Before daybreak, although everyone at the observatory was grief-stricken, they all looked calm. It was obvious that they all believed that Professor Lao had been killed by criminals, and they were thinking about how to find the murderer. In the end, they all agreed to shoot him.
However, things changed in the morning.
Chen received a call from the police station, informing them that the guy who had escaped before had been arrested the night before yesterday. The police of the two countries launched a joint operation to encircle and suppress a group of smuggling gangs and arrested many 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 any suspects had escaped and hid in the jungle during the chaos. The other party could not confirm and only said that the border station had not found any trace of the suspects.
Also, is there any news about poachers recently
The other party denied it. In June this year, Southeast Asian countries signed a document to jointly protect wildlife and crack down on illegal poaching. The situation is very tense.
A large number of illegal traders who originally bought pangolin scales, rhino horns and crocodile skins were severely arrested, and most of them did not dare to venture out for two months.
Chen was very uneasy.
If it wasn't done by criminals, who killed Professor Lao last night
Please ask the police to come and investigate. Unfortunately, all the surrounding police forces have been drawn to participate in this operation, and there are not enough officers left behind. I'm afraid they will take two or three days to come.
Snowstorm Mountain House in the tropics—is born.
What is even more disturbing than the environment is the cause of Professor Lao's death.
Fina repeatedly confirmed with Chen: "Could we have made a mistake? Otherwise, who shot my father?"
Chen Yao was silent and did not change his words.
Mrs. Lao was calmer than her stepdaughter: "If you don't count the people outside, then you mean the person who fired the gun is among us?"
Chen looked at her and didn't say anything.
Reporter Li was still a little confused: "What do you mean? If there is no suspicion, then we are suspicious?" He looked confused, "We didn't join your action last night, what does it have to do with us?"
President Kang was confused: "Weren't we encountering poachers? Then who?"
"Anyone has the possibility." Jian Jing said, "I think we cannot rule out the possibility that a criminal sneaked into the jungle and was discovered by Professor Lao to be silenced, but at the same time, we who were present are also suspected of murdering the deceased."
Reporter Li was stunned: "We were all in the hotel yesterday and we don't even know where they went."
"But everyone had enough time to commit the crime." Jian Jing looked at their faces. "We dispersed immediately after the professors left yesterday. Did you meet each other from then until they returned?"
Reporter Li paused, unable to refute.
Dr. Cha said, “I stayed in my room the whole time.”
"Me too." Reporter Li added, "Professor Li told us not to run around."
Jian Jing said calmly: "Everyone, I don't mean to accuse any of you of being the murderer. It's just that the professor died suddenly. Although it is possible that he was killed by criminals, has anyone seen a stranger?"
She turned to Fina and asked, "Have you ever seen a stranger?"
Fina shook her head.
Then he turned to Chen: "You patrol every day. Have you seen it?"
Chen thought for a long time and shook his head slowly.
"Also, has anyone seen the monkey?" Jian Jing asked, "I haven't seen it since last night."
Fina was stunned for a moment, then woke up from a dream: "Yes, Polly didn't seem to be with Dad yesterday, where did it go?"
Mrs. Lao frowned and said, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen it today either. Normally, it would never miss breakfast."
"Now there are many doubts." Jian Jing analyzed, "I checked all the Type 56s this morning. Professor Lao's gun had 9 bullets, Chen's gun had 6, and the remaining gun had 10. I wonder if all your guns are fully loaded?"
"My gun is full." Fina said unhappily, "I haven't fired a gun since I came here."
Chen said: "I don't."
Jian Jing: "Why?"
"Bullets are expensive," Chen replied.
Jian Jing didn't understand, so she just said a long string of words in her native language. Fina translated: "Chen said that the deterrent power of a gun is greater than its lethality. Normally, you don't need to keep it fully loaded every minute. In case of an emergency, you will bring a handful of bullets."
"Did you shoot yesterday?"
Chen Yao.
"Do you know how many rounds the professor's gun has?"
He made a 10 gesture and said a bunch of words.
Fina continued to translate: "My father is different from Chen. He likes to empty the entire magazine in one go, and he likes to use the Type 97. Yesterday, he probably used the Type 56 because he was afraid of scaring No. 21. But he always brings enough ammunition, so the magazine should be full."
Jian Jing nodded slightly.
The Type 56 semi-automatic rifle fires one bullet each time you pull the trigger, but the Type 97 assault rifle will fire continuously once you hold the trigger, and can empty a magazine in minutes.
This is consistent with Professor Chen and Lao’s personalities.
Bullets are expensive, only the United States has such a luxury (crossed out).
She thought about it and said, "Fina, can you take me to the place where the professor was found?"
"I... I'm sorry, Jane, I don't want to go back to that place again." Fina rejected her apologetically.
"Sorry." Jian Jing paused and turned to Chen. She nodded, without asking the reason or questioning: "I'll take you there anytime."
Jian Jing: "Anyway, there's nothing else to do right now, let's go now."
She was very worried that if she delayed any longer, the clues would disappear.
Chen had no objection, picked up the gun, water bottle and satellite phone, and told her: "The road is blocked and you can't be back before lunch."
Jian Jing took the advice, put on her backpack, put a leash on the rider, and prepared to take the dog with her.
