“Yes, there can't be that many coincidences. The person Xu Mo drew must be the victim. Let's start the investigation from her.”
Relying on Xu Mo's portrait, the police officers identified the victim's identity and then directly began their investigation based on the information they found.
Although the victim had been murdered ten years ago, with the incident having occurred a decade ago, the investigation was challenging due to its age. However, for the officers who had previously been like headless flies, being able to confirm the victim's identity was already very encouraging.
Before Xu Mo arrived, they couldn't even determine the victim's identity. Even if they wanted to investigate, they had no starting point, not knowing where to begin.
Now that they could confirm the victim's identity, it at least gave the officers a direction for their investigation. For a moment, the officers were invigorated, launching into a brainstorming session.
“The forensic report indicates that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, possibly a case of revenge.”
“And it was a clean, single blow, suggesting the killer should be an adult male. A woman's strength wouldn't be that great. I think we should start by investigating the victim's social relationships to see if she had any male enemies.”
“It doesn't have to be an enemy. At the very least, the victim didn't consider the killer her enemy. Think about it, the victim was from the neighboring city. Who would travel from their own city to the neighboring one just to kill someone they had a grudge against? It doesn't make sense.”
“Yes, that's what I think too. I believe there was some ambiguous relationship between the victim and the killer. They were likely a couple, a couple that had a dispute!”
“The burial site was at the Police University, indicating that the university might very well be the crime scene. The killer murdered the victim and buried her on the spot.”
“The victim was twenty years old at the time. Her boyfriend should have been in the same age group. Twenty years old is when people typically attend university, which aligns with the crime scene. Could the killer be a student at the Police University?”
“……”
After a round of brainstorming, the officers had some preliminary assumptions about the case.
The suspect was likely a student at the Police University and had a romantic relationship with the victim. The two might have had a dispute, leading the killer to lose control and accidentally kill the victim, then burying her in the small woods near the university's playground.
These assumptions had narrowed the suspect pool considerably.
With these preliminary ideas, Li Yunfei planned to take the officers to verify these assumptions.
“Let's visit the victim's relatives and friends to see if we can get any useful clues.”
Ten years had passed since the incident, and surveillance footage, crime scene traces, and the like were long gone. To uncover the truth, they could only conduct visits and investigate the victim's friends or relatives.
The higher-ups had instructed that the case must be solved within seven days. It was already the fourth day, leaving only three days until the deadline. The progress of the investigation had to be accelerated; otherwise, they might not be able to complete the task assigned by the higher-ups.
The officers were aware of this, so after Li Yunfei suggested visiting the victim's friends and relatives, everyone prepared to set off.
Since the victim was from the neighboring city, they would need to travel there for any visits or investigations.
Without delay, after a brief preparation, they set off.
Xu Mo and Chen Ke, who had come to the police station to help with the case, also accompanied the officers to the neighboring city.
Zhang Sitong also wanted to join them, but unsurprisingly, she was refused by the officers.
Although Zhang Sitong was a student at the Police University and had some capabilities, she was, after all, a student. Going along might not be of much help and could even cause trouble.
Moreover, she was Chief Zhang's precious daughter. Without Chief Zhang's permission, who would dare to take her along for an investigation? They would surely be scolded by Chief Zhang afterward!
……
In the office.
“Dad, it seems like there's some progress in our school's case. They're investigating it.” Zhang Sitong sat on the sofa, looking at Chief Zhang.
Chief Zhang nodded. “I know. Officer Li reported to me. They went to the neighboring city. By the way, why have you been coming to my office so often these past few days instead of staying at school?”
“I'm just concerned about the progress of the case. After all, it's a case that happened at our school. Can't I pay attention to it?”
Chief Zhang looked helpless.
“Instead of worrying about these things, you might as well worry about yourself. Have you thought about what I said the other day? The young man I plan to introduce to you is really outstanding...”
Outstanding? Could he be more outstanding than Xu Mo? Zhang Sitong thought. She had no interest in the boy her father wanted to introduce to her, her mind filled with the scene of Xu Mo meticulously reconstructing the victim's appearance from the skull. She was only interested in Xu Mo now.
Xu Mo's looks were already very high, capable of outshining many young stars in the entertainment industry. Which girl wouldn't like a handsome guy?
Moreover, Xu Mo wasn't just good-looking; he had real skills.
He understood hacking, could pick locks, fly planes, and do disguises, among other things.
And Zhang Sitong had just witnessed his bone-to-skin reconstruction technique... Too amazing! Only a few people in the country could achieve such a feat of recreating the victim's appearance from a skull!
“Dad, stop worrying about introducing me to someone. I really have no interest.”
“You haven't even met him yet. How do you know you're not interested?”
“I just know. In fact, I... I already have someone I like. He's also very outstanding, the most outstanding person I've ever met.” To stop her father from constantly bringing up the matter, Zhang Sitong simply stated that she already had someone she liked.
Upon hearing this, Chief Zhang was stunned and asked instinctively, “Who?”
The most outstanding person... Who? Could he be more outstanding than Xu Mo? Chief Zhang expressed disbelief.
He even wondered if his daughter had been fed some kind of love potion!
“You know him. He was just at the police station.”
Chief Zhang: “???”
What? The person his daughter liked was at the police station? Could it be one of the officers under his command?
Thinking of this, Chief Zhang's face darkened.
He was familiar with his officers; they were all sly and none of them were up to his standards.
To put it bluntly, none of those little rascals were worthy of his daughter!
Chief Zhang rejected the idea almost immediately. “No! I oppose it.”
“I absolutely oppose it. You actually like... Ah, what a misfortune! This matter is off the table!”
No, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got! Who dared to charm his daughter? Chief Zhang couldn't help but ask.
“Who is it? Which little rascal is trying to woo you? Tell me, I must teach him a lesson!”