When Xia Qianyue came out of the Martial Association Headquarters, she was still somewhat excited, whereas Zhang Wei was much calmer.
He was studying criminal law and expected to visit the Martial Association often in the future, so he needed to get used to it in advance.
"Zhang Wei," Xia Qianyue suddenly turned around, looked over, and her eyes shone brightly, "do you think we can solve cases together?"
This girl was innately beautiful, and at that moment, with her interest in something, her eyes shone like gems, deeply attracting Zhang Wei's gaze,
"Sure, let's work on it together!" Zhang Wei nodded unconsciously, and then realized it wasn't quite right.
Because both he and Xia Qianyue were not qualified to participate in case investigations.
One was a law student, and the other was an intern field agent, how could they directly get involved in solving cases?
"Hehe, I knew I wasn't wrong about you!" Xia Qianyue didn't care about these details, feeling extraordinarily excited.
She smiled, and her dimples showed faintly, looking very pretty, to the point that Zhang Wei forgot to argue.
"Then tell me, where should we start our investigation?"
"Let me think, to investigate a murder, we naturally need to go to the crime scene."
"Then let's go!"
Xia Qianyue was ready to set off immediately, but was grabbed by Zhang Wei.
"Silly, neither you nor I belong to the Investigation Department, I'm just an ordinary person, and you're only an intern field agent, how can we enter a murder scene?"
"Oh right~" A helpless Silly scratched her head, "How do we get in?"
Zhang Wei pondered for a moment, and asked, "I remember your dad is also a field agent, is he at the scene?"
"He's not in our jurisdiction; he's stationed in the neighboring district, so he probably won't be at the scene, right?"
"Then there's nothing we can do, unless we meet someone who can take us to the scene; otherwise..."
"Xia Xia, you guys came out too, huh? Those detectives in the major crime unit, Captain Wu especially, they asked me so many questions they confused me all!"
Zhang Wei was about to say something else but was interrupted by someone behind him.
Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue looked at each other, then turned around together to look at Sister Wang.
"Xia Xia, and you, young man, what are you two looking at me for?"
"Well, isn't this the person we were waiting for?"
Zhang Wei chuckled and elbowed the person next to him.
...
Southeast Walking Street, the crime scene.
Since the investigation and evidence collection were over, the crime scene was naturally sealed off.
The ones responsible for guarding the crime scene were also field agents from the Martial Association, tasked with ensuring no one could tamper with the scene over the next few days.
Typically, this kind of watch would last several days, ensuring that personnel from the Forensic Science and Investigation Departments could return to collect evidence any time.
The crime scene was on the 7th floor of an apartment building along the street, with the building itself being 9 stories tall, thus it had an elevator.
Sister Wang came out of the elevator, smiled, and greeted the person on duty, "Hey, isn't that Xiao Lu?"
"Sister Wang!" The person called Xiao Lu immediately responded enthusiastically and then noticed Xia Qianyue and Zhang Wei coming out of the elevator with her.
"Sister Wang, what brings you here...?"
"Oh, don't even mention it. I was on field duty with Xia Xia on the street, and by sheer coincidence, we were at the scene when the crime happened, so we became the primary eyewitnesses and were taken to the major crime unit to give statements."
"I've heard about that, so this young lady is the new apprentice you've taken under your wing?"
"Exactly. Let me introduce you, this is Xiao Lu, I trained him back in the day. This is Xia Xia, the new recruit in our field team. By the way, you know her dad, he's from the neighboring jurisdiction, Old Xia, Xia Donghai, you know him, right?"
"Of course, Uncle Xia, I visited their jurisdiction once, and he mentored me for a while too," said Xiao Lu.
Upon hearing Xia Qianyue's background, Xiao Lu dropped his guard and looked at Xia Qianyue with a hint of earnestness.
"By the way, what brings you here so late, you're here for...?"
"What else could it be for, Xia Xia begged me for ages, wanting to come and get a glimpse of the murder scene. You know, both she and I are the primary eyewitnesses, and maybe seeing the scene will help us remember something, so we'd actually be helping the major crime unit. But don't worry, they know the rules and won't touch anything," assured Sister Wang.
"Got it, I was like that at the start, too!"
Xiao Lu smiled, stepping aside.
Who hasn't started as a newbie? Occasionally bending the rules could be seen as a reward for the juniors.
"Xia Xia, when you and Zhang go inside, remember not to touch anything. If you really recall something, make sure to report to the headquarters first thing tomorrow morning!"
Sister Wang kept chatting with Xiao Lu at the entrance, not forgetting to remind Xia Qianyue and Zhang Wei.
However, the two had already entered the scene and were closely observing everything.
