Chapter 36: Now This Is What a Crime Scene Should Look Like!

"I don't need you to lecture me." Lu Zhongxin's patience was exhausted. "Speak, and be quick about it!"

Every individual possesses a unique mode of thinking. Even through imitation, one can never achieve a perfect match; reaching seventy or eighty percent similarity is already quite an accomplishment. Lu Zhongxin understood this principle well, which is why he knew he could never truly fathom what was going on in Yu Dazhang's mind. This apprentice was viewing the problem from an entirely different angle.

"It's very simple: the killer wasn't after money. His objective was clear—he was targeting Zhang Yan specifically."

Yu Dazhang’s voice was low, yet to Lu Zhongxin, it sounded like firecrackers exploding right beside his ear. There was no need for further explanation; he understood immediately. It was precisely because no valuables were missing from the Zhang residence that Zhang Yan's parents hadn't even realized anyone had been there.

To arrive at this conclusion, one had to first assume the crime took place inside Zhang Yan's home. Lu Zhongxin couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Yu Dazhang. Had he already perfected this hypothesis in his mind back at the police station? Did the police academy teach this? If they did, why didn't the other recruits know it? Lu Zhongxin had mentored over a dozen newcomers, but this was his first time encountering someone like Yu Dazhang. Had the academy instructors given him special tutoring? Thinking about Yu Dazhang’s attitude toward him, Lu Zhongxin felt this was highly probable. It had to be said, despite his apprentice’s portly frame, he possessed a sharp mind and keen perception—it was hard not to like him.

Upon arriving downstairs at Zhang Yan's apartment building, the local officer suggested that only three of them go up. Zhang Yan’s parents were currently in a fragile state, and having too many people present might distress them further. After a brief discussion, the local officer volunteered to stay behind and wait for the forensics team at the entrance of the complex. Yu Dazhang did not object; indeed, the local officer couldn't offer much help with what was to follow.

Upstairs, Lu Zhongxin knocked gently on the security door. He had to be the one in front; with his apprentice's physique and that "corrupt" belly, he didn't look like a policeman in the slightest. Given the family's grief, it wouldn't do to cause any misunderstandings.

Without even a voice asking "who is it," the security door was opened from the inside. Standing there was a middle-aged woman, her face as pale as paper, her eyes filled with bloodshot veins—a look of such devastation that it was unbearable to behold.

"Sorry to disturb you. We are the officers handling Zhang Yan's case, and we've come to learn more about the situation." It was evident that Lu Zhongxin was trying to keep his tone as gentle as possible, seemingly afraid of startling her.

"Oh, come in." There was no change in expression on Zhang Yan's mother's face. After a cold, indifferent response, she turned and walked into the living room. The three men followed her inside.

***

Yu Dazhang scanned the layout of the home. It was a two-bedroom apartment, roughly seventy square meters—a very ordinary residence with nothing particularly noteworthy. Zhang Yan’s mother didn't offer them any hospitality; she simply sat down on the sofa, wrapping her arms around her knees, her head bowed and her gaze vacant, as if her soul had been ripped away.

Seeing this, Yu Dazhang sighed inwardly: The elderly burying the young... there was no greater pain in this world.

"We need to take a look at Zhang Yan's room," Lu Zhongxin said, getting straight to the point. Why not offer words of comfort? What was the use? All three of them knew that no consolation could compare to capturing the true culprit. Rather than uttering empty platitudes, it was better to get down to business. The sooner the killer was caught, the sooner Zhang Yan could be laid to rest, and the sooner her family would suffer less.

"That room there," Zhang Yan's mother said, gesturing toward one of the bedrooms.

The three men reached the doorway. Qian Cheng took a pair of shoe covers from his equipment kit. Once they had them on, Lu Zhongxin opened the door, and they entered one by one.

Yu Dazhang first scanned the room before heading straight for the single bed by the window. Good—the room hadn't been cleaned. The indentation on the quilt, though faint, was still discernible. Before coming, Yu Dazhang’s greatest fear was that Zhang Yan’s room had already been tidied up. If that had been the case, many traces would have vanished, and the difficulty of gathering evidence would have increased dramatically.

He couldn't help but glance back at the middle-aged woman sitting on the living room sofa. Who could possibly have the heart to clean a room under such circumstances? She likely couldn't even bring herself to eat.

"Don't touch anything in the room," Qian Cheng reminded them. "Try not to move around, either. None of us are wearing full forensic suits, and we don't have our specialized equipment. Let's just stand here and observe."

Yu Dazhang nodded in agreement, then took half a step back to bring the entire single bed into his field of vision. He focused his gaze on the head of the bed, carefully examining every inch. Although the quilt was folded, it had clearly been moved; Zhang Yan's mother wouldn't have folded it crookedly on purpose. There were also creases on the sheets on both sides of the headboard—traces that could only be left by someone thrashing about.

There was one crease that stood out from the rest. The center was the most prominent, roughly the size of a fist, with striped patterns radiating toward the edges. Judging by the shape, it looked as if a hand had gripped the sheet with immense force.

*This is the kind of crime scene that makes sense...* Yu Dazhang felt his excitement growing; his face flushed in the process. What was there to see on a smooth, clean sheet? A bed that bore the marks of a struggle was far more revealing.

Yu Dazhang slowly shifted his gaze, noting every detail on the bed until he reached the foot. *Found it!* His eyes lit up as he stared at the wave-like creases at the foot of the bed.

Someone had struggled violently on this bed!

***

Only by repeatedly kicking against the sheets could such creases be formed. Without a doubt, the person struggling so violently was Zhang Yan. The killer had killed her in this room, on this bed!

Combining this with the time of death, it could be inferred that the killer arrived at Zhang Yan's home between 2:12 PM and 3:00 PM. No, the window was even shorter. The killer must have arrived after Zhang Yan returned home.

Then the question arose: why would Zhang Yan open the door for the killer? Was a girl in the prime of her youth really that lacking in caution? Even a child knew the rule: *don't open the door for strangers.*

The answer was obvious: Zhang Yan knew the killer and trusted them deeply. It was a crime committed by an acquaintance!

Yu Dazhang quickly formed his assessment in his mind. The killer possessed the following characteristics:

1. The killer was of a similar age to Zhang Yan. The phone call she received on her way home the afternoon she disappeared was very likely from the killer. Why was Yu Dazhang so certain? Because the content of the call clearly indicated a dispute, and when combined with the "acquaintance" aspect, it was virtually confirmed. There were not that many coincidences in the world; if there were, they were surely man-made. If she had been talking to an elder, Zhang Yan would never have said, "I'm not talking to you anymore." That was a tone used only between peers.

2. The killer had strong financial means. Setting aside the high-profile lawyer mentioned in his past life, the mere fact that they had kept the body perfectly preserved for five days was something an ordinary family could not accomplish. At the very least, they required a private vehicle to transport the body.

3. The killer was knowledgeable about the law and had studied forensic science. Even if they weren't a professional, they had easy access to such knowledge in their daily life.

4. The killer possessed a degree of anti-reconnaissance capability and an incredibly strong psychological constitution. It was simple—if this were an ordinary person, let alone handling the scene and moving a body, they would have been terrified to the point of losing control of their bladder.

The final point, and the most crucial one: the relationship between the killer and Zhang Yan was extraordinary; it was certainly not as simple as being a mere acquaintance.