Chapter 9

"This shows that the murderer likes to watch criminal investigation dramas and legal programs." said Li Shijie.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Li Shijie rubbed his head, somewhat puzzled by the attention. "Why, am I wrong? Destroying the information on the body, delaying the police's efforts to track down the deceased's identity, buying yourself time to remove the evidence of the crime or escape, isn't that how it's always played out in criminal investigation dramas and legal programs?"

"Why don't you say that the murderer learned this from reading mystery novels?" Qin Shen sneered coldly.

Li Shijie: "Well...it's not impossible."

Everyone was speechless again.

Qin Shen obviously gave up on having a normal discussion with Li Shijie. He closed the folder in his hand, leaned forward, put his fingers together on the table, raised his voice and said the real conclusion: "This shows that the murderer and the deceased knew each other in real life, and it is very likely that they had a very close relationship. Once the identity of the deceased is found out, the murderer's identity will be exposed. That's why he destroyed the deceased's appearance and even stripped off all his clothes, trying every means to erase the clues."

"It is very important to identify the deceased. It is the key point of this case. The deceased is a minor and has been dead for more than 24 hours. Generally speaking, if a child is missing for more than a day, the guardian will choose to call the police. Lao Liang, after we leave, you take people to check the missing persons reports of various police stations in the city to see if there are any that match the case. Screen and sort them out."

Liang Guang, the leader of Group 2, nodded and accepted the task. "clear."

Qin Shen turned to look at Guan Shuiyun again: "Has the DNA data of the deceased been compared?"

"It has been extracted and is being screened in the database." Guan Shuiyun replied, "But the age of the deceased is in an awkward period. Ten years ago, there was no policy to enter the DNA of newborn babies. Children aged 11 or 12 usually do not apply for personal ID cards, so the possibility of having the DNA data of the deceased in the database is very small."

"We have to investigate that. Who knows?" Qin Shen opened another file. "Did you find any valuable clues at the scene?"

Zhang Hongfei stood up and distributed a stack of documents on his desk to everyone: "We extracted several sets of footprints at the scene, which are more valuable for reference. After measurement, the shoe sizes corresponding to each set of footprints are 41, 40, 39 and 37 respectively. According to the style of the shoe prints, the depth of the footprints and the distance between them, the first two belong to males with a height between 170 and 175 cm. The shoe prints of the last two groups have no obvious gender characteristics. It is speculated that the shoe prints of size 37 belong to females with a height between 160 and 165 cm. The shoe prints of size 39 are of unknown gender and are between 165 and 175 cm tall."

Qin Shen raised his head: "Why is the height range of the last one so large?"

"This set of footprints overlapped in many places in the woods. The owner of the footprints must have walked in the woods many times, so it is impossible to accurately measure his height," said Zhang Hongfei.

“What is its trajectory like?”

"With the body dumped at the center, circle around a dozen meters away."

“Can you find out what kind of shoes they are?”

“It’s under investigation.”

"All four groups?"

“Both.”

"Any other clues?"

"It's on the second page." Zhang Hongfei motioned for everyone to turn the page. "We found nine cigarette butts near the place where the bodies were dumped. We have brought them back and extracted the saliva from them for analysis. The DNA information has also been separated and is currently being screened in the database..."

The meeting lasted for two full hours. When Qin Shen called for the meeting to end, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. During this time, Xu Man's cell phone rang once. The crisp ringtone attracted everyone's attention. She hurriedly pressed the mute button and put the phone upside down on the table without even looking to see who was calling. It was not until the meeting was over that she had time to open her phone to check who had called.

As soon as she unlocked the screen, Qin Shen walked up to her. She quickly pressed the screen-off button again and stood up nervously to greet him. "Captain Qin."

There has always been an unwritten custom within the public security system, that is, when addressing a superior who holds a position such as team leader, the word "Captain" would be removed from the title and the other party would be simply addressed as Team X, which is both friendly and catchy. Qin Shen was no exception. He was young and didn't have any airs of a leader. He got along well with all the police officers in the detachment. Except for Li Shijie who called him Brother Qin to get closer to him, his subordinates all called him Captain Qin. Whenever any new police officer called him captain in a serious manner, he would correct them and ask them to call him Captain Qin. But when it came to Xu Man, he suddenly didn't want to correct him anymore.

It felt really good when the delicate little girl called herself captain with a nervous look on her face.

He nodded and smiled at Xu Man: "Remember to mute your cell phone during meetings next time, otherwise the ringing will easily disrupt everyone's thinking."

Xu Man's cheeks felt a little hot, and she nodded embarrassedly: "Yes, Captain, I will pay attention next time."

At this time, most people in the conference room had left one by one. Li Shijie lingered at the door for a while with the documents in his hand. It seemed that he had something to say to Qin Shen, but when he saw his captain and Xu Man standing together, he immediately understood. He felt that he had seen through the captain's mind and left without acting like a light bulb.

When Xu Man noticed Li Shijie's actions, her face became hot again. There was obviously nothing between her and Qin Shen, but others always looked at them with prejudice. They had only known each other for less than a day, which made her feel a little embarrassed. She could no longer look Qin Shen in the eye calmly.

