In the office of the Major Crime Team B, everyone was distracted.
Liu Jiaming felt increasingly stimulated the more he thought about the case.
He had been a police officer for many years and had worked diligently under Brother Yue. Previously, solving cases involved checking and searching for clues, which took weeks or months.
He didn’t believe in ‘deduction’ to identify the murderer.
How many cases in the world could be solved purely by deduction? It was all about checking each suspect and following each clue like tracing the vine to find the melon. If one path didn’t work, even if it had been half a month, you had to start over and try another path, even if it seemed like a dead end, you couldn’t turn back until you hit the south wall.
There was no choice, each case had limited clues, and you couldn’t give up on any you found.
This is how they all got through, otherwise what was Team A doing for months?
Were they stupid? Clumsy?
No, You Zhaohua had been a good detective for many years before he was promoted.
Saying that the person who drew the red circles was a ghost was easier to accept than saying it was Yi Jiayi.
How did she find the murderer?
Was it just from the information gathered through a few meetings and inquiries?
Arriving at the entrance of the Major Crime Team B office, Liu Jiaming looked left and right, eager to eavesdrop on the closed door of Qiu Sushan’s office.
He was too curious, more curious about how little Yi Jiayi discovered the murderer than who the murderer of the case was!
Lin Wangjiu stretched out an arm to pull Liu Jiaming back, “What are you doing? If madam finds out, she’ll scold you again, and even scold Sir Fang with us, saying we don’t respect Sir Fang enough. Sit down and wait for them to come out, then you can ask Yi Jiayi directly if you’re curious.”
Liu Jiaming couldn’t sit still; he stood and sat down several times, finally unable to hold back, he grabbed the phone and dialed Yi Jiadong directly:
“Brother Jiadong? Do you know how awesome your sister is?
“Which sister? Jiayi, of course.
“I’m Liu Jiaming, Jiayi’s colleague from Major Crime Team B. Remember me from the times we ate at Yi Ji Restaurant? I called you ‘Brother Jiadong’ most warmly, remember?”
Lin Wangjiu and Gary also couldn’t help but gather around, eager to hear if Liu Jiaming could learn some truth from Yi Jiayi’s big brother.
As detectives, they knew that when someone was involved in a crime, questioning their family could always reveal some clues.
Liu Jiaming exclaimed over the phone:
“Jiayi is truly impressive. There are cases our police station couldn’t crack for months, but with her involvement, they were solved within 24 hours.”
“And then there was the baby theft case, and… also the recent King’s Park murder case. Jiayi was involved in those too. You wouldn’t believe it, she was the first to identify the murderer, maybe even before Inspector Fang!”
“Amazing, right? Yes! Your sister is really something!
“Hold on, wait a minute, Jiadong, no, I’m not just calling to brag about your sister’s prowess. I’m calling to ask if you’re aware of this situation, if you know about Jiayi’s strong deductive skills.”
“Oh… you didn’t know?”
“She just spends her evenings alone in her room, writing and drawing in a notebook? Is that really detective work? Solving cases purely based on existing clues?”
“No way? That’s so impressive…”
Liu Jiaming scratched his head, looked up to meet the eyes of Uncle Jiu and the others, all sharing the same sentiment.
“Then I won’t keep Jiadong busy. Ah, but since it’s payday today and the case is cracked, let’s all go to Yi Ji Restaurant and have a big meal tonight.
“Babao duck? Sure, that sounds great, thanks Jiadong, no problem, haha…”
After hanging up, Liu Jiaming wiped away the non-existent saliva from the corner of his mouth, then peeked into the madam’s office, murmuring:
“Why is it taking so long to finish talking?”
…
…
In the inspector’s office, the atmosphere wasn’t as light-hearted.
Qiu Sushan spread a piece of paper in front of her and casually drew a circle.
“Yi Jiayi, starting from the Bi Street murder case, tell us how you assisted in solving the cases.”
The young policewoman had anticipated this. Since she was involved, there would come a day she’d be discovered.
Those nights spent thinking about cases, she often stared at her sister Jiayi’s bed board, pondering how to cover up her special abilities and convince others that she was just hard-working or exceptionally talented.
It was like playing a murder mystery game, thinking about how to deceive others, she had rehearsed it countless times in her mind.
But recently, Uncle Jiu and the others began to suspect something, and Inspector Fang, busy with cases, was happy to have someone else draw circles, no longer caring about who was doing it. She had been focusing all her time and energy on the King’s Park case lately, with no time to consider anything else… and she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon!
Sitting opposite her was the theory-rich inspector of the Major Case Unit. To her left and back was the practically formidable senior sergeant of the Major Case Unit. If her logic was not tight enough, or there were too many loopholes, she could be caught out…
Having special abilities must certainly be kept hidden; the real world is as ruthless as wolves and tigers, and she didn’t want to be taken to a lab for experiments.
Although it was still uncertain whether she could deceive the two bosses in the office, it was worth a try.
