pjbooks Chapter 40 Non-physical Evidence
Chapter 40 Non-physical Evidence
Outside Luo Zhenbang's residence.
Wu Feilin's conversation with Lao Zhou from the technical department had ended.
At that moment, the group of them were leaning against the railing, smoking somewhat irritably.
The air was filled with smoke for a moment.
"Team Leader Wu."
Hearing Gu Huai's greeting, Wu Feilin turned around and glanced at him, saying irritably, "What were you doing just now? You disappear as soon as we need your help!"
The reason he was in such a hurry was that Wang Weiguo had specifically instructed him before he came to call back immediately as soon as there was any progress.
When they were applying for the search warrant, their colleagues in the political department had subtly mentioned that there were already rumors circulating outside that the municipal bureau was abusing summons and arbitrarily arresting innocent people.
The bureau's instruction is that the person can only be detained for 24 hours, and must be released immediately after that time.
Almost eight hours have passed since Luo Zhenbang was summoned, and it's already dark.
"Li Xiumei might still be alive." Gu Huai got straight to the point. "I just went to see Luo Zhenbang's son, and according to him, he spoke to his mother on the phone a few days ago."
Wu Feilin's cigarette trembled, and ash fell to the ground. "Are you sure?"
"It's not certain yet, only Luo Zhenbang has Li Xiumei's contact information." Gu Huai paused, then stated his earlier assessment, "But one thing I'm certain of is that Luo Zhenbang is deliberately leading us towards his wife in an attempt to buy time."
Wu Feilin didn't reply, put the cigarette back in his mouth, and took a deep drag.
Gu Huai glanced at Luo Zhenbang's room and asked in a low voice, "Captain Wu, did you really not find anything just now?"
Upon hearing this, Old Zhou immediately objected, "Young comrade, are you doubting my skills? I've been doing technical work for fifteen years. How could I possibly miss anything in such a small room?"
Gu Huai didn't reply, but instead glanced around the room.
Just as Hou Hao said, Lao Zhou had basically turned the entire small room upside down, leaving no place unchecked.
Stepping into the small house, one could see signs of disturbance everywhere.
Fortunately, the landlord rented it out as an unfurnished apartment, and the furniture inside was purchased by Luo Zhenbang later. Otherwise, the landlord would never have agreed to such a search.
Therefore, it seems virtually impossible to find any evidence in this room.
The sudden feeling of powerlessness made him let out a long sigh.
"Eh..."
Before he could finish sighing, he smelled a faint sour smell in the air.
This smell is mixed with the distinctive smell of swill and damp cement in urban villages, and it's almost impossible to detect without careful smelling.
If it were someone else, they would only think that the sour smell was like swill.
But Gu Huai was different; he was all too familiar with this taste.
This is the smell of formaldehyde.
In his past life, he owned a clothing factory and often needed to use formaldehyde as a textile auxiliary agent.
An ordinary piece of pure cotton fabric is transformed into a wrinkle-resistant "iron-free shirt" after being treated with a resin finishing agent containing formaldehyde.
"Captain Wu," Gu Huai turned around, "smell the air in this room, doesn't it feel a bit off?"
Wu Feilin was taken aback by Gu Huai's question, sniffed, and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"It smells sour," Gu Huai said. "That's the smell of formaldehyde."
The people in the room stopped what they were doing and looked up at him.
Old Zhou frowned and sniffed twice. "There's nothing special about it."
"I didn't smell anything either." Hou Hao poked half his head in through the doorway. "Ah Huai, is your nose that sensitive?"
Gu Huai ignored them and instead walked to the corner of the wall, squatted down, and sniffed the ground.
The sourness has intensified!
Furthermore, the smell is not like the fresh, lingering smell of formaldehyde; it's more like the smell of formaldehyde that has seeped into the walls over a long period of time.
Gu Huai had only ever smelled this scent in his previous life in a warehouse that dealt with formaldehyde.
"Ah Huai, what are you looking at?" Hou Hao walked up behind him and asked in a low voice, "What did you mean by the formaldehyde you just mentioned?"
Gu Huai did not answer Hou Hao's question immediately, but instead looked up at the people around him.
They noticed that their expressions were just like Hou Hao's, filled with questions.
It was only at this moment that Gu Huai realized that in this day and age, formaldehyde was just a term in chemistry textbooks.
In the 90s, the country's research on formaldehyde was mainly focused on industrial applications. Although there were already engineered wood panels on the market that used resin glue as an adhesive, the public was not aware of the presence of formaldehyde.
"This formaldehyde is actually formalin." Gu Huai raised his voice so that everyone present could hear him. "Formaldehyde's chemical name is formaldehyde aqueous solution. It is a formaldehyde aqueous solution with a concentration between 37% and 40%."
To put it simply, the difference between the two is that formaldehyde is gaseous formaldehyde, while formalin is liquid formaldehyde.
Wu Feilin moved closer to Lao Zhou and poked him with his finger. "Is everything he said true?"
"Hmm..." Old Zhou nodded slowly, "Although it's a bit simple to say, the principle is correct."
Wu Feilin nodded slowly, took a step into the room, and wanted to listen carefully to what Gu Huai had to say next.
"According to the diary we obtained from Zhang Zhenhua, the 'Rainy Night Butcher' used formaldehyde to soak his 'collection'. Although nothing has been found in Luo Zhenbang's house, if the formaldehyde levels in his house are seriously exceeded, it can still prove something."
Old Zhou opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Seeing this, Wu Feilin stubbed out his cigarette, walked over to Gu Huai, squatted down, and smelled it.
He smelled it for a long time, but finally shook his head. "I can't smell it."
"That's normal," Gu Huai said. "Formaldehyde evaporates quickly, and people's noses aren't sensitive when the concentration is low. If my factory hadn't had to fumigate with formaldehyde every day during the rainy season to disinfect and prevent mold, I wouldn't have been able to smell it either."
Wu Feilin turned his head, stared at Gu Huai for a few seconds, and asked, "So, tell me, what should we do next?"
"We can't smell it, but we can test it," Gu Huai said.
"How do you test it?"
"Formaldehyde testing." Gu Huai turned to Old Zhou, "Master Zhou, does our bureau have formaldehyde testing reagents?"
"No." Old Zhou shook his head. "As far as I know, at this stage, the testing of this kind of chemical requires sampling and sending it to the provincial laboratory for analysis."
"What about time? How long will it take?" Wu Feilin asked the most crucial question.
"Normally, it takes two or three days, and even with expedited service, it takes at least one day."
"That won't work," Wu Feilin shook his head. "We're in a very tight timeframe right now, we simply can't wait that long."
He glanced down at his watch; the hour hand was pointing to 9 o'clock.
There are less than 15 hours left until the final deadline for releasing them.
"Isn't there a faster testing method?" Wu Feilin asked, frowning.
"I haven't thought of anything yet," Old Zhou said, shaking his head.
"I do have an idea, but I don't know if it complies with the regulations."
Just as everyone was frowning and deep in thought, Gu Huai suddenly spoke up.
"You say it." Wu Feilin suddenly raised his head and looked at Gu Huai.
"We can go to the epidemic prevention station," Gu Huai explained. "The epidemic prevention station came to my factory to test for formaldehyde before. They used a testing tube to draw out a tube of air from the room and see if the silica gel particles changed color."