Chapter 116 - 114: A New Wooden Bead Appears

Chapter 116: Chapter 114: A New Wooden Bead Appears

By the time Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng arrived at the crime scene, Lin Yue and his team were already surveying the area.

Su Miaoyi hadn’t expected to see Lin Yue.

"The deceased is Ren Mao. We tracked him down through the Galaxy KTV investigation," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi looked at him. "Xu Chuan’s supplier?"

"Yeah," Lin Yue replied. "Galaxy KTV was their regular transaction spot. They had a dedicated private room."

Although they hadn’t caught anyone when they went to Galaxy KTV that day, they did find a lead. Following that lead brought them to Ren Mao.

"As soon as we found Ren Mao’s address, we came right over, but we were still too late," Lin Yue said. "By the time we broke down the door, Ren Mao was already dead in here."

Su Miaoyi looked at the deceased.

Ren Mao was lying on his back on the floor.

His throat had been slit.

A pool of blood had formed beneath his body.

Su Miaoyi crouched down to examine the body.

Lin Yue glanced at her, then went back to his work.

Zhuang Yanzheng also looked around the room.

Su Miaoyi carefully examined the body.

There were no other injuries on his body.

"How is it?" Zhuang Yanzheng came over and asked.

"My preliminary finding is that the cause of death was excessive blood loss from a slit throat. Time of death is between four and six hours ago. There are no other wounds on the body. We’ll need a full autopsy for more details."

After she finished, they both scanned their surroundings.

"No signs of a struggle," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi said, "The killer is highly skilled. It was a single, fatal blow."

"Ren Mao opened the door himself." Zhuang Yanzheng looked at the lock. "No signs of forced entry."

"An acquaintance?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. "Ren Mao probably thought he was safe after leaving the KTV. He likely didn’t expect the police to track him down, so he let his guard down completely. Either that, or the killer is just that good."

’And the time of death was four to six hours ago.’

’The killer knew the police had found Ren Mao.’

’They moved even faster than the police.’

As Zhuang Yanzheng was thinking this, he realized Su Miaoyi hadn’t spoken and turned to look at her.

He found her crouching on the ground, her gaze lowered, completely still.

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t move or speak, just watched her.

Soon, Su Miaoyi raised a hand, as if to touch her own neck.

Zhuang Yanzheng grabbed her wrist.

Su Miaoyi’s breathing was a bit ragged. She looked at him.

"Blood," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the blood on her gloves—Ren Mao’s blood.

Zhuang Yanzheng let her go.

Su Miaoyi swallowed and said, "It was a deliveryman. His face was covered, and he was wearing a hat, so I couldn’t see his features. But he had a horizontal scar on his neck, about five or six centimeters long. It was a suture scar, from eight stitches."

"A deliveryman?" Zhuang Yanzheng named a specific platform.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Then, their eyes met, both thinking of the same person.

Lu Jing, the killer who used cyanide.

He had met with a deliveryman before his arrest.

Someone dressed as a deliveryman had given Lu Jing the wooden beads inscribed with "Qin Leyan."

Su Miaoyi said, "Ren Mao heard a knock, looked through the peephole, and then opened the door a crack, sticking his hand out."

"He thought it was a food delivery?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Yes," Su Miaoyi continued. "Then the person outside suddenly pushed the door open. Ren Mao didn’t have time to react; he was just startled for a moment before the deliveryman raised his hand and slit his throat."

"Ren Mao clutched his neck and stumbled back a few steps. First, he fell and sat hard on the floor, then he collapsed completely."

This also matched the position of the bloodstains on the floor.

"Before Ren Mao closed his eyes for the last time, he saw the deliveryman walk into the inner room," Su Miaoyi said, looking toward that room.

Just then, an officer inside called out, "Captain Lin, we found something over here."

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng quickly got up and went over.

There was a hidden compartment inside the wardrobe.

They found several bags of white powder inside.

Lin Yue took a look. "Heroin."

After looking, he handed it to Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at it.

"Captain Lin, there’s also a bead." The officer then handed Lin Yue a bead. "It was in there with the white powder."

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng looked up.

Lin Yue held it in his hand and looked. "There are characters... Qin... Le..."

He didn’t say the last character, his head snapping up to look at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Lin Yue had never met Qin Leyan. By the time he was transferred to the Municipal Bureau, Qin Leyan was no longer with them.

He only found out about him after Qin Leyan had died in the line of duty.

The Narcotics Division had also participated in that operation.

Zhuang Yanzheng furrowed his brow and took the bead.

He looked at the three characters on it: Qin Leyan.

Then he put it in an evidence bag and casually handed it to Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi caught it instinctively and looked at it through the plastic.

’This bead looks to be about 13mm. The characters don’t look machine-engraved; they seem to be hand-carved.’

’And it’s hand-carved in the Slender Gold style.’

’This was done by a very skilled carver.’

Just as she was thinking this, an image of a pair of hands holding a carving knife flashed before Su Miaoyi’s eyes.

It was a fleeting image.

But for some reason, a chill rose from the bottom of her heart, and she instinctively took a step back.

Just then, Zhuang Yanzheng, who was about to walk out, had come up right behind her.

So she stepped right on his foot and bumped into him.

"Tsk," Zhuang Yanzheng clicked his tongue.

Su Miaoyi quickly took a step forward to put some distance between them, then turned around.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, "You did that on purpose."

He said it with absolute certainty.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "I did."

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

Zhuang Yanzheng was so choked up by her simple "I did" that he couldn’t get another word out and walked straight out of the room.

Su Miaoyi looked at the wooden bead in the evidence bag again and slowly let out a breath.

...

「Back at the Municipal Bureau.」

Su Miaoyi went to review the surveillance footage.

Because right now, she was the only one who had "seen" the killer.

Ren Mao lived in a self-built house with no surveillance cameras.

The next-door neighbor had a camera, but it didn’t capture anything.

So they had no choice but to widen the search area.

They had to check all the street cameras on routes leading to and from Ren Mao’s house.

Afterward, Yan Cheng’s autopsy determined a more precise time of death.

This significantly narrowed down the timeframe they needed to check on the footage.

However, they didn’t find anything on the surveillance footage.

The killer had avoided the cameras.

There was only one spot, a reflection in the glass of a corner building, that showed a figure that looked like a possible match.

But the killer’s face was covered, and more importantly, they had no idea where he went.

They worked on the case late into the evening.

When Zhuang Yanzheng went home, he dropped Su Miaoyi off at Weiyang Palace on the way.

After watching Su Miaoyi enter the residential complex, Zhuang Yanzheng drove home.

He drove into the courtyard, parked in the garage, and entered the living room directly from there.

As soon as he stepped into the living room, he saw Mr. Zhuang and Ms. Yan sitting on the sofa, both staring at him expressionlessly.

"My apologies, wrong house," Zhuang Yanzheng said, turning to leave.

Zhuang Yihao barked, "Stay right there!"

Zhuang Yanzheng stopped in his tracks and turned to face him.

"Come here,"

Zhuang Yihao ordered.

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed and walked over to the sofa to sit down.

Zhuang Yihao glared at him. "Your mother has been waiting all this time for you to get home. And you come back only to turn around and leave?! If you walk out, don’t bother coming back! You’re in your thirties and still living in your parents’ house. What a pathetic sight!"