You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 141 The Horrific Scene!
Second floor of Dongfeng Guesthouse.

There are rooms on both sides of the corridor, five rooms on each side, for a total of ten rooms.

Apart from room 202, which contained two burned bodies, no other bodies were found.

At this moment, Yang Jinwen stared at the iron gate at the end of the corridor and slowly walked over.

To the left of the iron gate was the toilet, which was unisex. Yang Jinwen went around and looked around, but found nothing unusual.

When they returned, Zheng Kang and He Jinbo also came over.

He Jinbo tried pushing the door, but it was locked from the inside.

When they were outside, looking up from downstairs, they saw a small window on the right-hand wall, much smaller than the windows in the guesthouse rooms, clearly a storage room.

"Move aside, I'll try kicking you a couple of times."

He Jinbo told the others to stand back, handed his briefcase to Zheng Kang, took a few steps back, took a running start, and then suddenly rushed forward and kicked hard.

He thought the door was very sturdy and that he would have to kick it a few more times, but he kicked nothing at all.

The door popped open a crack, and because He Jinbo used too much force, he slid inside.

Jiang Jianbing said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Hey, Captain He, be careful not to hurt your back."

Behind the door was a collapsed iron frame, and piles of burned debris lay behind it, with ashes like snowflakes drifting out of the house.

An extremely foul stench emanated from the storage room, making people instinctively cover their mouths and noses.

Yang Jinwen was immediately stunned, then quickly realized what was happening and shouted to Jiang Jianbing, who was about to enter the house, "There's a problem. Be careful when you go in."

He Jinbo got up from the doorway, peeked inside, then his eyes widened, his face turned bitter, and his throat bobbed.

Seeing that he remained motionless, Zheng Kang asked, "What's going on?"

He Jinbo stepped back, took the bag from his hand, and while preparing to make a phone call, said, "Take a look for yourselves, just look from the doorway, don't get too close, I'm afraid I'll scare you."

Zheng Kang and Yang Jinwen simultaneously peered inside and saw a pile of charred corpses stacked on top of each other in the cramped room, black and stinking.

Their skin was cracked, like crocodile skin.

Zheng Kang swallowed hard and silently withdrew.

Yang Jinwen opened his eyes wide and heard a woman crying downstairs.

It is clear that this was a case of arson and murder, with multiple victims and an extremely gruesome scene.

Jiang Jianbing glanced at it and immediately gagged, "My God, this..."

The cat went in to take a look and then quickly ran to the toilet.

The burned corpses were truly horrifying, like charcoal, especially the foul smell, like rotten pork being roasted over a fire.

Even if you're mentally prepared, the pungent smell can still make you feel nauseous and want to vomit.

Given the gravity of the matter, He Jinbo immediately called the Municipal Bureau.

Seeing the situation on the scene, Ma Boming had no idea where to begin.

Traces, traces of a ghost—everything was burned away: fingerprints? hair? footprints? Nothing at all!
Seeing him standing there in a daze, Yang Jinwen walked over and said, "Let's find a place to start a fire first."

"Yes, yes! The ignition point." Ma Boming snapped out of his daze and called to the technical team to quickly conduct an investigation.

After finishing the call, He Jinbo called to Jiang Jianbing: "The guesthouse owner is a woman named Li Fen. She'll be here soon. Find two people to go and ask her about the situation, take her into custody, and bring her back to the team in a bit."

Everyone from Team One and Lao Xu's Team Two, immediately disperse and visit the surrounding areas.

Call the joint defense team and the anti-pickpocketing officers to go to the train station and ask around, see if they can find out anything.

"understand!"

Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang answered in unison that the case was complicated and involved multiple deaths. Neither of them dared to joke, so they nodded and went downstairs.

He Jinbo looked at Yang Jinwen: "You three teams, forget it. You and Maozi are the only two people. See where you need manpower and go help there. Yang Jinwen, you have strong logical ability, take a look at the scene more, and we'll analyze the situation afterward."

"Yes." Yang Jinwen nodded and took the cat downstairs to find Wen Ling.

With so many bodies burned to death, the work of the forensic doctors is the busiest and most tiring.

Wen Ling and Zhang Lei are putting on their gear outside the cordon.

Upon seeing Yang Jinwen, she immediately asked, "How many people burned to death?"

Wen Ling knew perfectly well that they wouldn't call her if there was no body.

Yang Jinwen sighed softly: "Seven or eight people."

"So many?" Wen Ling was startled.

Zhang Lei looked miserable, wearing one mask after another.

Yang Jinwen took Wen Ling's survey kit and led her upstairs.

Wen Ling glanced at the scene, frowned, and followed Yang Jinwen to room 202 on the second floor.

Just over three meters from the doorway, on the floor, lay a charred corpse.

The corpse's face was no longer recognizable, its features were distorted, and its body had shrunk to one-third its original size.

"Gloves."

Yang Jinwen immediately opened the survey kit and took out two pairs of latex gloves for her.

After putting the mask on, Wen Ling turned the corpse over, located its mouth and nose, and then forcefully pried open its mouth.

"Expander".

Yang Jinwen found something and gave it to her. Wen Ling stuffed the thing into the corpse's mouth, then held the handle and spread it apart.

The corpse's scarlet mouth opened, and Wen Ling took out a flashlight and shone the light into its throat.

Then he said, "The deceased was male, and there was very little soot in his throat, so it doesn't seem like he was burned to death. It's more likely that his body was cremated after death. There must be other causes of death. We'll have to examine him again when we get back." Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei sighed. This meant that an autopsy would be necessary, which would be time-consuming and laborious.

