Chapter 7: Foreseeing the Future

After lunch, Lin Qiupu gathered everyone in the meeting room. As Lin Dongxue entered, she saw Xu Xiaodong animatedly telling a few female officers, “Did you hear? This morning, Captain Lin was speechless after being tricked by a cab driver and had to let him go!”

“Stop spreading nonsense!” Lin Dongxue dropped the files she was holding.

The female officers returned to their seats, and Xu Xiaodong, with a playful grin, sidled up to her, “I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t be mad. That guy’s a smooth talker. Without evidence, he won’t spill a word.”

“Stay away from me!” Lin Dongxue said in disgust.

“Miss Lin, don’t take it out on me. How about I treat you to hot pot tonight?”

“Go away, who cares!”

At this moment, Lin Qiupu walked in, and the room fell silent. Lin Qiupu cleared his throat and said, “We have some leads on this case, but we’re still lacking evidence. I know everyone has been working hard, but we can’t slack off yet…”

After a brief summary of the current intelligence, Lin Qiupu assigned tasks to the officers, “Xiao Qi, Xiao Wang, head to the traffic control bureau and check the vehicles that passed the crime scene that night. Xiaodong, Lao Wang, expand the search for eyewitnesses around the scene. Everyone else, I will send you the interrogation records from this morning. Verify Chen’s statements.”

Lin Dongxue widened her eyes. Did Chen Shi have the ability to foresee the future? His words matched almost exactly!

Someone stood up and asked, “Captain Lin, do you still think Chen Shi is a suspect?”

Lin Qiupu replied, “I don’t believe he’s completely innocent. He could be a key breakthrough. We can’t let him go easily!” Lin Qiupu’s words were firm, and many nodded in agreement.

If Chen Shi hadn’t spoken earlier, Lin Dongxue might have agreed too. Now, her head buzzed. Despite her dislike for her brother, she never denied his abilities, but now she doubted them.

Lin Dongxue didn’t hear the rest of the briefing. When Lin Qiupu dismissed the meeting, she got up and walked out, immediately calling Chen Shi, “Where are you?”

“Looks like I guessed right?” The voice on the other end was still nonchalant.

Lin Dongxue didn’t want to flatter him and said, “Barely guessed it right.”

“Haha!” Chen Shi laughed, “I’m outside the Fengzhilin Hotel. Bring the autopsy report and crime scene photos. You have one hour.”

“Hey, hey!” Lin Dongxue shouted, but he had already hung up, making her stomp in frustration.

The team had made several copies of the autopsy report, so it was easy for Lin Dongxue to get one. As for the crime scene photos, she had to sneak into Lin Qiupu’s office and secretly take pictures with her phone.

Lin Dongxue called a car to the Fengzhilin Hotel. Looking around and about to dial a number, Chen Shi shouted at her, “Over here, over here!”

Chen Shi was sitting casually in a beef noodle shop, eating noodles. Lin Dongxue sat down beside him, “You’re quite relaxed!”

“I’m investigating,” Chen Shi said, slurping down a mouthful of noodles.

“Investigating here?”

“I told you repeatedly, the female passenger got off here that night, but you guys wouldn’t believe it. I had to come myself. They won’t let me see the check-in records, so I need to borrow your ID.”

“Fengzhilin Hotel? But that woman died halfway. According to logic…”

Chen Shi made a helpless expression, “You still think I killed her?”

“Who knows! You’re so cunning!” Lin Dongxue suddenly wondered what she was doing. This man could very well be the real killer, and she was discussing the case with him.

Chen Shi’s every word and action was so confident and straightforward, showing no signs of being a murderer. But then again, Lin Dongxue had only been in the police force for half a year and had never participated in a core investigation. She didn’t know what a real murderer felt like.

Chen Shi took the autopsy report from her and said while opening it, “If you believe me, I’ll make sure you get a first-class merit.”

Chen Shi glanced at the autopsy report and read aloud, “Strangled from behind… the mark is parallel to the ear… trace amounts of alcohol in the victim’s body… had sexual intercourse before death… Did the victim’s stomach contents show alcohol? It’s not mentioned here!”

Lin Dongxue said, “The victim was a pharmaceutical representative and often entertained clients. According to her colleagues, she had a dinner party that night.”

“Did she drink?”

“Probably?”

Chen Shi laughed, “Miss Lin, do you investigate cases by guessing?”

Lin Dongxue blushed and defended herself, “Is this really important? The killer clearly acted on impulse. What the victim ate or drank isn’t highly relevant to the case.”

“Your statement is so flawed I don’t even know where to start. Every detail is important before solving the case. If there’s no alcohol in the stomach but it’s in the blood, it means the victim might have ingested it another way.”

“Another way?”

“You really are dense. Alcohol is a solvent for some drugs, like ether!”

Lin Dongxue had a sudden realization. Chen Shi took a pen from his pocket and added a note next to the autopsy report, “Check if there’s alcohol in the stomach contents and if there are anesthetic agents in the blood.”

He said, “The victim was a pharmaceutical representative, a medical student. If someone close to her committed the crime, the presence of anesthetic agents is highly likely.”

Chen Shi continued reading the file, tapping his finger on the paper, “Sexual intercourse, torn clothing, multiple bruises—concluding rape and murder based on these is a bit hasty.”

Lin Dongxue pondered his words and suddenly said, “Even if you want to clear your suspicion, you shouldn’t mislead like this. How is this not rape?”

Chen Shi unexpectedly asked, “Are you a virgin?”

Lin Dongxue’s face turned red, and she slammed the table, “What are you saying!”

“Rape identification can’t solely rely on these factors. During forced intercourse, due to a lack of arousal, the private parts are dry, often leading to tears and bleeding. The location of internal abrasions can also determine the perpetrator’s position. Concluding rape just because of sexual intercourse is hasty. Couldn’t the victim have had consensual sex before death?”

“Uh! That makes sense!” Lin Dongxue reluctantly admitted.

“Based on this, the rape and murder conclusion is even less likely. Think about it. If it were rape, the killer would need to restrain the victim’s limbs and use a frontal position. Even if strangled, it would be from the front, but the cause of death is from behind. I can’t imagine how the killer could do all that.”

“That’s not necessarily true. Maybe they killed her suddenly after the act…” Lin Dongxue said, blushing.

“I’m talking about probabilities! The murder weapon appears to be a thick rope, like a jump rope. In a crime of passion, finding a jump rope at the scene is unreasonable.”

As he spoke, Chen Shi continued to write his notes on the file, filling the entire page.

Lin Dongxue was impressed. Despite being an outsider, his reasoning was spot on, more enlightening than attending a criminal investigation class.

“Rape and murder, in my opinion, is likely staged!” Chen Shi concluded.

“What!?”

“The killer is misleading you!”

Lin Dongxue seriously considered his words.

“One more thing, you might not believe,” Chen Shi said.

“What?”

Chen Shi pushed a photo of the victim’s face towards her, “This woman wasn’t the passenger in my car that night.”