The apartment was small, a typical two-bedroom layout with a living room facing south and a kitchen immediately to the right of the main door, in an open style, with some leftovers on the counter.
Upon entering the scene, Xia Qianyue was immediately drawn to the bloodstains on the ground.
The trail of blood began on the living room sofa and continued along to the window, with plenty of blood also smeared on the shattered glass fragments.
He furrowed his brows because during the day, when he and Xia Qianyue had rushed into the apartment, they hadn't seen anyone with blood on them.
"It doesn't make sense, there's so much blood scattered; the murderer must have been covered in blood, but we didn't see anyone with blood on them downstairs. Did the murderer take off their bloodstained clothes on the way down the stairs? But if so, the forensic department should have found the clothes for sure, yet there's nothing on the major case team's clue board..."
"Unless they were wearing black or red clothes, which wouldn't show the blood, and moreover, there were many people around at the time, so I might have missed it."
Zhang Wei looked at the bloodstains on the ground, and that's all he could think of for the moment.
As for Xia Qianyue, she stood bewildered in the center of the scene.
"Zhang Wei, how should we go about investigating?" she finally asked, looking perplexed, after a long while.
She looked as helpless as a little chick that had just been separated from its mother.
"Aren't you studying criminal investigation? Why are you asking me?"
Zhang Wei was speechless—wasn't this her specialization?
However, after a bit of thought, he still chose to give a pointer: "Anyway, let's first find out the identity of the deceased. This will facilitate the follow-up investigation."
"Alright!" Xia Qianyue obeyed and began to search.
"Wait, remember to wear gloves, otherwise you'll leave fingerprints and risk being sued yourself!" Zhang Wei hurriedly stopped her as she was about to rummage through the cabinets.
Leaving fingerprints at a crime scene is a major taboo, especially since both of them were not qualified to search the scene.
If the major case team listed them as suspects, they would be finished.
"Oh, I forgot!" Xia Qianyue showed her signature silly smile and apologized profusely.
After donning gloves, she started her search. With Zhang Wei's reminder, she was very cautious, handling everything gently and carefully, even when lifting a teacup, afraid to knock or bump anything.
Zhang Wei, on the other hand, relied on his eyes to observe his surroundings.
The front door showed no signs of forced entry, indicating it wasn't a violent break-in but rather the deceased let the murderer in, suggesting they possibly knew each other, or that the murderer had an identity that was beyond suspicion.
The bloodstains were found only on the sofa and the living room floor, suggesting that the murderer and the victim had sat down to talk in the living room, and then the murderer had suddenly lashed out. Caught off guard, the victim could only flee towards the window while being chased by the murderer, which would account for the distribution of the bloodstains.
There were no signs of searching in the adjacent bedroom, which indicates that the murderer was not after money. The fact that the two were able to sit down calmly and talk suggests that the murder wasn't a crime of passion, but a premeditated one. So, who would be so cruel as to do such a thing to a woman?
Zhang Wei carefully recalled the cases he had experienced before.
Generally speaking, for indoor murders, the first suspect is always the other half of a couple.
But he had seen the woman just before she died; she appeared to be around 25 years old, and the apartment was a typical single's apartment with only one toothbrush in the bathroom, indicating that the deceased lived alone.
"Silly, what identity does this woman have, do you have any clues over there?" Zhang Wei quickly called out to the bedroom.
"I don't know, I haven't found any clues, there are just some of her clothes here."
Clearly, Xia Qianyue didn't have any clues.
Zhang Wei's gaze settled on the TV cabinet in the living room; there were several small objects on it, which looked like hand-carved crafts made of food ingredients.
"Strange, there are no carving knives or files here, yet these crafts are hand-carved; could they have been gifts?"
Zhang Wei didn't touch the crafts, but he did notice several letters placed under the TV cabinet.
"Silly, come over and open this TV cabinet, there's a clue inside!"
Xia Qianyue immediately left the bedroom, opened the TV cabinet as instructed by Zhang Wei, and took out the letters.
She examined the postmarks on the letters and quickly discovered some information: "It looks like she was a teacher, these are all letters from students and parents."
"Hmm, check out the address, we can go and have a look first thing tomorrow morning."
Zhang Wei noted down the address, which was a private middle school within Central Ring. The deceased's name was also noted on the envelope, Lu Mei, and the students called her Teacher Lu.
So the question arose, who could be so vicious as to kill a middle school teacher?
For a teacher, Zhang Wei's impression was that they were usually kind, gentle, and the kind of profession that wouldn't end up in such a tragedy.
Even if students' parents were dissatisfied with the teacher, at most they would complain to the school authorities. Resorting to a knife would be almost unheard of.
