Chapter 590 - 491: A Classic "Mistress Takes Over" Plot

Chapter 590: Chapter 491: A Classic "Mistress Takes Over" Plot

It was almost midnight when Yang Zeran hurried over with Celestial Skill.

When they found Shen Xin, he was standing where the suspect had turned right and doubled back, looking around.

Colleagues from the New District Branch had already begun their canvass.

Shen Xin’s gaze swept over the shops, one by one.

Most of them were restaurants.

Malatang, beef and vermicelli soup... and of course, Sha County International Hotel and Lanzhou Noodles were present and accounted for.

This was an inner street, so the storefronts were in a poorer location. They were all common, home-style restaurants.

However, at nearly two in the morning, these restaurants would have already been closed.

There was also a children’s playground, clothing stores, and the like—all shops commonly found in this type of residential commercial area.

But again, at two in the morning, they should have been closed.

The only place that was definitely open was likely the Meiyijia Convenience Store about ten meters away.

It was open 24 hours.

That Gold Medal BBQ not far away was probably also open at two.

Both of these places were high-priority targets for the canvass.

"Come on, let’s go see the scene," Yang Zeran said as he arrived, tugging on Shen Xin’s arm.

Shen Xin told him to go by himself.

The scene was a complete mess, utterly torched and then blasted with high-pressure water hoses. There was nothing useful to see.

They would only find something, if anything, after every item at the scene had been cataloged.

Shen Xin held onto Celestial Skill, having her re-trace the suspect’s route.

Inside the server rack, Celestial Skill successfully identified the suspect’s scent.

In the third stage, Shen Xin could see what Celestial Skill was thinking.

Shen Xin had seen these kinds of images before, back in Dian Nan.

In these images, scents became tangible.

In Celestial Skill’s world, these scents were like shimmering ribbons of silk, radiating outward and pointing the way.

And as the images appeared, he could also hear her inner voice, like a narrator explaining her thoughts.

Celestial Skill left the surveillance room and paused at the intersection with the small path.

In the vision, he could see two different scent trails.

Shen Xin pointed to the planter.

They reached the planter.

Shen Xin could clearly see that near the planter, the scent trail formed something of a nexus, covering a large area.

The reason he’d had Yang Zeran bring Celestial Skill over was to use the scope of these scent trails to determine how long the target had lingered in this spot.

Shen Xin could even determine that the person had been sitting down.

If someone was standing, their scent would radiate outward steadily.

But by sitting on the planter, their rear would leave a heavy concentration of scent behind.

He could confirm this from the way the scent had dispersed.

So, it was obvious that this planter was the suspect’s observation post for the surveillance room.

All the residents had been evacuated at the time. Maybe someone had noticed the suspect.

Perhaps an old man or woman had even sat down next to him, and being a chatterbox, struck up a conversation with the suspect?

The planter was now cordoned off with police tape, and several technicians were searching it inch by inch for any suspicious physical evidence.

Having seen what he needed to, Shen Xin continued the search with Celestial Skill.

They went upstairs and came out of the 14th-floor stairwell.

Celestial Skill hesitated as well, looking to her left.

In the vision in his mind, Shen Xin clearly saw two scent trails splitting off, one to the left and one to the right.

Shen Xin led Celestial Skill to the door of Unit 7.

The scent trail stopped here.

Moreover, Shen Xin noticed the scent trail here wasn’t very strong.

This meant the suspect hadn’t hidden near Unit 7 for long to spy on Li Siyu’s room.

After a moment of thought, Shen Xin figured that this detail had a reasonable explanation if they were pursuing the burglary theory.

Namely, the suspect had only come over to glance at the mark left by an accomplice to confirm the target’s identity.

Suppressing his doubts, Shen Xin took Celestial Skill to follow the other trail.

Her abilities were similar to Odin’s.

So the route she tracked was identical, just as before: out the small door, a right turn, then doubling back.

And at the spot where the suspect had doubled back, Shen Xin saw a fairly strong concentration of scent.

That meant the suspect had lingered in this spot for some time.

He hadn’t taken a wrong turn; he had come here deliberately.

’So why come over here?’

Shen Xin’s gaze swept across the storefronts, a seed of doubt planted in his mind.

This was someone who had just killed a person, started a fire, and risked being discovered to steal the recording device.

At a time like this, instead of making a quick getaway, he took a bizarre detour to this area.

This behavior was too abnormal.

The trail led to the parking lot.

Compared to what Odin had provided, Shen Xin was getting much more information.

This was an open area, so the scent had dispersed significantly.

As a result, the scent trail Shen Xin saw was very faint. Most importantly, it ended at the dividing planter.

This meant the suspect hadn’t crossed the planter to the sidewalk to leave on an electric scooter.

He had driven away.

This, too, was an important discovery.

Shen Xin looked toward the parking lot exit not far away.

This was the only entrance and exit for the parking lot on the south side.

Unfortunately, it used a fully automatic barrier arm; there was no guard booth or security on duty.

But that was enough.

The fire was reported at 1:37, which means the person stole the recording device and left at around two o’clock.

He stole the surveillance recorder, but he couldn’t have stolen the parking lot’s entry and exit records.

