Chapter 764: Suspicious Fingerprints

Xu Xiaodong, looking bewildered, pinched his arm. His eyes widened in surprise, “Wasn’t I dreaming? When did I wake up?”

Chen Shi noticed Xu Xiaodong’s sweat-soaked face and dilated pupils. “Let’s talk back at the station,” he suggested.

“I’ll get the car.”

They accompanied Xu Xiaodong back to the old house. Chen Shi asked, “Did anyone come out of the house?”

“They didn’t come out at first, but then I fell asleep and had a really vivid dream…” Xu Xiaodong glanced at Lin Dongxue, blushing. “I somehow ended up fighting those punks on the street. If you hadn’t shown up, I’d have thought I was still dreaming.”

“Do you remember when you fell asleep?” Chen Shi asked.

“I think it was after I bought food…” Xu Xiaodong pointed to his car. “There’s still a half-eaten burger in there.”

Chen Shi glanced at the car and noticed the drink that had been on the seat was gone. Someone must have taken it while they were away, likely drugging Xu Xiaodong.

Such audacity!

Chen Shi approached the old house’s wooden door, hesitated, and pulled his hand back. Confrontation wouldn’t get them a confession.

With Du Zilin murdered and the officer watching them drugged, those three were definitely suspicious.

But they had no evidence.

Chen Shi said, “Put on gloves and drive the car back for a fingerprint analysis. And get a urine test from Captain Peng.”

“Why a urine test? I’m fine!” Xu Xiaodong protested.

“Just do it. We’ll meet at the station later.”

“Chen, you’re not coming with me?”

“We’ll ask around here first.”

After Xu Xiaodong left, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue questioned the neighbors but learned nothing. Around 8 PM, they returned to the station. Xu Xiaodong was in the tech department, nervously holding a paper. “Captain Peng, will I be suspended for this?”

“What did they find?” Chen Shi asked.

“Scopolamine, an alkaloid from the belladonna plant,” Peng Sijue explained, reassuring Xu Xiaodong. “It’s not a narcotic, just a toxin, but it can cause hallucinations.”

“What about my health?” Xu Xiaodong was drenched in cold sweat.

“Relax. The amount in your system isn’t lethal. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Xu Xiaodong sighed.

Lin Dongxue asked, “Do you remember when you woke up?”

“I can’t recall much from falling asleep in the car to seeing you guys… Wait, where’s my gun?”

“You didn’t have a gun while on surveillance,” Lin Dongxue reminded him.

Chen Shi grabbed a paper cup and told Peng Sijue, “Test my urine too.”

Peng Sijue glanced at the cup. “What’s with the color? What have you been eating?”

“That’s coffee from your machine,” Chen Shi explained, sipping it. “Give me a real cup for a urine sample.”

“Sit down!” Peng Sijue inspected Chen Shi’s pupils. “No need. Scopolamine metabolizes quickly, so it’s undetectable after a day.”

“Doesn’t that make it the perfect murder tool?” Xu Xiaodong wondered.

“Idiot, metabolism stops after death,” Lin Dongxue snapped.

Chen Shi asked Xu Xiaodong, “Did you see a girl in your dream?”

“What girl? Does Dongxue count?”

Chen Shi showed him a photo. Xu Xiaodong shook his head. It confirmed Chen Shi’s suspicion that dream-sharing was impossible; dreams were personal.

Chen Shi asked Peng Sijue if the afternoon’s results were ready. Peng Sijue said they were almost done. The trio went for a quick meal. Xu Xiaodong ordered iced mung bean soup, claiming it detoxified.

Lin Dongxue teased, “You’re like an old lady. A non-lethal dose isn’t harmful. Who ordered tomatoes?”

“I did,” Chen Shi replied, taking a slice. “Tomatoes contain nicotine, which clears my mind.”

“Does it work?” Lin Dongxue asked skeptically.

“If I believe it does,” Chen Shi chuckled. “Xiaodong, was your dream a good one or a nightmare?”

“A good one.”

Chen Shi wondered why he always had nightmares. Good dreams controlled people like Xin Bai, but what was the purpose of nightmares? To drive him insane?

Could the same method be used at the class reunion tomorrow?

“Xiaodong, what did you observe during surveillance?”

“Nothing much. It’s the dullest task I’ve had. They never leave the house, don’t seem to eat. At night, there’s a man groaning downstairs. A girl often watches me from the second-floor window, but I have sunblock on my car windows. She can’t see me, but it feels like she’s staring right at me… They’re odd.”

“Continue surveillance tomorrow, but bring your own food and water. Don’t open the car windows.”

“Got it!”

After eating, Lin Dongxue checked her phone. “Captain Peng has the results.”

Back at the station, Peng Sijue looked troubled. “The fingerprints from Du Zilin’s murder scene match Chen Fengde’s.”

He handed over two photos. “From the second-floor boards and the victim’s back.”

“Did Chen Fengde enter through the skylight and crawl through the hole to kill Du Zilin?” Lin Dongxue was shocked.

Chen Shi drew a circle on paper. “That hole is small. How’d he fit through?”

“In prison, he was starving himself. Maybe he slimmed down for this murder,” Lin Dongxue suggested.

Chen Shi shook his head. “Starving doesn’t shrink your head. This doesn’t make sense.”

“Also,” Peng Sijue added, “we found a fingerprint on Xu Xiaodong’s car roof. It matches Chen Fengde’s.”

He handed another photo. They were all stunned. Lin Dongxue said, “How did he leave a fingerprint there? The murderer was tall, but Chen Fengde is only 5’7″!”

Chen Shi compared the photos. “These prints look like they were deliberately placed… They’re identical!”

“Old Peng, are these real fingerprints?”