Cicada Moving

Chapter 461 Car Accident Scene Investigation

 In the end, the dinner ended unhappily.

Meng Ting felt that he had lost face in front of his colleagues, and did not want to get involved in Sha Luxun's case. This matter was too sensitive, so he ate a few bites and left with the excuse of being busy with official duties.

Formosa believed that Meng Ting was deceiving him, and temporarily gave up his plan to persuade the opposition. They decided to find out the conclusive evidence of the case first, and then the two sides would sit down and have a good talk.

There is a proverb in the UK: Don’t wade through the river if you can’t see the bottom. When you are not 100% sure, it is best not to decide something easily. This is true for him, and it is also true for Meng Ting.

 Early the next morning.

Formosa hurried to the scene of Saluxun's death with his assistant, along with the consulate's translator and a traffic policeman who was on duty not far away and witnessed the accident.

In addition, the dozen or so policemen from last night appeared again, fully armed and patrolling the area. They had no intention of interfering with solving the case. It looked like an ordinary VIP protection operation.

Mr. Detective can only comfort himself. It is good news for the investigation of the case to obtain official support. He can obtain first-hand information. Fortunately, Mr. Consul has a good relationship with the Jinling government.

However, due to the car accident and fire, the scene was in ruins. The burned black truck skeleton lay among the rubble and rubble, and there were no valuable clues at all.

The accompanying traffic police officer explained: "Mr. Detective, since this case is of great importance, in accordance with the order from the superior, we did not clean up the scene. It is still the same as it was on the day of the accident."

 “Not bad. You are very professional.”

After hearing what the interpreter said, Formosa praised him. The scene of the first crime was very important. He didn’t expect that the Chinese would preserve it. Aren’t they afraid that he would find evidence here?

He was a little puzzled. After thinking about it, he asked the other party a question: "Can Mr. Police please introduce the details of the accident, especially the condition of the truck and the driver?"

The traffic policeman said a few words to the translator and nodded: "Okay, when the accident happened, I was standing at the intersection not far away directing traffic, and the truck rushed over at a very fast speed.

The driver stood on the driver's seat and shouted that the truck was out of control. Because the other party was going too fast, before I could react, the truck hit Mr. Saluxun and the coffee shop.

At about the same time, a fire suddenly broke out at the bottom of the truck. Citizens fled in panic and blocked the road. The police had no time to launch rescue. By the time the fire brigade arrived, it was already too late.

 According to the on-site investigation, the cause of the accident was a broken brake line, which may have been caused by improper maintenance. Comparison with the brake lines of vehicles of the same age also proved this.

 Finally, this accident resulted in the death of two people. One was a citizen of your country and the other was the driver of the truck. After investigation, the two did not know each other or had conflicts of interest.

So we determined that this was an ordinary car accident and forwarded the corresponding documents and photos to your country’s consulate. I don’t know if you have any other questions. The Jinling Police Department will fully cooperate. "

The translator immediately spoke to Formosa in a low voice. Formosa nodded after hearing this. In fact, he did not believe the explanation given by the Chinese at all. During the investigation process, he could only believe in himself and science.

  He circled the scene twice and focused on the black frame. If this was a murder case, the evidence was probably on the murder weapon, which was the truck, so he waved his hand.

"Jack, open the box, take out the magnifying glass from the second row inside, and prepare the test tubes and tweezers. I will tell you when needed. Watch your step and don't step on anything."

 “Yes, Mr. Formosa.”

Jack was a little nervous when he heard this. He hurriedly handed over the magnifying glass, and then carefully observed his employer's actions. When he returned to London, he might be able to sell this story to a newspaper.

He was willing to come to distant China not only for the ten pounds weekly salary, but to learn detective skills and enter Scotland Yard was the best way for a child from lower London to cross the class.

Formosa didn't know what his assistant was thinking, so he walked into the scene with a pipe in his mouth and a magnifying glass. An unpleasant smell hit his face, which reminded the detective of the scene when he just got off the train.

He frowned and covered his nose, and walked slowly from the rear of the truck to the cab, occasionally stopping to record the distribution of brick and tile fragments on the ground with paper and pen, very carefully.

There is a reason for doing this. Through these conditions, the speed and impact angle of the truck at the time can be judged. He is not the most famous detective in Britain. This is just a basic skill.

 After watching for more than half an hour, Formosa was a little confused. Judging from the collision marks, the truck did not slow down and directly hit this place, so there was something wrong with the car or the driver.

 He ​​looked up at the severely deformed cockpit, as if he saw the driver slamming the truck into a hard wall without any hesitation, and then it was turned into ashes in the blazing flames.

　　If all this is voluntary, that would be terrible. This is the legendary dead man who sacrifices his own life in order to achieve his goal. Do the Chinese people need to pay such a price?

