Chapter 439: A Slap, Then a Rub

On the rooftop?

Before the people inside could react, Yu Dazhang had already walked out of the room and arrived at the elevator.

This is a small high-rise building, eleven stories in total, with one elevator serving three households, considered one of the most popular types of elevator western-style houses in Songhai in recent years.

Compared to those tall buildings that are often over thirty stories, such houses also offer better cost-performance.

After everyone reached the rooftop, Yu Dazhang looked around and spotted the elevated water tank not far away.

This is standard equipment for high-rise residential buildings, mainly used for rapid water supply during the initial stage of a fire.

It also serves as an alternative plan for domestic water supply.

When water pressure is insufficient or the water supply is interrupted, it can replenish the water source in time.

"It's in that water tank."

Yu Dazhang pointed at the water tank, which was more than two meters high, and said confidently:

"The clothes the murderer wore when committing the crime and the weapon used are all inside it."

Even Lu Zhongxin couldn't stand it anymore.

We all came up together; how could you spot the weapon in the water tank at a single glance?

Are you telling fortunes here?

Or can your eyes see through things?

Can we talk some logic?

Now even he thought Yu Dazhang was just making a fuss.

"We checked that water tank back then."

A member of the special task force said:

"Moreover, we also had police dogs go up and sniff; if there was blood inside the water tank, the police dogs would definitely have smelled it."

If it were really that simple, you would have solved the case long ago... Yu Dazhang only dared to think this in his heart.

One still needs to be more tactful in dealing with people.

"How did you check back then?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Well..." That member of the special task force felt somewhat guilty when asked and stammered in reply:

"I used a flashlight to check the bottom of the water tank, most importantly the water outlet, and found no foreign objects."

Actually, his line of reasoning was not wrong.

If there were foreign objects inside the water tank, when residents in the building used water, a certain suction force would be generated at the water outlet.

Due to the effect of this suction force, the foreign objects would be adsorbed at the water outlet, causing a blockage.

Moreover, metal products cannot float in water; they will definitely sink to the bottom.

So when checking the water tank, one only needs to focus on the bottom.

Plus with the assistance of police dogs, it could be basically confirmed that there were no foreign objects inside the water tank.

But this time was different.

Among the people present, the vast majority were veteran criminal police officers with rich experience.

They immediately heard that there was a problem here.

"You only checked the bottom of the water tank?" The leader of the special task force looked at that police officer and asked:

"Didn't you look at the four sides of the water tank?"

"No." That police officer shook his head and explained:

"At that time, the water level in the water tank was too high; I couldn't lean my body in to check, so I only checked the bottom."

After finishing his words, he felt something was inappropriate and immediately added:

"Actually, it was not necessary to check everything; even if the bloodstains on the weapon were cleaned off, the density of metal is greater than water, so it will definitely sink to the bottom in water."

His mouth is really stubborn... Yu Dazhang looked at that police officer helplessly.

It was clearly careless work, yet he still wanted to use this kind of excuse to cover it up.

"What if the weapon was put inside a foam box?"

Yu Dazhang's hypothesis directly made that police officer freeze.

Others also looked at Yu Dazhang with incredulous eyes.

This move is quite brilliant!

If it were really like this, the weapon would keep floating on the water surface.

Before everyone could react, Yu Dazhang proposed another hypothesis:

"Put the blood-stained clothes in a foam box too, then seal it with cling film; wouldn't this way neither sink to the bottom nor block the smell?"

Hearing these words, the people of the special task force looked at Yu Dazhang with somewhat strange eyes.

You must be an accomplice of the murderer.

Is this something that can be inferred?

Or, on what basis did you infer it?

If it is just imagination, your imagination is too terrifying.

But then again...

Doing this could indeed get away with it.

"Wrong!"

That police officer suddenly spoke up to refute: "If it were really as you said, that foam box was floating on the water surface; then when I checked, I could have seen it, unless the foam box was stuck against the side of the water tank."

I really don't want to hurt you... Yu Dazhang sighed and proposed another hypothesis:

"If a magnet was put inside the foam box, wouldn't that allow it to keep sticking against the side of the water tank?"

"You!" That officer wanted to keep arguing, but the words reached his lips and he found there was nothing left to say.

The moment anyone raised a doubt, this fatty would immediately offer an explanation.

It was as if he could see what was inside the water tank.

"Anyone else have questions?"

Yu Dazhang saw that the officer had fallen silent, so he turned his gaze to the rest of them:

"If you have questions, raise them now. If there's nothing else, let's open the box and check."

He had come upstairs originally intending to open the water tank directly and retrieve the murder weapon.

But to make the act look convincing, he had no choice but to waste some time sparring with the task force — Zhou Xuan.

Since they wanted logic, he'd lay it out for them, so these people wouldn't go around twisting the story later.

"I'll go."

The speaker was the task force's team leader; this time he had decided to inspect it himself.

Since this fatty had spoken so convincingly, he wanted to see for himself whether there really was a foam box inside the water tank.

Five minutes later.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the task force's team leader pulled out of the water tank a foam box wrapped tightly in cling film.

After carrying it out, he pressed the foam box against the sheet iron on the outside of the water tank, in front of everyone.

The white foam box actually clung to the water tank.

From this one could see there had to be a strongly magnetic metal like a magnet inside.

Foam box, cling film, magnet…

Yu Dazhang had called every single one of them!

At this, everyone present was left utterly speechless.

In the face of absolute ability, any doubt was just inviting humiliation upon oneself!

The officer who had been bickering with Yu Dazhang earlier was now red-faced, his head bowed as low as it could possibly go, not daring even to glance at Yu Dazhang.

Shame on him… Yu Dazhang was actually the most guilty conscience in the room.

"Your line of thinking was correct."

He walked over to that officer and patted him on the shoulder:

"If it were me, I'd have done the same as you when I first inspected the water tank, so you don't need to blame yourself."

"The reason I could think of all this afterward is also based on the results you people had already investigated."

On the surface he was comforting someone, but in truth he was emphasizing that he too was just an ordinary person.

Unfortunately, the way everyone looked at him was like looking at a monster.

As if to say: stop explaining, we don't believe you.

"Open the box," Yu Dazhang said to the task force's team leader.

At some unknown point, he had already become the leader of everyone present.

In other words, everyone had unknowingly grown accustomed to following his arrangements.

As the foam box was opened, a bloodstained garment appeared before everyone's eyes, and right in the middle of the bloodstained garment sat a small hammer.

"Alright, don't touch anything for now."

Yu Dazhang reminded them:

"Wait for the forensics team to come collect fingerprints."

As he spoke, he walked briskly to the edge of the building.

He happened to catch Qian Cheng coming up from below.

He could be seen with a face full of smiles, clearly in a good mood, nimbly leaping down from the suspended basket, then saying impatiently to Yu Dazhang:

"The footprint casts are done — very complete."

"Good timing coming up," Yu Dazhang said, pulling him over to the water tank and pointing at the foam box on the ground:

"See if you can lift fingerprints from these pieces of evidence."

Qian Cheng glanced at the clothes and small hammer inside the foam box, then looked up at Yu Dazhang:

"You found this too? Your eyes must have x-ray vision!"

(End of chapter)