Chapter 408: Serendipity

The host moved on to the second question, “Next question for you: when will your new song be released?”

“Well, about that…”

“Is it that you haven’t written it yet?” the host teased.

Lu Zuyu burst into laughter, “You’re naughty! No, I’ve been working hard on creating new songs.”

“How’s the progress?”

“Um… progress, you know, I’m the kind of passionate songwriter who sometimes needs to clear my mind and accumulate energy slowly, and then release it all at once. Do you understand? Most of what I write is love songs. Some say my songs have a melancholic grandeur because they reflect some… different things deep in my heart. But they resonate and touch others! I want to present that, but I also need some time to accumulate.”

The host summarized his disjointed answer, “Lu Teacher means that creativity requires inspiration, which doesn’t always come instantly.”

“Yes, inspiration… I feel a song is a deeply engraved emotion, perhaps the most profound of your life, like how each person is born only once and dies only once, such love is also once in a lifetime.”

“Some say every time you write a song, you fall in love. Is that true, Lu Teacher?”

“Is that the next question?” Lu Zuyu chuckled, “No, not really. Creation does require life experiences, but it’s not about literally falling in love every time. It’s like when making the movie ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ the director doesn’t actually go out and kill people! When I create, I might take out things given by past girlfriends, look at old photos, listen to CDs and such. It doesn’t mean I’m actually going through a love affair.”

Lin Dongxue switched to the next program, saying, “This is boring. Let’s watch something else!”

Chen Shi smiled, “Let’s see what movies are on CCTV-6.”

The next morning at the case discussion meeting, everyone summarized the clues. Lao Zhang found similar balloons in a warehouse at a sports center, used for hanging banners weighing several kilograms. The sports center rented out the venue for cultural and sports activities, storing many such balloons in the warehouse.

During the investigation, it was discovered that on the evening of July 14th, someone had broken into the warehouse and stolen several balloons and a hydrogen machine. Lao Zhang brought back surveillance footage from the scene.

Looking at the photos, Lao Zhang said, “The lock shows clear signs of being tampered with. Next to it is a photo of the stolen hydrogen machine, small, about the size of a chair. Staff said it could fill about thirty balloons of that size with gas.”

Strictly speaking, the surveillance footage was from the early hours of July 15th, around 2 AM. A completely black-clad man stealthily approached the warehouse door, fiddled with it for a while, pushed it open, and left about fifteen minutes later dragging a hydrogen machine.

Another camera captured the man lifting the hydrogen machine onto an SUV parked outside the venue, driving away. The license plate was indistinguishable, so they relied on technical means to try to enhance the video.

Chen Shi asked, “Lao Zhang, is it that easy to enter the sports center?”

“I walked around the scene a few times. There are three routes from outside to the warehouse. Route A encounters two security guards along the way; Route B is the same, with an additional iron gate to climb or pry open; Route C encounters one security guard, but this route is unlikely for anyone unfamiliar. Also, there haven’t been many concerts or sports events recently, and there’s nothing valuable in the venue. So the guards are relatively lax. I asked one guard, and he said he sleeps on a wire bed in the guard room at night and can’t hear any noise from outside.”

“I’m also thinking, this thief knew about these hydrogen balloons so clearly, he must have been here before. Shouldn’t we investigate this?” Chen Shi looked at Lin Qiupu.

“We can investigate, but it’s a huge workload… As you know, every year various has-been singers come here for concerts, plus the provincial sports games, the Paralympics this year, and a coal boss holding his daughter’s wedding here. It would involve tens of thousands of people. Can we handle it?”

“So this lead is cut off…”

“Old Chen, what have you found?”

Chen Shi handed him a USB drive, saying, “Take a look!”

The USB drive contained five surveillance videos retrieved from a supermarket yesterday. While watching, Chen Shi suddenly wondered why the perpetrator chose such a small saw. From stealing the balloons, it was clear he knew purchasing could be traced. As for hiding this small saw, he could tuck it into his sleeve or pocket, possibly even stolen.

“Don’t get your hopes up, though. These five might not be the killer.”

Lin Qiupu said, “If there are five people, we can still check. Check what they did with this saw… Review the surveillance in detail again.”

Chen Shi recounted his reasoning from yesterday and added, “This drug lead can also be investigated. Methamphetamine is a stimulant that can last for several hours. The killer, under the influence of drugs, killed someone, then calmly drove to steal tools to destroy the body and erase the clues. This doesn’t make sense. I believe someone helped him cover up. The killer is wealthy or holds high status, with someone around him willing to break the law to protect him. This person is unlikely to be his wife, more likely an elder, perhaps a rich second-generation, official second-generation, or celebrity second-generation!”

Peng Jue said, “Yesterday, semen was indeed found in the victim’s esophagus…”

Upon hearing this, everyone became excited. Peng Jue continued slowly, “Unfortunately, it has been heavily contaminated by microorganisms and is too small to serve as a sample.”

“This is also good news,” Chen Shi said, “As long as we find the head, it’s like finding decisive evidence.”

Lin Qiupu assigned today’s tasks, and everyone went to investigate their cases. Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were preparing to visit the meteorological bureau. On the way, Lin Dongxue opened Weibo to see the reaction to yesterday’s official announcement.

Chen Shi asked, “Has it made headlines?”

“No, another story made the headlines. Lu Zuyu was exposed for having a night out with a mysterious woman. We’re the second story.”

“What!? This guy just cleared his name and now he’s in another scandal? And he pushed down such an important police notice!”

Lin Dongxue flipped through it and said, “He seems to be in Long’an City right now.”

“See, there will definitely be other B-list artists exposed with big news these days.”

“How do you know?”

“This is called PR tactics, using others’ scandals to divert attention. I’ve seen it all… By the way, when was this news?”

“On the evening of July 14th.”

“July 14th…” Chen Shi pondered. Was this a coincidence?

Maybe it really was just a coincidence, he thought.