There's an Even Faster Method

"Stop laughing, you're making me look bad..." Han Fei said with a serious expression. "Let's keep watching."

"Yes," Li Chen replied, feeling his face burning with embarrassment.

He had no idea what had gotten into him earlier, thinking he could lecture Xu Mo as if he were some seasoned veteran. Crazy!

Not only had he tried to lecture him, but his so-called "experienced judgment" had been completely wrong, while Xu Mo's judgment had been spot on.

How awkward!

Just coughing wasn't enough to cover up his embarrassment.

Li Chen pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, his hands trembling slightly as he lit one and took a drag.

Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long. Soon, another figure appeared on the surveillance footage.

This person was acting suspiciously, constantly looking over their shoulder, and carrying a bucket typically used for cooking oil. However, the liquid inside the bucket was much lighter in color than normal cooking oil—a pale yellow, transparent liquid.

What was particularly noteworthy was that, despite the sweltering summer heat, this person was dressed in long sleeves and pants, wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled down low, making them look even more suspicious.

Despite the obvious suspicious behavior, no one commented. Instead, everyone turned their attention to Xu Mo.

Xu Mo had just finished laughing, but when he saw everyone's reaction, the corners of his mouth twitched upward again, though this time he managed to hold back his laughter.

Pointing at the figure on the surveillance screen, Xu Mo said, "This person could be a suspect. Look at the bucket they're carrying. The color is too light to be cooking oil. It looks more like gasoline."

Combined with the large amount of petroleum residue found at the scene of the fire last night, it was almost certain that this person was the arsonist who had set the music store on fire.

Seeing Xu Mo take the lead, the others quickly chimed in.

"I was thinking the same thing. This person must be the arsonist!"

"Exactly, they look so sneaky. Definitely up to no good."

"But they're covered up so well. We can't even see their face."

"..."

The person was indeed covered up so thoroughly that the officers couldn't make out any facial features. The only thing they could tell was that it was a woman. Beyond that, they couldn't even guess her age.

The officers continued watching the footage.

After repeatedly checking to make sure no one was around, the woman quickly opened the oil bucket and poured the liquid, which was likely gasoline, through the gap at the bottom of the music store's door. She then ignited it and left without looking back.

The fire that destroyed the music store was indeed started by her, and the bucket she was carrying contained gasoline, just as Xu Mo had said.

Even though she had concealed herself well, it didn't mean she would escape punishment. After all, she had been caught on camera, and the police could identify her based on her build. It was only a matter of time.

"Captain Han, Captain Xu, it's her. Let's take this photo and start canvassing the area. Even if we only have her build to go on, we can still catch her," Wang Dachuan said, snapping a photo of the masked woman on the surveillance screen with his phone.

"Alright," Han Fei nodded. "Let's go through the list of potential suspects we've compiled and visit them one by one."

Then, he turned to Xu Mo beside him. "Captain Xu, what do you think?"

Xu Mo nodded at first, but then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he quickly shook his head.

Han Fei was puzzled and was about to ask what Xu Mo meant when Xu Mo took the mouse from Li Chen and rewound the surveillance footage, watching it again.

After reviewing it, Xu Mo finally spoke.

"She's not on our list of suspects."

"Why not?" Chen Ke instinctively asked.

How could Xu Mo tell, just from the surveillance footage, that this person wasn't among their list of suspects?

After all, the suspects the police had listed only had headshots, not full-body photos.

The woman in the surveillance footage hadn't shown her face at all. She was completely covered up, and only her build was visible.

There was no way to compare the two. So why was Xu Mo so sure?

Xu Mo explained to Chen Ke.

"All the suspects we've listed are either owners of another music store on this street or residents in the area. They all have one thing in common: they live nearby... People who live nearby would be very familiar with this street and would definitely know about the surveillance camera at the entrance of this private museum."

At this point, Xu Mo pointed at the woman on the screen.

"Look at the footage. From the moment she appears, she's constantly looking over her shoulder, glancing around, trying not to be seen. But in reality, she doesn't need to be so cautious. There aren't many people on this street at night, and it's so dark that even if someone were walking by, they might not notice her right away. This shows that she's very insecure and extremely cautious, which is also evident from the way she's dressed for the crime."

"Someone who's so insecure and cautious would never expose themselves to a surveillance camera. And look at this part—she's facing the camera directly. That doesn't make sense. Given her behavior of constantly looking over her shoulder, even if she's covered up, she would never face the camera directly. This can only mean she had no idea there was a camera pointed at the music store's entrance. So... she doesn't live nearby."

After hearing this, Chen Ke nodded silently.

Xu Mo's reasoning made sense.

"So our investigation direction is off? None of the suspects we listed are connected to this arson case?"

"Not necessarily," Xu Mo waved his hand. "It's possible they hired someone else to do it, but the chances of that are slim, almost nonexistent."

"That makes sense... Captain Xu, so you're saying we should stop the canvassing and instead focus on checking other surveillance footage from this street to identify the suspect?"

Xu Mo shook his head.

"No, there's a faster way!"