Chapter 62

Zhou Zhengzheng hurriedly helped his master up and reported, "Cheng Peng from the Trace Investigation Department said that the collected footprints have been analyzed."

Chang Ting was still dizzy and repeated mechanically: "Footprints..."

Zhou Zhengzheng wanted to press his master's head down on the report. "Look at this set of high-heeled shoe prints. They were extracted from the rooftop. They're definitely Yu Aiai's high-heeled shoes, but the steps look very messy."

Chang Ting rubbed his eyes, his vision finally cleared, and he looked carefully for a while:

"Yu Ai'ai drank alcohol, and her steps are consistent with the walking style of a drunk. There are only footprints from the rooftop door to the edge of the roof, and no footprints leading back."

He narrowed his eyes, "This only means that she walked to the edge of the roof on her own and then fell."

"That may not be the case." Zhou Zhengzheng pulled his arm, forced him to stand up, and helped him walk forward.

Chang Ting took two steps dizzy: "What are you going to do..."

"If someone was holding the drunk Yu Aiai like this, the footprints would have the same effect! Perhaps someone held Yu Aiai to the edge of the rooftop fence, picked her up, and threw her down..."

Zhou Zhengzheng tried his best to bring his master back to the scene, but he couldn't hold him up, so he could only lift one of his legs and almost threw him to the ground again.

"Alright, alright, I understand what you mean!" Chang Ting broke free. "If there was someone supporting you, where are their footprints?"

"Cheng Peng said that several workers had recently gone to the rooftop to repair equipment. There were so many footprints that it was difficult to determine."

Chang Ting: "In other words, we still cannot confirm the existence of this person."

Zhou Zhengzheng: "But."

Chang Ting raised his eyebrows: "Can you finish it in one breath?"

Zhou Zhengzheng flipped a page in the report. "There's a staircase leading to the rooftop. The cleaning staff mops the staircase every day, so it's relatively clean. I found a complete footprint. Master, what size shoe do you think this footprint belongs to?"

Chang Ting's eyes lit up: "Could it be..."

"Yes, it's 44!"

Chang Ting snatched the report and looked at the photo of the footprint.

This time it's not sneakers, but the shape looks like a business-style leather shoe print.

Zhou Zhengzheng explained hurriedly, "This footprint is stained with dust from the rooftop. It's very clear. Judging from the direction of the toes, it shows that the person walked back from the rooftop."

Chang Ting flipped through the report and asked, "Did we find any similar footprints in the guesthouse?"

"No, the floor in the house has been mopped, and there are several footprints that are also slipper prints, which are consistent with the slippers in the room."

"Where are the fingerprints?"

"The rooms in the B&B are constantly being cleaned, and the fingerprints are so messy that it's almost meaningless to extract them.

"The combination lock and door handle are clearly visible. It's confirmed to belong to Xiao Qiang, the owner of the B&B."

Chang Ting recalled what happened at that time. When he arrived at the 17th floor of the apartment, Xiao Qiang was operating the door lock. It must have been left at that time.

He discovered the problem: "Is there only Boss Xiao's fingerprint on the door?"

"Yes, it's only his." Zhou Zhengzheng nodded vigorously. "Cheng Peng said that other than that, no fingerprints were found on the wine bottle or the phone!"

Chang Ting touched his chin: "No fingerprints..."

Zhou Zhengzheng was a little anxious: "Master, why don't you understand? There should at least be Yu Aiai's fingerprints on these two items, but there aren't any!"

"I understand. I want you to teach me! This means..."

"It means someone wiped it, and the attempt to cover it up made it more obvious. There really was a second person in the room at that time!" Zhou Zhengzheng shook the report loudly.

"It's broken, it's broken, Zhou Zhengzheng, are you a little too excited?"

"I wasn't excited, I was filled with hatred. All this shows that after Yu Aiai fell from the building, I immediately ran up the stairs...

"The murderer must have heard my footsteps at that time, so he returned to the guesthouse room and hid!"

Zhou Zhengzheng gritted his teeth and slammed the report on the table.

"Be gentle." Chang Ting picked up the cup that had been knocked over.

Zhou Zhengzheng glared at him: "Master, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, I understand. Drink some water and calm down. Let me think about it!"

Chang Ting stuffed the empty cup into Zhou Zhengzheng's hand and pushed his angry apprentice aside.

I lifted up the chair and sat back, closing my eyes and pinching my brows to let my thoughts flow again.

"If the murderer was right next to Yu Aiai when she recorded her suicide note, then the murderer likely induced or coerced her into recording the video..."

In this case, everything Yu Aiai said is not credible.

She drank alcohol while recording the video. After the recording, the murderer supported her, who was in an unconscious state, and walked towards the small door on the rooftop and onto the roof.

