The Second Death

"Captain Wang, Captain Han, come take a look at this," the officer called out to Han Fei and Captain Wang.

"Based on all the criteria we've checked, the most likely match is this woman - Cheng Xue, 23 years old. Her parents reported her missing over two weeks ago. According to them, Cheng Xue had already been missing for three days at that point. So altogether, Cheng Xue has been missing for about three weeks, which lines up closely with the time of death estimated by the forensic team."

"Go check with forensics to see if there are any personal effects on the body. Collect those items and have Cheng Xue's parents come in to identify them. If they confirm it's her, we'll investigate based on Cheng Xue's identity," Captain Wang instructed.

His greatest fear was being unable to identify the nameless female corpse. Without an identity, they wouldn't even know where to begin their investigation.

"Yes, sir!"

...

Half an hour later.

Cheng Xue's parents arrived at the police station.

Led by an officer, they examined the personal effects found on the body.

"Yes, yes, that's it! This is my daughter's bag, and this phone is hers too. I recognize it!"

"Officers, have you found our daughter? Where is she?"

The two policemen exchanged a glance and sighed.

In the gentlest manner possible, they informed the elderly couple that their daughter had been murdered, assuring them they would bring the killer to justice and give them closure.

However, upon hearing this devastating news, Cheng Xue's parents broke down immediately.

One officer stayed behind to comfort the couple.

The other officer left to report this lead to Captain Wang and Han Fei.

"Captain Wang, Captain Han, the identification is complete. Cheng Xue's parents confirmed those personal effects belonged to her. We can now confirm the identity of the Jane Doe - it's Cheng Xue, who was reported missing recently."

Captain Wang nodded, "Look into Cheng Xue's social connections."

Now that the victim's identity was confirmed, they could proceed with the investigation.

The officers worked quickly.

In no time, they had compiled a comprehensive list of all of Cheng Xue's social connections.

Colleagues, friends, classmates, neighbors, and so on.

In the conference room.

A group of officers sat watching a projection displaying all the people connected to Cheng Xue.

After a joint analysis, Captain Wang began assigning tasks.

"Captain Han, take a few people to interview Cheng Xue's colleagues and friends."

"A few more come with me, we'll contact Cheng Xue's university classmates and visit her neighbors."

"The rest stay at the station to review surveillance footage. See who Cheng Xue met, what she did, and where she went before she disappeared."

The police's first theory was revenge killing.

After all, most killers have reasons and motives, often to vent their frustrations.

Of course, they didn't rule out other possibilities besides revenge.

That's why Captain Wang left some officers at the station to check surveillance footage that captured Cheng Xue on the day she disappeared.

After briefly allocating tasks, everyone sprang into action.

...

Han Fei's team decided to start by finding Cheng Xue's best friend.

Girls usually share everything with their best friends.

If Cheng Xue had any enemies, or if she had recently offended someone, her best friend would likely know.

They couldn't reach her by phone.

So they had to go to Cheng Xue's best friend's home to find her.

However, as soon as they arrived at the door, everyone's expressions changed.

Even through the door, they could smell a faint odor of decay wafting from the cracks.

"It's the smell of a corpse," Xu Mo spoke up.

He had smelled something similar not long ago.

It would be strange if he couldn't recognize it now.

The next second, Chen Ke raised his leg and kicked the door hard.

The homeowner was already dead, so there was no way she could open the door for them.

If they wanted to enter, they'd have to do it themselves.

One kick wasn't enough, so Chen Ke kicked several more times.

Finally, they managed to force the door open.

A strong, putrid smell hit them in the face.

The rookie officers who had come with Han Fei couldn't handle it and turned to vomit in the hallway.

This smell was even more pungent than the corpse they had found in the mountains earlier.

After all, the situations were different. The mountains were an open space, while this was an enclosed room where the odor couldn't dissipate.

It was normal for the smell to be more concentrated over time.

Han Fei fought back his nausea and didn't throw up. He took out his phone and called Captain Wang.

"Captain Wang, we have a lead. Cheng Xue's best friend might be dead in her home. There's a corpse smell inside. I didn't bring shoe covers or gloves, so I didn't dare go in for fear of contaminating the scene. I'll send you the address. Please come with the forensics team."

Unlike the mountains, it was different here.

In the mountains, fingerprints and footprints could easily disappear - the next rainfall could wash away everything.

Not to mention the small animals in the mountains that could disturb any traces.

But it was different indoors.

There was no rain here, and no small animals.

There might be usable clues in this room.

Upon hearing this news, Captain Wang immediately set aside what he was doing and quickly notified the forensics team to rush to the address Han Fei had sent.

...

The forensics team, equipped with shoe covers and gloves, entered the room to collect all fingerprints, hair, footprints, and other evidence.

While the forensics team was working, the other officers also put on shoe covers and gloves to enter the room.

The source of the putrid smell was in the bathroom.

The victim was kneeling in front of a bathtub full of water, with her entire head submerged.

The cause of death appeared to be drowning - someone had forcibly held her head underwater until she died.

It was clearly another homicide.

"Cheng Xue's best friend is dead too. It feels more like revenge killings now. The person who killed them both must be a mutual friend. Maybe they both offended this killer, so they were both murdered," one officer analyzed.

Following this line of reasoning, if the killer was a mutual friend, it would significantly narrow down the list of suspects.

The police would only need to focus their investigation on the two victims' mutual friends to find the killer.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a mutual friend," another officer objected. "It's possible that when the killer was murdering one of them, the other discovered it. So the killer had no choice but to silence the other person too. The killer might only have known one of the two victims and killed the other just to prevent the truth from coming out."

"..."

Xu Mo didn't participate in the officers' discussion.

When it came to solving cases, he had no experience and was indeed a rookie.

So he simply kept quiet.

However, Xu Mo was looking for other clues.

Thanks to his excellent eyesight and his meticulous examination of the scene,

Xu Mo actually discovered something that even the forensics team hadn't noticed - a very short hair hidden in the gaps between the tiles.

This was the primary crime scene, and hair found here could potentially be linked to the killer.

"There's a hair here. It looks like it might be from a man. I'm not sure if it belongs to the killer," Xu Mo said as he bent down to pick up the short hair.