Chapter 118: Chapter 108: Following the Trail

“He didn’t go back? So was Wu Guihua lying?”

Or perhaps, the deceased has a high likelihood of being Gu Hongye.

“Let’s go, let’s find him again, and see what he says this time.”

Then Li Xiang and his team returned to Xinqiao Town and came to Wu Guihua’s house at Wujia Dai.

Maybe he didn’t expect the police to be so efficient.

“We just went to Gu Dahai’s place, and Gu Hongye didn’t go back there that year. Do you know where he went?”

“Didn’t go home? The legs are on him, how would I know where he went? Don’t bother this old man, I really don’t know where he went. The year I sent him away, I considered him as non-existent.”

This time, Wu Guihua’s attitude obviously changed, and he became more impatient with Li Xiang’s inquiries.

Li Xiang and Mao Ji exchanged glances, understanding the message in each other’s eyes: Something’s up!

Immediately, neither of them pressed further but instead went along with his thoughts, saying, “Alright, if you have any news about Gu Hongye, please notify us police immediately, here’s my number.”

After Mao Ji gave his phone number to Wu Guihua, he took Li Xiang and left.

In the car, Li Xiang confidently said, “Looks like we’ve found the source of the corpse.”

Gu Hongye’s age and height basically match the characteristics of the deceased, and he’s a local, plus he’s been missing. It fits within the police’s screening range for the deceased.

“If the corpse source is Gu Hongye, then why did Wu Guihua hide it from us? Does he know who the killer is? Is he covering for the killer?” Mao Ji speculated.

“Maybe he’s the killer.”

Li Xiang recalled when he was taking Wu Guihua’s statement, the other expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with Gu Hongye, mentioning being idle, but would that be enough to kill him?

“He’s an old man, and frail, killing a 35-year-old adult would not be that easy, right? And you’ve seen the chopped bones, it doesn’t seem like something an old man could do.”

Mao Ji felt quite the opposite. If the deceased is indeed Gu Hongye, then he would prefer to believe Wu Guihua is an accomplice rather than the killer.

“Let’s not discuss this now. The urgent task is to first confirm the identity of the deceased. Whether it’s Gu Hongye or not, it’s still unknown. If it’s not him, all our reasoning is wasted.”

“That’s true. Verifying the identity is simple. Collect Wu Guihua and his wife’s DNA and send it to the lab for comparison.”

“If the deceased is indeed Gu Hongye, and Wu Guihua is an accomplice, he’s unlikely to cooperate in giving blood, right?”

If their assumptions hold, then Wu Guihua must be aware that the body has been unearthed, and the police are investigating. They will surely further obstruct the police’s investigation, making it harder to collect their blood samples.

“This is easy. Have our technical officers disguise themselves as health clinic doctors, go to the countryside for free check-ups for the elderly, wouldn’t that work?”

Mao Ji thought it wasn’t a big deal. There are ways to collect their blood samples. With abundant experience in solving cases, the police often encounter such situations. The village clinic also does voluntary work every year, doing free check-ups for the rural elderly. Their police can just take advantage of this to obtain their blood samples.

“That’s a good tactic.”

Li Xiang hadn’t thought of such a maneuver, which would avoid alarming Wu Guihua.

So Li Xiang and his team reported their findings from today to Captain Cao, asking him to request approval from leadership to coordinate with the town’s health clinic to organize a free clinic event and collect Wu Guihua’s blood sample in the process.

The plan went smoothly. The next day, a team from the town’s free clinic drove to Wujia Dai, with Jinghai Public Security’s technical officers disguising themselves as clinic staff to participate in the event.

When collecting blood from Wu Guihua, he suspected nothing, even asking the clinic doctor to check his blood pressure and sugar.

After collecting Wu Guihua’s blood sample, the technical officers immediately sent it back to the lab for an expedited DNA comparison.

Three hours later, the results came out.

“How’s it? Did the data match?”

Seeing everyone eagerly waiting, Zhou Man returned to the office with the report stating affirmatively, “It matched, the deceased is Gu Hongye.”

“Fantastic, now let’s see what Wu Guihua has to say.”

Undoubtedly, Wu Guihua lied in the face of evidence. He must be an accomplice. Before, he said Gu Hongye went back to his foster parents’, which was just an excuse for the villagers and to mislead the police investigation.

He underestimated the police. In a murder case, the police won’t give up easily. As long as there’s a clue, they will investigate relentlessly.

Li Xiang and his team wasted no time. After obtaining the test report, they went to Wu Guihua’s house in Wujia Dai again with Mao Ji.

An hour later, Li Xiang and his team stood at Wu Guihua’s doorstep, knocking on the door.

“What are you doing here again? I already told you, I don’t know where Gu Hongye went.” Wu Guihua looked impatient when he saw them.

Li Xiang’s visit this time marked the third time, which made him uneasy, sensing the situation might get exposed.

“You may not know, but we do now. Do you want us to say it here?”

Hearing Li Xiang’s words, Wu Guihua sighed, then opened the door and let them in.

Without a word, he walked back into the house. At that moment, Li Xiang clearly saw his back slouch significantly.

Following him inside, it was still the same room, the same bed, but this time Wu Guihua silently took out his rolled tobacco, pulling out some tobacco leaves, packing them, then took out a match, striking it with a ’snap’ and lighting it.

Inhale~

The whole set of actions was very slow but fluid. After a deep inhale, he blew out the smoke rings, revealing an expression of enjoyment.

Li Xiang and his team didn’t rush him, just quietly watched him.

“That’s right, I’m the one who killed him.”

Upon hearing Wu Guihua admitting he was the killer, Mao Ji immediately retorted, “Impossible, your son is 35, in his prime. Even if it was a pig, you couldn’t handle it, let alone a living person.”

Wu Guihua didn’t refute, just took drag after drag of his smoke, exhaling slowly. After a few puffs, he finally said, “This youngest son of mine came back three years ago. At first, he helped around the house, but over time, his true nature was revealed—eating well, lazy, without ambition. He wouldn’t work properly, did two days in the factory, complained it was tiring, then lived on what little we had. No money, he’d ask me, the old man, for more.”

As if reminiscing, Wu Guihua’s eyes lost focus, gazing out the window as he smoked.

“What money do I have? All the farm money went to his spending. The living expenses my other kids gave me never stayed warm in my pocket, all taken by him. If I didn’t give him money, he’d beat this old man. These old limbs couldn’t withstand his beatings. In the end, I gave him all the money I had.”

“But he was never satisfied. That day, he came home drunk, demanding money. I had none left. He wouldn’t listen, insisted I had it but wouldn’t give it. He even brandished a hatchet, threatening for money. I truly had no money then.”

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang felt a bit choked with emotion and couldn’t help but interrupt, “Do your other children know about this situation?”

“They know, but what could they do about it? What can you do with such a rascal? They feared trouble too, this type sticks like a bad stain, you can’t shake it off.”

The deep helplessness in Wu Guihua’s words was indeed touching. The saying ’the shameless cannot be defeated’ might well refer to this kind of person.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep