Chapter 216 Is it a human, a ghost, or both...
With Ranran intervening, the conflict between Shen Dinghai and Ning Wu finally did not escalate into an argument or even a fight.
"Why do I remember that my eldest brother described this guy as positive, outgoing, and easy to talk to? I can understand that he loves to laugh as positive and outgoing, but where did he come up with the conclusion that he is easy to talk to?!"
"This guy obviously likes to talk back at people with a smile!" Shen Dinghai talked to himself without attracting Ranran's attention.
Ranran now felt powerless as if she was in a fog, and could not spare much energy to pay attention to Shen Dinghai.
She looked at Ning Wu, "We agreed to tell you everything we know. Do you know what the nearby workers are saying about Wang Laowu's death? Except for useless words like 'rope-stringing ghost'?"
Under Ranran's gaze, Ning Wu became visibly pleased.
"So you still remember that I have good hearing."
Ran Ran didn't want to talk for a moment, "Can you be serious?"
Ning Wu looked very innocent. "I am very serious. It is because of my good hearing that I know what people around here say about these two tragic cases."
Shen Dinghai opened his eyes wide, "You are standing outside Wang Laowu's house, and you can actually hear people talking in other rooms? You have super hearing!"
Ning Wu repeated, "I told you, I have very good hearing."
But when he was explaining to Shen Dinghai, he obviously didn't have patience with Ranran.
"Besides the useless theory of the strangulation ghost you mentioned, another theory has begun to circulate - a serial murder case."
Shen Dinghai took a deep breath. He had been in the world of metaphysics for too long. Now, hearing about such a horrific incident that was so close to reality, he felt a little scared.
“Is this… a good thing?” He said uncertainly, “After all, more workers are beginning to believe that it is not unknown ghosts that kill people.”
"This should be beneficial to our investigation, right?"
"It can indeed be considered a good thing, but serial murders..." Ran Ran pondered, "Did they come to this conclusion because the methods of killing are similar?"
"There are marks of strangulation on the necks of Li Yang and Wang Laowu. Have they determined that their deaths were caused by the same person?"
"Generally, criminal investigations follow this line of thinking. For cases with similar characteristics, the Public Security Bureau will handle them together." Shen Dinghai began to frantically search for information on investigating cases on his phone.
"Then let's handle the cases together." Ran Ran took out two cups from the coffee table and drew a mark in the middle of the cups with a red pen that lasted only half a circle.
"The marks on Li Yang and Wang Laowu's necks were only halfway up. They were caused by someone strangling their necks and tightening them backwards. There was no force on the back of the neck, so there were no marks."
"There are many ways for the murderer to kill someone, why did he have to choose the thankless and laborious strangulation?"
Ning Wu smiled and said, "The murderer wanted to borrow the power of the rope ghost and kill people in the name of the ghost."
"Let's assume that this is the purpose first, and then screen the qualifications of the perpetrator. To meet the requirement of strangulation and murder, the first requirement is that he must be strong."
"Women of average physique can basically be ruled out."
Shen Dinghai nodded vigorously. "The difference in strength between men and women is huge. If women want to suppress men in terms of strength, they need to put in many times more effort than men. I work in the gym, so I know this very well."
"Even if an adult woman could kill Li Yang, who is of similar physique, she would never be able to kill Wang Laowu."
Ran Ran pondered, "There are too many workers on the construction site. Even if all the women are excluded, the remaining range is still too large. We need to narrow the target."
Shen Dinghai tried to simulate the scene of putting a noose around someone's neck and strangling them hard.
"If Li Yang and Wang Laowu didn't die of suffocation, then the murderer must have strangled the person's larynx, which requires a lot of strength."
He looked at his hands and said, "And I don't believe the murderer himself is unharmed."
"That rope should be able to rub the murderer's skin a little!"
Ran Ran extracted the information from this passage, "It means that people with injuries on their hands can also be included in the suspect list." "Male, with injuries on the palms, but injuries on the palms are not a necessary condition. If the murderer has a way to avoid being strangled, then we may let him go."
Shen Dinghai was scratching his head as he thought about it. "Then the range is still very large, which is equivalent to not being reduced. Is there anything else that can be used to identify the murderer?"
"Think about why the murderer wants to kill people...motive! Right!" Shen Dinghai showed the experience post he found to Ranran.
"We should analyze the murderer's motive first!"
Ran Ran thought, "If the murderer is not killing indiscriminately, the motive for the murder is indeed a good starting point."
"As long as we can find the similarities between Li Yang and Wang Laowu, we can get a general direction for the investigation."
Shen Dinghai began to brainstorm, "What do we have in common? We are all workers at the construction site. There's nothing much to say about this, right?"
"Yes, we are looking for the commonality between the two of them and the other workers - the special thing."
Shen Dinghai almost started biting his nails, "It's definitely not a family relationship. Li Yang is a lonely man, and the only cousin who came to help him keep vigil was only there for money. Wang Laowu, on the other hand, has a happy family, and all the family members love each other."
"Besides, there are so many workers on the construction site with and without family members. It's not special at all."
"Is it because of how I treat people?" Shen Dinghai rubbed his hair in annoyance, "That's not right either!"
"Li Yang is an absolute bastard, and almost everyone dislikes him. Wang Laowu, on the other hand, loves his wife and children. Judging from the fact that his coworkers were willing to come and inform Yang Juan after the accident... Wang Laowu should have a good reputation."
Ning Wu nodded, agreeing with this evaluation.
Shen Dinghai was even more frustrated. "No matter how I think about it, I can only think of the differences between these two people!"
"These are obviously two people who are more and more different the more you think about it!"
Ran Ran said in a gentle voice: "Don't be discouraged, nephew. This will actually be beneficial to us."
Seeing Shen Dinghai's puzzled look, Ran Ran patiently explained, "From another perspective, the more different two people are, the more obvious their similarities will be."
"It's like putting two completely opposite colors, black and white, together. You can see where they overlap at a glance."
Shen Dinghai drooped his brows in frustration, "But we can't see it now..."
"That just shows that we don't know enough information."
Ran Ran's face became serious. "The only thing we know about at the moment that is related to both Li Yang and Wang Laowu is the rope-strangling ghost."
"Ah?" Shen Dinghai frowned. "Why is it related to ghosts again? Aren't we trying to prove that Li Yang and Wang Laowu were killed by humans, not ghosts?"
"That's true, but we must not exclude the ghost as a factor. Don't forget why we are here."
"Maybe things are not as simple as we think. It's not purely man-made or ghostly, but a mixture of both."
"The ghost is a cover, or it could be something that has sunk to the bottom of the sea. Without the ghost, the murderer might not even kill anyone."
Shen Dinghai wanted to refute, but he couldn't seem to find anything to refute.
What my cousin said does make sense. If there was no rope to strangle the female ghost, would the murderer kill people by strangling her?
the answer is negative.
"Then what do we do next?"
Ran Ran looked at the two paper cups on the coffee table.
"Go meet the rope-stringing ghost that the workers are talking about."