Yi Jiayi sat upright and tense, as if facing a great enemy:
“The Bi Street murder case was really a coincidence. Perhaps because of my unique angle, combined with the evening light, there might have been some reflections or water stains in the ditch that I happened to catch.”
Yi Jiayi then earnestly and sincerely continued:
“The murderer was there, watching the scene, peeking around and laughing strangely.”
“I learned from books that some murderers, out of fear of being discovered by the police or wishing to see the detectives’ frustrated expressions after the murder for psychological satisfaction, return to the crime scene.”
“My first instinct was that something was wrong, and he seemed startled and ready to flee when I called out. If he wasn’t the murderer, why would he laugh strangely and then appear so frightened?”
After finishing her explanation, she swallowed dryly. Her mouth was dry, but she felt relieved, believing her explanation was flawless and beyond reproach, even feeling a hint of pride.
Qiu Sushan thought for a moment, saw no issues, and then turned her gaze to Fang Zhenyue.
Fang Zhenyue, who had been casually lounging on the sofa, now sat up straight, his eyes intently fixed on Yi Jiayi, as if trying to spot any inconsistencies in her words.
For a moment, the office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The pressure on Yi Jiayi increased, feeling as though she was completely seen through, her slight pride completely vanished, realizing what it felt like to sit across from Fang Zhenyue.
Terrifying!
She wished she could slam the table and shout, “I do have special abilities, so what? Is having abilities wrong? Is contributing to society also a mistake?” But of course, she wouldn’t act so impulsively, doing such a crazy thing.
She could only try to divert attention to relieve her inner anxiety, her gaze sweeping over Madam’s desk—
On the left side of Madam’s desk, a folder was closed, its cover bearing only one line: “Child Abduction Case” all files and reports archive. She had written those words herself, and it was also she who had compiled and submitted the files to Madam.
On Madam’s right side was a thicker stack of files, topped with an English-language criminal investigation magazine, its serious black cover bearing bold white letters:
“Criminal Investigation: Profiling as the Core Force in Solving Cases.”
Seeing Fang Zhenyue immovable as a mountain, not even sparing a glance, Qiu Sushan had no choice but to continue questioning Yi Jiayi:
“What about the child abduction case?”
Yi Jiayi shifted her gaze away from the magazine, calming herself slightly. She took a deep breath and continued:
“At that time, Inspector Fang and his team had already identified many clues and confirmed it was an inside job. The manager said he hadn’t seen any suspicious strangers coming or going, and despite the military police searching everywhere, no baby was found.”
“Inspector Fang also said that the most likely scenario was that a neighbor was the culprit, that the baby was still in a neighbor’s house. We had no evidence, no search warrant, and couldn’t search the homes, which is why we didn’t find the baby.”
Qiu Sushan listened, feeling that Yi Jiayi was perhaps too sensitive, but still found her reasoning plausible.
She then looked towards Fang Zhenyue, who nodded, taking this as the situation at the time. Qiu leaned back in her office chair, continuing to listen to Yi Jiayi’s report.
Yi Jiayi felt she had passed another hurdle, hurriedly feigning calmness as she further elaborated her logic:
“That morning and afternoon, I staked out the area, gossiping with everyone, discussing the building’s issues, and inadvertently came across the murderer.”
“The old lady was in a hurry, and no matter how much the doorman wanted to talk about the case, she wouldn’t bite and showed a strong aversion, quickly leaving the scene.”
“Madam, as you know, the elderly love to gossip about such matters, even those loosely related will probe deeply into it, especially something so close by—I just felt something was off.”
Fang Zhenyue leaned deeper into the sofa.
This segment of reasoning sounds simple, but truly understanding human nature and the public sentiment is not so easy.
When you don’t know who the murderer is, don’t understand the motive, and can’t figure out the method, observing the people around the crime scene, everything seems clouded and confusing.
Either everyone looks like the murderer and it seems logical to conclude so;
Or everyone looks innocent, all having reasonable excuses to deflect.
To have such firm belief and clarity like Yi Jiayi is extremely impressive.
Fang Zhenyue himself has been praised as a divine detective, yet even in the investigation process, he dares not make hasty conclusions.
Others may think it’s simple and easy, but only someone who has been through the grind like him understands the difficulty.
Only a genius or a freak could achieve this.
So what kind of person is this young lady in front of us?
Qiu Sushan saw no issue, so she expressed her concern:
“Going there to stake out by yourself, do you realize how dangerous that is? If the murderer realizes you’re investigating, it could be harmful to you. You didn’t inform Inspector Fang, nobody knew you were at the scene, if something happened, there would be no one to help, and if you died, no one would even know.” Qiu tapped her fingers on the desk, “Don’t proceed without reporting in the future, and no private investigations, understand?”
“I understand, madam,” Yi Jiayi quickly straightened up, nodding obediently.
Whoops, caught already.
Thanks for the chapters!