novelaction Chapter 1388 Returning to the Cornfield
Chapter 1388 Returning to the Cornfield
On the morning of the third day after Zheng Hu's arrest, just as dawn was breaking, Qinghe Town was shrouded in a thin mist. Three police cars from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment sped away from the town police station towards Wangjia Village. Inside the car, Zheng Hu, handcuffed and shackled, hung his head, his face as pale as paper, a stark contrast to his arrogant demeanor in the restaurant just days before. According to the case investigation procedures, today was the third day after Zheng Hu's arrest. The police were to escort him to the cornfield at the east end of Wangjia Village to identify the crime scene and reconstruct the entire process of murdering Qin Lifeng and disposing of his body. Xiao Zhou was in charge of the escort. He sat beside Zheng Hu, his sharp eyes fixed on him, his body camera already switched on, ready to record the entire identification process.
“Zheng Hu, when we get to the scene, tell us all the details honestly. Don’t hide anything or make anything up.” Xiao Zhou’s voice was low and serious. “Every trace at the scene is evidence. Every word you say must correspond to the results of the on-site investigation and the forensic autopsy. Don’t take any chances.” Zheng Hu’s body trembled slightly. He slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with fear and regret. He nodded gently and replied in a hoarse voice, “I know… I will definitely tell you the truth and not hide anything from you.”
The police car stopped at the entrance of Wangjia Village. The mist had dissipated, and sunlight filtered through the corn leaves, casting dappled shadows on the field path. But this cornfield, which should have been filled with the joy of autumn harvest, was unusually solemn because of the murder that had occurred a few days earlier. Technical personnel Xiao Yang and Xiao Sun, along with forensic doctor Zhang Lin, who had been waiting at the scene, immediately went to meet with Xiao Zhou. The area around the scene had been cordoned off again to prevent interference from unrelated personnel. Xiao Zhou signaled to his team to open the police car door, and Zheng Hu was escorted out. Following the trampling marks discovered during the initial investigation, they walked step by step deeper into the cornfield.
As Zheng Hu approached the western entrance of the cornfield, his steps faltered noticeably, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes. Xiao Zhou noticed this and immediately asked, "Is this where you entered the cornfield?" Zheng Hu took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the corn stalks near the entrance, and slowly nodded. "Yes… I went in from here. On the morning of September 11th, I rode my electric scooter here, parked it in the bushes outside, and then slipped into the cornfield through this opening, waiting for Qin Lifeng to arrive."
Xiao Yang immediately stepped forward and pointed to the wiping marks on the corn stalks near the entrance, asking, "Are these marks left from when you rubbed your body against the corn stalks when you went in?" Zheng Hu leaned closer to look, a hint of surprise in his eyes, and then admitted, "Yes... I was in a hurry at the time, and the corn stalks scratched my arm and clothes. I even brushed them off a few times, but I didn't expect them to leave marks." Xiao Zhou added, "We extracted trace amounts of fiber from these wiping marks, and after testing, the fiber composition is completely consistent with the dark blue overalls you wore. Keep walking forward and point out the location where you were waiting for Qin Lifeng."
Zheng Hu was led deeper into the cornfield, the muddy path making him stumble. After walking about fifty meters, he stopped in a relatively open area where the corn stalks showed obvious signs of being trampled. "This is it... I was waiting for him here," Zheng Hu said, pointing to the ground. "I deliberately chose this low-lying spot because I was afraid of being seen. The corn stalks around it are dense, which blocks the view from outside. I squatted here for about ten minutes, thinking about how to force Qin Lifeng to give me more money."
Xiao Sun immediately took out a footprint light and shone it on a footprint on the ground, saying to Zheng Hu, "Take a look at this footprint, isn't it yours?" Zheng Hu looked down and saw that the footprint was size 41, with a grid pattern on the forefoot and severe wear on the inner heel, just like the work shoes he usually wore. "It's mine... I was wearing a pair of black work shoes at the time, and the inner heel was indeed badly worn." He paused, then added, "I was a little nervous while waiting, and I paced back and forth a few times, so I should have left quite a few footprints." Xiao Yang chimed in, "We extracted several footprints with the same characteristics in this area. Combined with stride length and stride width analysis, your weight and age perfectly match our initial deduction."
"How did Qin Lifeng get here? What was his condition when he arrived?" Xiao Zhou continued to press, his body camera steadily pointed at Zheng Hu. Zheng Hu recalled, "I called Qin Lifeng around 9 a.m. on September 11th, threatening him that if he didn't come to the cornfield at the east end of Wangjia Village, I would go to the school to cause trouble for his son, Qin Xiaoyu. At first, he argued with me on the phone, saying that I was untrustworthy and that we would settle the debt by paying off part of it with an air conditioner. I didn't waste any more words with him and just said that either he came by himself, or I would personally pick up his son. He had no choice but to agree to come."
"Around ten o'clock, I saw him walking towards me from the east side of the cornfield. He was wearing that blue work uniform and looked terrible." Zheng Hu's eyes drifted to the east side of the cornfield, as if he could see the scene again. "When he walked up to me, he was still cursing at me, saying that I was a scoundrel who had driven him to desperation. I didn't hold back and told him directly that the previous air conditioner would be considered as offsetting the 12,000 yuan debt, and he had to come up with the remaining 20,000 yuan, or this matter wouldn't be over. He got angry as soon as he heard that, saying that I was pushing my luck and resolutely refused to pay any more money, and that's how we started arguing."
Xiao Zhou pointed to an area not far away where corn stalks showed fresh signs of breaking: "Did you have an argument and fight there?" Zheng Hu looked in the direction Xiao Zhou was pointing and nodded: "Yes... we argued for a bit and then started fighting. Qin Lifeng looks honest, but he can be quite strong when he gets angry. He grabbed my arm and tried to push me away. I got angry too, so I wrestled with him. In the back and forth pushing and shoving, we broke quite a few corn stalks." Xiao Sun stepped forward to examine the broken corn stalks and said to Xiao Zhou: "The breaks in these corn stalks are diagonal cuts with clean edges, indicating that they were indeed broken by a strong external force. Moreover, the degree of withering at the break points is completely consistent with our initial deduction of the time of the crime."
"How did you pull out the dagger? And how did you stab Qin Lifeng?" Xiao Zhou's gaze was fixed on Zheng Hu, not missing a single subtle expression. Zheng Hu's body stiffened visibly, his hands clenching involuntarily, as if he were recalling the bloody scene.