Wang Shen waved to the young policeman following behind him. "Take these shoes back to the station for comparison, to see if they belong to the deceased." With that, Wang Shen stood up again, his mind replaying the scene of Liang Li's murder. That night, Liang Li left the bar drunk, and the killer followed her and took action. Liang Li spotted the killer and began to flee. Unfortunately, Liang Li turned into a dead end a step away from the main road. Finally, the killer ended Liang Li's life.
Wang Shen racked his brains trying to figure out the killer's motive. This time, the killer's motive was probably still related to Sang's case. To be more precise, it was related to Zheng Wu's case, or rather, Han Mo's case. The killer's motive was likely that they were afraid Liang Li would reveal some clues that would be detrimental to them.
The killer's choice to commit the crime in an alleyway at dawn was a perfect timing. At this hour, the alleyway is sparsely populated. Moreover, it's far from residential areas, and the surrounding shopping malls are already deserted. Even if Liang Li shouted, there's a high probability she wouldn't hear. However, to prevent Liang Li from recognizing him, the killer wore a clown mask. The killer handled this aspect well. There were no surveillance cameras in the alleyway; as long as the killer avoided strangers, his whereabouts wouldn't be discovered. But after the crime, the killer faced a major problem. Leaving the alleyway inevitably meant passing through intersections with surveillance cameras. In the sparsely populated early morning, a police investigation of the footage would easily identify the suspect. Even with the clown mask, it would be difficult to avoid the numerous surveillance cameras on the streets. Furthermore, even in the early morning, there are still a few pedestrians and vehicles on the city's main roads. Walking around with the clown mask on, the killer would easily leave a lasting impression.
Regarding this problem, if the killer is intelligent, how would he solve it? It's simple: he would lie in wait in the bar at night when crowds are dense. After committing the crime, the killer likely wouldn't rush to leave the scene, but would instead hide somewhere in the alley. He would wait until someone discovers the crime and a large crowd begins to arrive, then disguise himself as an ordinary person and leave. In this way, with countless people captured on surveillance footage, the police would be unable to pinpoint the exact target.
To achieve this goal, wearing a clown mask during the day would be too strange. Wang Shen felt that the murderer chose to discard the clown mask in the nearest trash can for this reason.
"Retrieve the surveillance footage from the street at the alley entrance. The time period is between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM. By the way, when was the report filed?" Wang Shen instructed the young police officer beside him while asking.
"It was discovered by a cleaner at 6:30 a.m.
"Then retrieve the surveillance footage from 6:30 to 7:30 this morning. I'll need it when I get back to the station later. Go now."
"Okay, Captain Wang." The young policeman received Wang Shen's assignment and jogged away from the crime scene.
Wang Shen returned to the scene of the death, carrying a red high-heeled shoe in a plastic bag. He handed the shoe to a policeman at the scene and then examined several laminated banknotes. His gaze lingered on one of the banknotes. This banknote had a clear… yes, a shoe print. But comparing such a shoe print to a real one seemed like finding a needle in a haystack.
“I think I recognize this pattern. Can you show it to me?” Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind Wang Shen.
Wang Shen was startled and turned around to see Xu Xiaolin standing behind him. "How did you get here? Who let you in? How could you let her in!" Wang Shen shouted angrily at the police officers behind him.
The police officers behind him lowered their heads tremblingly. One of them stammered, "Isn't this the one Captain Wang brought to the police station before, saying she was some kind of assistant?"
"How did you end up here? Get out." Wang Shen gave Xu Xiaolin an annoyed look.
“Oh, I had a book signing nearby, and it looked so lively here, so I came to check it out. That…” Xu Xiaolin pointed to the banknote in Wang Shen’s hand. “I really recognize the pattern on that shoe sole.”
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