 Was Saluxun really murdered?

 He shook his head with a wry smile, and felt a little shaken in his heart. The Chinese traffic policeman said before that the two people who died did not know each other, so why did the driver die with a stranger.

Formosa calmed down and stood outside the driver's window and looked in. He did not see anything like handcuffs or shackles. This showed that the driver was free at the time and was not restricted from movement or coercion. Of course, it is possible that these things were taken away by the murderer after the incident, but as long as they existed, there must be traces. He took out his handkerchief and put it on the car door, opened the door forcefully and got in.

The first thing he checked was that the steering wheel was a good place to place handcuffs. If the driver did not do it voluntarily, he would definitely try to escape. The force of survival was huge, and the steering wheel would definitely be damaged.

However, after some inspection, it was found that although the wooden wrapping material on the steering wheel had been completely burned, it was still flexible in turning left and right. It seemed that it had not been pulled or kicked hard.

He made a judgment, and then looked at the position of the accelerator and brake with a magnifying glass. These steel parts were intact after the fire, and there were no suspicious scratches or wear marks on them.

There is no so-called tool to restrict freedom. The driver was in a normal state when the car accident occurred. The other party was either a dead soldier or the murderer was very smart and had predicted his detection route in advance.

 Is there really such an opponent?

who is he?

Formosa walked out of the cockpit with a dark face, leaned down on the ground and looked at the bottom of the car. A black steel wire was clearly visible. One end was connected to the rear axle of the truck, and the other end was bent and suspended in mid-air.

This is the brake line. He pulled the broken end hard to his eyes and looked carefully under a magnifying glass. He could see that the stubble in the wire rope was short and long, and it was not caused at one time.

The steel wires will break one by one only due to excessive wear rather than cutting with sharp tools. The traffic police did not lie. The truck brake lines were indeed broken due to fatigue.

He had no choice but to get up. No wonder the Chinese were so confident that they did not destroy the scene and sent people to cooperate. All the evidence at the scene showed that this was just a simple accident.

Then the only hope to solve the case is the fire that the traffic police said. Once it is proven that the fire was man-made, it will be conversely proved that the car accident that Saluxun suffered was actually a carefully planned assassination.

 This is a gasoline car. Ordinary collisions rarely cause spontaneous combustion, unless the fuel leaks and encounters an open flame. Where did the open flame come from? Once this is found out, the case will open up a breakthrough.

With a confident smile on his face, Formosa lay down on the ground again and observed the burning marks under the car. He soon discovered that the fuel tank of the truck was the darkest, which is where the fire started.

In order to get a better observation angle, he rolled over and lay on the ground, stretched out his hand and groped carefully on the fuel tank, and soon found seven or eight holes, large and small, and the fuel had indeed leaked.

 “Jack. Bring me the flashlight.”

 “As you command, Mr. Formosa.”

Since the fuel tank is at the bottom of the car, there must be sufficient light to see the breach clearly. The importance of the assistant is reflected at this time. When he heard the call, Jack walked to the truck cautiously and said.

 “Sir, the flashlight is here.”

“Okay, Jack, stay away from my scene and mind your feet. If you dare to destroy the evidence, you will have to spend Christmas in a Chinese cell. You hear me, young man.”

Formosa reached out and took the flashlight and immediately spoke to chase them away. Then he turned on the flashlight and shined it at the breach in the fuel tank, trying to find any abnormalities in the breach, such as fresh metal cutting marks.

This could mean that the rupture of the fuel tank occurred after the fire and was not caused by the impact. Unfortunately, things were different from what he thought. There was also a thick layer of ash on the cross-section of the rupture.

There is also the remains of a small oven not far from the fuel tank, which explains the source of the open flame. This is a French coffee shop, where desserts are essential, and the presence of an oven is a very normal thing.

 “Damn French.”

Formosa cursed angrily in a low voice. No matter whether it was the Chinese who lit the fire or not, he could no longer dispute the physical evidence at the scene. Why was it that the person who was hit was not a Frenchman?

He turned off the flashlight and walked outside, pointing to the traffic policeman to the translator: "Tell him. I want to meet other witnesses from that day, preferably a waiter in a coffee shop or a foreign customer."

The translator naturally understood what he meant, which was that he did not believe the testimony provided by the Chinese, so he had to shrug his shoulders, walked to the traffic police and put forward Formosa's new request in proficient Chinese.

After hearing this, the traffic policeman said with regret: "I'm really sorry, Mr. Detective, it was very chaotic when the accident happened and we couldn't register the guests. Besides, I don't understand foreign languages."

As for the waiters, they left the store after the accident and cannot be found for the time being. If necessary, I can help you contact the newspaper to publish a missing persons notice, which should be of some help. "

Is it such a coincidence?

 Formosa fell into silence.

 (End of this chapter)