National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1083 - 1014: Coming to the Door

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hello? Is anyone there? We’re police, from the criminal investigation unit."

The officers outside the door heard no response. After the doorbell rang, they began knocking on the door.

Xu Juan took off her shoes and walked barefoot to the door. Thinking about yesterday’s experience, she decided not to bother looking through the peephole. Instead, she leaned against the wall by the door and slowly sat down.

She now had a bit more experience dealing with the police and wasn’t as panicked as she had been yesterday.

Knock, knock.

"Sun Youqiang. This is the police. Please open the door."

"Is Sun Youqiang here? Is this Sun Youqiang’s residence?"

"Hello, police!"

The officers remained courteous as they persistently kept knocking.

Xu Juan’s eyelid twitched. These officers were specifically calling out her husband’s name.

She couldn’t think of any reason they would want to find her husband, but she continued to ignore them. Worst-case scenario, she’d just wait them out. Without evidence, the police couldn’t forcibly break in. If they had evidence, they would’ve stormed in already.

Instead, Xu Juan sat on the floor and began reflecting on her actions over the past few days.

As for the matter of killing her husband, she had absolutely no regrets. In fact, she had previously imagined doing it, but those thoughts always remained fantasies. She never believed she’d actually go through with it—until her husband slapped her across the face.

Under Sun Youqiang’s violent force, Xu Juan felt her dignity slip away completely. Even though he apologized afterward, Xu Juan no longer believed him.

People online often said that domestic violence happens only once or an infinite number of times. Xu Juan knew this well enough from her husband’s drinking habits. There’s no such thing as reform for someone like him.

Moreover, Sun Youqiang refused to leave the marriage with nothing, and after all their shouting and fighting, he would still go straight to sleep like nothing ever happened.

Xu Juan found the idea of sharing a bed with him increasingly repulsive.

Killing him was much more satisfying.

The only thing she hadn’t expected was just how much work killing someone would involve.

Fortunately, she was clever. She had dismembered her husband’s corpse immediately, or else the smell would’ve been unbearable and easily noticed by the officers outside.

Killing someone at home had its perks—she could easily order whatever cleaning supplies she needed online. Paying a bit extra even got her next-day or same-day delivery. If necessary, she could arrange for delivery drivers to help her purchase items as well.

Additionally, Xu Juan thought her disposal plan was quite ingenious. She had some old suitcases that hadn’t been used in ages. Once cleaned thoroughly, they left no trace—and there were no purchase records to worry about.

The only issue was that the suitcase was too small to fit Sun Youqiang’s entire body. This worthless man couldn’t earn money during the day but still managed to drink himself into a round belly at night...

Luckily, they had a camping trailer at home. Hauling his legs to the riverside wasn’t too much trouble. The trailer was something they’d bought in the first year of their marriage. Back then, Sun Youqiang was still willing to spend some time with her, and their relationship wasn’t as terrible yet.

Thinking about this, Xu Juan suddenly felt a bit emotional. No wonder many women had accomplices when killing their husbands—typically lovers. This really was heavy physical labor. Next time, she thought, she should cheat first; that way, she’d have someone to help.

"What are you doing here?"

From outside the door, a woman’s voice suddenly rang out.

Xu Juan rolled over in curiosity, pressed herself against the door, and listened quietly.

The officers outside deliberately lowered their voices, but because of the quiet surroundings, Xu Juan could still hear bits and pieces: "We filtered through the men in the nearby residential complexes by age. The man in this household hasn’t answered his phone, and his mobile signal hasn’t been detected in the past few days. That raised a flag for us. What about you all?"

"Our police dog followed a scent trail here," replied the female officer at the door. After a pause, she asked, "The man who hasn’t answered his phone—what’s he look like?"

"Uh... Let me double-check the records."

"You didn’t check beforehand?" The female officer expressed surprise.

The officer who had been knocking felt a bit embarrassed. "There were too many calls yesterday... Well... Might be him? He looks kind of similar—just thinner in the file photo..."

