ebookland Chapter 1114 Chen Youcai Confesses to Murder Details
Chapter 1114 Chen Youcai Confesses to Murder Details
Xiao Wang didn't stop, continuing to press for details about disposing of the body, using the "detailed corroboration method" to confirm the authenticity of the confession: "How did you get him to the steel mill? By tricycle?" Chen Youcai nodded, tracing a route on the table with his finger, "Along the path beside the railway, there are no surveillance cameras there. When you stuffed him into the gap of the rolling mill, his work clothes got caught on the steel plate, tearing a hole..." These details perfectly matched the on-site investigation records, including the location and quantity of the dark blue fibers.
Regarding the missing steel pipe, Chen Youcai finally confessed: "It was hidden in the septic tank behind the scrap yard, wrapped in a plastic bag." His voice was filled with despair, "I originally wanted to wait until things calmed down before dealing with it, but I didn't expect you to find it so quickly." Xiao Wang immediately arranged for police to search the area. The location of the septic tank was exactly as Chen Youcai described, and sure enough, the steel pipe in the plastic bag had bloodstains matching those of Zhao Hongwei's skull injury.
As dawn broke, the interrogation record filled five pages. Chen Youcai's signature, crooked and illegible, matched perfectly with the handwriting on the IOU. Xiao Wang watched the brightening sky outside the window. The interrogation room lights cast dappled shadows on Chen Youcai's face. This man, consumed by hatred and greed, had finally shed all pretense under the combined onslaught of evidence and psychological tactics. And that steel pipe hidden in the septic tank would become the most powerful conclusion to this long interrogation—justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent.
The day after Chen Youcai confessed, as the police car tires rolled over the rusty iron gate of the steel mill, Chen Youcai's handcuffs gleamed coldly in the morning light. He was wearing the orange vest of the detention center, his right trouser leg still stained with septic tank grime. Two officers were holding his arms as they walked forward, each step feeling like walking on cotton. "It's just ahead," he said, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible, his gaze avoiding the direction of the steel rolling mill, where the overhead crane remained in the same position as three years ago, its steel cables dangling in mid-air like the ropes of a gallows.
Wearing white gloves, Xiao Wang held a crime scene survey map in his hand, the red markings on the map matching the locations Chen Youcai had pointed out one by one. "You said that when you dragged him into the workshop, his work clothes got caught on the fence?" His laser pointer touched a spike 1.2 meters above the ground, where dark blue fiber threads remained, perfectly matching the warp and weft density of Zhao Hongwei's work clothes. Chen Youcai suddenly shivered, his lips trembling: "It was...it was the sleeve of his right arm, caught on the third spike. I pried it off with a steel pipe, and the piece of cloth fell into the mud immediately."
Technicians immediately took samples from the soil beneath the spikes. The plaster cast revealed half a size 43 diamond-patterned shoe print, and the wear on the forefoot perfectly matched Chen Youcai's work shoes. "You were standing in this spot?" Xiao Wang had the officers mark a human silhouette next to the shoe print. Chen Youcai's shadow overlapped with the silhouette in the morning light. "You hit his leg with a steel pipe, right?" Chen Youcai's head drooped even lower, his Adam's apple bobbing violently: "He called me a convict and said he'd put me back in... I was confused for a moment, so I... I just swung it."
In the crevice of the rolling mill, Xiao Yang was shining a multi-band light source on the wall. Under the blue-violet beam, a dark red mark appeared in the rust. "This is blood," he said, gently wiping it with a cotton swab. "Preliminary testing shows it matches Zhao Hongwei's DNA profile." Chen Youcai saw the red mark and suddenly collapsed to the ground. As the police officers helped him up, murky liquid dripped from his trouser leg: "He hit his head right here. He even groaned a little, but I thought he just passed out..." He pointed to a piece of concrete deep in the crevice, "His head hit that spot, on the edge."
The size of the fragment perfectly matched the "3x4 cm depressed fracture of the left temporal region" in the forensic report, and the abrasion pattern on the edges indicated a violent impact with the skull. "Where did his watch fall when you dragged him?" Xiao Wang moved his laser pointer towards the drainage ditch beside the railway. Chen Youcai's voice suddenly rose: "Right there! The watch chain on his wrist broke, fell into the ditch making a clinking sound. I was afraid someone would hear, so I didn't dare pick it up." In the silt of the drainage ditch, the butterfly clasp of the stainless steel watch remained broken, the hands stopped at 11:07, consistent with the estimated time of Zhao Hongwei's death.
Reaching the oil drums in the waste disposal area, Chen Youcai hesitated noticeably. "You said you refueled the tricycle here?" Xiao Wang patted oil drum number 3; a fingerprint on the inside of the lid matched Chen Youcai's. "You used the diesel from the drum, right?" Chen Youcai picked at the calluses on his palms: "I added about two liters, afraid it wouldn't be enough to get to the body disposal site… A lot of oil spilled on the ground; I was too panicked to wipe it up." Infrared spectroscopy analysis of the oil stains on the ground confirmed that the diesel composition was identical to that found in Zhao Hongwei's stomach contents, proving that Chen Youcai had splashed diesel on the deceased during the dragging process.
At the railway switch, Chen Youcai pointed to the switch machine's control lever: "I flipped this to redirect the tracks, so the tricycle can drive directly to the scrap yard entrance." The rust on the control lever showed fresh signs of flaking, and the metal shavings matched the composition of those on Chen Youcai's gloves. "Are you familiar with the railway system here?" Xiao Wang pressed. Chen Youcai's voice lowered: "I worked at a steel mill for three years. I know which switch works with my eyes closed." This detail explained why he was able to evade all surveillance, creating a closed loop with the previous clue of a "former steel mill employee."
When pointing out the escape route after the body was dumped, Chen Youcai's pace suddenly quickened, as if he wanted to end this torment as soon as possible. "Following this path, we can bypass the village's surveillance cameras," he said, pointing to a cornfield. "The tricycle was hidden in the corn stalks. I covered the bloodstains in the truck bed with sand, thinking I could get away with it." Technicians found a dilapidated tricycle deep in the cornfield. The bloodstains inside the truck bed were identified as belonging to Zhao Hongwei. Dark blue fibers were embedded in the gaps in the wooden planks, and the number matched the "23 fibers" recorded in the on-site investigation.
The crucial identification took place next to the septic tank behind the scrap yard. Chen Youcai, covering his nose, pointed to the plastic bags floating on the water: "The steel pipe was in there, wrapped in two layers of plastic bags to prevent rusting..." When the police officers used a hook to retrieve the steel pipe, water droplets formed small pools of blood on the ground. Tests showed that the bloodstains at the top of the steel pipe matched Zhao Hongwei's DNA, and the 5-centimeter diameter circular cross-section perfectly matched the morphological characteristics of a skull fracture. "It's this one. It bent a bit when I hit his leg, so I straightened it with a hammer before hiding it."
On the way back to the police car, Chen Youcai suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the steel plant's chimney.