Chapter 45

Chapter 45 3. Panic Room-19

The nationally publicized case of the only son of a wealthy businessman being kidnapped and the ransom murder finally broke the day before New Year’s Eve. Although the police failed to rescue the hostage successfully, they at least salvaged some face by solving the case in time.

However, even though all the kidnappers were either dead or captured, the police still couldn’t enjoy a peaceful little Golden Week; in fact, they became even busier.

The reason was simple: the captured kidnappers, Fan Feng and Luo Jianqiang, both insisted that they did not kill Liu Lingxiao.

Meanwhile, as the ringleader, Luo Jianqiang shared a revenge story filled with hatred with the media.

According to Luo Jianqiang, his family had been local fishermen in Xinhai City for generations. From a young age, he went to sea with his parents. Later, he attended the Maritime Academy, and after graduation, became a seafarer on long-haul cargo routes, often away from home for seven or eight months a year.

Several years ago, their neighborhood was scheduled for demolition and reconstruction. The real estate developer contracted for the project was Liu Yang’s Rising Sun Group. At that time, the head of their household was Luo Jianqiang’s father, a traditional and stubborn man who refused to move after receiving compensation, dragging the standoff out for nearly two years.

At that time, Luo Jianqiang had just been promoted to chief officer, making four long-haul trips a year, each lasting over two months. With poor communication across the vast ocean, he couldn’t contact his family regularly. Naturally, he didn’t know that his youngest brother had accrued tens of millions in gambling and drug debts, harassed daily by creditors. His father had no choice but to sign the demolition consent, losing the house and giving the compensation money to pay off his youngest brother’s debts.

When Luo Jianqiang returned home at the end of the year, he learned that his youngest brother had died of a drug overdose. His father suffered a stroke from anger and stress, paralyzing him in bed, his mother developed severe schizophrenia from the sudden tragedy, and his brother’s wife, grief-stricken, drowned herself with their one-year-old son.

A once happy family was utterly shattered, leaving only a nearly dilapidated fishing boat nearing the end of its service life.

Luo Jianqiang said that upon investigation, he found that his brother had been lured into gambling and drug use by thugs hired by Rising Sun Group, all to remove their family, who had obstructed the demolition project.

Years later, whether this headless case was true or false, reopening the investigation would likely take another year or more without guarantee of results.

However, with this story, Luo Jianqiang’s hatred of Liu Yang’s family became justifiable in the eyes of the press.

“I didn’t kill Liu Lingxiao!”

Luo Jianqiang repeatedly emphasized.

“At the time, I only wanted Liu Yang to feel the pain of losing someone dear. I didn’t mean to kill him! I only cut off one of that kid’s ears, slapped him a few times, and kicked him a few times, all to the thighs and buttocks where it wouldn’t be fatal!”

He looked sincerely into the cameras, eyes glistening with tears.

“Really, I got into an argument with Yu Ping and in a fit of anger, I accidentally strangled him…”

He raised his hand in handcuffs, showing a choking gesture, emphasizing seriously:

“I already have one person’s life on my conscience. Adding one more would still just be ‘death.’ If I had really killed that kid, why wouldn’t I admit it?”

The reasoning sounded so convincing that it was hard to refute.

As for the accomplice, Fan Feng, a security guard at the former Nancheng Dye Factory, he recounted what he witnessed.

“That day, Brother Luo beat that Liu kid and recorded it, sending it to Liu Yang. Then Brother Luo and Brother Yu had a big fight. After Brother Yu was punched, he threatened to turn himself in… and then… Brother Luo accidentally strangled him…”

He spoke earnestly:

“Later, when we drove to abandon Brother Yu’s body, the kid was still fine. We feared his crying in the factory would attract attention, so we covered his mouth. When we came back, he seemed to have fallen asleep from crying. I wanted to wake him to give him water or food, but Brother Luo said not to worry; when he got hungry, he’d make noise. Really, neither of us intended to kill him…”

Fan Feng repeatedly stressed his innocence.