Yang Jinwen said, "The most severely burned things in this house are these two corpses. They were probably doused with gasoline and set on fire by someone."

Wen Ling ignored him, put away her flashlight, and walked to the bed that had been destroyed by the fire.

The body on the bed was burned the most severely because the mattress was made of palm fiber, which is a smoldering material that cannot be ignited into a large fire and will continue to smolder.

So at this moment, wisps of smoke are still drifting from under the mattress.

The body on the bed was wrapped in a quilt, and then a fire broke out.

It's impossible for a living person to wrap themselves in a quilt and lie in bed as if nothing had happened when they encounter a fire.

The body's feet were exposed, with only the insteps and soles showing minor burns. Red nail polish was visible on the toenails.

This is a woman!
Yang Jinwen searched the room and found a pair of red high heels and a burnt women's handbag in a corner.

The handbag was burned and deformed, stuck together, and not easy to separate.

These items need to be collected as physical evidence, but the technical team hasn't taken any photos yet, so Yang Jinwen put the bag back in its original place and led Wen Ling to the storage room.

The scene in the storage room startled Wen Ling.

Several corpses were piled on top of each other, burned beyond recognition by the fire.

She stepped back and shouted to Zhang Lei, "Hurry up and get the technical team to take pictures. We can't move the bodies until they're finished. We'll need to find shovels, otherwise these bodies will be difficult to separate."

After the technical team finished taking photos and videos, it was already afternoon.

Because of a shortage of manpower, Wen Ling asked He Jinbo for help. It took most of the day to collect all the bodies and have them transported to the funeral home.

After a while, everyone went downstairs to get some fresh air. The scene of the burning corpses was too frightening; not only was the smell unpleasant, but it was also psychologically unbearable.

Yang Jinwen now finally understands why Wen Ling likes the countryside, enjoys the scenery, and appreciates beautiful things. After seeing so much of this, it's a miracle she doesn't become depressed.

When Yang Guochang and Wen Mo from the Municipal Bureau arrived and saw the situation, they were also disheartened.

Winter is a time when fires are frequent, and they initially thought it was just a simple fire that killed people. However, after Wen Ling's preliminary examination, it was highly likely that these people were cremated after death.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain how that pile of corpses was stacked up.

The murder and arson case, involving seven victims, is the third major criminal case to occur in Annam City this year, and is of a heinous nature.

Although the bus robbery in June and the series of missing and murdered women were both solved in a short period of time, Yang Guochang knew that his future was bleak, even if this case could be solved as well.

He was thinking to himself that he had to go to Lao Fan's canteen; if things continued like this, he would be demoted next year.

That evening, Yang Jinwen and Maozi returned to the branch office in Wenling's car. Wenling then drove Zhang Lei to the funeral home to prepare for an autopsy that night.

Besides the two of them, Yang Guochang summoned all the forensic doctors in An'nan City so that he could get the preliminary investigation results immediately at the meeting the next morning.

After moving corpses all afternoon, Yang Jinwen and Maozi were not only exhausted, but also emitted a foul stench, so they quickly took a shower.

Afterwards, Yang Jinwen went to the interrogation room.

The guesthouse owner, Li Fen, has been brought back.

After Yang Jinwen went in, he saw the woman wiping away tears as she said, "I don't know how this happened. Yesterday at 6:30 pm, my husband came to take over my shift. He works the night shift and I work the day shift. It's like this every day."

"Officer, was my husband also burned to death? How could this happen? God, what am I going to do? How can I live like this!"

He Jinbo and Zheng Kang exchanged a glance. The woman's expression was just right, without any trace of acting.

He Jinbo tapped the table: "I'm asking you, has your family offended anyone?"

"What do you mean?" Li Fen stopped sobbing and blinked.

Clearly, she was unaware that the bodies burned to death in the guesthouse were actually burned after death, which meant it was a murder case; she thought it was just a simple fire.

"Literally, has your husband, Yan Dahong, offended anyone?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Fen nodded vigorously: "Yes, my husband borrowed some money, and we haven't been able to pay it back. The other party comes to our house every few days to collect the debt."

"Whom did you borrow it from?"

Li Fen lowered her head and replied, "Loan sharking."

"From whom did you borrow it?"

“Tian Xiong, he runs a mahjong parlor. He used to have a good relationship with my husband, so we borrowed money from him.”

"How much did you borrow?"

“Five thousand, borrowed for three years, with compound interest, now I have to pay back fifteen thousand. Tian Xiong has a gang of thugs, he’s involved in organized crime. We can’t afford to mess with him.”

What do you need the money for?

"My son is sick and needs major surgery."

Where is Tian Xiong's mahjong parlor?

“In the alley behind the savings bank on Jianshe Road.”

"How tall is your husband? What clothes and shoes was he wearing yesterday afternoon before you left?"

Li Fen replied, "He's a little over 1.7 meters tall. I didn't ask him his exact height. Yesterday he was wearing a navy blue overcoat, black suit pants, and brown leather shoes. They were from the brand Aokang, which I bought for him before the New Year."

"What color and style of underwear are you wearing?"

"Blue briefs."

He Jinbo looked at Yang Jinwen standing to the side and whispered, "Call Wen Ling and ask her to compare the autopsy results to see if Yan Dahong is inside."

Yang Jinwen nodded and asked Li Fen, "Is the storage room at the end of the second-floor corridor usually locked or open?"

(End of this chapter)