The next moment, she was drawn into a stream of consciousness.
In the vision, someone wrapped the knife handle with something, bent over as if to comfort or care for the victim, but took the opportunity in the darkness to stab the victim fiercely in the chest.
The next moment, she pulled out the material wrapped around the handle, stuffed it into her pocket, stood up without hesitation, turned around, bypassed the paths on both sides, and returned to her seat to continue chatting, choosing songs, and singing with the people next to her as if her previous act was merely a casual check on a drunk colleague.
Taking a deep breath, Jiayi lowered her gaze to her notebook and marked a large question mark on it.
Why can some people take another’s life with such apparent ease?
“The murderer will stab the knife into the victim’s chest and, to prevent the body from shaking and falling, causing a commotion that might alert others, will press down on the victim’s back,” Fang Zhenyue explained to Chen Guangyao:
“Big Brother Da Guangming, let’s collect fingerprints from the back of the victim’s clothes as well.”
“Okay,” Chen Guangyao nodded. “Working with you on a crime scene investigation, sometimes you really don’t need to bring a brain, just ears to listen and follow your lead.”
Liu Jiaming entered, reporting:
“Brother Yue, along with two other uniformed officers, I searched all 16 individuals here, and found no bloodstained handkerchiefs, gloves, or similar items. Their clothes also had no bloodstains.”
“After the body was discovered, no one left this private room, nor has anyone used the restroom.”
“I also asked the last person who confirmed the victim was alive before the discovery of the death; he said it was about ten minutes before the body was found. He glanced back when a song with a brightly lit TV screen was playing, confirming that at that time there was no knife in the victim’s chest.”
“I asked the others, and in those ten minutes, no one left the room, and the waitstaff can testify to this.”
Yi Jiayi recorded this while pursing her lips.
This seemed like a special ‘Snowy Mountain Lodge’: no one else came in, no one left, and the murderer was among these 16 people.
Moreover, the item covering the knife handle must still be in the room.
“There’s no restroom or sink in the private room; unless the murderer swallowed the item covering the knife handle, it must still be here,” Fang Zhenyue thought of this too and turned to Chen Guangyao to make another request:
“It might be something like tissue paper, could we—”
“Okay, Sir Fang, we’ll check all the trash cans,” Chen Guangyao sighed, clapped his hands, and signaled the technicians to start searching the trash bins.
“Sir Fang, here is the seating arrangement of everyone in the room when the body was found; I’ve drawn it up and marked the names,” a technician handed a piece of paper to Fang Zhenyue.
“Thank you.” After taking the paper, he walked to the couch to observe.
It would be most convenient for someone sitting at either end to move to the back to kill without being noticed. For someone in the middle, leaving twice and moving past several people’s line of sight to go to the back and commit the murder would be highly noticeable.
As Fang Zhenyue started analyzing the most suspicious individuals, Chen Guangyao, having instructed his subordinates to search the trash, stood up, ready to assign someone to collect fingerprints and footprints at the neighboring scene.
With two lab technicians carrying many bags and items, he looked for a detective to help carry his small case, turning to Tan Sanfu who was standing nearby:
“Sanfu, can you help me carry some things?”
Sanfu glanced back at Chen Guangyao and smiled, “Sorry, Big Brother, I’m quite busy myself.”
After saying this, he turned and walked over to Fang Zhenyue. Obviously, besides Sir Fang, no one else could really boss him around.
Chen Guangyao frowned and pursed his lips, looking at the items in his hand, contemplating whether to sort them out before going to collect evidence. Suddenly, a small hand reached out and picked up his briefcase.
“Big Brother, let me carry that for you.”
“Thanks, Jiayi, just escort me to the next room,” Chen Guangyao nodded appreciatively.
“It’s only right,” Jiayi smiled and followed behind Chen Guangyao, glancing back at the corpse Xu Junhao was examining, and silently sighed.
She needed to go next door to look at the 16 suspects, to confirm which one she had seen in her mind’s eye.
…
At the KTV crime scene tape, Nie Weiyan was frowning and still arguing with a colleague:
“Could this be fake? A murder has occurred, and everyone’s come to handle the case, is this also just for show?”
“For a woman, I’d believe if you said she understands mahjong, cooking, or shopping. But investigating? Please, she should just take the chance to snag a detective or inspector and go home to have kids!” Joe laughed irreverently, tilting his head.
Suddenly, a person lifted the police line tape and walked out, bumping into Joe hard.
The man turned around to scold, only to see that the one who bumped him was the policewoman he had just said should go home and have kids, leaving him embarrassed and speechless.
Jiayi glared at Joe, grinding her teeth, resisting the urge to stomp on his foot again, and walked through the crowd with her head held high, following Chen Guangyao and two other technicians to the next room.
Sanfu stayed close to Fang Zhenyue, after observing the crime scene, he moved to a separate small room where he began to individually interrogate the sixteen people present.
Sanfu sat beside Fang Zhenyue, engaging actively and attentively in the interrogation process, eager to showcase his professional capabilities during the documentation.
