"You're lying!"
As a police officer, judging whether a suspect is telling the truth based on their expressions is a mandatory skill. Chen Ke, an experienced officer, was well-versed in this art, especially since the woman's lies were glaringly obvious. Not only were her facial expressions telling, but every movement she made indicated she was lying.
When Chen Ke called her out, the woman became even more flustered. Her lips turned pale, and she trembled uncontrollably, "No, no, I'm not lying."
"Your son didn't commit suicide, did he?" Chen Ke continued to observe her expressions as he spoke.
At this, the woman's pupils dilated for a split second. This tiny detail deepened Chen Ke's suspicion. The death of the victim was undoubtedly connected to her.
"How could it not be suicide... he did commit suicide..." The woman's voice was weak, and she avoided eye contact with Chen Ke.
Chen Ke narrowed his eyes and signaled to the officers behind him, "Take her away. If she won't cooperate here, she can explain at the station."
These last words were directed at the woman.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Dachuan stepped forward, produced a pair of handcuffs from his belt, and cuffed the woman, preparing to take her back to the station for questioning.
Before leaving, they took numerous photos to document the scene, aiding future investigations. They also contacted the forensic team and left an officer to guide the forensic experts to the scene and transport the body back to the station for a thorough autopsy.
As the group left the apartment and headed to the parking lot below the residential building, they encountered Han Fei and Xu Mo, who had just arrived.
Xu Mo and Han Fei stepped out of their car, and both parties exchanged glances.
"Captain Han, Captain Xu, what brings you here?" Chen Ke asked instinctively.
"We were just passing by and decided to check it out," Xu Mo replied, his gaze falling on the handcuffed woman. "Is this the suspect?"
He noticed the woman's red, teary eyes.
Any case involving murder is a major investigation, and the severity of a homicide case far outweighs that of a simple suicide. It was understandable why they had come in person.
Han Fei, on the other hand, remained silent but was deep in thought.
He glanced up and down at Chen Ke, thinking to himself, "I knew it. Chen Ke really is a 'jinx.' Every time there's a murder case, he's involved..."
Chen Ke's expression was somewhat uneasy. He couldn't figure out why Han Fei was staring at him like that, so he decided not to dwell on it and instead answered Xu Mo's question, pointing to the handcuffed woman.
"This is the informant, the victim's mother. Based on our initial assessment, we suspect she's the murderer and are taking her back for questioning."
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Fei pointed to the old residential building in front of them, "Lead the way, let's take a look at the crime scene."
Chen Ke was momentarily stunned but then nodded, "Alright."
Apartment 202, Building 3, Taying Community.
Once inside, Xu Mo quickly surveyed the apartment.
It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout, not very large, filled to the brim with various household items, making the space appear cluttered. Despite the clutter, the apartment was spotless, almost unnaturally so. It was clear that someone had meticulously cleaned it.
The shoe rack by the entrance had only a few pairs of men's shoes, all of which were relatively youthful in style. It was easy to deduce that they all belonged to the same person.
Xu Mo turned to the woman, "Is your husband not here?"
"He's been gone for a long time," the woman answered truthfully. "Officers, are you mistaken? How could I... how could I kill my own son?"
Xu Mo ignored her and continued to examine the apartment.
Judging from the layout, the master bedroom belonged to the victim, while the secondary bedroom was where the woman stayed.
Xu Mo found a cigarette butt near the corner of the bed in the secondary bedroom.
"Do you smoke?" Xu Mo picked up the cigarette butt and asked, while also glancing at the woman's index and middle fingers.
The woman instinctively shook her head but then nodded, "Occasionally... I smoke a little when I'm stressed."
Perhaps noticing the woman's tension, Xu Mo smiled, "Don't be nervous, it's just routine questioning. Just answer honestly."
The woman nodded fearfully.
Xu Mo continued to look around the room and made another discovery: there were several coarse, short hairs on the bedsheet in the secondary bedroom.
"Does only you and your son live here? No one else?"
"No! It's just the two of us, no one else lives here," the woman replied firmly.
"Hmm..." Xu Mo nodded, then left the secondary bedroom and entered the master bedroom, where he focused his attention on the victim's hands. After a moment, he walked into the kitchen.
The kitchen was small, only about six to eight square meters, and one could turn around in it with ease. However, Xu Mo spent a considerable amount of time there, mostly sniffing the various items in the kitchen, with occasional glances at everything else.
Although the air in the kitchen no longer carried any smell, some items still retained the scent of natural gas.
Xu Mo noticed a faint handprint on the sliding glass door, which was covered in thick, old grease that couldn't be wiped off.
"Collect this fingerprint," Xu Mo pointed to the handprint on the sliding glass door, his gaze briefly sweeping over the victim's hands.
"Yes!"
"We've seen enough here. Let's head back," Xu Mo said as he left the kitchen, taking a rag with him and handing it to Chen Ke, "Bag this."
He already had a general idea of what had happened.
"What did you find?" Han Fei asked.
Xu Mo glanced at the woman and didn't immediately share his conclusions, shaking his head, "Let's talk back at the station."
...
On the way back.
As before, Han Fei and Xu Mo shared a car.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Han Fei asked, "What exactly did you find?"
He understood that Xu Mo hadn't shared his findings earlier because the woman was present, and it wasn't convenient to discuss the case in front of her.
"The woman is one of the murderers. She's an accomplice, but there's a mastermind behind her. If I'm not mistaken, the mastermind is her lover, but her son didn't get along with this man, and their conflicts had reached an irreconcilable point," Xu Mo replied, looking at Han Fei.
Han Fei pondered for a moment, "Because of the cigarette butt?"
"But the suspect said she occasionally smokes, right? While there aren't as many female smokers as male smokers, it's still normal, isn't it?"
Xu Mo shook his head.
"Didn't you notice how unnaturally clean that apartment was? It was clearly meticulously cleaned. There are only two possibilities: either the person has obsessive-compulsive disorder and can't stand a dirty room, or they were trying to hide something by cleaning so thoroughly..."