The Case of Love

Chapter 20 Car in the River
Zhou Yifeng opened the mobile phone APP to check the flights from Beijing to City C, and planned to take the next flight to City C.

"Zhisong, I'm going out for a while and will be back in a few days. If you have anything, please call me or leave me a message on WeChat!" Zhou Yifeng picked up his coat on the back of the chair and hurried out.

Li Zhisong didn't react yet and answered woodenly.

"What are you doing, Boss? You're in such a hurry!"

Looking at Zhou Yifeng's back, everyone was very surprised.

Zhou Yifeng has always been steady, and this is the first time they have seen him like this. His handsome face is filled with unconcealable excitement and panic.

Zhou Yifeng did not come back as soon as he said. It was a week later that he returned to the capital.

As soon as he got off the plane, he received a call from Director Zhao. Mr. Zhang, a citizen living in the western suburbs, was walking by the A River in the morning when he found a car overturned in the river. The car body had been burned to the point that only the frame was left. He immediately reported the case. When the traffic police arrived at the scene, they found a human figure on the driver's seat. A closer look revealed that it was a highly carbonized corpse. Because the face and limbs were severely burned, it only looked like a human figure.

The traffic police at the scene originally thought that this was a simple traffic accident, but when they conducted further inspection of the car, an unexpected situation occurred.

If a vehicle catches fire due to an accident, the engine and fuel tank will definitely be burned. However, the fuel tank and engine of the vehicle at the scene were intact. This means that the vehicle was set on fire by arson, and the deceased in the vehicle was likely murdered. Therefore, the case changed from a simple traffic accident to a criminal case and was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Brigade for handling.

It was the first time that Su Xiaohan faced such a tragic scene. Looking at the black, charred figure in the cab, she couldn't help but vomit.

"Xiao Han, are you okay?" Li Zhisong was the first to notice that she was in pain, so he walked over and asked with concern.

Su Xiaohan took out a tissue from her bag and wiped her mouth, then said embarrassedly, "I'm fine. It's just that this is the first time I've seen this, and I feel a little uncomfortable."

"Go wait for us in the car and don't come forward yet." Li Zhisong said considerately.

"I'm fine, I'll be fine soon, don't worry!" Su Xiaohan adjusted her mood and didn't want to hold back the police team.

Li Zhisong patted her shoulder and said with a smile: "Everyone will feel uncomfortable when seeing this kind of scene for the first time. You are not the first one to experience this. Take a break and don't be stubborn!"

"Yeah." Su Xiaohan nodded gratefully.

Seeing that she was fine, Li Zhisong went to find Zhu Xiaofeng and Ma Nan and investigated the scene with them.

Since it was confirmed to be arson, the next step was to identify the deceased in the cab. Because the car was burned to the frame, the license plate and other items were gone, so they could not identify the owner.

All the deceased's belongings were burned, and there was no identification document left, only a burnt cell phone and a stainless steel lighter. However, Li Zhisong and his team found male external genitalia from the remains of the body, and the forensic doctor judged that the deceased was about 50 years old.

More than ten minutes later, Zhou Yifeng arrived at the scene. Passing by Su Xiaohan, he deliberately glanced at her. As if he had expected her to react, he handed her a bottle of water.

Su Xiaohan was stunned for a moment before taking the water. Was he caring about her?
Zhou Yifeng didn't stay for long and went straight to the burned vehicle.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Seeing Zhou Yifeng coming, several people were very excited. He was like their backbone, and with him around, they felt at ease.

Zhou Yifeng asked about their investigation, and also asked the reporter and nearby residents. According to them, they did not notice any fire or any car accident before going to bed last night. Zhou Yifeng initially judged that the incident should have occurred late at night or early in the morning. Zhou Yifeng observed the banks of River A and found no surveillance. He said to Ma Nan, "Ma Nan, go back to the bureau and retrieve the surveillance of the nearby roads to see if you can find the car and determine the owner's information!"

"Okay, boss!" Ma Nan responded.

"Sister Sun, please take a closer look. Is it possible to extract the DNA of the deceased?" Zhou Yifeng said to the forensic doctor Sun Yidan at the scene.

"Okay, I'll try my best!" Looking at the black figure not far away, Sun Yidan took a deep breath.

After the on-site investigation, Zhou Yifeng and others got into the car one after another. Su Xiaohan lowered her head, got into Li Zhisong's car, and sat in the back seat.

"Xiaohan, how are you? Are you feeling better?" Seeing that Su Xiaohan looked bad, Li Zhisong was very worried.

"I'm fine, I'm much better." Su Xiaohan smiled at him.

Hearing Li Zhisong's question, Zhou Yifeng also turned around and looked over. Their eyes met, and Su Xiaohan seemed to catch a trace of pity in his eyes.

Back at the police station, Ma Nan asked someone to retrieve the surveillance video near the section of the road where the accident occurred. Because the van was burned to the frame, apart from being able to tell that it was a van and inferring its general style, the color of the car body could not be determined.

Ma Nan kept staring at the surveillance screen until his eyes were almost tired. Finally, he locked onto a similar target and pressed the pause button.

"Boss, look! This car drove past the accident site! According to our calculations, it should be this car!"

Ma Nan's voice was so loud that Su Xiaohan and Li Zhisong followed Zhou Yifeng to look.

"Well, the model is right and the style is similar. From this point of view, the car is quite normal now!" Li Zhisong looked at it carefully.

"Ma Nan, zoom in and write down the license plate number. Move it back and see if there is any car following it?" Zhou Yifeng arranged.

Ma Nan wrote down the license plate number as he asked and continued to play the video. In the video, the van had been on the road for a long time and no other vehicles had entered. The road near the river was very remote, and there was a small park further ahead. It was late at night and no one passed by.

"Ma Nan, check the owner's information of this van."

"Yes, Boss, I'll check it right away!"

Zhou Yifeng rubbed his brows and leaned back in his seat, waiting for Ma Nan's result. He took the earliest flight back to Beijing and went straight to the crime scene as soon as he got off the plane. He looked tired and his mental state was not very good.

Su Xiaohan looked at him quietly. He still had stubble on his cheeks, his hair was a little messy, and his eyes were deep and unfathomable. He seemed to be hiding something in his heart that he couldn't tell others.

Not long after, Ma Nan found the owner's information. The owner of the van was Zhao Xiaogang, 40 years old, and the boss of a private enterprise.

"Sister Sun said that the deceased was about 50 years old. This Zhao Xiao is just 40 years old. It shouldn't be him, right?" Ma Nan asked.

"Call the owner of this car." Zhou Yifeng said without even raising his head.

Ma Nan agreed and dialed the phone number of Zhao Xiaogang provided by his colleague at the vehicle management office. However, after the first call, Zhao Xiaogang's phone was turned off. After a while, he dialed again, but the phone was still turned off.

Since Zhao Xiaogang’s phone was not accessible, Ma Nan called his wife. After the call was connected, a woman’s voice came from the other end of the phone.