Chapter 35: Officer Duan, what are you busy with?

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Having silently set his goal in his heart, Su Chen once again employed the Divine Insight Technique. Yet throughout the entire vision, the raincoat and cloak of the murderer still concealed their face. The deduction reached a dead end at the moment when the true culprit concealed the body.

“This means that the evidence I currently hold has made no progress compared to before,” Su Chen thought to himself. “If I want to continue the reasoning, I must supplement the evidence.”

By now, with the minds of the police experts, they should have already unraveled the puzzle he left on the dismembered remains. Moreover, they ought to have preserved the final portion of the bones in this cold case with great care. At least professionally, Su Chen still trusted Qin Ming.

So now, it was time for him to return to the Jinling City Public Security Bureau. He might as well check out the newly unearthed body fragments and fill in the gaps in the evidence he had. With this, combined with the Divine Insight Technique, he would surely be able to stay a step ahead of the police, find the real culprit, and crack the case!

Having devised his plan, Su Chen did not hesitate. Despite it being late at night, he went straight downstairs and headed toward the Jinling City Public Security Bureau.

······

Meanwhile, at the Jinling City Public Security Bureau.

For over an hour, forensic expert Qin Ming, psychological specialist Bai Su, and veteran investigator Cui Liwan stood around the last set of body fragments. They had been discussing for a long time but had yielded no useful results.

“The decomposition is too severe; there’s almost no information left,” Qin Ming frowned as he looked at the pile of decayed flesh. If it weren’t sealed in an oxygen-isolated container, the stench would likely suffuse the entire precinct.

Investigator Cui Liwan rubbed his temples and sighed, “The girl’s bones we found were cremated at the family’s request ten years ago. Some witnesses have passed away; others have forgotten the matter under the guidance of psychologists. Even the victim’s family has long since left this sorrowful city.”

“Twenty years have passed; the chain of evidence is in shambles. Restarting this case now is as difficult as it was back then.”

“And our time… the statute of limitations, isn’t much left.”

Yet, despite this, there was still a flicker of eagerness in his eyes. With new evidence uncovered, hope for solving the case had arisen, and Cui Liwan was more hopeful than anyone.

“I won’t put too much pressure on everyone…” Director Guo quietly reassured them nearby, knowing that the chances of solving this case were less than one percent. They were mentally prepared.

This time, even the usually relaxed Bai Su was a bit tense. She had perched a pair of semi-rimmed black glasses on her elegant nose, brows lightly furrowed as she flipped through the voluminous case files from Jinling University’s dismemberment case, recently retrieved from the archives.

The records were vast and detailed, documenting the movements, speech, social relations, and investigation reports of every household residing near the crime scene—just the records of those around amounted to several hundred pages. That didn’t even include the crime scene investigations, autopsy reports, possible suspects, victim’s family relations, or the whereabouts of transient populations at the time, and so on.

Altogether, the files spanned over three thousand pages.

With so much fragmented and irrelevant information, even if clues were hidden within, finding and connecting them was akin to scaling a mountain. The investigators had spent twenty years without uncovering a complete chain of evidence. If she tried to read through it all alone in a short time, she would surely become dizzy.

“On a related note… not exactly unrelated,” Qin Ming began, “the murderer’s ability to deduce the final burial location of the body fragments amidst such an overwhelming amount of clues is undoubtedly world-class.”

Cui Liwan caught the implication in Qin Ming’s words. “You mean our previous estimation of the killer was wrong?”

Qin Ming nodded decisively. “Given what we know now, there are at least three people involved in this live manhunt.”

“One is a chemical expert, another a hacker, and the third—a master of deduction, a world-class one at that!”

“Though I don’t know where the production team found so many extraordinary talents, it’s clear that we underestimated the composition of this live broadcast murderer team, which is why we have repeatedly found ourselves on the defensive.”

Upon hearing this, everyone present nodded slightly. Although they still hadn’t obtained direct information on the culprit, through their engagements they had roughly figured out the killer’s profile.

However, the livestream audience thought differently.

[Wait, experts, is it possible that these several people you mention are actually just one person?]

[Expert: Impossible, absolutely impossible!]

[Maybe the experts have a much deeper understanding of these skills than we do, realizing how difficult it is to reach Su Chen’s level.]

[So they instinctively judge that such abilities can’t be concentrated in one person, since even mastering one skill is nearly impossible for a normal person.]

[Yet, clearly, they have underestimated just how extraordinary Su Chen is.]

[Speaking of which, Su Chen really is a deity. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I would never believe all this was done by a single individual!]

Amid the ongoing comments, Su Chen arrived on the first floor of the Jinling City Public Security Bureau. Upon entering, he immediately noticed two female officers carrying a silk banner as they ascended the stairs.

Embroidered on the bright golden banner were a few large characters:

Presented to: The Mysterious Person

The upper line read:

“The cold case lacked heart, but the person did not.”

The lower line:

“Deduction does not betray the bones of the innocent.”

Presented by the Public Security Bureau.

Su Chen: ……

He hadn’t expected to find a banner along with the bones from twenty years ago. Although, the couplet wasn’t particularly rhythmic.

He stepped forward and asked the two beautiful female officers, “Comrades, what’s the story behind this banner?”

The officers were slightly taken aback by the young man’s question but answered, “Don’t you know? The mysterious player who took on the role of the killer cracked the evidence hiding place for the bones. This banner was personally sent from above.”

“However, since the player can’t be found now, the banner can only be kept here for safekeeping. We plan to present it to Director Guo.”

Hearing this, Su Chen pondered for two seconds.

“Why not send it directly to the expert team’s meeting room, so the player’s opponents can hold onto it?”

The female officers blinked in confusion.

The livestream audience exploded:

“How the hell did you come up with such a slick move?!”

“Su Chen, you’re so mischievous, but I like it.”

[Expert team: To kill someone and then attack their heart, huh!]

“This move is a mental assault—they’re forced to accept it with a smile.”

······

One minute later, in the expert team’s office, the two female officers entered carrying the banner.

The experts turned their heads in surprise.

The moment Su Chen stepped in, his eyes immediately caught Duan Yu sitting at the computer, furiously coding to hack through the information firewall.