Before dawn, although the people at the observation station were grieved, they showed no unusual colors, apparently all believing that Professor Lao had been killed by unlawful elements, thinking about how to find the murderer, best to give him a shot as well.
However, things changed in the morning.
Chen received a call from the police station, informing them that the guy who had slipped through the net before had been caught, just on the night before last. The police forces of the two countries jointly carried out a crackdown, rounding up a gang of smugglers and catching quite a few people.
Among them was the suspect mentioned earlier, but when Professor Lao was killed, he had already been under police control.
Chen further confirmed whether anyone had escaped, hiding in the woods in the chaos. The other party could not confirm, only saying that the border guards had not found any suspicious traces.
He also asked if there had been any news about poachers recently.
The other party clearly denied. In June this year, the Southeast Asian countries signed a joint document on protecting wildlife and cracking down hard on illegal poaching. The wind was very tight.
The originally lawless merchants who took pangolin scales, rhino horns, and crocodile skins had been severely caught in large numbers, and others didn't dare to stick their heads out these two months.
Chen was very uneasy.
If it wasn't done by criminals, who killed Professor Lao last night?
He asked the police to come and investigate, but unfortunately, the surrounding police force had been transferred to participate in this operation, and there was insufficient manpower left, I'm afraid it would take two or three days to come over.
A tropical blizzard mountain lodge - birth.
And more disturbing than the environment was the cause of Professor Lao's death.
Fina repeatedly confirmed with Chen: "Could they have gotten it wrong? Otherwise who shot my dad?"
Chen shook his head and did not change his words.
Mrs. Lao was much calmer than her stepdaughter: "If it wasn't someone from outside, then it means the shooter is among us?"
Chen looked at her and didn't say anything either.
Li Journalist was still a little confused: "What does that mean? There are no suspicious people, we are the suspects?" He looked completely uncomprehending, "We didn't join your operation at all last night, what does it have to do with us?"
Kang President was equally confused: "Did they encounter poachers? Who was that?"
"Anyone could be possible." Jian Jing said calmly, "I think we can't rule out the possibility that criminals sneaked into the woods and Professor Lao found them and silenced them, but at the same time, we who are present are also suspected of killing the deceased. "
Li Journalist was stunned: "We were all at the hotel yesterday, we didn't even know where they went."
"But everyone had enough time to commit the crime." Jian Jing looked around at their faces, "After the professor and the others left yesterday, we immediately dispersed, and until they returned, did you see each other again?"
Li Journalist hesitated for a moment, unable to refute.
Zha Doctor said: "I stayed in my room all the time."
"Me too." Li Journalist said again, "It was the professor who told us not to wander around."
Jian Jing said calmly: "Everyone, I don't mean to accuse one of you of being the murderer, it's just that the professor died suddenly. Although it may have been done by criminals, has anyone seen a stranger?"
She looked at Fei Na and asked, "Did you see any strangers?"
Fei Na shook her head.
She looked at Chen again: "Have you seen any strangers during your patrols every day?"
Chen thought about it for a long time, and slowly shook his head.
Jian Jing: "Also, who of you saw the monkey?" "I haven't seen it since last night."
Fei Na was stunned for a moment, as if waking up from a dream: "Yeah, it seems like Polly didn't follow Dad yesterday, where did it go?"
Mrs. Lao frowned and said, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen it today either. Usually it wouldn't miss breakfast."
"There are many doubts now." Jian Jing analyzed, "In the morning I checked all the 56s. Professor Lao's gun had 9 bullets, Chen's gun had 6, and the gun left behind had 10. I want to ask, were your bullets all full?"
"Mine was full." Fei Na was quite embarrassed, "I haven't fired a shot since I came here."
Chen said: "Mine wasn't."
Jian Jing: "Why?"
"Bullets are expensive." Chen replied.
Jian Jing didn't understand, so he had to say a long string of words in his native language. Fei Na translated: "Chen said that the deterrent effect of guns is greater than their lethal effect. You don't need full ammunition every minute in normal times. In an emergency, he would take a clip of bullets."
"Did you fire your gun yesterday?"
Chen shook his head.
"Do you know how many bullets the professor's gun had?"
He gestured 10 with his hand and said a string of words.
Fei Na continued to translate: "My dad is different from Chen. He likes to shoot a whole magazine at once, and he also likes to use the 97 - usually he would take enough ammunition and it should have been full."
Jian Jing nodded slightly.
The 56 semi-automatic rifle fires one bullet per trigger pull, but the 97 assault rifle keeps shooting as long as you hold the trigger, emptying a magazine in no time.
This actually matched Chen and Professor Lao's personalities.
Bullets are expensive, only Americans are so extravagant.
She thought about it and said, "Fei Na, can you take me to where the professor was found and take a look?"
"I...I'm sorry, Jian, I don't want to go back there again." Fei Na politely declined.
"Sorry." Jian Jing paused for a moment, looking at Chen. He nodded, neither asking why nor doubting: "I can take you there anytime."
Jian Jing: "Anyway there's nothing else to do now, let's go now."
She was very worried that the longer the delay, the more the clues would disappear.
Chen had no opinion, took his gun, water bottle and satellite phone, and informed her: "The road is not easy to walk, we can't get back before lunch."
Jian Jing took the advice, put on her backpack, put the leash on Knight, and prepared to take the dog with her.
However, just as they were leaving, Kang Mu Cheng said he would accompany her.
Jian Jing: "You should stay with the president."
