"But with so many people coming and going, how are we supposed to identify who might be the murderer?" Liang Zichen shrugged helplessly.
"Let's see how it goes." Actually, Wang Shen hadn't come up with a good solution yet.
The surveillance footage played continuously. After about 20 minutes, the time displayed on the screen was 8:42. A suspicious man appeared on the screen.
Wang Shen and Liang Zichen stood up from their chairs at the same time. Liang Zichen quickly pressed the pause button and then zoomed in on the image.
The man on the screen caught Wang Shen and Liang Zichen's attention because of his rather strange attire. Although it was past the height of summer, the daytime temperature was still quite high. Most people were wearing short sleeves and trousers when they went out. But the man in the picture seemed much more mysterious in his attire.
The man was wearing black sneakers, long pants, and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He was bundled up quite tightly, which made him look rather hot in the weather. But what puzzled Wang Shen and Liang Zichen was not his attire below the head.
The man wore a large face mask over his mouth and black sunglasses over his eyes. He looked like a celebrity with many fans, seemingly afraid of being recognized in the crowd.
"Could this man be the murderer?" Liang Zichen observed the man's attire. Although the man's clothing stood out from the crowd, Liang Zichen still had doubts about his identity.
Unexpectedly, Wang Shen nodded firmly.
Liang Zichen didn't understand why Wang Shen made such a guess. After thinking for a while, Liang Zichen asked, "If the murderer had dressed more normally, we might not have noticed him in this crowd. No, it's very likely we wouldn't have been able to identify him. His current attire is just self-deception, isn't it?"
“You’re absolutely right. But think about it carefully, why would the killer choose such a roundabout route?”
Without much thought, Liang Zichen blurted out, "It's definitely to prevent us from discovering his whereabouts."
Wang Shen glanced at Liang Zichen, clapped his hands, and said, "Correct. Since the murderer realized that he couldn't let us discover his whereabouts, he chose such a roundabout route. Do you think the murderer didn't consider the problem you just thought of? To put it simply, I think the murderer was aware of his special presence in the crowd when preparing these clothes."
"Then why did he expose himself?" Wang Shenyue explained, but Liang Zichen seemed even more puzzled.
Wang Shen sighed, then shook his head at Liang Zichen. After a while, Wang Shen continued to prompt him, "Just remember, the murderer did all this to hide his identity. He appeared in the surveillance footage dressed like this because he was certain that this attire would be more effective at concealing his identity than normal clothing."
"Is this kind of attire more conducive to concealing one's identity?" Liang Zichen frowned, trying hard to think of the meaning behind Wang Shen's words.
In other words, if the murderer were dressed as an ordinary person, Wang Shen and his team would recognize them immediately. Therefore, the murderer chose a near-masked method to conceal their identity. And who else could Wang Shen and Liang Zichen recognize at a glance in a crowd?
Liang Zichen suddenly slapped his head hard and looked at Wang Shen, saying, "Captain Wang, I finally understand!"
After figuring this out, Liang Zichen became somewhat agitated. After a while, he calmed himself down and said, "This person must be someone we know. So, if he didn't appear dressed like this, we would recognize him at a glance."
Liang Zichen finally realized the motive behind the killer's attire. Wang Shen nodded at Liang Zichen. Then, both Wang Shen and Liang Zichen simultaneously turned their gaze to the man on the screen.
Wang Shen and Liang Zichen both frowned slightly, staring at the man on the screen for a long time. Finally, they looked at each other and sighed simultaneously.
"Captain Wang, this killer is hiding himself too well. I can tell from the screen that he's a man. But I really can't tell who he is." Liang Zichen sighed as he looked away from the screen.
The information Wang Shen received was almost identical to Liang Zichen's. They couldn't get much more accurate information just from the visuals.
Wang Shen clenched his right fist and tapped his chin as he said, "Let's think about it. Among the people we know, who are the men who might be involved in this case?"
"A man involved in this case?" Liang Zichen frowned as he glanced at Wang Shen, then looked back at the screen.
Wang Shen's eyes never left the man on the screen. Suddenly, Wang Shen's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. Wang Shen said to Liang Zichen, "Could the image be zoomed in a little more?"
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, Liang Zichen knew that Wang Shen might have discovered some clues, and immediately replied, "I'll give it a try, it should work."
After speaking, Liang Zichen manipulated the surveillance footage. The image was magnified considerably.
"Stop!" Wang Shen called out. Wang Shen took a few steps toward the screen, then looked up and stared at a certain spot on the screen. Liang Zichen observed the direction of Wang Shen's gaze, then followed Wang Shen's gaze to the man's arm.
Liang Zichen waited a while, but Wang Shen remained silent. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Liang Zichen asked, "Captain Wang, is there something wrong with this man's arm?"
Unexpectedly, after listening to Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen simply shook his head. After a while, Wang Shen spoke up, "It's not his arm, but his wrist. Zichen, take a look at what's on his wrist."
Following Wang Shen's suggestion, Liang Zichen focused his attention on the man's wrist. Aside from a watch, there was nothing unusual on the man's wrist. Then, Liang Zichen turned his gaze to the watch and asked, "Is there something wrong with that watch?"
Wang Shen smiled and said, "It's not that there's anything wrong with the watch, but rather that it provided us with an excellent clue."
"What do you mean? Captain Wang, do you recognize that watch?" Liang Zichen was somewhat surprised after hearing Wang Shen's words.
Wang Shen nodded. "First, it's a designer watch, so it leaves a lasting impression. Second, we just saw this watch a couple of days ago."
"We just met two days ago?" Liang Zichen said, then immediately began to think. He quickly replayed the events of the past two days in his mind, then a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"It's him? That's impossible. Didn't we already rule him out as a suspect?" Liang Zichen said in surprise.
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