Chapter 585 - 487: Strange Behavioral Logic

Chapter 585: Chapter 487: Strange Behavioral Logic

The incident came out of nowhere, so Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei immediately rushed back.

They entrusted the stray dogs they had gathered in Ningshan to Meng Fuqiang, asking him to transport them back to Nanjiang.

"Slow down a bit."

Seeing Shen Xin’s speed had shot up to 140, Ding Yuwei felt the need to say something.

She wasn’t idle, either. She used the time on the road to scroll through Li Siyu’s social media.

In today’s digital world, social media is a key way to learn about someone.

But looking through Li Siyu’s social media, from her short-video account to her Weibo, made her frown.

"It feels like it’s all been carefully curated."

Ding Yuwei scrolled down, post after post.

All kinds of gorgeous photos that were clearly professionally taken.

Every now and then, she’d post something special for her fans.

After reading through all of her posts and the comments, Ding Yuwei had formed a mental image of a beautiful woman living a comfortable, high-quality, and exquisite life.

But it was so exquisite that it didn’t feel real at all.

It was impossible to get a sense of what her real life was like.

As he overtook another car, Shen Xin said, "I didn’t ask Captain Liu for specifics. I just heard him say the body was found on the bed. I think this sounds more like a premeditated murder."

Most homicides these days are committed by someone the victim knows.

And a large percentage of those are crimes of passion.

But if it were a crime of passion, setting fire to the scene afterward makes sense... but moving the body back onto the bed seems like an unnecessary step.

Ding Yuwei thought for a moment. "Not necessarily. The bed could have been the primary crime scene. Plus, beds have a lot of flammable materials, which would make it easier to burn the body."

Shen Xin nodded in agreement. That was a good point.

Ding Yuwei added, "Alright, we don’t know the specifics of the case yet. Don’t overthink it."

A little over two hours later, the pair arrived at the New District Branch.

Doniya was already finished with her statement and had been released.

She was resting by the flower bed near the entrance, with Zhao Tianxing at her side.

She must have been brought in during the early hours of the morning, as she was still wearing slippers.

When she saw Shen Xin, she quickly stood up and rushed over. She threw her arms around Ding Yuwei, her eyes instantly turning red again as she choked out, "Yuwei, how could Sister Siyu be dead? Who could have done this?"

Ding Yuwei quickly pulled her in and tried to comfort her.

Shen Xin walked over to Zhao Tianxing. "What’s the situation?"

Zhao Tianxing said, "Captain Liu and the others just confirmed Doniya’s alibi. They’ve sorted out the main details, so they let her go home. Don’t worry, she’s in the clear."

He glanced at Doniya and sighed. "She’s just shaken up. And... we were just talking about that girl a couple of days ago. How could she suddenly be dead?"

’Who knows,’ Shen Xin thought.

Just as he was about to speak, a car pulled into the branch’s lot.

One look told him the lead car was Zhang Hancheng’s.

He spotted Shen Xin as well and waved in his direction after getting out.

Shen Xin went over to greet him.

"What are you doing here?" Zhang Hancheng asked, glancing over at Doniya.

Shen Xin explained the situation.

He added that Doniya was the girl from the grasslands he had met in Suihar.

Zhang Hancheng knew about what had happened on the grasslands. "Oh, it’s her," he said, the realization dawning on him. "So, is she done with questioning?"

Shen Xin nodded.

Zhang Hancheng said, "In that case, have someone take her home. She looks frightened. You two should comfort her."

He had noticed Doniya was still in tears.

Seeing Shen Xin about to leave, he stopped him. "Have Yuwei take care of her. You’re with me."

He had come to supervise the investigation.

After all, Shen Xin had been transferred to the Municipal Bureau not just for his numerous commendations and the desire to form a cold case unit, but also because of his exceptional investigative skills and his track record of cracking major cases.

So when the need arose, Shen Xin could be called in to take the lead.

Why else would the Cold Case Office be placed directly under the Criminal Investigation Detachment?

As for the conflict of interest rule, the victim had no connection to Shen Xin, so it wasn’t an issue.

This was exactly what Shen Xin wanted.

After all, his dream had always been to solve crimes.

Shen Xin jogged back and said a few words to Doniya.

"Doniya, try not to worry. Go home and get some rest. We’ll handle everything."

He had just said those same words to her two days ago.

Doniya nodded. Her emotions had stabilized considerably, though she was still reeling from the shock and disbelief. Finally, she said, "Shen Xin, if I remember anything, I’ll let you know."

Shen Xin agreed and shot a look at Ding Yuwei.

Ding Yuwei understood. She took the car keys and left with Doniya.

Shen Xin waved to Zhao Tianxing and headed into the station.

As he entered the main office of the branch, the first to greet him was none other than Odin.

And his wife, Frigga.

Odin clearly remembered Shen Xin, trotting over affectionately and wagging his tail.

"Xiaoshen, it’s been a while. What have you been up to?" Liu Baoqing came over, greeting Shen Xin with a broad smile.

Cui Xuesong, Ma Chunxin, and Zhong Yu were there too.

Deputy Director Shao Jingming, and the branch’s chief medical examiner, Wang Xiao Jin.

There were many others as well, most of whom he knew from the reservoir case.

There wasn’t much time for pleasantries; they got straight to the point.

Zhang Hancheng’s expression was grave. "Director Shao, we have no choice. Director Zhao has given the order—we’re on a deadline."