However, before leaving, Kang Mucheng said he would go with her.
Jian Jing: "You should stay and accompany the president."
"She is accompanying Mrs. Lao. I will go with you." Kang Mucheng glanced at Chen. He was really worried about her going into the forest alone with a strange man.
Knight: “Woo?”
Jian Jing patted the dog's head and had no objection.
Three people entered the forest.
Jian Jing asked: "Should we follow yesterday's route, or the shortest route?"
Chen: “The fastest way.”
She clicked and started the timer.
Trekking in the primeval forest is much more difficult than walking on flat ground. There are small branches everywhere, which scratch your hair and cheeks from time to time. The soil under your feet is either hard enough to hurt your feet or slippery enough to make you almost fall. There are also rocks and tree roots everywhere, so you have to walk very carefully.
Chen had already gotten used to the cold environment and walked very fast. The knight used all four legs to swing his feet steadily. Only Jian Jing and Kang Mucheng observed the environment while walking and could not walk much faster.
After walking for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, we finally arrived at observation point No. 3.
A small wooden house built in the woods, with an ordinary appearance and a very small space inside, with only one window and a chair.
The floor in front of the window was slightly dented, with obvious marks.
"Did you let it go?" Jian asked quietly.
"Camera," Chen said. He opened the window and pointed outside. "We took photos of animals."
She suddenly realized, and asked again: "Didn't you say there was a gun?"
Chen motioned for her to move aside, then lifted the floorboards underneath with his bare hands, revealing a little water, biscuits and a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.
Jian Jing put on gloves and checked the number of bullets inside.
10 rounds.
"Is the gun always loaded?" she asked.
Chen nodded and added: "We have spare guns. I check them every time I come here and replenish them if there are any shortages."
"When was the last time you checked?"
"The day before yesterday."
Jian Jing seemed to be thinking about something, and then suddenly asked: "Where are your bullets? Can't others get them?"
"The safe. Only the professor and I have the key." Chen paused, then said, "Whether Fina's gun belongs to her or not, I don't know."
She nodded and began to investigate the scene: "Where is the body?"
Chen took her outside the wooden house. There were bloodstains scattered on the open space not far away. Some flies were circling and flying around, and they refused to leave even after coming here.
There were footprints everywhere, leaves flying around, and rat paw prints.
Jian Jing took photos from every angle, but unfortunately, there were too few valuable clues.
She could only determine the posture of the body by the traces of blood.
"Are you the first one to arrive?" she asked.
Chen Dian.
"Professor lying prone?"
made a motion of falling on his back.
"The second Fina, the last Mrs. Law?"
Point.
Jian Jing sighed. It was too difficult to ask a witness who didn't speak the same language. But so far, she still had a high degree of trust in Chen.
Because 's gun only has 6 bullets.
If he had killed Professor Lao, he would most likely not have chosen the same gun as his own, unless it was a passionate killing. So far, he has no conflicts with the deceased.
Even, it was the first discovery.
The conditions for committing the crime were so abundant that it was not worthy of suspicion.
Jian Jing pondered for a moment, then took out the monkey's clothes from his backpack: "Knight, come here."
The German Shepherd walked forward, sniffed the clothes, and a look of disgust appeared on his face.
"Find the monkey." There was no choice but to give the order. No matter how much the knight disliked the dead monkey, he still began to sniff it diligently.
Jian Jing picked up a wooden stick, pushed aside the surrounding grass, and checked very carefully.
Kang Mucheng asked: "Looking for it?"
"Another bullet." Jian Jing said, "The professor was shot twice, one of which was a penetrating wound. I wonder where the first bullet hit."
What's the difference between the two bullets? Aren't they both from the same gun
Kang Mucheng was thinking about it, and was suddenly stunned.
Looking through all her works, one can often reveal her intentions and even her moods with just a few strokes between the lines. However, if the current situation occurs, it seems as if something has been lost and she cannot read her mind.
"Boss Kang?" she wondered, "Will you help me find it?"
Kang Mucheng suddenly came back to his senses, nodded in agreement, and started looking around.
Chen looked around, sometimes squatting to distinguish footprints, sometimes searching through bushes. After a while, he said, "No outsiders have appeared recently."
Jian Jing: "How did you know?"
"I've seen it." He tried his best to organize his words. "They need food and water. They didn't touch the house, but they would hunt and light fires. There are no similar traces nearby."
Jian Jing stared at his plain face and said, "So, you agree with my guess that the murderer could be someone in the observatory?"
Chen Dian.
"who?"
I thought about it, shook my head, and felt that I couldn’t guess it, and I didn’t want to say it.
Jian Jing spent the next hour looking for physical evidence, but found nothing. She couldn't even find where the second bullet casing went.
Did the shell accidentally hit the rocks and splashed onto the tall treetops? Jian Jing looked up for a long time, her neck was sore, but she couldn't find the shell anywhere, so she gave up in disappointment.
The knight's luck was bad.
It came running over, bit Jian Jing's trouser leg, and motioned for her to follow.
Jian Jing was shocked.
The knight moved swiftly through the bushes, and would stop for a moment when he saw that his master had not caught up. His brown fur was soon covered with grass clippings.
After about ten minutes, it stopped in front of a pile of brightly colored fabrics.