“Then we figured leaving Brother Yu’s body near West Gate Village was too close to the factory; if any cameras caught us, the police would trace it back. So Brother Luo suggested we hide outside and escape once the ransom arrived… but we lost the car, couldn’t take the kid, so we left him in the factory… Brother Luo said that room was hidden enough; he wouldn’t die in a day or two without food or water…”

He looked puzzled at the officers taking the statement:

“At the time, I thought once we got the money, I’d make an anonymous call to the police to tell them the kid’s whereabouts… Who knew, the next day I went online and saw the kid had died! I really can’t understand how he died!”

After the kidnappers’ testimonies were revealed, public opinion began to sway strangely.

Many believed that someone wealthy like Liu Yang must be “rich but heartless.”

Especially after Luo Jianqiang, the main culprit, told the media his story of a family ruined by injustice, even though the seven-year-old shouldn’t have been caught in generational grievances, since Luo Jianqiang insisted he hadn’t killed the child, conspiracy theorists began speculating on sinister details.

During the boring New Year holiday, the case topic continued to ferment. Daily shifts in public opinion, rumors and clarifications flew, and debates erupted.

Spectators with differing opinions argued fiercely, creating a stormy scene outside the police station. Media trying to interview increased rather than decreased.

Under pressure, Liu Lingxiao’s parents finally agreed to a postmortem on their son’s body.

Regardless of Liu Yang and his wife, the police, or the two kidnappers, as well as netizens nationwide, they all needed a definite cause of death for the child.

A week later, Liu Lingxiao’s body was handed back to Liu Yi.

“The cause of death is a subdural hematoma causing foramen magnum herniation.”

After completing the autopsy, Liu Yi concluded this.

A subdural hematoma occurs when blood accumulates under the dura mater after a brain injury. Causes often involve acceleration-related trauma, such as car accidents, falls, or impacts, causing cortical vessel rupture.

Depending on timing, subdural hematomas are classified as acute, subacute, or chronic, and can persist for months.

Some victims may initially appear alert with minimal bleeding, making CT scans normal.

Over time, as bleeding worsens, the hematoma enlarges, compressing brain tissue, causing agitation, headache, drowsiness, delusions, and possibly coma or death.

The skull is the hardest and most tightly bound bone in the body, protecting the soft brain. But when brain tissue is compressed by a hematoma, it can only bulge into limited spaces, causing “brain herniation.”

The most lethal type is “foramen magnum herniation.”

The foramen magnum is at the base of the skull where the spinal cord connects to the medulla, which controls respiration and circulation.

Thus, foramen magnum herniation can compress the medulla, causing breathing difficulties, consciousness issues, and potentially death from heart or respiratory failure.

“Liu Lingxiao’s skull had linear fractures, the base of the skull had counterblow fractures, frontal and occipital lobes contused, posterior fossa hematoma formed causing foramen magnum herniation.”

Liu Yi’s autopsy revealed the truth: the child was struck or pushed by the kidnappers, hitting the forehead and falling backward onto a hard surface.

The impact fractured the frontal and posterior skull, causing two brain contusions. Over time, a subdural hematoma formed in the fatal posterior fossa.

The kidnappers, unaware of the injuries, left Liu Lingxiao alone in the factory’s secret room, allowing the condition to worsen, ultimately leading to death in solitude from stopped breathing and heartbeat.

Once published, the autopsy caused another online uproar.

Most felt the case was clearly the kidnappers’ fault; such criminals must face severe punishment.

But some sympathizers viewed it as an unfortunate accident, arguing the kidnappers didn’t intend to kill and that it began as one man seeking revenge for his ruined family—sinful but pitiable.

Regardless of the ongoing debate, for Liu Yi, it was beyond his control.

His work was done; the final judgment was up to the authorities.

Yet, despite knowing this, Liu Yi felt no relief. For several nights, he kept dreaming of a bloodied boy, urging him to find the child before it was too late…

Each time he woke in a cold sweat, he remembered—the child was long dead and could never return.

Author’s note: This story ends here. The next update will begin a new case~