Ding!

The elevator chimed again.

Multiple officers stepped out quickly but were momentarily held back by colleagues and the police dog.

"What led you to suspect this place?" The female officer, Li Li, who was holding the police dog, immediately interrogated them.

The officers who had just exited the elevator hesitated for a moment before one of them said, "A breakfast stall owner thought the sketch resembles one of his regular customers. We tracked him down through payment records."

The three teams exchanged looks, realizing that the suspicion surrounding this apartment had reached its peak.

Li Li stroked Dazhuang’s head and took a few steps back with him, quietly suggesting, "Call for backup."

The common anti-theft doors in domestic apartments weren’t easy to break through. Ideally, they’d need either specialized equipment or trained personnel.

Li Li’s suggestion was immediately approved by the earlier-arriving investigators.

At that moment, the anti-theft door in front of them creaked open.

Xu Juan stood barefoot, staring at the group of officers outside with a collapsed expression and said, "Come in."

Contrary to her expectations, the officers rushed in without hesitation, with Li Li leading the charge.

Since Li Li was the only female officer present, it was up to her to handcuff Xu Juan.

Xu Juan complied as the handcuffs were fastened on her, watching the officers pour into her kitchen and bedroom.

The officers who entered the bedroom were all shocked by the disassembled mattress.

At that moment, Xu Juan suddenly thought that dismantling the entire mattress may have been a bit excessive.

Still, the result was worth it—at least all the fabric had been repeatedly cleaned. If the officers hadn’t arrived so quickly, she would’ve discarded it all later in the afternoon.

"Why did you dismantle the bed?" one officer asked. While there weren’t any obvious bloodstains in the bedroom, the bizarre act of dismantling the bed warranted further questioning.

Xu Juan snorted but didn’t respond.

Just then, Dazhuang began whining.

Li Li gently consoled the dog before following him to the window.

With Dazhuang’s guidance, Li Li spotted bloodstains soaking into the heavy hem of the curtains.

"Blood," Li Li announced, snapping a photo for evidence.

Xu Juan’s composure faltered slightly—she knew she hadn’t finished tidying up the room, but she hadn’t expected to overlook the curtain hem.

The room had reeked of blood for the past few days, making it difficult for her to notice such fine details. Besides, Xu Juan had no plans to clean the curtains—they were too large and heavy. Most crucially, removing them now would leave the bedroom exposed.

"Xu Juan, where’s your husband Sun Youqiang?" the leading officer asked, hoping to take advantage of Xu Juan’s growing unease.

This time, Xu Juan hesitated briefly before slowly responding, "He hit me. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, told him if he dared hit me again, I’d fight him to the death. He didn’t believe me and struck me again. So, I swung the knife with my eyes shut and just happened to slash his neck. There was so much blood..."

Her statement contained a mix of truth and lies—this was Xu Juan’s pre-prepared Plan B.

Over the past few days, she’d assumed she wouldn’t need to use it. She hadn’t expected it to come to this.

If she couldn’t avoid the trouble, framing the act as legitimate self-defense was her best shot. Xu Juan didn’t know much about the law, but she understood that this version of events would benefit her.

The questioning officer didn’t fixate on her confession and continued, "What did you do after killing him?"

"I... disposed of him."

"What do you mean by ’disposed’?"

"I chopped him up."

"Dismembered him?"

"Yes."

"Did anyone help you dismember him?"

"No one helped."

"You dismembered him alone?"

"Yes."

"How did you transport the remains?"

"I put half of him in a suitcase, wrapped the rest, and used the camping trailer to move him."

"Where’s the trailer?"

Xu Juan answered each question, hoping the case would proceed according to her plan.

With the answers captured on video, once mention of the camping trailer came up, the officers were mostly satisfied. From a law enforcement perspective, the evidence chain was nearly complete.

As for what Xu Juan said, the police couldn’t care less.