As people grow up, they gradually lose their youthful passion, just like a car that ends up at the police station after driving for a while.
Yi Jiayi followed Lin Wangjiu, who had long lost his youthful innocence and even his faith in humanity, back to the Major Case Team B.
The office was empty. Uncle Jiu told her to rest while he went out for a smoke.
Yi Jiayi reflected on the press conference and Uncle Jiu’s issues in the office, then returned to the whiteboard.
The scorching temperature made it dazzling outside. She didn’t need to go out for an inspection to feel sweaty all over, weak, and unable to keep her eyes open.
She took a sip of water, a bit worried about Officer Fang and the others; such weather could surely cause heatstroke.
But at that time, mobile phones were not yet widespread. To contact someone, they had to use a BBcall. It was difficult for them to find a phone and call back; it was better not to disturb them.
Yi Jiayi found a scratch pad on her desk and sat down at the desk closest to the whiteboard, her legs curled up, eyes level with the whiteboard. She intermittently glanced at the board while recalling the flow of thoughts and information in her mind, beginning to take notes.
The room where the murderer killed was very dark. If it wasn’t for a half-windowed basement on land, it would be a very, very dark room.
The sunlight in the flow of thoughts wasn’t direct but diffused, indicating that the room door didn’t face west. Without the direct sunlight, it was difficult to analyze and determine the exact floor of the building.
The room was very messy, with large cardboard boxes stacked against the wall, probably kept to be sold for money. The murderer or their family seemed to be involved in selling scrap.
The murderer had dirty, unkempt hair, not doing a job that required a neat appearance, and possibly not working at all.
Analyzing the body proportion and the comparison with the victims, the murderer’s height seemed to be about 1.7 meters…
However, Sun Xin from the mainland was also a bit over 1.7 meters tall, which couldn’t prove his innocence, nor could it be used as evidence.
Ineffective evidence.
Scratching her head, she looked back at the whiteboard, distressed: Who exactly is the murderer?
When Officer Fang and the others hadn’t found the murderer or summoned him for questioning, it was tough for her to find this person.
Suddenly, there were voices outside; Liu Jiaming walked in first, looking at Yi Jiayi sitting cross-legged on the desk, and joked:
“Eleven, why do you look like you’re cultivating immortality?”
Yi Jiayi hurriedly jumped down from the desk and carefully wiped it again.
Fang Zhenyue was the last to enter the office, curved his finger, and tapped on the whiteboard. Everyone immediately understood, pulled chairs, and dragged tables to sit around the whiteboard, all looking at Fang Zhenyue.
After organizing a stack of documents in his hand and with a sunburnt forehead, Fang Zhenyue first introduced the day’s findings to Lin Wangjiu and Yi Jiayi.
“New body parts found: two right hands, a piece of right rib…”
Lin Wangjiu leaned on the desk, praising, “We’ve made significant discoveries. Great work everyone.”
Fang Zhenyue patted Uncle Ji’s shoulder and looked down at the reports from the forensic and evidence departments:
“Right lower leg, right neck, and the third section of the spine… belong to Female No. 1, who had a higher body fat percentage, slightly overweight. Height is approximately 4.5 to 4.8 chi (about 1.5 to 1.6 meters). The lower leg shows bone hyperplasia, with a history of fractures… Age is likely between 18 and 30 years old.”
“The right hand missing a finger, left knee, left ear, left wrist… belong to Female No. 2, very thin, height around 4.8 chi. No fingerprint match found in the entire port database. There is an old scar from a cigarette burn on the right little finger, judging from the scar tissue, the injury occurred in childhood, and there was smoking in her family. The left ear has one earring hole with serrated injuries, inferred to be inflicted by the murderer. The evidence department has asked experts to help make a dental cast…”
“Left thigh, right foot, left sternum, right upper arm… belong to Female No. 3, tall stature, about 5.1 chi…”
“The advanced level of decomposition…”
“Fungi collected from the skin of the bodies thrive in dark, dirty, moist environments.”
“No suspicious skin flakes were detected under the corpse’s fingernails, but lime was detected in the fingernails of both right hands.”
