Death of a Red Heroine Read Online Free PDF Page B

senior engineer in the nuclear science field in Qinghai. Both of them are Party members, with no criminal record.
Possible cause of death: Strangulation in combination with sexual assault.
When he finished reading the report, Chief Inspector Chen lit a cigarette and sat quietly for a while. Two possibilities arose with the curling rings of smoke. She had been raped and murdered on a boat, and then dumped into the canal. Or the crime had taken place somewhere else, and her body transported to the canal.
    He was not inclined toward the first scenario. It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the murderer to commit the crime with other passengers moving around on board. If it had been just the two of them in the boat, what was the point of covering her body up in a plastic bag? The canal was so out of the way, and most probably it had happened in the depth of night— there would have been no need to wrap the body. In the second scenario, the plastic bag might fit, but then the murder might have happened anywhere.
    When he looked out into the large office again, Detective Yu was back at his desk, sipping a cup of tea. Mechanically Chen felt for the thermos bottle on the floor. There was still enough water. No need to go to the communal hot water boiler downstairs. He dialed Yu’s extension.
    “Detective Yu Guangming reporting.” Yu appeared at the doorway in less than a minute, a tall man in his early forties, of medium build, with a rugged face and deep, penetrating eyes, holding a large manila folder in his hand.
    “You must have worked quite late last night.” Chen offered a cup of tea to his assistant. “A well-done job. I’ve just read your report.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Any new information about the case this morning?”
    “No. Everything’s in the report.”
    “What about the missing person’s list?”
    “No one on the list looks like her,” Yu said, handing over the folder. “Some pictures have just been developed. She could not have been too long in the water. No more than twenty hours is my guess.”
    Chen started thumbing through photographs. Pictures of the dead woman lying on the bank, naked, or partially covered up, then several close-ups, the last one focusing on her face, her body concealed by a white covering, in the mortuary.
    “What do you think?” Yu breathed slowly into his hot tea.
    “A couple of possible scenarios. Nothing definite until Forensic finishes.”
    “Yes, the autopsy report will probably be here late this afternoon.”
    “You don’t think she could be someone from the neighboring villages?”
    “No, I don’t. I have called the local county committee. There’s no one reported missing there.”
    “But what about the murderer?”
    “No, not likely, either. As the old saying goes, a rabbit does not browse near its lair. But he could be familiar with the canal.”
    “Two possibilities, then,” Chen began.
    Yu listened to Chen’s analysis without interrupting. “As for the first scenario, I don’t think it is so likely,” he said.
    “But it would be impossible for the murderer to get her body to the canal without some sort of transportation at his disposal,” Chen said.
    “He might be a taxi driver. We’ve had similar cases. Pan Wanren’s case, remember? Raped and murdered. A lot of resemblance. Except the body was dumped in a rice paddy. The murderer confessed that he did not intend to kill her, but he panicked at the thought of the victim’s being able to identify his car.”
    “Yes, I do remember. But if the murderer raped this one in a car, why should he have bothered to hide the body in the plastic bag afterward?”
    “He had to drive all the way to canal.”
    “The trunk would have served his purpose.”
    “Maybe he just happened to have the bag in the car.”
    “Maybe you’re right.”
    “Well, when a rape precedes homicide,” Yu said, crossing his legs, “the motive comes down to concealing the rapist’s identity. She could have