When Zhao Yu left Beigang City and returned to Qixing Hanging Coffin, it was already past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
As for the matter of apprehending the suspect Bai Lang, he has handed it over to Captain Fang Kaiyu; as for the interrogation of the funeral home staff and the search for Bai Lang's accomplices, he has given full authority to Wu Xiumin.
Therefore, it was Xiong Wendong and other police officers who accompanied Zhao Yu back to the cliff of Qixing Coffin Mountain.
Through prior arrangements, when Zhao Yu and others arrived, several local boatmen who often ran boats and professional shipbuilding engineers were already waiting there.
Although the specific form is still unclear, Zhao Yu is now more inclined to the speculation that criminals used boats to put bodies into hanging coffins.
He believes that criminals can modify an ordinary ship, and then install a set of lifting machines in the cabin, or simply drive a lift truck to the ship, so that the purpose of lifting into the air can be achieved!
However, in order to verify this possibility, he still found local boatmen and professional ship engineers and wanted to discuss it with them.
The section of Baisha River below the Seven Stars Hanging Coffin is more than 30 meters wide. Although there is sediment on both sides of the river, there is still some depth in the middle.
Therefore, there are also many ships passing through Baisha River, but most of these are cargo ships transporting goods.
At this moment, in order to see more clearly, the local police arranged several simple wooden boats. Zhao Yu and others took these wooden boats and came to the bottom of the cliff.
While observing the coffin hanging on the cliff, they discussed the method of transporting the body.
Looking up from below, you can see a cliff nearly 70 meters high, which is even more majestic.
Because the cliff slopes inward from top to bottom, it looks like a building is about to collapse, making people feel dizzy.
"Officer..." At this time, a young engineer wearing glasses spoke, "I have calculated according to your idea before, and I feel that it will be very difficult to use the lifter!"
"Oh," Xiong Wendong saw this person talking and hurriedly introduced to Zhao Yu, "This is Wang Rong, the engineer of our Songzhou Shipping Company!"
Zhao Yu nodded as a greeting.
"Police officer!" Engineer Wang pointed to the river at his feet and began to explain his theory, "The main difficulty is the issue of weight.
"You see... the side of the river near the cliff is full of mud and sand shoals. Boats sailing in the river must stay away from it. If you get too close, you will be in danger of running aground!
"Look again..." He raised his head and pointed to the hanging coffin above and said, "The hanging coffins are all at a height of 20-40 meters. If we make scientific assumptions, we must take the highest 40 meters as an example.
“Such a height would be absolutely impossible to reach using modern lifting equipment, such as a scissor lift or a lifting platform like those used when repairing street lights.
"The only ones left are hydraulic lifts or the fire brigade's ladder fire trucks..."
oh…
Listening to Engineer Wang's explanation, Zhao Yu couldn't help but admire him in his heart. He was truly an educated engineer. He spoke with clear logic and layers, and could hear very clearly.
“Let’s talk about the hydraulic lift first, which relies on a hydraulic cantilever to achieve high-altitude operations!
“As far as I know, the most advanced lifts can reach about 30 meters,” Engineer Wang continued, “Moreover, the cantilever has strong extensibility. Even if the ship stops in the middle of the river, the cantilever can still extend to the cliff.
“This way, the ship doesn’t have to worry about getting too close to the edge of the cliff and causing it to run aground.
"But..." He suddenly changed the topic and said, "A lift truck of this level is not only huge in size, but also weighs about 20 tons. Coupled with the mass of the hull itself, it is difficult to sail in the Baisha River. It’s simply impossible!”
"Yes, how wide is the Baisha River..." A boatman immediately agreed, "The water in the Kongjia Bay area is very shallow, and such a big boat can't even sail across it!"
"Yes! The Baisha River is not as big as those big rivers," another boatman said. "Our company's load of sand and earth materials is basically controlled at about 10 tons!"
"So... where is the fire ladder?" Zhao Yu asked.
"Yes! This is the point I want to say..." Engineer Wang said, "Ladder fire trucks are used by the fire brigade to save people. Because of their different purposes and functions, fire ladders are more concise.
“As far as I know, the world’s tallest ladder fire truck is made in Finland and can rise to 110 meters.
"Nowadays, the mainstream equipment of fire brigade in big cities can reach more than 50 meters!" Engineer Wang introduced, "Moreover, the ladder is in the shape of a set-up, which can also reach the hanging coffin without getting close to the cliff!"
"Oh... If that's the case... Doesn't that mean the coffin can be sealed?" Xiong Wendong spread his hands and said, "The criminal used the fire ladder to put the body into the hanging coffin?"
"But..." Engineer Wang frowned and said in embarrassment, "There are two problems that exist objectively!
"First, there is the issue of weight! Although the weight of a ladder that can rise to about 50 meters is smaller than that of a hydraulic lift, it is not much smaller! It is at least about 15 tons.
"Such a weight can only barely move during the time when the Baisha River has the most abundant water..." He waved his hand, "The time when the Baisha River has the most abundant water is only in July and August every year, which is a very short time!"
"Hmm..." Zhao Yu nodded, "The hanging coffin cases all occurred after September last year. This inference is indeed untenable! So... what about the second problem?"
"Second," Engineer Wang replied, "ladder fire trucks are specially customized and are very expensive! Take the ladder I mentioned that can rise to 50 meters as an example. The cost of such a ladder truck is About 10 million yuan!
"Furthermore, because of its single purpose, no other unit except the fire brigade will spend money to purchase it!"
"Then..." Xiong Wendong said hurriedly, "could it be... that they rented it from the fire brigade? I... I'll call and ask right now!"
With that said, Xiong Wendong hurried to the stern of the ship to make a phone call.
"I feel..." Engineer Wang said, "Whether it is Songzhou or Beigang, there should be no ladder fire trucks of this level! There are no skyscrapers in these two cities!"
"And..." Zhao Yu shook his head and said, "The fire brigade may not rent it out, and criminals won't dare to borrow it, right?"
"The key is..." Wang Rong added, "Even if we can get a ladder truck, the problem of the heavy hull still cannot be solved!"
"Officer Zhao!" At this time, Xiong Wendong shouted from the stern of the boat, "I asked, our fire brigade does not have such awesome equipment at all!
"They told me that in the entire Fulai Province, I'm afraid there are only Xiakou City and the provincial capital Fulai City! And there are not many of them. It is absolutely impossible to rent the fire brigade out!"
Wang Rong glanced at Zhao Yu, which meant: How is it? Is it the same as what I just said
"But..." However, Zhao Yu did not feel discouraged at all and said, "No matter whether the hull is heavy or not, or what kind of equipment they used...
"But one thing is certain! If they really used ships to place corpses, then their ships must be very big and unique, right?"
"Oh... yes! You are absolutely right!" Wang Rong instantly understood what Zhao Yu meant and said hurriedly, "Panjiawan Bridge and Songzhou Pier have surveillance cameras on the Baisha River!"
"And we... already have the approximate time for them to place each corpse!" Zhao Yu nodded to Wang Rong and said, "Engineer Wang, I have to ask you for a favor this time! Help us find that special ship - Come out!!"
PS: Thanks to Zizhan 2017 for the continuous rewards and encouragement! Thank you!
(End of chapter)