Card Room

Chapter 538 - The Biggest Doubt

The security captain, school leader and Ning Xue’s counselor on duty that night rushed to the lake after receiving a call from the police. Yu Hanjiang questioned them in turn.

The security guard said that at the time of the crime, the guards were patrolling the gymnasium because there was the annual campus singer competition tonight. They were worried about safety hazards at the scene and most of the manpower was sent to the competition. No one paid attention to the lake and they didn’t notice any suspicious people.

Teacher Zhang, the counselor, was full of disbelief. She looked at the corpse at her feet with wide eyes. “Ning Xue’s personality was very lively and cheerful. Her singing and dancing abilities were outstanding and she could also play the piano. She was a versatile girl and got along well with her classmates. I haven’t heard about her having a grudge with anyone, nor have I heard about any difficulties she has encountered recently… how can she be dead?”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “Do you know her family situation?”

Teacher Zhang thought about it. “Her father is a doctor and her mother is a nurse. Both of them work at the people’s hospital in this city.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “Give me the contact information of her parents.”

Teacher Zhang nodded. “Okay. However, I have to go to the office computer to check. The information of the students is on the computer.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Find it and print a copy for me.”

Some time later, Teacher Zhang printed out a copy of the class address book and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. At this time, it was 9:30 p.m. and the host in the gymnasium said excitedly, “Next, we have the champion of this competition. Ye Qi is invited to the stage to receive the award!”

The host’s voice was amplified by the microphone and clearly reached the ears of the audience. It was followed by deafening applause and cheers. Countless people shouted the name ‘Ye Qi’.

The screams and applause from the venue were deafening and the expression of the school leader was ugly. He leaned toward Yu Hanjiang’s ear and said, “Officer Yu, tonight’s singing competition has gathered thousands of students. They will soon pass by the lake. If they see the corpse, they will know there was a dead person in the lake and will definitely fall into a panic. There will be bad images that affect the school’s reputation. Can this thing be…”

Yu Hanjiang simply said, “I understand. Our forensic doctor will soon transport the body away. Please keep the body found in the lake tonight a secret for now. Don’t speculate too much until the police give you a definitive answer.”

The school leader immediately nodded. “Yes, we will definitely cooperate fully with the investigation.”

Yu Hanjiang waved his hand behind him. Two forensic assistants came and carried the body to the transport vehicle. Then they closed the door. The vehicle quickly drove out of the campus and Yu Hanjiang asked some people to return to the police station to give detailed statements.

Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao were among them.

After arriving at the police station, a young criminal investigation police officer took them to the interrogation room to make a statement. Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao were very cooperative and described everything they saw. Yu Hanjiang didn’t appear again. Xiao Lou was inwardly anxious but there was nothing he could do. After all, this Yu Hanjiang wasn’t his teammate and he and Liu Qiao needed to solve the mystery to complete the mission.

They came out of the police station and Liu Qiao frowned. “Professor Xiao, what should we do next? Group Leader Yu won’t take the initiative to reveal clues related to the case to us. It is impossible to get a result if we ask directly, right?”

This was also the point that gave Xiao Lou a headache.

It would be easy to handle if Yu Hanjiang was a teammate. He could directly invite Yu Hanjiang to dinner and Yu Hanjiang would naturally tell Xiao Lou all the clues related to the case as well as his own analysis in order to discuss it with Xiao Lou.

Now Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao were passersby who found the corpse and Yu Hanjiang was the captain of the criminal investigation police team…

Criminal investigation police officers had to keep their cases confidential and Yu Hanjiang wouldn’t take the initiative to tell them confidential information. No matter whether it was coercion or inducement, it was difficult to pry open Yu Hanjiang’s mouth and ask for clues from him. Most of the evidence in the case was in the hands of the police officers. If Xiao Lou wanted to know this information, there was only one way: stealing.

He helplessly looked at the door of the police station and whispered in Liu Qiao’s ear, “It seems that we can only be thieves. We will sneak into the police station in the middle of the night and steal information related to the case.”

Liu Qiao thought about it. “I can become the size of a thumb and hide in the pocket of Group Leader Yu.”

“Yu Hanjiang’s vigilance is too strong and it is easy for you to be found if you hide there. It is better to…” Xiao Lou glanced around in time to see the young criminal police officer who had been following Yu Hanjiang enter the police station with a man and a woman.

Xiao Lou gave Liu Qiao a look. “Make me smaller and hide me in the pocket of this young police officer. This person should be an intern led by Yu Hanjiang and he will definitely participate in the process of solving the case.”

“Understood.” Liu Qiao understood and immediately hid in the shadows. She turned Xiao Lou into the size of a thumb and walked over, pretending to ‘accidentally’ bump into the shoulder of the trainee police officer. She conveniently placed the small Xiao Lou into the police officer’s pocket.

The young police officer was inexplicably hit and looked at the girl in front of him doubtfully.

Liu Qiao bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry. I was distracted just now and wasn’t looking at the road.”

The police officer recognized her and smiled. “It’s fine. Go back and calm down. Think about whether you have forgotten anything. If you remember anything, contact us as soon as possible.”