During this period, she may have woken up, realized that something was wrong, and resisted, during which time she dropped one of her shoes.

The murderer was so focused on controlling her that he might not have noticed that her shoe had fallen off.

The drunk Yu Aiai had no power to resist and was taken to the edge of the rooftop by the murderer, picked up and thrown down.

The murderer would definitely look around, and then, in addition to seeing Yu Aiai falling downstairs, he would also see Zhou Zhengzheng running to Yu Aiai's side.

Zhou Zhengzheng was wearing a police uniform that night.

The killer didn't expect the police to arrive at the scene, which disrupted his plan. Even the calmest criminal would panic at this moment.

There was no lighting on the rooftop, and the murderer, in his panic, did not notice his left high heels and left the rooftop directly through the small door.

In a desperate situation, he must have wanted to escape through the stairs where there was no surveillance, but he heard Zhou Zhengzheng's footsteps coming up from the bottom.

So the murderer retreated and retreated to the guesthouse room.

The police arrived at the scene and went back and forth between the rooftop and downstairs to investigate.

The murderer found that no one noticed him hiding in 1714, so he calmed down and slowly removed all traces in the house.

Including formatting Yu Aiai's phone and erasing the contact records between the two of them.

After daybreak, the residents of the apartment went out one after another, making it a good time to evacuate safely.

The murderer must have left the room during this time, and cleared the combination lock with his fingerprints when he left.

But he would never dare to clean up the footprints on the rooftop steps because a cordon had been set up there.

The stairs were facing the small door to the rooftop, and there were police officers walking around. The murderer would not dare to go downstairs by stairs and could only take the elevator.

There are surveillance cameras in the elevator.

Chang Ting almost figured out the whole story.

He leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, shaking his head and sighing, "The murderer's anti-detection ability is very strong. I say Zhou Zhengzheng...

"If you hadn't run upstairs immediately, the murderer would have had plenty of time to deal with the high heels and wipe off the footprints on the stairs.

"If that happens, we will lose our clues and be misled even further. I have to admit that you have made a contribution.

"There are two things to do now. One is to check the elevator surveillance footage from the morning hours to find the murderer's escape. The other is..."

He raised two fingers and pointed while opening his eyes, but Zhou Zhengzheng was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey? Where are the people?"

A colleague not far away said, "Left early."

"When did you leave?"

"From 'The murderer is nearby.'"

Chang Ting was furious: "You didn't even say goodbye to your master before leaving. How come you're becoming more and more unruly? Who did you learn this from? I haven't even finished my work yet!"

Colleague: "Brother Chang, you are such a righteous child, but you are making him go astray!"

"Nonsense!"

Chang Ting turned his head away to pick up the thread, muttering to himself, "First, check the surveillance footage. Second... since Yu Aiai and the murderer might have shoved each other, is there any chance they left any traces?"

He stood up and walked towards the forensic room.

In the forensic room, Forensic Doctor Xie was leaning over a microscope and observing something.

Chang Ting rushed in in a hurry.

"Old Xie, have you found anything here?"

"Stop!" Forensic Doctor Xie gestured to stop him. "Don't be so impatient and blow my evidence away."

Chang Ting spotted the wine bottle on the table, pointed at it, and asked, "Have you checked this bottle? Is there wine in it?"

"Based on the composition of the remaining liquid, it was a bottle of champagne, with a 12% alcohol content. Unless you're allergic to alcohol, you wouldn't get drunk even if you drank a whole bottle. However, zolpidem, a fast-acting sleeping pill, was detected in the remaining liquid, typically taking effect within 15 to 30 minutes."

Forensic Doctor Xie looked up from his eyepiece. "I got Yu Ai'ai's blood sample, and it contains the same ingredients."

Chang Ting's expression was tense: "So someone drugged her wine."

"I'm not sure whether she was given the drug or took it on her own initiative," said forensic doctor Xie.

Chang Ting tapped his forehead with his knuckles: "I remember now. In her suicide video, she said that she had to take sleeping pills to fall asleep."

Medical Examiner Xie said, "In that case, it's even harder to say whether she put the poison in the wine herself or someone else did."

Chang Ting turned around and said, "Oh, right, she might have been pushed or scuffled with someone before she fell. Check carefully and see if you can find any traces."

"Don't be so impatient, isn't this being tested?"

Forensic Doctor Xie stared into the microscope eyepiece with a calm demeanor. "We found no injuries on Yu Aiai other than those caused by a fall, but we did find something else."

"What did you find?"

Forensic Doctor Xie picked up a piece of something from the microscope stage with tweezers.

A colorful thing with several rhinestones on it.

Chang Ting looked at it carefully: "A nail?"

Forensic Doctor Xie gave him a look of disdain: "I can tell you're not interested. This is called nail art."