“Half rope marks were found on several corpses’ forearms, caused by being tied up from behind. There are repeatedly crusted wounds, likely because the victims had a chance to relax while the murderer slept, allowing the abrasions and red marks to gradually heal. But when the murderer woke up and continued the assault, the victims’ violent struggles left scars on their wrists…”
“The cause of death for Female No. 1 can be confirmed as asphyxiation. Healing wounds were found on the right neck section, but due to decomposition and environmental contamination, the murderer’s fingerprints couldn’t be collected. However, the forensic team can confirm that the murderer is neither particularly tall nor short, neither fat nor thin…”
Sighs filled the office, the clues messy and fragmented, as if someone was gossiping, sharing some details but not everything.
Fang Zhenyue, with his own reasoning and analysis, finished reading the report and then sighed deeply in silence for a while.
Rubbing his temples, he fought to suppress his fatigue:
“Gary, based on the information we have about the five women, conduct a general search for missing persons, then consider whether we should call the families of the missing or place a missing persons ad.”
Under the current circumstances, it was impossible to even invite the victims’ families to the police station for identification.
“Alright, Brother Yue.”
“The forensic team is comparing various types of lime, medicinal, food, industrial, etc., but we’ll have to wait until the day after tomorrow.
“Given the urgency, Sanfu, you also check for any lime-producing factories nearby.
“Also, check which buildings use lime that may be exposed and falling off.
“Then go to the pharmacy and ask where you can buy medicine containing lime, and what kind of people would buy it.”
When Fang Zhenyue issued his orders, he already felt overwhelmed, as the scope of the search based on the existing clues was too vast.
“Okay.” Sanfu stood up, glanced at the sky outside, grabbed a bottle of ice water, and then left.
“Jiaming, go apply for a search warrant. We’ll go to Sun Xin’s house to take a look and bring Sun Xin back for a dental impression.”
“Yes, Brother Yue.”
An hour later, Fang Zhenyue, along with Lin Wangjiu, Yi Jiayi, Liu Jiaming, and Chen Guangyao from the forensic department, accompanied by two technicians, all set off for Sun Xin’s house.
The weather was too hot, and there were few pedestrians on the road, but upon reaching the streets of Sham Shui Po, some people could be seen under the shadows of the houses, picking up cardboard and bottles.
Yi Jiayi immediately pressed against the window and scrutinized those bending over to pick things up. Regrettably, there was no sight of the murderer, just elderly men and women, some with silver hair, others bald.
Even if the murderer’s family members were among these people, Yi Jiayi didn’t have the ability to discern who had familial ties with the murderer.
When the group arrived at Sun Xin’s house, they first saw elderly people sitting in the shade of the eaves, fanning themselves and chatting, pointing towards the windows of Sun Xin’s house.
The curtains of the room were drawn, and Yi Jiayi felt a chill, fearing to burst in and find someone had hanged themselves.
Fortunately, when they knocked and entered, Sun Xin was all right, though he appeared not to be in a good mental state, unsteady on his feet and noticeably paler lips, probably from not eating for a long time.
A cart laden with steamed buns was haphazardly placed at the entrance, stuffed full of pastries.
With just one look, Fang Zhenyue knew that Sun Xin must have gone out as usual in the morning to sell things, but got scared after seeing the newspaper and slunk back home.
Or perhaps he was simply scolded back home.
While the forensic team inspected his house, Sun Xin stood by the doorway with his arms hanging down.
Yi Jiayi walked around inside the room and realized that this was indeed not the murderer’s home. Although it was equally cramped and dilapidated, it was neatly kept, showing that the person living there was serious about maintaining a good life.
When Chen Guangyao was inspecting the kitchen, he picked up a jar, opened it to take a look, and frowned. He exchanged a glance with a technician beside him, who immediately bagged the jar with an evidence bag.
If he was not mistaken, the jar contained food-grade lime…
But after searching around the room, even in the dampest bathroom, no mold was found.
Finally, Chen Guangyao also bagged Sun Xin’s cleaver before finishing the inspection at the scene.
Fang Zhenyue spoke a few words to Sun Xin and then led the team away.
Sun Xin obediently stood with his head bowed the entire time, showing no reaction when told they were returning to the police station. He just started walking, even forgetting to bring his keys until Yi Jiayi reminded him to fetch them.
There’s only one key, and it’s the key to this room.