The questions were well-chosen, his mind was clear, and his detective skills sharp.
Fang Zhenyue sat beside him silently, and Sanfu knew his line of questioning was on track, which boosted his confidence and composure.
Uncle Jiu in the group was an old man who only thought about less trouble and awaited retirement. Jiaming and Gary were young guys with carefree minds.
Only he remembered that Sir Fang was preparing for the internal promotion exam to become a probationary inspector.
If Sir Fang moved to another group as an inspector, Team B would definitely need a new sub-inspector.
Therefore, these days he has been diligently making an effort to perform well, hoping that during the upcoming Internal Promotion Exhibition, Sir Fang would nominate him.
Already in his thirties, the opportunities for internal promotion have become especially precious, each one needing to be carefully cherished and diligently pursued.
Fortunately, in the several cases handled by Kingspark, every time Liu Jiaming and his team were assigned tasks, another person had to accompany them. Only he had the rare moments of being assigned tasks independently by Sir Fang.
In his view, this was a signal: among everyone in the team, Sir Fang saw him as the only one capable of handling major responsibilities alone.
Sanfu seized every opportunity to showcase his capabilities in front of Fang Zhenyue, eagerly awaiting his chance.
He had carefully analyzed all the detectives in the team, oh, and there was Little Eleven, a newer officer than Liu Jiaming and Gary, who definitely couldn’t be a rival.
After the final person’s initial questioning was over, Sanfu handed over the transcript, “Please check for any errors and sign here.”
“Okay, officer.”
Fang Zhenyue stood up, already stepping out of the small room, heading towards the crime scene in the VIP room.
Sanfu sent the last suspect back to the waiting lounge and continued to request the military police to guard, asking sixteen people to cooperate with the police investigation, staying a bit longer, then he too returned to the VIP room.
“How’s it going?” Fang Zhenyue approached the corpse, asking Chen Guangyao, who had returned to continue the investigation.
“I’ve taken the shoe print impressions and done a preliminary comparison. There are six people with corresponding footprints coming and going. Jiayi and I are discussing if there’s another way to narrow down these six footprints,” Chen Guangyao straightened up and replied.
“Did you find a way to narrow it down?” Fang Zhenyue raised an eyebrow.
Standing behind Fang Zhenyue, Sanfu glanced at the six shoe print impressions laid out on the table, frowning and asking:
“What method could there be? We might just have to interrogate these six people again individually.”
“No, Jiayi actually found a clue. Sir, listen and see if it makes sense.” Chen Guangyao nodded towards Jiayi, “Jiayi, please repeat it.”
“Mm.” Jiayi nodded, then addressed Fang Zhenyue:
“Brother Yue, over the weekend, I went to the library to read about forensic shoe print analysis and its significant clues. Then, inspired by how you deduced the murderer might have left fingerprints on the back of the victim’s clothes, I considered if there’s a special characteristic in the shoe prints when the murderer stood there committing the murder.”
Sanfu, standing nearby, suddenly had an alarming premonition, and turned to look at Fang Zhenyue, indeed, Brother Yue was nodding at Little Eleven, even showing an encouraging smile that he never displayed at a crime scene.
Yes, every time at a crime scene, with a stern and menacing presence as if ready to strike someone down, Brother Yue was actually smiling!
“When the murderer bends down, putting force into stabbing the knife into the victim’s chest, they must exert their whole body, making their feet crucial support points.” Yi Jiayi’s eyes sparkled, encouraged by Fang Zhenyue, she grew more animated:
“Moreover, the murderer will leave behind a pair of footprints deeper than others’. These footprints will also display a very distinctive shape, that is—”
Jiayi mimicked the murderer’s stance, crouching slightly, bending forward.
She then looked up at Fang Zhenyue and said:
“When we maintain this posture and exert a lot of force, the pressure will definitely be on the balls of our feet. Thus, it will leave a very, very deep imprint of the ball of the foot on the ground!”
Liu Jiaming, who was standing nearby, suddenly found his hands raising uncontrollably, and then, as if he had a mind of his own, he began to applaud.
This impulse had previously only occurred when listening to Fang Zhenyue analyze a case.
But today, it belonged to Yi Jiayi!
Jiaming’s hands clapped unconsciously in support of Jiayi, creating a snapping sound.
Fang Zhenyue’s smile widened, and he nodded, saying, “Well said. Then, Guangming, based on this deduction, please check again near the body for the shoe print that matches what Eleven described.”
Upon receiving Fang Zhenyue’s approval, Jiayi burst into a shy yet proud smile.
Sanfu glanced at Fang Zhenyue, then at Yi Jiayi and Chen Guangyao, suddenly feeling very frustrated:
If he had known that working in the forensic department could provide such opportunities to shine, he would not have earlier refused Guangming’s request to help carry the boxes.
But what’s the deal with Eleven?
She’s a newcomer whose face isn’t even familiar yet, how could she be so ambitious?
Instead of shopping or dating during the holiday, she ran to the library to read?
And to think she learned so quickly… why be so smart?!