Could This Be Coincidence

The social circles of the two deceased had no overlap, indicating that even if both deaths were homicides, they couldn't have been killed by the same person. Their deaths appeared to be completely unrelated.

Neither surveillance footage showed any signs of tampering... Could this mean both victims really did commit suicide, and Han Fei was being overly suspicious?

Han Fei was starting to feel confused.

His instincts told him these weren't simple suicide cases.

Yet all evidence suggested that both victims had indeed taken their own lives.

The surveillance footage was the most direct evidence.

For a long period before and after both victims went to the roof, the cameras didn't record anyone else entering the rooftop area, and the footage hadn't been tampered with. This was quite telling.

Han Fei scratched his head and looked at Xu Mo.

"What do you think?"

This can't be suicide, it must be murder, otherwise it doesn't make sense - I have Conan's intuition after all... Xu Mo pondered: "I still feel these are homicides, but the evidence we have isn't enough to prove this theory."

Han Fei nodded.

"I also think these are murders, especially the first victim - how could he kill himself over losing a few hundred thousand in stocks? That amount wasn't even significant to him."

The problem was that all current evidence indicated both deaths were suicides.

Without sufficient evidence to prove they were murdered, Xu Mo and Han Fei's theories could only remain unsubstantiated speculation.

Han Fei was a veteran detective with reliable instincts that rarely failed him.

Xu Mo possessed Conan's intuition - cases he encountered were never as simple as ordinary suicides.

Logically, when two such individuals agreed on something, it should turn out exactly as they suspected.

Yet they couldn't find any evidence to support their theory.

While skepticism is necessary in investigations, suspicion without a shred of evidence leads nowhere.

If they couldn't even find evidence proving these deaths were homicides, the case would certainly hit a dead end.

At this point, Han Fei faced two choices: either stubbornly continue investigating to somehow prove these were homicides, or simply give up and declare them suicides.

After reviewing every detail of these two suicide cases over and over in his mind,

Han Fei still couldn't find any evidence proving the victims were murdered.

He began to doubt his instincts, wondering if they had failed him.

Could it be that handling too many cases too frequently had left him with some investigative trauma... making him automatically view even suicide cases through the lens of serial killings?

Han Fei found himself caught in a dilemma.

He was contemplating whether to declare both deaths as suicides.

However, at that moment, the police station's operator received another emergency call.

A witness claimed to have personally seen someone jump to their death.

...

In the office.

"Another suicide?" Han Fei was startled upon hearing the news.

"Yes, I just received the report. The caller said they witnessed someone jump from a building. The location is the Guojin Building," the operator replied.

Another jumping suicide?

Previously, Han Fei had been wondering if his instincts were wrong and he was overthinking things.

But now, he had no more doubts.

Three suicides in less than twenty-four hours, all jumpers?

Could this still be coincidence?

Impossible, absolutely impossible - how could there be such a coincidence!

When things seem unusual, there must be something sinister at play.

Now, Han Fei was more convinced than ever of his earlier suspicion - these weren't ordinary suicides!

He immediately gathered his officers to investigate the scene.

...

At the Guojin Building.

"The deceased is around twenty years old, death occurred less than half an hour ago. Initial assessment indicates death by falling, no other wounds on the body, and no signs of physical conflict before death," Xu Mo briefly examined the body.

This time, the jumper was female.

Like the previous two victims, she landed head-first and died instantly from the impact.

"Why is it the same pattern again?" Wang Dachuan muttered, "I'm starting to think these aren't simple suicides either..."

Previously, only Han Fei had firmly believed the deaths were homicides, not suicides.

Other officers had been skeptical of this theory.

But with three such incidents occurring within twenty-four hours, the other officers were also beginning to sense something suspicious.

Since when had the suicide rate become so high?

And all by jumping from buildings!

In this jurisdiction, jumping suicides were rare - they might not even see one case in several months or even a year.

Now they were clustering together - this was highly unusual!

"It's daytime now, there must be witnesses," Han Fei turned to Wang Dachuan: "Go ask if anyone in the crowd witnessed the entire jumping process, and bring them to me for questioning."

The previous two suicide incidents occurred at night, with no witnesses.

The police were only notified after the bodies were discovered.

But this time was different.

The victim jumped during the day.

This was a busy area with constant foot traffic - there should be witnesses.

Soon, Wang Dachuan brought someone who claimed to be a witness to Han Fei.

"Chief Han, this person says he's a witness who saw the whole thing."

Hearing this, Han Fei turned to look at the man brought by Wang Dachuan.

"You saw when the victim jumped?"

"Yes." The man glanced nervously at the body covered by a white sheet nearby, swallowing hard, his face pale as if traumatized by what he'd witnessed. "I... I saw her jump from up there with my own eyes."

"Could you tell if she jumped on her own or was pushed? Was anyone else with her at the time?"

The man thought for a moment, then replied shakily.

"I... I'm not sure. It happened too fast, and the building is quite tall - couldn't see the roof clearly. I just remember randomly looking up and seeing a small blur on the roof that looked like a person. Then this person came down and landed less than twenty meters in front of me, blood everywhere... After that, I called the police."

Han Fei looked up at the roof.

Indeed, as the man said, it was hard to see clearly from below.

Firstly, the distance was too great, and secondly, they were looking against the light.

Questioning witnesses probably wouldn't yield much useful information.

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation," Han Fei said to the man.

Then he turned to Wang Dachuan.

"You stay down here and keep watch. I'll take a few people up to check things out."

In the previous two suicide cases, the rooftops had been washed clean by last night's rain and wind, leaving no useful clues.

But this time was different - last night's rain had stopped by midnight.

This time, while hair might still be blown away by the wind, fingerprints and footprints would surely remain!

Perhaps this time they could find some useful clues...