Fang Zhenyue watched as Sun Xin put the key into his pocket. Either Sun Xin only has this one residence and no other places like basements or hideouts; or Sun Xin has hidden the keys to other hideouts, and he completes his murders at those secret locations.
A group of people walked out of the room one after another and ran into an old grandma wearing a leopard print vest. As soon as she saw Sun Xin, she immediately asked:
“Are you still living here next month? Can you pay the rent? I require rent to be paid in advance here. If you can’t pay, you’ll need to move out by the end of the month.”
Sun Xin just glanced at the leopard-print grandma and then continued walking with his head down. Life was already full of difficulties to face, and being rushed for rent by the landlady was probably the least of his concerns.
Liu Jiaming walked last and, without needing Mr. Yue’s instructions, stayed behind to deal with the landlady:
“Grandma, do you live around here?”
“Has Sun Xin shown any suspicious behavior? Have you seen him entering or leaving with any strange women?”
“Does Sun Xin have any other places he stays at, or places he frequents? What about friends or relatives?”
After asking seriously for a while, Liu Jiaming got responses like:
“He doesn’t have the money to live elsewhere. How could he afford to meet strange women?”
The impression that Sun Xin left on the landlady was simply that he was terribly poor.
Liu Jiaming then knocked on other neighbors’ doors, asking if there had been any strange noises coming from Sun Xin’s place, like women screaming or frequent chopping sounds?
The neighbors up, down, left, and right all said similar things, that he gets up early every day to steam buns, and since his parents passed away, it seemed there were rarely sounds of chopping anything.
The neighbors even used their deductive skills to conclude that Sun Xin must be too poor to afford meat, which is why he seldom chopped anything.
Disgruntled, Liu Jiaming left the scene and circled around Sun Xin’s neighborhood a few more times, asking questions here and there and chatting with people, but learned very little.
When he returned to the office, Fang Zhenyue and the others were each holding a bottle of Yi’s Iced Delight, eating afternoon tea egg tarts and mung bean ice, with a plate of cooled, chopped taro and steamed duck.
Liu Jiaming exclaimed enviously, and Yi Jiayi hurriedly consoled him: “Just in time, there’s Yi’s Iced Delight for you too, as well as your ice and egg tarts. And this taro steamed duck, my brother said it’s specially suited for the Spirits’ Release Day feast on July 14th.”
“Ah, tomorrow’s the half of July.” Uncle Jiu chewed vigorously on the steamed duck and glanced at Yi Jiayi, half-joking:
“Tomorrow’s the Ghost Festival, Eleventh, this case should be solved by then, right?”
Yi Jiayi blankly smiled and asked, “What?”
“Alright, let’s get back to the case.” Fang Zhenyue stuffed half an egg tart into his mouth, waved to everyone, and after swallowing, he continued:
“Sun Xin said the food-grade lime at his home, it’s used for making what powder—”
“Jelly desserts, ice powders, famous Sichuan snacks.” Yi Jiayi quickly added.
“Um, the forensics team is taking it for a comparative analysis, we’ll keep Sun Xin detained at the station overnight, release him after 48 hours. Eleven—” Fang Zhenyue began calling out names.
“Here.” Just as Yi Jiayi was about to pick a steamed duck, she was called by name and promptly raised her hand in response.
The piece of steamed duck she coveted thus fell into the clutches of Liu Jiaming.
“In the evening, have the officers keep an eye on some people. Sun Xin’s mental state isn’t great, and it’s safer for him in the station than at home. If his condition doesn’t improve by tomorrow, have a doctor come over and check on him,” Fang Zhenyue instructed.
“Okay.” Yi Jiayi’s gaze grew solemn, looking at Fang Zhenyue with deep respect.
“Although no mold was found in Sun Xin’s home, lime was discovered, which is also unfavorable for him. We might not be able to prove his innocence completely for the time being, and can’t hold a press conference or announce his innocence publicly yet. Now the newspapers are creating a momentum pointing the finger at him. I really fear he can’t stand it and might seek death. Keep an eye on him—” Fang Zhenyue said, agitatedly spreading his fingers and digging them into his short hair, pressing on his scalp, yet unable to suppress the throbbing headache.
“Sir Fang.” Lin Wangjiu suddenly interrupted.
“Go ahead, Uncle Jiu.”
