Chapter 499: A Banner of Shame

Early the next morning, the officers in the technical squad started their day with yawns. Suddenly, the aroma of scallion pancakes filled the air as Chen Shi walked in carrying two large bags. He placed them on the table—one filled with breakfast, the other with fruit. “Sorry for making you work so late last night. This is just a little token of appreciation,” he said with a smile.

Peng Sijue remarked, “You’re up early and full of energy.”

“I was worried you might have already had breakfast. How did it go?”

“Straight to the point, huh?”

“We can chat a bit more if you want,” Chen Shi replied.

“Who wants to chat with you? Here.” Peng Sijue handed him the test report. As Chen Shi read it, a look of confusion slowly spread across his face, which Peng Sijue had anticipated.

“The body was dumped at 8 PM?”

“We conducted three tests, closely mimicking outdoor humidity and temperature. But the result…”

“If the dumping time was 8 PM and the time of death was 9 PM, it suggests the body was dumped before the person was killed. That’s a contradiction.”

“I realized that too. I double-checked the test environment and data. There were no mistakes unless there’s another variable we didn’t consider.”

All the test data were clearly written in the report. Chen Shi knew Peng Sijue’s meticulousness far surpassed his own in this area. He didn’t immediately dismiss the results but began to consider other possibilities.

Could the killer have used some method to interfere with the determination of the time of death?

The killer was meticulous, having evaded capture for six years. He knew to scout and set up the crime scene beforehand and had even noticed Cai Yating secretly investigating him, proving his attention to detail.

Deep in thought, Chen Shi walked out of the technical squad room. Peng Sijue watched his bewildered figure and smiled, knowing he was deeply immersed in the case again.

The morning case discussion yielded no significant breakthroughs. Everyone was carrying out their tasks as usual. Most officers held little hope for solving the case, having faced six years of stagnation, which left them with an unspoken sense of defeat.

After the meeting, Lin Dongxue asked, “Detective Chen, where are you headed today?”

“Are Yan Qilin’s family still in Long’an City?” Chen Shi inquired.

Lin Dongxue opened her notebook, saying, “Her father died of a heart attack two years ago, but she still has some relatives.”

Chen Shi thought for a moment, “We can visit the relatives, but they’re not our top priority.”

“Who is at the top of your list?” she asked.

“I want to meet Zhang Jinlei’s parents.”

“I called the university Zhang Jinlei applied to this morning. They said there was no special admissions student named Yan Qilin. In fact, they don’t have special admissions at all.”

“Impressive efficiency!” Chen Shi praised. “Universities wouldn’t admit such things; it’s not something they’d be proud of. Or maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“I had a friend who changed his name from Wang XX to Li XX to use someone else’s identity to get into college. After graduating and finding a job, he switched back to his original name.”

“When did this happen? With today’s secure ID systems, it’s hard to pull off such stunts, right?”

“Not necessarily. Even the most secure systems have loopholes since they’re run by people. Some poor students who can’t afford college might sell their identity to someone who can. This still happens today.”

“Hmm…” Lin Dongxue frowned. “But we can’t trace it, and there’s no record of Yan Qilin attending college.”

“Indeed, we can’t trace it. We’ll have to rely on my ability to detect lies!” Chen Shi pointed to his eyes.

Just then, Xu Xiaodong walked past them, carrying a folded banner. Lin Dongxue called out, “Who sent that? And to whom?”

“No idea, it was left at the door. Do you want it?” Xu Xiaodong unfolded the banner, revealing eight large golden characters: “Useless officials, bureaucratic corruption.”

Lin Dongxue burst out laughing, “How creative!”

Xu Xiaodong said, “I’m going to give this to Captain Lin to handle.”

Chen Shi said, “Maybe it was from Yue Chao, who we released yesterday. Take it to Lao Peng and have him check for fingerprints.”

Lin Dongxue said, “That guy dared to insult me, openly defaming us.”

Meeting Zhang Jinlei’s father, a bank manager, didn’t take much effort. The three of them sat in a VIP room at the bank. Zhang’s father politely said, “After so many years, you’re still investigating this case. You are very dedicated. As a citizen of Long’an City, I feel very safe with such responsible police officers.”

Chen Shi smiled, “Mr. Zhang, you don’t need to disguise your frustration. It’s been six years, and we haven’t solved the case. Who knows where the killer is laughing at us now!”

Mr. Zhang said, “No, no, I didn’t mean that. I understand these cases are tough to crack. I’ll do my best to help.”

“Let’s be direct then. We want to know more about Yan Qilin. What do you know about her? Don’t hold back.”

“Hmm…” Mr. Zhang took out a cigarette, tapped it on the pack, and put it in his mouth. “Mind if I smoke?”

“Go ahead.”

He lit the cigarette and thought for a moment. “I remember she came from a single-parent family. Her father was a former soldier who got his leg blown off by a landmine. After being discharged, he ran a small business for a few years. After her mother died, her father became a drunk…”

His first words revealed his ingrained prejudice, focusing on Yan Qilin’s family background.

Chen Shi said, “We know all that. What about her personality? What did you think of her? What happened during her relationship with your son?”

“Honestly, I was against Jinlei being with her. We invested so much in raising an excellent son, only to see him with a girl from such a background. It would ruin his future! I asked him if he could be happy with her. If they got married, would he support her good-for-nothing father? Relationships like that rarely work out because people from different backgrounds have vastly different thoughts, beliefs, and goals. They’re bound to fall apart…”

Lin Dongxue frowned. Zhang Jinlei was so different from his father. No wonder he felt oppressed by his family.