Liu Qiao nodded and turned to leave.

Xiao Lou hid in his pocket and followed the three people into the building. The young police officer knocked on the doorframe of Yu Hanjiang’s office and called out softly, “Group Leader Yu, these two are Ning Xue’s parents who received the call to identify the body.”

Yu Hanjiang stood up. “The two of you, please come this way.”

He personally led the two people out the back door to a building next door.

In the long corridor, the incandescent lamp overhead emitted an icy light. Yu Hanjiang looked cold and serious while the faces of the middle-aged couple were as pale as paper. The woman’s legs were shaking as she walked.

Yu Hanjiang opened the door and the forensic doctor in the room looked at him before lifting the white cloth covering the body.

The woman’s legs became weak and she threw herself on her knees next to the corpse, crying loudly in a collapsed manner. “Xiao Xue, my daughter! What happened? How did my daughter suddenly die?!”

The man’s face was ashen as he gently patted his wife’s back to comfort her. “Officer, my daughter’s body was found in the lake? Who killed her?”

Yu Hanjiang replied, “We haven’t done an autopsy yet. Therefore, the specific cause of death hasn’t been determined.”

The man was stunned before frowning. “Didn’t she drown?”

Yu Hanjiang answered, “On the surface, she drowned but a detailed autopsy is needed in order to determine if she took other drugs before falling into the lake or if she was thrown into the lake after being knocked out. The family members need to sign a consent form before the forensic autopsy.”

The man gritted his teeth. “I will sign! My daughter can’t just die for no reason. Officer, please find her killer and give her justice!”

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, “How can you be so sure that Ning Xue didn’t commit suicide by throwing herself into the lake?”

The man clenched his fists angrily. “My family’s Xiao Xue has had a cheerful personality since childhood. A few days ago, she came home for dinner and was still talking to us with a laugh. How could she suddenly commit suicide?”

The woman also stopped crying at this time. She wiped her tears and choked out, “Yes, my daughter can never commit suicide. Officer, please find the beast who killed my daughter!”

The two family members were emotional. Yu Hanjiang comforted them with a few words before asking the trainee police officer to send the two of them off.

Xiao Lou stayed in the pocket of Xiao Wu, the trainee police officer, and had to follow this Xiao Wu. By the time Xiao Wu returned to the autopsy room, the forensic doctor had already reached a result. Yu Hanjiang and the forensic doctor were discussing it in low voices.

The female forensic daughter said, “Judging from the results of the autopsy, the deceased inhaled a large amount of lake water. The components consistent with the lake water were detected deep in the nasal cavity and in the alveoli, indicating that she was thrown into the lake while she was still alive.”

She took out another report. “Her blood alcohol content is excessive, indicating that she drank a lot of alcohol before she died. In addition, there are no traces of the metabolism of other drugs or poisons in her blood. A large amount of undigested beef was found in her stomach. She had eaten within an hour before she died.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned and looked at the corpse. “What about her s*x life?”

The female forensic doctor answered, “She has had s*x in the last two days. Judging from the traces, it wasn’t forced. There are no traces of surgical abortion in the uterus. She should have a fixed male partner.”

“There are no other wounds on the body?”

The female forensic doctor shook her head. “I examined it carefully. There is no trauma and the organs haven’t been damaged.”

Xiao Wu, the trainee police officer, had been taking careful notes. Xiao Lou could also hear this conversation clearly.

Suddenly, Yu Hanjiang looked back at him. “Xiao Wu, what do you think?”

The intern who was questioned was obviously a bit nervous. His back tensed and he scratched his hair as he said slowly, “The parents, teachers and classmates of the deceased all said that her personality was cheerful and sunny. She also had a very good personality. It is impossible for her to commit suicide inexplicably. There is also no possibility that she was killed. From the results of the autopsy, there is no trauma or internal injuries found on the deceased. The residues in her lungs and nasal passages can prove that she died from drowning.”

The more the intern spoke, the more he felt his speculation was reasonable. He paused before analyzing, “The deceased drank a lot of alcohol before falling into the lake. In addition, the footprints found by the lake only belonged to the deceased and were obviously a bit messy. I think the biggest possibility is that after getting drunk, she had hallucinations and accidentally fell into the lake and drowned when passing by the lake.”

The room fell silent for up to 5 seconds.

Just as Xiao We was feeling worried and uneasy, Yu Hanjiang stared at him and asked, “Have you studied trace identification at the police academy?”

Xiao Wu nodded seriously. “I learned it!”

Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow. “How did you pass the exam for that course?”

Xiao Wu realized that Group Leader Yu was scolding him and immediately blushed. He lowered his head and wondered, “D-Did I say anything wrong?”

Yu Hanjiang coldly asked, “You didn’t notice the obvious clues of the footprints and the sentence carved on the tree?”

The intern was dazed.

Yu Hanjiang patiently explained. “Pay attention to the depth of the footprints. The deceased weighed around 54 kg. The footprints in the soft soil can’t be so deep for a girl who weighs less than 60 kg. This means…”

He paused and his eyes became sharp. “There were two people by the lake at that time. This was a carefully planned murder.”