So he concluded that Lu Mei's death was not related to her job, meaning it was more likely due to her private life.
Unfortunately, the Martial Association Investigation Department had taken away many clues from the scene; they had no way to enter the evidence room and thus, could not find any clues.
"It's a pity, if we could see the body, we might have been able to get more clues!"
Zhang Wei muttered to himself, somewhat disappointed.
There were plenty of clues at the scene, but they weren't much help in finding the murderer.
They had no way to examine surveillance footage, nor could they access the evidence or the body, privileges reserved for the major case team.
"You mean seeing the body? Maybe I can find a way!"
Xia Qianyue's eyes sparkled with a glint of brightness upon hearing Zhang Wei's words, shimmering like the stars.
```
"Can you see the body?"
"Of course I can't, but Mo Yuzhu can!"
"Mo Yuzhu?"
"Yeah, Mo Yuzhu is my roommate. She's studying forensic science and is also interning right now, and her internship happens to be at the Martial Association's forensic laboratory~"
Zhang Wei was surprised; Xia Qianyue had connections after all.
"Do we still have time to make a trip there?"
"Sure, it's been a long time since I contacted Mo Yuzhu. It's on the way, so let's go see her."
After discussing, the two left the scene, said goodbye to Sister Wang, and headed straight for the Martial Association again.
The coroner's lab was also at the Martial Association Headquarters, but it wasn't upstairs; it was underground.
The forensic laboratory was large, as it needed to store bodies, conduct tests, and more. Just the morgue alone had to fit dozens of bodies, so the space had to be big.
After Xia Qianyue contacted her roommate Mo Yuzhu, she and Zhang Wei waited at the underground entrance.
Ding dong!
The elevator opened, and a girl in a white coat with a Martial Association pass hanging on her chest walked out.
Zhang Wei considered her a young woman only because he knew she was Xia Qianyue's roommate.
She had her hair down and looked completely disheveled; one couldn't see her face at all. Upon seeing Xia Qianyue, she greeted her with an extremely indifferent tone, "Silly Xia, hello..."
So it seemed the nickname "Simple-minded" wasn't exclusive to Zhang Wei; anyone who knew Xia Qianyue knew she was quite the simpleton!
"Mo Yuzhu, long time no see!" But Xia Qianyue was very friendly, hugging her as soon as she approached, excessively enthusiastic.
Zhang Wei saw a glimpse of indifference through the disheveled hair of the young woman.
This girl was like a machine devoid of emotions.
The girl spoke with a dismissive tone, "Xia Qian, if there's nothing important, I have to get busy..."
Cold.
Extremely cold!
"Zhang Wei, don't mind her, Mo Yuzhu is just like that. We've been dormmates for four years in college, and once you get to know her, you'll find she's really nice!"
"Really?"
Zhang Wei was doubtful and couldn't see at all what was nice about her.
"Zhang Wei?" The girl lifted her head and glanced at Zhang Wei.
At the same time, Zhang Wei also saw the heavy dark circles under her hair and her pale complexion, which made her look almost like a corpse, with a spooky coldness that was a bit chilling.
A morbid girl!
His mind unconsciously conjured these two words.
"So you are Zhang Wei. I've always heard Silly Xia mention you. Nice to meet you… By the way, have you guys 'rounded the bases', did you take any safety measures?"
"Pfft—"
Xia Qianyue sprayed out laughing when she heard the girl's question.
Zhang Wei was totally taken aback, not expecting this girl to be such a "female driver", asking such a question right off the bat.
"Cough cough, Xia Qian and I have a purely academic relationship. But nice to meet you, nice to meet you..."
Zhang Wei hurriedly said something to ease the awkwardness and then chatted with the girl for a while, learning her name in the process.
Mo Yuzhu.
A name that sounded quite nice, but her personality was a bit...
Then, Xia Qianyue explained why they came, proposing to see the victim of the murder case.
"Sorry, rules are rules, you can't see it." As expected, Mo Yuzhu rejected them on the spot.
"Mo Yuzhu, just let me look at it, just a glance~ I swear I'll only take a quick look, it won't take much of your time~"
To Zhang Wei's surprise, Xia Qianyue actually started to coax Mo Yuzhu, hugging and pleading with her.
And Mo Yuzhu, instinctively showing resistance, tried to push Xia Qianyue away.
But her strength was no match for the immensely strong Xia Silly, and she quickly admitted defeat.
"Mo Yuzhu, please help me out~"
Xia Qianyue persisted in her attack.
"Fine, but just a quick look, and you'll have to leave afterward..."
In the end, perhaps to avoid the hassle, Mo Yuzhu actually relented.