“You don’t need to worry too much about this. At the press conference, Yi Jiayi mentioned that the guy from the mainland lost his parents in a car accident a month ago and is now alone and unsupported in Hong Kong, still striving to be self-reliant, making and selling noodles, trying to make a living in Hong Kong through his own hands and diligence. She also said his noodles come in many styles and are delicious. The key—” Lin Wangjiu paused, then turned to look at Yi Jiayi.
The young policewoman, after finding lime at Sun Xin’s house, showed no signs of nervousness or regret; her face was completely guilt-free and very assertive.
He knew that this guy was the type who wouldn’t shed a tear until seeing the coffin, wouldn’t turn back until hitting the south wall.
“Eleven confidently told the camera and all the media, she believes in the mainland guy’s innocence.”
“!” Liu Jiaming was shocked. How could she dare to say such a thing?
When facing the camera, he couldn’t even speak coherently, yet this girl dared to do so?
“?” Gary was stunned. “How do you know he’s innocent? We currently have so few clues. The forensic officer and the forensic science department still haven’t got results for half of the evidence. Isn’t Sun Xin the only suspect right now?”
Everything had just begun; how could her statement be so direct towards the result?
Fang Zhenyue was also taken aback, looking at Yi Jiayi’s lips tightly sealed in silence, and then he suddenly smiled.
“It’s fine, just stop the public from attacking and being hostile towards the mainland guy for now. If it really turns out to be Sun Xin, we can just retract our words at another press conference.”
He treated it as a trivial matter, unlike Sergeant Fang, who was meticulous and serious about the smallest details of the case. To him, these matters, which seemed significant to others, were particularly negligible.
The next day, Hong Kong’s weather finally turned cloudy, the temperature slightly lower, the air more humid, possibly indicating rain soon.
Everyone says that the “Gates of Ghosts” open during the middle of July, and it makes sense when the weather is gloomy.
Fang Zhenyue’s face looked grim; rain was worse than sunshine, the biggest enemies of forensic science were water and sand.
With the heavy rain, searching for body parts became not just a needle in a haystack but also meant that even if they found anything, there might be no more clues to extract.
The only thing that cheered everyone up was that Yi Jiayi had appeared on television and in the newspapers.
The Yi family bought many newspapers featuring Jiayi, like it was the New Year.
Elder brother Yi Jiadong even made a scrapbook, cutting out all the pages reporting on his sister and carefully pasting them in.
He saved a copy of each newspaper to combine with earlier ones, planning to burn them for their parents after dark.
The extras were for Jiaru and Jiajun to take to school to show off that their big sister was on TV and in the newspapers.
Yi Jiadong also felt the need to boast; he carefully selected the newspapers that described his sister as the most passionate, divinely competent at solving cases, and impressively legendary, buying several copies to share with customers at Yi Ji’s restaurant for free.
As he casually passed by the customers, he could say: “Look, look, the newspaper really went overboard. My sister, though beautiful and just, with strong deductive skills and excellent, isn’t really that mysterious. Newspapers just love to exaggerate, haha.”
The key was to laugh heartily three times at the end, making sure it sounded natural and simple, not too proud unless he couldn’t help it.
Of course, the TV at Yi Ji’s, mounted on the wall for diners to watch while eating, was set to a news channel broadcasting local news continuously.
If the news didn’t feature an interview with Yi Jiayi, they would replay the recorded content.
These days, anyone dining at Yi Ji’s had no choice but to watch nothing but his sister!
“Look! Isn’t she beautiful? She speaks well and looks great, right? Haha, yes, she has been excellent since she was young, debating, and public speaking, all effortless!”
“Doesn’t she look like a news anchor? Actually, she’s a formidable CID officer, probably the only female officer, right? Haha~”
“A beacon in the police force? Haha! That’s an overstatement!” (Be sure to wave your hand and put on a humble expression)
“My sister, doesn’t she look like me? She loved playing with me more than with our parents when we were kids!”
“I’m not much talented, just selling fish balls and handling the ladle, but my sister is different, catching criminals and solving cases, so impressive!”
Throughout the day, Yi Jiadong would be busy.
Not busy with his hands, but with his mouth.
Boasting, showing off, and talking about his sister, he would drink so much water, his throat was nearly inflamed.
🤣🤣