Chapter 5: Thick Fog
In the conference room of the Qindao City Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, the cold glow of the electronic screen cast a shimmer on everyone's face, like a thin layer of frost. Lu Chao had just finished presenting the basic details of the case. Yu Hao stood before the screen, his fingertips tapping lightly on the tabletop. His gaze swept over everyone present like a razor blade—Lu Chao, Zhang Min, Sun Wei, and several detectives involved in the investigation. His voice was steady and powerful, like a sword unsheathed, piercing the silence of the conference room. "Ladies and gentlemen, the basic facts of the case are clear. Let's begin the case discussion." He pressed the remote control, and the screen switched to the case review page. Information on the deceased: Wang Shun, 32 years old, from Yanhai City, suspected to be a construction worker (pending confirmation). Time of death: Between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on January 23rd. Location: Room 202, back row, rental apartment in Nan'an Village. Discoverer: The deceased's wife, Li Rong. "We currently have the following clues," Yu Hao pointed at the items on the screen, analyzing them one by one. Everyone stared intently at the screen. The screen switched to the second page, showing photos of physical evidence from the death scene. "It's certain that this is the primary death scene. There are signs of sexual activity, as well as female hair and footprints from size 37 sneakers." Yu Hao's voice was calm and clear. "Preliminary assessment suggests that the deceased met with a woman at home and had sexual intercourse before his death." He paused, glancing around the group, and added, "Of course, this is only preliminary. We can't rule out the possibility of multiple women, or even men." A few chuckles suddenly broke out in the conference room. "What are you laughing at?" Lu Chao frowned, waving his hand to silence them. "We've handled cases, and we've seen all kinds of perverts. This isn't surprising." Yu Hao smiled faintly, tapped the screen a few times with his laser pointer, and turned to the group. "Lu Chao is right. Your reasoning should be focused, but don't rule out low-probability possibilities right away. A true criminal will exploit your blind spots." Everyone nodded, and the atmosphere returned to seriousness. Forensic pathologist Sun Wei pushed her glasses up. Her voice was calm and professional. "If it's a woman, it's strange that there were no used condoms or female fluids at the scene." "What does this mean?" Lu Chao frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on his notebook. In the corner, Liu Kai, a tall and thin detective who had just joined the police station last year, looked around, wanting to speak but stopping himself. Yu Hao raised his gaze and called out directly, "Liu Kai, what are your thoughts?" Liu Kai stood up timidly, his voice trembling.
In the conference room of the Criminal Police Detachment of the Qindao Municipal Public Security Bureau, the cold light of the electronic screen reflected on everyone's face like a thin layer of frost.
Lu Chao had just finished reporting the basic situation of the case when Yu Hao stood in front of the screen, tapping the table lightly with his fingertips. His eyes swept over everyone present like a knife - Lu Chao, Zhang Min, Sun Wei, and several criminal police officers involved in the investigation of the case.
His voice was steady and powerful, like a sword drawn from its sheath, cutting through the silence of the conference room.
"Everyone, the basic situation of the case is clear. Let's start the case discussion now." He pressed the remote control and the screen switched to the case review page.
Deceased Person Information: Wang Shun, 32, from Yanhai City, suspected to be a construction worker (pending confirmation). Time of Death: Between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on January 23rd. Location: Room 202, back row, rental housing, Nan'an Village. Discovered by: Deceased's wife, Li Rong.
"The clues we have at the moment are as follows." Yu Hao pointed at the items on the screen and analyzed them one by one.
Everyone stared at the screen intently.
The screen switches to the second page, which shows photos of physical evidence at the death scene.
"It is certain that this is the primary death scene. There are signs of sexual activity at the scene, as well as female hair and footprints of size 37 sneakers."
Yu Hao's voice was calm and clear. "Preliminary judgment is that the deceased met with a woman at home and had sexual relations with her before his death."
He paused, glanced at the crowd, and added, "Of course, this is just a preliminary assessment. We can't rule out the possibility of multiple women, or even men."
A few chuckles suddenly rang out in the conference room.
"What are you laughing at?" Lu Chao frowned and waved his hand to stop him. "We've handled all kinds of cases, and we've seen all kinds of perverts. This isn't surprising."
Yu Hao smiled slightly, tapped the screen a few times with his laser pointer, and turned to everyone. "Lu Chao is right. Reasoning should be focused, but don't rule out possibilities with low probability right from the start. True criminal masters will exploit your blind spots in reasoning."
Everyone nodded, and the atmosphere became serious again.
Forensic pathologist Sun Wei pushed her glasses up and spoke in a calm and professional voice, "If it's a female, it's strange that there were no used condoms or female secretions found at the scene."