He had asked earlier; the gate system at Orange Apartment was completely managed by an outside vendor.

In other words, the vendor provided the equipment and also an all-in-one package of management software, payment processing, and cloud data storage.

A lot of places operated like that these days.

For the client, the all-in-one service was convenient and hassle-free.

And the vendor could make more money, too. After you scanned the QR code to pay, a couple of ads would even pop up.

Therefore, all vehicle entry and exit records should be on the vendor’s cloud server. The suspect couldn’t have stolen that data.

’In that case, this case is pretty much solved,’ he thought. ’Just check all the cars that left around two in the morning, and we’re guaranteed to find the suspect.’

Just as he was thinking this, Yang Zeran walked over.

He had already seen the crime scene and had gotten all the known information from Zhao Tianxing.

Shen Xin shot him a look, asking what he thought.

Yang Zeran didn’t hold back. His face showed no sign of worry as he said in a relaxed tone, "Shen Xin, this case isn’t complicated."

He and Shen Xin were on the same page.

He pointed to a nearby parking space. "Think about it. Didn’t you use the police dog to confirm the suspect’s escape route?"

"Since he came over to this area, he most likely drove. We’ll check the parking lot’s entry and exit records for around two in the morning, go through them one by one, and we’ll definitely be able to pin him down."

"Also, you guys found the burglar’s mark and deduced that a burglary escalated into murder. I think it’s possible, but not very likely."

Nearby, Zhao Tianxing cut in to ask why.

Yang Zeran crossed his arms. "Think about it. If a burglar can remain calm enough to sanitize a scene and figure out how to steal the recording device after committing a murder, I don’t think he’d be impulsive enough to kill in the first place."

"A few years for theft versus how many for murder? The burglar’s not an idiot. You think he can’t tell the difference?"

"Of course, it’s not absolute. What if he was overcome with lust? That’s also possible. So that’s one avenue we can investigate."

"But I think the most likely scenario is that it was an inside job, committed by an acquaintance."

He continued as he walked back with Shen Xin, "The fire started at one-thirty in the morning, which means Li Siyu couldn’t have been killed much earlier. I’d estimate it was between midnight and one."

"At that hour, with no signs of the lock being picked, it means Li Siyu opened the door herself."

"Given her age and status, and with her colleagues saying she wasn’t dating anyone, I’ll make a bold guess. There are two possibilities."

"One: she was secretly involved with a married man and was trying to force him to leave his wife for her. The man got agitated and killed her."

"Or, the guy was her top patron. Same situation: she was the other woman, trying to get him to leave his partner, and the top patron, seeing no other way out, killed her in a moment of agitation."

"And think about it, she was only in her underwear when she died. That’s a clear sign she was having a tryst."

"They finish their business in bed, and then she tells him she’s pregnant, trying to force him to divorce his wife and marry her. He refuses, they argue, and in a moment of panic, afraid of everything coming to light, he strangles Li Siyu."

"Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?"

Beside them, Zhao Tianxing nodded incessantly.

This deduction was so logical it was almost a given.

Cases like this popped up every year.

Shen Xin nodded too.

It wasn’t surprising that Yang Zeran had come to such a conclusion.

To be honest, ever since returning to Nanjiang and getting the details of the case, Shen Xin had considered the same possibility.

After a moment of contemplation, Shen Xin said, "Lao Yang, any criminal detective could make that call. Can’t you think outside the box for a change? Come up with something a bit more outlandish, more challenging?"

’This case really is a bit strange. If it was a burglary that escalated into murder, the suspect’s response was far too calm. And that business of exiting the small door and turning right... it’s really abnormal, illogical. That’s the part that bothers me the most.’

Yang Zeran said, "Shen Xin, you’ve just solved too many bizarre cases. You always make things more complicated than they are."

Take the Grand Avenue Gold Case you solved, or the Dolphin Case at the Oceanarium.

Weren’t they all convoluted, bizarre, and utterly mind-boggling?

"But cases like that are the minority. Most cases are just this simple."

"We just need to investigate Li Siyu’s social circle. If it was an acquaintance, a lover, they must have been together for a while, right?"

"Sending flowers, going out for dinner on holidays, getting a hotel room... I refuse to believe they didn’t leave a single trace."

"And her top patron—never mind the streaming platform itself, their company manages streamers. They have to keep a record of the revenue, right?"

"There will be records of who donated the most. It’ll be easy to check."

"This guy stealing the recorder made things harder for us, sure, but it’s ultimately pointless. Anyway, I think we’ll be able to lock onto him very soon." ℯℯ𝑙.

"The only real problem is that he started this fire and destroyed a lot of evidence. Figuring out how to convict him in the end—that’s the hardest part."

Yang Zeran shot him a solemn look.

Shen Xin remained silent.

Indeed. Compared to just identifying the suspect, figuring out how to convict him was also a huge problem.

That fire had burned everything clean away.

As the three of them were talking, someone called out in the distance.

They met up with Zhang Hancheng and the others, and he called for everyone to return to the branch office.

"We have a suspect," Liu Baoqing said, his expression jubilant.

’That was fast,’ Shen Xin thought, quickly getting into the car.