To Shen Xin’s surprise, they were forming a special task force for this case.

Typically, a special task force is only formed for major cases involving two or more deaths.

This time, however, it was mainly because the case had been deemed particularly heinous.

It was murder, and arson.

And it had happened in a densely populated apartment building.

In the middle of the night, no less.

After the fire was discovered, the entire building had to be evacuated. In the ensuing panic, some residents sprained their ankles, and others suffered from smoke inhalation.

If the fire had spread and caused more casualties, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

That’s why the case was considered so heinous. The municipal government had even called to ask about the progress.

Under these circumstances, a deadline to solve the case was unavoidable. They had to give the public some answers.

Shao Jingming sighed softly, indicating he understood.

It would be the usual arrangement: Kong Lingzhi as team leader, Zhang Hancheng as deputy, with the branch’s Criminal Investigation Division taking the lead on the actual investigation.

Zhang Hancheng said, "Let’s head straight to the crime scene."

The first and most basic step was to examine the scene.

Liu Baoqing left his deputy captain, Cui Xuesong, behind to handle the questioning of other individuals.

As mentioned earlier, it wasn’t just Doniya who had been brought in; Li Siyu’s boss and colleagues had also been summoned for questioning.

When it was time to leave, Shen Xin made sure to get in the same car as Zhang Hancheng and Liu Baoqing.

On the way, a tense Captain Liu briefed them on the situation.

"The victim had a wooden bed, probably not the best quality material. With the mattress and blankets, plus the fact that the suspect intentionally piled a bunch of clothes on it, the fire was intense."

"The fire department took a look and analyzed that the suspect likely poured cooking oil on the bed as well, and deliberately piled flammable materials together. That’s why the fire ended up being so severe."

"It’s a good thing it was an apartment with no gas line. If there had been natural gas, I think the whole place could have exploded."

Captain Liu shuddered just thinking about it.

The suspect was so focused on destroying evidence that they completely disregarded the consequences.

If this had been in a residential complex and the gas line had exploded, who knows how many people would have been done for.

Zhang Hancheng nodded and asked a key question: could they confirm if the victim was already dead before the fire started?

"Yes."

Liu Baoqing nodded. "The body’s been brought back. Old Wang examined it. Fractured hyoid bone, and her respiratory tract is clean. We can basically confirm she was burned post-mortem."

"The wounds on the body still need further examination, but the preliminary assessment is death by strangulation."

"The suspect laid the body flat on the bed, arranged a circle of clothing around it, and even opened the bedroom window."

"I asked the fire department about it. They said an arrangement like that acts like an oven, creating high enough temperatures for complete combustion."

"But there’s an upside for us: we can confirm the victim wasn’t wearing much clothing at the time of death."

"Her slippers were by the head of the bed, and she was likely wearing some kind of sheer lingerie. It’s been burned to ash and fused with her body tissue."

"So based on the scene, it looks like the victim and a lover were about to get intimate when a conflict broke out. A crime of passion—he strangled her, then set the fire to destroy any evidence."

Shen Xin cut in to ask if there was anything unusual in other areas of the apartment, or if they could confirm the bed was the primary crime scene.

Liu Baoqing pursed his lips and shook his head. "Hard to say. The main issue is that the victim’s apartment was a one-bedroom, one-living room unit with a kitchen and a bathroom, about 68 square meters."

"Aside from the kitchen and bathroom, the rest of the unit has continuous wood flooring, so the fire damage is severe. For now, we can’t confirm if the bed was the primary crime scene."

He then continued with more details.

As he listened, Shen Xin realized there was something else unusual about this case.

First, the door was locked when first responders arrived; the firefighters had to force it open.

Second, and this was crucial, someone had broken into the building’s security office and stolen the DVR that stored the surveillance footage.

This was a critical detail.

Captain Liu and his team speculated that the suspect had slipped into the security room while the building staff were busy evacuating residents.

When the fire was discovered in the early hours, the entire property management staff was mobilized, going door-to-door to help evacuate residents.

The security guard who was supposed to be watching the monitors also went out to help.

Captain Liu had questioned him. In the panic, the guard couldn’t remember if he had locked the door to the security office. He remembered pulling it shut as he left, but whether he actually locked it, he’d forgotten.

That window of time was likely the only opportunity the suspect had to slip into the security room and steal the DVR.

This suggested the killer was acting with a great deal of calm.

In a typical crime of passion, the killer would be panicking, focused only on getting away as fast as possible. If they even managed to grab a cloth to quickly wipe things down, that would be extraordinary.

But this killer... not only did they think to burn the scene, but they also carefully arranged it. Just as Captain Liu described, they placed a circle of clothes around the body and added cooking oil to ensure complete combustion.

And instead of fleeing, they waited for the fire to spread, then went to the security room and seized the opportunity to steal the recorder.

That was an incredibly risky move.

What if someone had seen and remembered them?

What if the security guard hadn’t left the office to help?

What would they have done then? Attacked the guard?

Creating a second crime scene would only leave more evidence behind.

Shen Xin felt the killer’s actions were far too rational. It wasn’t the mindset of someone who’d just committed a crime of passion.

It pointed more toward premeditated murder.

But if it was premeditated, why resort to burning the scene?

With premeditation, the suspect should have had plenty of time to plan how to dispose of the body and destroy evidence.

Arson is the crudest method, a last resort used only in the most urgent of situations.

Shen Xin found the killer’s logic to be bizarre.