"What does this mean?" Lu Chao frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the notebook.
In the corner, Liu Kai, a tall and thin detective who had just joined the police station last year, looked around, hesitant to speak. Yu Hao raised his eyes and called out directly: "Liu Kai, what do you think?"
Liu Kai stood up timidly, his voice trembling. "Well... Captain, I think you're right. A small probability doesn't mean impossible. There's no female secretion left. Could it be that... there wasn't a woman at all? Could the deceased have found a male servant?"
The conference room instantly erupted in laughter.
"I'm saying you..." Lu Chao was about to criticize him, but Yu Hao raised his hand and motioned him to sit down, with a helpless smile on his face: "I can only say that this is a possibility, but it's not the direction of our investigation at the moment. What do others think?"
Zhang Min stared at the screen, her brows furrowed slightly. "The murderer might have cleaned up the scene deliberately. But if they did, why didn't they notice the hair on the table? Was it negligence?"
Everyone's eyes fell on the enlarged photo on the screen - a few long sugar-brown hairs lying quietly on the edge of the dining table.
"This is the crux of the matter," Yu Hao said solemnly. "When will the hair DNA test results be available?"
Sun Wei replied, "We have sent it for testing. Due to the waiting time, the results are not expected to be available until tomorrow afternoon."
Yu Hao nodded and said, "Regarding this, we temporarily believe that there is a female suspect."
He continued to flip through the pages, and the screen showed the dagger on the dead man's chest, next to it was an image of the fingerprint extracted from it.
Yu Hao knocked on the table. "Fingerprints were detected on the dagger. What do you think?"
There was a lot of discussion in the meeting room.
Liu Kai suddenly interrupted: "The fingerprints are irrefutable evidence! This means we are not far from the murderer."
"But the murderer even wiped the fingerprints off the dishes and took the condoms away, yet forgot about the fingerprints on the dagger?" Zhang Min shook her head. "That doesn't make sense."
"Unless the fingerprints were left intentionally." A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chao's eyes. "The murderer wants to frame someone else?"
Yu Hao nodded. "Indeed, it is certain that finding the owner of the fingerprints above will bring us one step closer to the truth."
Sun Wei looked away from the screen and towards Yu Hao, "I have a feeling this case might be more complicated than we thought. The murderer might not be that simple."
Yu Hao turned to Chen Wei. He had the same intuition. There was something inexplicably strange about this case.
"Who cares!" Lu Chao patted his chest, full of confidence, "In our detachment, there is no case that cannot be solved!"
"Lu Chao, you are responsible for the fingerprint matching. Check it with the data in the fingerprint database as soon as possible and report it immediately if there is a match." Yu Hao's tone was heavy, as if he was holding down a stone.
"clear!"
The screen switched to the next photo - a red amulet with the word "Liu" clearly written on it.
"Everyone knows the amulet from Tianhou Temple, right?" Yu Hao picked up the teacup, took a sip of water, and glanced at everyone.
Several police officers nodded in response.
"Okay." Yu Hao continued, "The amulet has the word 'Liu' written on it. It might have been left by the murderer."
Lu Chao pointed at the photo and said, "I have contacted the staff at Tianhou Temple, but they said that there are too many people coming in every day, so it is difficult to pinpoint the specific person."
"Where's the surveillance video?"
"It has been copied back, but there is no clear target at the moment. I have arranged for police to conduct a preliminary screening."
Yu Hao nodded. "Based on the fingerprints and half the size of the shoe print, we have preliminarily determined that the person surnamed 'Liu' is a man. He is a major suspect."
"Still, a man?" Liu Kai muttered softly. Yu Hao glanced at him and he immediately fell silent.
"Don't get me wrong, it's certain that at least two people entered the room before the deceased died. Based on the traces at the scene, we've preliminarily determined that the person who entered the room first was a woman, and the person who entered the room later through the window was a man, and there's an eyewitness to the man's death," Yu Hao further explained. "However, due to special reasons, the current witness cannot clearly describe the suspect's appearance."
"It would be great if we could get him to identify the photo." Zhang Min sighed.
"Don't worry." Yu Hao shook his head. "We have to identify the suspect first, and then show him the photo for confirmation."
"In other words, the possibility of joint crime cannot be ruled out." Sun Wei folded her hands in front of her chest, thinking.
"Yes, that's a possibility. However, if we really assume it was a joint crime, there are still many doubts, such as the method of entering the room and the motive." At this point, Yu Hao looked at Sun Wei, "What are the results of the deceased's autopsy and blood test?"
Sun Wei replied, "There are no new findings. The blood test results show that the deceased's blood alcohol concentration is 120mg/100ml. Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible for him to resist."