```
"Oye!" Xia Qianyue suddenly cheered.
Zhang Wei: "???"
What's the matter, your female knight-errant is actually scared?
Could it be that their personalities clash, with Silly being the restraining factor?
Under the cover of Mo Yuzhu's card swiping, the two of them were able to enter the elevator and descend to the underground second-floor forensic laboratory.
After bypassing a few forensic staff members, they found themselves in the chilly morgue where they saw the victim of the daytime murder from a few days ago.
By now, the victim had been dissected, and the coroner had cleaned the blood from her body.
Mo Yuzhu, holding the autopsy report and speaking in a tone devoid of feeling, said, "The victim's name is Lu Mei, 26 years old, a professional chemistry teacher at a private high school, currently living alone. An hour ago, her parents came to confirm the body, proving that she was their daughter..."
Then, putting down the autopsy report, she signaled for Zhang Wei to help, and together they flipped Lu Mei's body over.
"The cause of death was significant internal bleeding from organ ruptures due to the impact of falling. However, the multiple stab wounds she suffered before falling were almost all fatal. Even without the fall, she would not have survived."
"Look here, the wounds are all concentrated near the left ribs, which indicates the murderer is..."
"Left-handed!"
Mo Yuzhu was still explaining, but Zhang Wei preempted her.
"Hmm, how did you know?" In Mo Yuzhu's slightly aloof eyes, a hint of surprise flickered but quickly disappeared.
"It's quite simple once you simulate it a bit," Zhang Wei said, pulling Xia Qianyue next to him and having her turn her back to him.
"Look, she's the victim, I'm the murderer, she's fleeing, and I'm chasing. So, if my dominant hand is the right, the wounds I stab would be concentrated on the right side."
While speaking, Zhang Wei poked at the right side of Xia Qianyue's back with his finger.
It was already clear that with all the stab wounds concentrated on the left side, the murderer's preferred hand was the left.
"Wow, Zhang Wei, you're so amazing; you can tell just like that!" Xia Qianyue exclaimed in surprise, unable to resist praising Zhang Wei.
But at that moment, Zhang Wei and Mo Yuzhu exchanged glances, both discerning a sense of helplessness in each other's eyes.
It wasn't that they were smart, but that someone was too dim-witted.
Zhang Wei finally understood Mo Yuzhu, why this woman would indulge Silly. It turned out the way she looked at Xia Qianyue was filled with affection, just like himself.
Both of them treated Xia Qianyue like a daughter, and at that moment, they even felt a certain kind of resonance.
"Speaking of which, can a middle school teacher have tattoos?"
Zhang Wei glanced at the body and noticed several tattoos on the victim.
She originally had a flower tattooed on her chest, a few animals on her back, some green thorns on her legs, and even on the edges of her private* parts, there were...
Zhang Wei looked a few times and quickly averted his gaze.
"Private high schools, what do you think?" Mo Yuzhu didn't care, shrugged her shoulders, and remained expressionless.
"What was the parents' reaction when they saw their daughter's body?"
Mo Yuzhu took a moment to recall and said, "Quite indifferent, I guess. It felt just like when I go home and see my mother. I heard they also have a younger brother, you understand..."
"Got it!"
Zhang Wei nodded, then he and Mo Yuzhu worked together to flip the body back over and reseal it.
"Alright, you better leave quickly, or it could be bad if someone finds out. Your presence here is against the rules."
Soon, Mo Yuzhu was hurrying them along.
Xia Qianyue and Zhang Wei had achieved their goal and naturally had no problem, so they quickly left the morgue.
However, upon leaving the elevator, Xia Qianyue suddenly suggested, "Yuzhu, how about we get together for a meal in a few days? Maybe we can invite that person, too?"
"Forget it, she's a big prosecutor, she doesn't have time to bother with us..."
"You won't know if you don't try, right?"
"I'm not interested, dining out is such a hassle, and what if we can't get a reservation? Plus, I don't like crowded places..."
Mo Yuzhu declined the invitation, even pushing Xia Qianyue out of the elevator and returning alone to the laboratory.
This girl, probably spending all year round dealing with bodies, was truly indifferent when discussing topics she found uninteresting.
But when it came to the topic of "old drivers," she showed an unusual amount of interest.
Mo Yuzhu was a girl who appeared cool on the outside but warm on the inside, a very distinctive person.
"See, Zhang Wei? Yuzhu is actually a very nice person," Xia Qianyue said with a raised eyebrow and a smile, clearly boasting.
How could you tell she's nice? She's as indifferent to you as she is to a dead body, right?
Zhang Wei was somewhat skeptical about Xia Qianyue's definition of a friend, wondering if there was some misunderstanding.