"She's with Mrs. Lao, I'll go with you." Kang Mu Cheng glanced at Chen. He really didn't feel at ease letting her go alone into the deep woods with a strange man.
Knight: "Woof?"
Jian Jing patted the dog's head, and she didn't have any opinion either.
The three entered the woods.
Jian Jing asked: "Are we taking yesterday's route or the shortest route?"
Chen: "The fastest route."
She nodded and started timing.
Trekking through the primal forest was far more difficult than walking on flat ground. There were tiny branches everywhere, occasionally scraping across hair and cheeks. The mud underfoot was either hard and hurting the feet, or slippery and almost tripping. And ubiquitous stones and tree roots required extra care when walking.
Chen was already used to such an environment, striding like flying. Knight with his four feet was steady and far ahead of humans. Only Jian Jing and Kang Mu Cheng were observing the environment while walking, unable to speed up.
After about 1 hour and 20 minutes, they finally arrived at Observation Point No. 3.
It was a small wooden hut built in the woods, looking plain and ordinary. The space inside was also very narrow, with only one window and one chair.
The floor in front of the window was slightly sunken, with obvious traces.
"What used to be placed here?" Jian Jing asked.
Chen said: "Camera." He opened the window and pointed outside, "Can shoot animals."
She suddenly realized, and asked again: "It was said there was a gun?"
Chen signaled her to move aside, then pried open the floor below with his bare hands, revealing a small amount of clear water, cookies and a 56 semi-automatic.
Jian Jing put on gloves and checked the number of bullets inside.
10 rounds.
"Has this gun always been full?" she asked Chen.
Chen nodded and added: "This is a spare gun. I check it every time I come and replenish it if there are fewer bullets."
"When was the last check?"
"The day before yesterday."
Jian Jing pondered, and abruptly asked again: "Where do you guys keep your bullets, can others get them?"
"Safe, only Professor Lao and I have the keys." Chen paused and then said, "Fei Na's gun was hers, I don't know."
She nodded, and began to examine the scene: "Where did the body fall?"
Chen took her outside the hut, not far away, to a clearing where bloodstains were scattered, and some flies hovered and danced, unwilling to disperse even at the sight of people.
The footprints around were chaotic, leaves were flying, and there were rat prints.
Jian Jing took pictures from various angles, but unfortunately there were too few valuable clues.
She could only determine the position of the corpse at that time based on the traces of bloodstains.
"Were you the first person to arrive?" she asked Chen.
Chen nodded.
"Was the professor lying face down?"
He made a gesture of falling over on his back.
"Second Fei Na, last Mrs. Lao?"
He nodded.
Jian Jing sighed, questioning a witness without a common language was too difficult. But so far, she still had a relatively high level of trust in Chen.
Because his gun only had 6 bullets.
If he had killed Professor Lao, he probably wouldn't have chosen to use the same type of gun that he owned, unless it was a crime of passion. But from what was seen so far, there didn't seem to be any conflict between him and the deceased.
In fact, he was the first to discover the body.
The conditions for committing the crime were too abundant, which made him less suspicious instead.
Jian Jing thought for a while, took out the little monkey's clothes from her backpack: "Knight, come."
The German Shepherd came over, smelled the scent of the clothes, and showed a look of disgust on its face.
"Find that monkey." With no other choice, the master had given an order, even if the dog disliked that dead monkey, Knight still dutifully started sniffing around.
Jian Jing picked up a wooden stick, pushed aside the surrounding bushes, and checked very carefully.
Kang Mu Cheng asked: "What are you looking for?"
"The other bullet." Jian Jing said, "The professor was shot twice, one was a through-and-through wound, I want to see where the first bullet hit."
What's the difference between two bullets? Weren't they all from the same gun?
As Kang Mu Cheng thought this, he suddenly froze.
He had read all her works, and often with just a few strokes of the pen, he could see the meaning and even emotions behind them. However, if a situation like the present occurred, it seemed like he had lost something, and could not read her mind.
"Mr. Kang?" She wondered, "Do you want to help me find it?"
Kang Mu Cheng suddenly snapped back to his senses, nodded in agreement, and also began looking around.
Chen, after circling the perimeter, would occasionally squat down to distinguish footprints, and other times move aside bushes to search. After a while, he said: "No outsiders have been here recently."
Jian Jing asked: "How do you know?"
"I've encountered them before." He tried his best to organize his words, "They need food and water. They didn't take anything from the house, and would also hunt and make fires, but there are no such traces nearby."
Jian Jing gazed at his simple face, and asked: "So you agree with my guess that the murderer could be someone from the observation station?"
Chen nodded.
"Who?"
He thought for a bit, but shook his head, not knowing if he couldn't guess, or didn't want to say.
Jian Jing spent the next hour entirely focused on looking for physical evidence, but came up empty-handed, and somehow didn't manage to find where the second shell casing went.
Did the shell accidentally hit a rock and ricochet up into the tall treetops? Jian Jing craned her neck looking upwards for a long time until it was sore, but didn't find any shell casings up there either, and could only give up regretfully.
Knight had much better luck.
It came bounding over, biting Jian Jing's pant leg to get her attention and signal her to follow it.
Jian Jing's spirit was roused.
Knight nimbly threaded its way through the bushes, stopping to wait if its owner didn't keep up, and soon its brown fur was covered in grass clippings.
After about ten minutes, it stopped in front of a pile of brightly colored fabrics.
Author's note: Knight: Finally there's a chance for me to help out!
Not revealing anything this time, I'm tired==