Chapter 971: Impostor

Soon after, the police learned from contacting the deceased’s family and the local police station about his background. This man was a peeping tom, specializing in secretly filming under women’s skirts in crowded places. Sometimes, he would follow single women into elevators. He had been detained several times by the local police station but never showed signs of reform.

“Such a relief!” Tao Yuanyuan exclaimed.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Chen Shi reproached. “It seems this murderer isn’t an executioner, but he must be connected to the human observer. He misunderstood the motives of the human observer. He didn’t kill potential criminals but genuinely morally corrupt people.”

“Could he be an unsuccessful executioner?” Lin Dongxue suggested. “Or maybe he used to be an executioner but was expelled because his methods deviated from the ‘policies’ of the human observer. He kills to prove that his ideas are correct.”

Chen Shi nodded. “Once we catch him, we’ll get a lot of clues… Let’s take the body back first!”

The scene was left to Peng Yue and his subordinates. Chen Shi went outside and asked Lin Dongxue about the investigation of Hai Guoyang. Lin Dongxue replied, “I made a call, but you know, it’s not easy to meet someone at the CEO level without an appointment. I heard they have a new product launch event at their company tomorrow. Should we go check it out?”

“That’s an option,” Chen Shi agreed.

Back at the station, Chen Shi gathered everyone together to discuss the information on the injection killer. Currently, they could only speculate that he was left-handed. The three victims he murdered were all under thirty years old, suggesting he was in the same age group because of his focus on that age range.

He was mobile, likely without a formal job or unemployed. There were no suspicious vehicles found at any of the crime scenes, indicating he traveled on foot to commit his crimes. Furthermore, using an injector to kill suggested he might have had experience in the medical field.

The psychological profile concluded he had a defensive attack personality, appeared mild on the surface, but was stubborn. He likely experienced multiple failures in his career and was in dire straits financially.

Tao Yuanyuan asked, “Could this person be someone from within Hai Guoyang’s company? According to the psychological profile analysis, he should be a former employee who was fired. Perhaps Hai Guoyang sympathized with him and let him be an executioner for a while. Later, they found he wasn’t suitable. He started killing privately to prove himself, but in reality, he doesn’t even understand the algorithms of human life functions.”

“You have quite the imagination. You thought of so much all at once. When we meet Hai Guoyang tomorrow, let’s get a list of employees to investigate,” Chen Shi said.

“What does ‘get a list’ mean?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“‘Get a list’ as in ‘picking pockets’!” Chen Shi laughed. “I’ll bring KK along. He’s quite sharp.”

“Be careful not to leave any evidence,” Lin Dongxue cautioned.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be discreet.”

At that moment, a police officer rushed in from outside and handed a thick envelope to Chen Shi. “Captain, it’s from the deliveryman!”

Chen Shi wondered since he hadn’t ordered anything recently. His name was indeed on the envelope, and upon opening it, he was stunned. Inside were printouts of life functions, with photocopies of identity cards on the back, totaling thirteen documents.

Chen Shi said, “Stop the deliveryman and investigate the sender’s address!”

He spread out the life functions on the table and said, “This must be from that person!”

Everyone picked up a sheet and looked puzzled. Chen Shi went to find Peng Yue, asking him to look at what this meant while he was conducting an autopsy. Interrupted and displeased, Peng Yue came over, staring at the papers for a long time before saying, “This person will commit murder within a week.”

“How did you figure that out!?” Chen Shi asked.

“M stands for murder. There’s a time variable here, less than 0.7, meaning within a week, his node will erupt…” Peng Yue picked up the other papers, one by one, and looked at them. “All these people will have their nodes erupt within a week!”

Everyone whispered in astonishment. Lin Dongxue turned one over and said, “They all live in Long’an!”

“Should we stop them?” Tao Yuanyuan asked.

Chen Shi stared at the papers in silence for a long time before slowly saying, “The human observer wants to prove to us how accurate his predictions are. I just don’t believe in fate being deduced through numbers.”

“I’m not arguing with you. The algorithm for life functions is very subtle. Shouldn’t we take precautions?” Peng Yue suggested.

Chen Shi shook his head. “There’s no police in the world who can prevent crime in advance. How do we take precautions? ‘Hi, you’re going to commit murder tomorrow, so we’re going to arrest you?’ It’s impossible! With these papers, I have only four words for a strategy — observe and wait!”

After that, Chen Shi returned to his office.

The other police officers left one after another, leaving only Lin Dongxue, Tao Yuanyuan, and Peng Yue in the conference room. Tao Yuanyuan asked, “Uncle Peng, you believe these are real, right?”

“I’ve been studying them these past few days. I can only say they’re somewhat reasonable. But I also know that saying this in front of Old Chen is like fueling the arrogance of criminals.”

“These things predict that I will become a murderer. It probably angered Uncle Chen. He doesn’t believe I would turn bad…” Tao Yuanyuan lowered her head.

“I see!” Tao Yuanyuan picked up a sheet of paper. “Sister Lin, this person’s time variable is less than 0.1, meaning he will definitely commit murder today. Shouldn’t we…”

“But we have other things to do.” Lin Dongxue hesitated.

“It wouldn’t hurt to verify. I’m curious too about how accurate these things can be,” Peng Yue said.

“Okay, where does he live?” Lin Dongxue didn’t report to Chen Shi and drove with Tao Yuanyuan to find the person. His name was Liu Qiang, a businessman who lived in the same district.

Arriving at the community where Liu Qiang lived, Lin Dongxue said, “This is too incredible. Relying on a set of mathematical formulas to predict that this person will commit murder today? I don’t believe it!”

“I hope it’s fake too,” Tao Yuanyuan said.

The two arrived at Liu Qiang’s home, knocked on the door, and after a long wait, a man finally opened it. Tao Yuanyuan smelled a scent of recent intimacy on him and noticed kiss marks on his neck, as well as messy hair.

“Are you Liu Qiang?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“No, I’m his friend. He’s on a business trip today. I came over…”

A woman inside shouted, “Who is it? A salesman?”

The man suddenly remembered and asked, “Right, who are you?”

Lin Dongxue showed her badge, and the man instantly showed a look of awe. “Oh, oh, police comrades! Is Liu Qiang evading taxes outside? He really isn’t here today. Do you want me to give you his phone number?”

“No need, excuse us!” Lin Dongxue left.

As they left the community, Tao Yuanyuan said, “I see now. His wife is having an affair. That’s his motive for murder!”

“But Liu Qiang is on a business trip today. How could he commit murder? And does he even know about this? It just shows how unreliable these predictions of life functions are.”

“Or… let’s call and ask if he’s on a business trip.”

“Okay.” Lin Dongxue dialed Liu Qiang’s number, exchanged a few words, and Liu Qiang claimed to be out of town.

After hanging up, Lin Dongxue said, “See, it’s impossible. We worried for nothing!”

As they walked away from the community, there was a supermarket nearby conducting a promotion. Lin Dongxue suddenly stopped and ran back without saying a word…