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墨書 Inktalez
The clock on the wall pointed to six o'clock with a loud click. The people in the office scattered in a rush, all grabbing their bags and leaving work. Liu Bing, however, slumped at his desk, motionless. He pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. Tilting his head back, he stared blankly at the ceiling. So far, there were no leads in this murder case. If the murderer truly wanted to destroy the body, why leave a head for others to find? If it wasn't about destroying the body, then there should be clues in other parts of the body as well.
"Liu Ge, we've identified the victim," Guorui burst in, holding a file. Guorui was Liu Bing's cousin, and with some help from family connections, he was Liu Bing's right-hand man. It was quite efficient to identify the victim in a day and a half since the body was found yesterday.
Liu Bing quickly stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and opened the file.
Deceased: Name Luo Qian, female, 30 years old, from Yibin, Sichuan. Previously worked as a technician at City South Bathhouse, then left last year to work as a workshop worker at Bao Hua Mechanical Equipment Co., Ltd. Her mother passed away after being ill, and her father left when she was very young and cannot be contacted now.
Liu Bing stared at the photo of the deceased in the file, her face beautiful. Her complexion was pale, and her lips were slightly upturned, with an enigmatic expression. He tried hard to remember the technicians he had encountered at City South Bathhouse, but it seemed that he had no impression of her at all. In fact, Liu Bing rarely visited such places and did not leave any contact information with others. He truly had no impression of Luo Qian.
"When was the time of death for the deceased?" Liu Bing asked.
"I just asked the forensic doctor, and the time of death was May 13, 2017, probably around noon last Saturday. The victim should have died from asphyxiation, and after death, the head was cut off with a knife," Guorui answered.
"We found the body on May 17, so it's been a few days since she was last at work. Did they notice anything unusual at her workplace?" Liu Bing muttered, "Did Bao Hua's team send anyone to the mechanical department?"
"I just got the results," Guorui said, looking around at the empty surroundings and shaking his head.
"Let's go, let's go to the Bao Hua machinery factory now," Liu Bing put on his coat and handed a crumpled cigarette from his pocket to Guorui, and they went out together.
When they arrived at the Bao Hua machinery factory, it was already 7:30 in the evening. Guorui wolfed down his bread and followed Liu Bing, who patted the cigarette ash off his body and walked towards the main gate.
Bao Hua machinery is located in the outskirts of Baiyun District, next to a highway. Apart from this highway, the surrounding area is all desolate hills and wilds. If they hadn't driven here following the navigation, it would probably have taken two or three hours from the city to get here.
"Bang, bang, bang," Liu Bing knocked on the duty room door of the factory.
"Who are you looking for?" The door of the duty room opened a crack, and a middle-aged man dressed in military uniform poked his head out and asked.
"Police, just have a few questions to ask." Guorui took out his police badge.
The man quickly opened the door and then squinted to carefully examine the police badge. "Who are you looking for? It's probably past working hours at this time."
Liu Bing walked into the duty room without any courtesy and plopped down on the sofa. Then he took out a cigarette, lit it, and leisurely looked up at the security guard, saying, "One of the workers in your factory was killed, named Luo Qian. Do you know this person?"
The security guard uncle was obviously flustered, shaking his head like a rattle drum and repeatedly saying he didn't know.
"Oh, it's okay. You sit, you sit, I just have some questions," Liu Bing waved his hand, indicating for him to sit as well. The security guard obediently sat on a small stool near the door, staring straight at Liu Bing.
"What does your factory produce?"
"Our factory produces components for trains, such as mechanical axles, railway tracks, and various parts used on trains, like water heaters and drinking fountains."
"On May 13th, were you also on duty?"
The security guard obviously knew the importance of this issue, and could guess that either the deceased went missing that day, or died that day. He thought for about three or four seconds, and said that he was on duty that day. He also said that there was nothing unusual.
"Do the workers inside have dormitory arrangements? Your factory is so remote. There should be, right?" Liu Bing absentmindedly flicked the cigarette ash and looked at the ground.
"Yes, we have a dormitory inside the factory. Basically, most of the workers live there, and some workers even bring their families to live in the dormitory. Because the manufacturing industry has been sluggish in recent years, the boss didn't say much in order to retain people. He just emphasized the safety issue a bit," the security guard replied.
"How do you workers clock in and out for work? I see that many companies require punching in and out now," Liu Bing continued to ask.
"Oh, yes, yes. We need to clock in and out, and we use fingerprint scanning. Once we scan our fingerprints, the computer will record our attendance. Generally, we scan our fingerprints at 9 am and 6 pm. Since the time clock is installed in the duty room, there will be a record of clocking in and out whenever someone enters or exits. So, besides weekdays, even during holidays and weekends, as long as employees enter or exit the factory, there will be a record of their attendance."
Liu Bing stood up and walked to the guardhouse. "Show me the attendance record now."
"Attendance record I'm not in the duty room, I don't know how to operate this thing. The computer is inside the office building," the guard shrugged helplessly.
"Then take us to the office now and open the computer. I want to check your Attendance record," Guorui said coldly, with his hands in his pockets, ready to pull out his police badge at any time.
The guard looked at the bunch of keys hanging from his belt and could only lead them to the office building.
Entered the factory, but because it was night, it was difficult to see the surroundings clearly. The factory was indeed very large, with a dim streetlight about twenty meters away. In the distance, there seemed to be flickering lights.
After walking for about ten minutes, the guard pointed ahead and said, "That's the office building. The dormitory is on the left, and the factory is on the right." The office building stood tall in the dark, about five stories high. The dormitory had scattered lights, while the factory was pitch black, as if it were about to be swallowed up. It was impossible to see clearly.
The guard led them into the office building and up to the second floor. They stopped at the "Personnel Department." Suddenly, he stopped and turned to them, saying, "I should call the boss and let him know. If something happens to you, I can't bear the responsibility."
"Hmph, it's okay. We'll just take a look at the attendance record. This doesn't involve any of your business secrets, right?" Liu Bing took out his ID and police badge and handed them to the security guard. "Let's take a look."
Liu Bing leisurely smoked and looked at Guorui, while the security guard stood nervously beside them. Guorui flipped through the records one by one:
May 10th, Luo Qian, clocked in at 8:53 AM, clocked out at 6:01 PM
May 11th, Luo Qian, clocked in at 8:50 AM, clocked out at 6:31 PM
May 12th, Luo Qian, clocked in at 8:44 AM, clocked out at 6:03 PM
At this point, Guorui's hand stopped, and he turned to look at Liu Bing. "Continue reading," Liu Bing said without lifting his head.
On May 13th, Luo Qian clocked in at 6:28 in the morning and clocked out at 4:17 in the afternoon.
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