Yu Hao thought of Wang Shun's stunned expression and asked, "Can you tell if the deceased is conscious? Does he still have the ability to recognize faces?"
Sun Wei thought for a moment and replied, "Based on past experience, although drunk people can't control their cerebellum, their self-awareness and ability to discern are not completely affected. On the contrary, some people become more clear-headed after being drunk. So, I think that at this level of drunkenness, they only lose coordination of their body movements, but not their ability to discern."
Yu Hao nodded. It was possible that the crime was committed by an acquaintance, but he could not determine the exact information just from one expression.
At this time, Zhang Min raised her hand somewhat awkwardly.
"explain."
"Captain Yu, I have a question." Zhang Min was a little embarrassed, a blush flashed across her face, and she said, "We have concluded that the murderer took advantage of him being drunk, and we can also determine that the murderer had sexual...sexual relations with someone before his death." She looked up at the people present, and Yu Hao encouraged her to continue.
"My question is, did Wang Shun get drunk first, or did he have sex first? Judging from the situation at the scene, he must have gotten drunk first, then had sex, and then was killed. This is the crux of the matter. Since he was already drunk and had lost his ability to resist, why did he have sex first and then kill him? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to just kill him directly?"
"You're right. This is the motivation I was talking about just now." Yu Hao motioned her to sit down. He turned to the screen, lost in thought, and his hand unconsciously reached into his pocket to take out a cigarette.
Sun Wei coughed lightly, and Yu Hao came to his senses and put away the cigarette.
Smoking is strictly prohibited in the Criminal Police Brigade, which is something the director and General Qin have repeatedly emphasized.
"Unless..." Lu Chao said, "The murderer wanted to make the scene look like a murder of passion to conceal his true motive."
Yu Hao frowned, "Yeah, why does it have to be this sexual part? To hide the motive?"
Or, was our thinking wrong from the beginning?
He couldn't figure out the reason.
Everyone at the scene was discussing the matter, but due to insufficient clues, they could not come up with a clear idea.
"Alright, here are the next steps for the investigation," Yu Hao said firmly, closing his notebook. All the officers immediately sat up straight and pulled out their notebooks.
"First, Lu Chao, you will be in charge. Lead the team to quickly locate the missing important evidence: the used condoms, the deceased's cell phone, and 50,000 yuan in cash. Additionally, we must investigate the individual surnamed 'Liu' at the Tianhou Temple as quickly as possible."
"Okay." Lu Chao answered loudly.
"Second, Liu Kai, you'll be responsible for sorting out the deceased's interpersonal relationships and identifying Wang Shun's workplace and colleagues. Focus on any conflicting information about him." Yu Hao looked at Liu Kai. "How's it going? Can you complete it?"
"We will definitely ensure that it is completed." Liu Kai stood up and answered sternly.
"Third, Zhang Min, you'll be responsible for investigating Li Rong's background." Yu Hao knocked on the table. "She dresses too fashionably. Her reaction to her husband's death was rather dull, yet she's particularly concerned about the 50,000 yuan and her arrival time and whereabouts on Qindao Island."
"Okay, I'll go right away and check her schedule and financial situation." Zhang Min's eyes were firm.
"Is there anything else to add?" Yu Hao looked at everyone.
Everyone shook their heads.
Yu Hao closed his notebook and said, "Let's adjourn the meeting."
After the meeting, everyone went their separate ways.
Yu Hao stood in front of the window, looking at the darkening sky outside, his thoughts surging.
The case seems simple, but it is full of weirdness.
Who is the murderer? Was it a murder of passion? A murder of revenge? Or is there something else going on?
His biggest concern was whether the murderer would commit more crimes. If it was a serial killer, how would the safety of the villagers be guaranteed?
The case must be solved as soon as possible.
"Why haven't you left yet?" Yu Hao took a deep breath and turned around, only to find that Sun Wei was still sitting on the chair, looking at him quietly.
"See you didn't leave." Sun Wei stood up, her tone calm, with a hint of warmth, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Sun Wei is in the same class as Yu Hao and entered the Criminal Police Brigade with the first place in the forensic medicine major.
She has a slim figure, pretty face, neat short hair, and is called the "cold beauty" by the team because she is serious.
Yu Hao forced a smile and said, "Maybe everyone will have to work hard for a while."
Sun Wei looked at him, her lips trembling slightly. "It's my job. But you... should take care of yourself."
Before she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the door, her back looking heroic.
Yu Hao watched her leave, thinking back to the ten years they had fought side by side.
Suddenly, another woman's face appeared in his mind - Luo Xin.
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