building."

“Yes, it’s really strange that two families in the same apartment building would die from carbon monoxide poisoning.” Lu Weiwei added.

Officer Wang frowned and said without hesitation, "In my opinion, there must be something wrong with these two households. I think the key to the problem is this building."

“That makes sense.” After pacing back and forth a couple of times, Gu Chen slowly said, “The key to the problem is this building. Let’s go back and take another look.”

……

……

When everyone returned to the crime scene, it was already getting dark.

Everyone stood below the floor, repeatedly observing their surroundings.

"Let's go for a walk around the area," Gu Chen said.

So everyone took immediate action and began searching the area around the neighborhood.

Gu Chen arrived at the perimeter of the building and circled the floor where the incident occurred.

It can be said that this is an ordinary old residential building, nothing special.

The most crucial question is why residents on the first floor and residents on the sixth floor both suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning at the same time.

This would require a large amount of gas to produce, at least 15 cubic meters of carbon monoxide to meet these conditions.

However, it is clear that the actual conditions are simply insufficient to meet the requirements.

Gu Chen had observed that the residents here were mostly elderly, and they couldn't possibly produce that much carbon monoxide.

So Gu Chen went outside the residential area and began to observe.

Since the crime scene was near a small shop on the street, Gu Chen walked around the shops on the outer perimeter of the building where the crime occurred, observing the situation of these merchants.

But Gu Chen suddenly noticed the word "Bathroom" written on a wall. The words were painted in red, and they looked old due to the passage of time.

Gu Chen observed for a moment and realized that the bathroom was located in a shop on the outskirts of the residential area. Gu Chen frowned and made a mental note of it.

At that moment, Lu Weiwei finished checking another location and saw Gu Chen standing at the bathroom door, so she quickly went over.

"Junior Brother Gu, what are you looking at?"

"I'm wondering how a community mainly inhabited by elderly people could produce so much carbon monoxide," Gu Chen said.

“Yes, producing so much carbon monoxide requires a lot of emissions,” Lu Weiwei said.

“At least 15 cubic meters of carbon monoxide would be needed to reach the level required to kill someone,” Gu Chen said.

"Hmm." Lu Weiwei nodded silently, but noticed that Gu Chen kept staring at the shop in front of him.

Following Gu Chen's gaze, Lu Weiwei looked over and discovered that it was a bathroom in front of her.

"Junior Brother Gu, do you think there's something wrong with this bathhouse?" Lu Weiwei asked.

Gu Chen nodded slightly and slowly said, "There are quite a few old bathhouses like this in Jiangnan City. They all use boilers, and to save costs, they usually burn coal."

"So you think the carbon monoxide was caused by burning coal in the bathroom?" Lu Weiwei asked curiously upon hearing this.

Gu Chen nodded silently and said without further ado, "That's a possibility. The first choice would be to use a boiler in the bathroom, which would inevitably produce a lot of gas. It would be almost impossible for the residential buildings in the community to meet the requirements for high concentrations of carbon monoxide gas."

"So I'm wondering, could it be caused by external conditions?"

“External conditions? You mean this bathroom?” Lu Weiwei asked.

Seeing Gu Chen nod, Lu Weiwei also raised a question: "But the bathroom is not related to the floor where the deceased lived."

"I know." Seeing Lu Weiwei say this, Gu Chen nodded silently and said without further ado:

"So that's where my doubts lie, because there's a bug here, which is that the floor where the incident occurred can't generate a large amount of toxic gas."

“But if it’s a bathroom, it might meet this condition, but there’s no connection between the bathroom and the residential building.”

"Otherwise, why were there only carbon monoxide poisoning cases on the first and sixth floors, while the other floors were unaffected?"

“Uh…” Listening to Gu Chen’s analysis, Lu Weiwei felt that it made sense.

At that moment, after checking the surrounding environment, Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha also came to Gu Chen and Lu Weiwei's side.

"What are you doing here? Have you found anything?" Officer Wang asked as he walked over.

Gu Chen turned to Officer Wang and shared his opinion: "Senior Brother Wang, how much toxic gas do you think a bathroom can produce?"

"Bathroom?" Upon hearing Gu Chen's words, Officer Wang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly turned to look at the bathroom shop in front of him and said:

"There should be quite a few, but the bathrooms are not connected to the residential buildings."

"I know." Gu Chen sighed and expressed his thoughts:
"But the bathroom is the only location around the crime scene that meets the key criteria."

Officer Wang stared at the bathroom sign, lost in thought.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Gu Chen slowly said, "Never mind, let's go in and take a look."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Since they couldn't find the problem, Officer Wang simply followed Gu Chen's advice.

So everyone started walking towards the bathroom door.

After passing through a narrow passage, they arrived at a large hall.

At this moment, several men were sitting on the sofa in the hall, brewing tea and chatting about their daily lives.

There are also many customers coming and going in the shower area.

"Logically speaking, winter is the peak season for showering, but there are so many people showering this season." Yuan Shasha was also a little curious when she saw this scene.

Upon hearing this, Officer Wang quickly stepped forward and began talking to the men who were chatting.

"This bathhouse seems to be doing good business?"

"There's a traditional Chinese medicine massage therapist here. He's very skilled. After bathing, you can get a massage from him. It's very good for your health," said a chubby man.

A middle-aged man quickly said, "The traditional Chinese medicine practitioner also knows acupuncture. Anyway, coming here to bathe and soak is actually a way to maintain health, and they have a lot of Chinese medicine here."

"Most people who come here are here for health and wellness."

"Oh, I see." After listening to their conversation, Officer Wang finally understood that the bathhouse mainly focused on traditional Chinese medicine and wellness, which explained its popularity.

Moreover, as soon as you enter, you can smell the aroma of Chinese medicine, and the shelves behind the front desk are filled with various bottles and jars of Chinese medicine.

"Where is the boss?" Gu Chen asked as he stepped forward.

"Boss?" The middle-aged man looked around and shook his head. "I don't know. I think I saw him just now."

"Why don't you call and ask? The phone number is upstairs." The fat man pointed to the front desk.

So Gu Chen walked to the front desk, took out a business card from the table, and dialed the number on the card.

A short while later, a telephone rang in a room behind the front desk.

Soon, Gu Chen heard a response on the phone: "Hello, who is this?"

"Are you the owner of the bathhouse? We're from the Public Security Bureau," Gu Chen said.

"The Public Security Bureau? What's up?" The man on the phone asked curiously.

So Gu Chen said again, "We're right at the front desk of your bathroom. Where are you now? Can you come out for a moment?"

"Okay, wait a moment."

After the phone call ended, a middle-aged man came out of the back room shortly afterward.

Upon seeing Gu Chen, the middle-aged man asked curiously, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

"Are you the boss?" Gu Chen asked.

“Yes, I’m the boss,” the middle-aged man quickly replied.

Gu Chen looked around and asked, "Could we find another place to talk?"

"Uh..." The boss hesitated for a moment before suggesting, "Let's go to my room."

Following the boss, everyone arrived at the back room.

The boss opened the door, inviting everyone in.

As soon as Gu Chen entered, he noticed that there were many wooden shelves in the boss's room, on which were placed many bottles of Chinese medicine.

The boss invited everyone to sit wherever they liked, and without further ado, said, "My place is a bit small, so just tell me what you need."

"A few days ago, did you know that there was a case of carbon monoxide poisoning among residents in the residential area?" Gu Chen didn't mince words and went straight to the point.

……