She lowered her head and took the initiative to find a topic: "Then... Captain Qin, do I need to stay in the team and work overtime today?"

Just now, when Qin Shen was adjourning the meeting, he instructed several teams on their respective tasks. He did not say when they should be completed. However, considering that they were investigating a murder case, it would be best if they were completed as soon as possible. Moreover, she had known since school that criminal police were the type of police who were most likely to work overtime, and staying up all night was commonplace. Therefore, she had already prepared herself mentally for overtime. She asked this question just to make conversation, but Qin Shen's answer was beyond her expectations.

"No need, you just arrived in Minnesota today, so go back and have a good rest, and come back to work tomorrow."

Xu Man was surprised at first, and then delighted. She didn't expect that she would meet such a considerate boss.

"Thank you, Captain." She looked up and gave him a grateful smile. "What time should I come to work tomorrow?"

Qin Shen was a little stunned. He didn't expect that this girl not only looked sweet, but also had a sweet smile, like a marshmallow, soft and fluffy. Looking at her made people want to poke her face.

"In principle, it's eight o'clock, but the team members' daily routines are always chaotic, so there is no clock-in system. Just try not to arrive too late." He coughed softly and collected his thoughts. "Did Xiao Li give you the badge?"

"They gave me a temporary one, saying that I came suddenly and the name badge had not been made yet. It should arrive in a few days." Xu Man felt a little guilty when she said this, thinking that if she chose to go to the Municipal Bureau after the case was closed, and her name badge plate in the detachment had been made, how embarrassing that would be.

Qin Shen could see through her thoughts. "I will temporarily press your badge for you. When you decide to stay, I will ask them to do it. For now, you can use the temporary one. Anyway, you will follow me to investigate everywhere these days, and you won't need it in many places."

Xu Man nodded to show that she understood.

Qin Shen asked her again: "How are you going to get back?"

"...Let's take the bus, or a taxi." Xu Man recalled the recommended route on the navigation app, "It seems that there is no subway nearby."

"There is a subway station nearby, but it's Line 2, which doesn't go to your neighborhood." Qin Shen said, "It's so late, it's not safe for a girl like you to go home alone, can I take you home?"

Xu Man was tempted for a moment, but she did not agree immediately. Instead, she said hesitantly, "Is this... too much trouble?"

It would be nice if someone could send her back, but she was embarrassed to trouble others. After all, the two of them were not related at all. At most, their parents had some friendship, and she didn't want to owe anyone a favor.

"No." Qin Shen said, "I just happened to be going back to get something. I'm going in the same direction as you, so I'll give you a ride."

Now, Xu Man had no reason to refuse, and she was even happy in her heart. Her captain was simply the reincarnation of Song Jiang, who always brought her timely help.

"Thank you, Captain." She couldn't help but smile, "You are such a good person."

Qin Shen, who was caught off guard and given the nice guy card, said: "..."

The roads at nine o'clock in the evening were much quieter than at six o'clock. Qin Shen sent Xu Man back to the community where she rented without any obstruction. The car stopped in front of the community building. Xu Man opened the car door, got out with her bag, and thanked him again before closing the car door.

"You're welcome." Qin Shen replied, "But you have to change your bad habit of not being cautious. I'm the one who's taking you home tonight, so there's nothing wrong. In the future, if a man you've only known for a day offers to take you home, you must not be so foolish as to agree to it today. Criminals like people like you, who are pretty, easy to deceive, and easy to prey on."

Xu Man didn't react for a moment, and said "...Ah?" in a daze.

Qin Shen laughed at her expression and her slow reaction. "I mean, you should be more careful in the future. In the middle of the night, you just casually take a ride home from a stranger you've only known for a day? Do you know how many cases happened like this?"

Xu Man finally reacted and replied without much confidence: "...Captain, you are not a bad person."

The implication is that if someone else offered to take her home, she would not agree.

Qin Shen couldn't help but laugh: "Why are you sure I'm not a bad person?"

Xu Man: “…”

If the criminal investigation captain is not a good guy, could he be a bad guy?

Qin Shen also knew that what he said was a little unreasonable, so he turned the topic back to the beginning: "Anyway, just remember this. The team will often work overtime in the future, and it is common to go home late at night. It is not safe for girls to walk at night, so you should be more careful and pay attention to safety. Don't think that you are a policeman and don't take your own safety to heart. You must know that the police are also human beings and can get hurt, not to mention that you are still a student."

Xu Man frowned slightly. Obviously, his words touched her heart. However, on the surface, she still maintained that elegant smile and nodded: "I will. Thank you, Captain."

Qin Shen noticed all the changes in her expression. She was wearing a white dress and white shirt in the night breeze. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and there was hidden worry under her elegant smile. Combined with her petite figure, she looked particularly frail.

Somehow, his heart was beating fast, and he blurted out a sentence: "How about letting me take you back from now on?"

The author has something to say:

Qin Big Tail Wolf Captain's voiceover: Except for me, all men who approach you are not good people

Xu·Silly White Sweet·Man: The captain is such a good man, he is so worried about my safety

Author: My daughter, I am really worried about your future...

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