"During the shower?" Liang Zichen looked at Wang Shen in surprise.
“Hmm.” Wang Shen nodded. “Look at the layout of this bathroom, it’s very basic. Besides a shower, there’s not even a shelf. There’s no way to put clothes in such a small space. So I guess when A-Cheng is taking a shower, his clothes are on the long bench outside the door.” Wang Shen pointed to the long bench not far behind him.
"Captain Wang, do you mean the murderer knew about Acheng's habit, so he secretly switched Acheng's keys while Acheng was taking a shower, and then rearranged the cabinets so that Acheng could use the clothes in cabinet number 17 after he finished showering?" Liang Zichen nodded as he spoke, agreeing with this guess.
"That's roughly the process."
"Captain Wang, no, there's another very important question here. Do you remember when Acheng was delivering vegetables that day, he actually passed by us?" Liang Zichen suddenly frowned again, thinking of the inexplicable problem.
“Of course I remember, we even smelled gasoline, didn’t we? We thought it was a bit strange at the time, and then the accident happened.” Wang Shen walked out of the bathroom and sat on the long bench to answer Liang Zichen’s question.
“Yes, the problem lies with the gasoline. According to our bureau’s test results, Acheng’s gloves were replaced with flammable cotton gloves. Moreover, gasoline was poured on the gloves and his clothes. Gasoline is indeed an extremely flammable substance, but it has a drawback: the smell is incredibly strong. Acheng, a normal person, couldn’t possibly not smell gasoline, right? If he smelled gasoline, wouldn’t he have been at least a little bit alert?” Liang Zichen pointed out the most important issue in the spontaneous combustion process.
“I couldn’t figure this out at first either. But after seeing the attending physician, Wu Yi, the answer became clear.” After saying that, Wang Shen reached into his pocket, took out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Liang Zichen. “Take a look at this,” Wang Shen said to Liang Zichen.
Liang Zichen looked at the paper in his hand, slowly unfolded it, and then looked at it for a while. "Is this the hospital's medical record? Acheng's?" After reading it, Liang Zichen looked up at Wang Shen and asked.
“Yes, Wu Yi gave this to me yesterday. When he was reviewing Acheng’s medical records, he found that Acheng had just visited his hospital a couple of days ago, and the cause of his illness was a severe cold. I also asked Wu Yi about the symptoms of a severe cold. A severe cold could have greatly impaired Acheng’s sense of smell. In addition, the gasoline on his clothes wasn’t freshly poured on; the original smell wasn’t that strong. Combined with Acheng’s impaired sense of smell, everything becomes possible.” After Wang Shen explained the reason, Liang Zichen’s face showed a look of sudden realization.
"This murderer is truly remarkable; he used the timing and location with incredible skill. Captain Wang, if you hadn't happened to be there, I estimate this case would have ended up being considered an accident." Liang Zichen's expression became somewhat complicated, a mixture of surprise at the murderer's cunning and relief that he was present at the scene.
"So, the final issue is to identify the murderer as soon as possible based on the clues and give Acheng justice." After a brief moment of distraction, Liang Zichen said with a furrowed brow.
“That’s right, but now we need to figure out what kind of entanglement exists between the murderer and Acheng that would drive the murderer to take Acheng’s life.” Wang Shen tapped the back of his head and said. “Also, we can’t make emotional mistakes, as that could lead us astray.”
"What do you mean by emotional misunderstanding?" Liang Zichen looked at Wang Shen with a puzzled expression.
"So far, our impression of Han Lin doesn't seem very good. However, there are no direct clues pointing to him. Therefore, we can suspect anything, but we can't jump to conclusions. Next, we need to..."
Before Wang Shen could finish speaking, a roar came from outside the locker room. Following the roar, hurried footsteps rapidly approached the locker room. A short while later, Han Lin appeared at the locker room door, a smile on his face.
"Oh, Officer Wang, why didn't you tell me you were coming? I really haven't been very considerate." Han Lin said with a smile, shaking hands with Wang Shen familiarly as soon as he entered.
"Manager Han, you're too kind. We just happened to be there and wanted to check out this changing room," Wang Shen smiled in response to Han Lin. Liang Zichen acted quickly; before Han Lin even entered the changing room, he had already locked locker number 16 and taken A-Cheng's wallet.
"Officer Wang, is there anything else you need? I'd be happy to help you," Han Lin said with an even more ingratiating smile.
"Could you open cabinet number 16 and let us take a look?" Wang Shen asked Han Lin with a smile, deliberately making a request.
Upon hearing Wang Shen's question, Han Lin glanced at locker number 16 and replied with a smile, "Oh dear, Officer Wang, this is a real problem for me. As I told you last time, each locker only has one key, which is kept by the owner of the locker. I don't have the key to this locker; it should still be with A-Cheng."
Wang Shen deliberately patted his head. "Manager Han, look at my brain, it's really fuzzy. Why have I been so forgetful lately?" After saying that, Wang Shen laughed twice.
"Officer Wang must be too tired lately," Han Lin replied with a smile.
"Alright, we know you've been very busy these past few days, so we won't bother you any longer." After saying that, Wang Shen shook hands with Han Lin and turned to leave "Spicy Restaurant".
"Did you take Acheng's wallet?" After getting into his car, Wang Shen asked Liang Zichen.
“I took it.” Liang Zichen nodded. “Should I take it?” Liang Zichen continued to ask.
“We can take it. The killer will definitely have a spare key to lock cylinder number 17. If the killer checks locker number 16 and finds a wallet missing, they'll know we took it. They might panic. When people panic, they'll do things unplanned. That'll give us a chance.” Wang Shen smiled and started the car.
"You mean the killer had a spare key?"
“Of course, the murderer has already replaced the key, so why would they be missing a key? Besides, the original key number 16 is in the murderer's hands, so the murderer will definitely check what Acheng has hidden in the cabinet,” Wang Shen replied seriously.
"So the murderer thought the wallet was useless, which is why he left it in the cabinet?" Liang Zichen suddenly understood what Wang Shen meant.
“That’s right, which means Acheng might have left some important clues. But these clues have been taken away or destroyed by the murderer. As for the mailbox behind the photo, it was probably left behind because the murderer didn’t notice it.” Wang Shen pursed his lips, his expression still serious.
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