But due to the brotherly relationship between the person reporting the crime, Ning Zitao, and the project manager, Ning Zidong, along with the lack of any clues, suspicion of this person was abandoned.

Now, with Luo Fei's analysis and guidance, everything started to become clear.

"Luo Fei, why are you so certain? To define something without basis requires evidence; have you discovered something?"

Zhao Donglai's eyes were full of doubt.

He understood Luo Fei's meaning, but the hypotheses in criminal investigation work require absolute rationality and direction. Defining things without basis leads to errors stemming from assumptions.

"Captain Zhao, I am not certain; I'm using the process of elimination!"

Luo Fei thought to himself that the Eye of Sin couldn't make mistakes as it was sourced from a systematic placement, but that couldn't be explicitly stated.

Fortunately, he had already sorted out the reasons and content on his way back.

"If the personnel involved in the case inside the factory want to leverage the relations network vertically and horizontally to mobilize these people, it must be someone in a middle management position."

"Positions that are too low don't have access to the project manager's identity, at least not aware of their actions."

"If the identity is too high, it's hard to act; if the factory manager personally takes action, it indicates the situation has developed to the point where rumors are flying everywhere, and public opinion cannot be stopped. At least the gatekeeper and the cleaning lady would definitely let slip."

Zhou Fan was the first to agree.

"That's right, when we did our previous interviews, the chemical plant situation was like this; both rank-and-file and management were unaware, indicating it's only a partial secret."

He Xin and Lin Jie nodded in agreement, and Zhang Wei came back with a pig's trotter in his hand.

"That's right, that gatekeeper is too talkative!"

"We originally wanted to get some information from him, but it was all trivial family matters and complaints. If there really were any rumors, I suspect they would have surfaced long ago."

At this point, Luo Fei dropped a bombshell.

"If Ning Zitao is the main suspect and the disappearance of the nine people is defined as death, then whether or not there are accomplices, whether there are other knowledgeable accomplices hidden inside the chemical plant, Ning Zitao himself must be one of the killers."

Nine people dead, one person's sin!

This is far more serious than those serial murder cases before.

If there are hidden truths, so be it; if not, this is purely the work of a devil, a madman to the extreme.

"Increasingly complicated, the relationship between those seven employees and finance can be pinned down, but what about the relationship between Ning Zitao and Ning Zidong?"

He Xin looked at the word Ning Zidong hanging high on the board with a look of worry, as this person's disappearance was the biggest stumbling block.

"Can't put it that way!"

"Thinking solely about their relationship will instead mislead us. They are indeed brothers, but in terms of work, there's much lesser contact between the project manager and materials manager."

Everyone nodded in agreement; they had previously done focused understanding of the work distribution and interest entanglements within the chemical plant.

The goal was to locate the biggest beneficiary!

After the project manager develops new indicators and signs for cooperation, the personnel deployment mainly involves finance and workshop employees.

The finance manager is only responsible for signing and approving instructions; there is no need to involve themselves in other matters.

Even if they advance to become the administrator, it's after the incident happened.

Previous interests had nothing to do with him; at worst, he could take kickbacks, but Ning Zitao's status ensured he wouldn't commit murder for this reason.

Being a blood brother of the project manager was already sufficient leverage.

Committing murder when not lacking money is unwise... Other interests are out of reach, and vested interests could also be at risk.

In terms of emotions and reason, this is a dead end.

Then let's start with Ning Zidong, the dead don't speak, but what they did won't be erased with life.

"He Xin, you and Lin Jie find the recent monthly project indicators and cooperation plans of Longke Chemical; I need to know who benefits, and some of the external material collection account details, though difficult to investigate, try with all your authority to find everything related to Ning Zidong."

"Understood."

Zhou Fan suggested that these were all backed up and previously documented; they could be extracted and filtered directly.

Others also joined; after all, this was a breakthrough point anyway.

Luo Fei and Zhao Donglai walked out of the office.

"It's alright, Luo Fei, we now have direction, which is much better than before."

"I understand, Captain Zhao."

At this moment, Luo Fei's brows were still furrowed; he had thought of many possibilities, including corruption and bribery!

But those matters could only be orchestrated by the project manager.

Underlings might become scapegoats, but even Ning Zidong got involved without sense.

"Captain Zhao, these issues are about motive and cause; with careful examination and rigorous investigation, there will definitely be clues."

"What I'm pondering now is what's going on with these missing people? Project manager Ning Zidong surely tampered with the monitoring records, but now he himself is missing, making the cause of death a mystery, even the place of death is unknown..."

Zhao Donglai sighed lightly.

"Yes, we previously found numerous crime scene photos; from the shooting trajectography, there were almost no clues, and even the sewage ducts had records, but nothing was found."

"Rather than vanishing into thin air, it's better to say there's no whole corpse; the nature of the case cannot be underestimated."

"Therefore, Luo Fei, we continue..."

Just as Zhao Donglai reached a peak of impassioned speech, he found he was left alone; the other had long gone absent.

Meanwhile, Luo Fei was going through the chemical plant's files on the computer.

Without a whole corpse!

This term is appropriate!

Nothing found, no trace or clue, isn't it just a case of having no whole corpse!

But regardless of how the act of murder was executed, it's nearly impossible not to leave traces.

Blood splatter, flesh abrasion, clothing issues, and the aftermath, all these are hard to make flawlessly.

Elsewhere it might not apply, but a chemical plant is different!

This isn't just any chemical plant, it's the hydrofluoric acid processing area, massive containers of highly corrosive acids, it would strip not just flesh but even metal to layers...

These nine people could very well have perished here!

The thought of this sent a chill down Luo Fei's spine.

If true, then Ning Zitao is not merely a savage but of unimaginable cruelty.

Soon, he had all the information related to hydrofluoric acid; after watching some operation videos and detailed introductions, Luo Fei became increasingly convinced about the cause of their deaths.

Indeed, stripping flesh and dissolving bones and blood could only be done here.

Luo Fei immediately shared this with them.

Upon this conclusion, the pig's trotter in Zhang Wei's hand dropped to the ground; moments ago it was delicious, now he was completely stunned.

The rest were left agape; none could have anticipated that such universally feared chemical raw material had become a murder weapon.

Moreover, according to Luo Fei's analysis, the sole explanation for them being missing after presumed dead is they were entirely dissolved.

Though this horrifying case indeed occurred, He Xin, Lin Jie, and others still found it hard to believe.

Liao Xingyu abruptly spoke up.

"Something's not right, there is a question here. I had previously investigated that hydrofluoric acid not only burns but also causes body protein dehydration and dissolution, penetrating keratinized tissue, turning bones into calcium fluoride. If in the end, these calcified remains are left, how are they dealt with?"

"That's nine people! There must be some revealing detail."

Everyone's gaze turned to Luo Fei, but he maintained a grim expression, having deduced everything before.

"What if instead of using hydrofluoric acid to kill and destroy the body, they were directly immersed in the entire chemical tank area?"

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