From the moment the police received the report and discovered the body to finding a breakthrough and apprehending the first suspect, it had taken less than two hours.
And considering that this was a challenging case involving a river-disposal of the body, the efficiency was impressive.
Even Xu Changsheng couldn't help but be amazed, especially by Su Ming's sharp logic and inference skills. Without interviewing witnesses, confirming the victim's identity, or gathering information on her social connections, Su Ming had made this much progress simply by observing and interpreting the victim's body—almost like a forensic pathologist.
In fact, most forensic experts would only focus on the cause of death, lacking Su Ming's logical reasoning skills. No wonder he scored full marks on the criminal investigation exam; the Huaihai team had indeed found a treasure.
---
At Xu Yiguo's residence, they quickly discovered two luxury rings, a Cartier women's watch, and the latest model of an iPhone.
These items matched Su Ming's earlier predictions almost exactly, further proving his incredible talent for solving cases.
While the rings and watch were valuable, they couldn't quickly confirm the victim's identity. Repairing the waterlogged iPhone was the key.
Su Ming placed the items in sealed evidence bags and shared his thoughts with Xu Changsheng:
"Brother Xu, these items the victim left behind aren't cheap, yet she was wearing counterfeit clothing. I suspect…"
"These rings, the watch—they might have been gifts. This case could be a revenge-driven crime of passion, and confirming the victim's identity as soon as possible is crucial."
"As for Xu Yiguo, I believe he doesn't know the killer's identity. He's just a lowlife who thought he could profit by stealing from the dead."
"If we want to solve this case quickly, let's not waste too much time on Xu Yiguo and focus on getting the phone repaired."
Xu Changsheng nodded in agreement. From Xu Yiguo's scared and submissive demeanor, it was clear that if he knew anything useful, he would've revealed it by now just to reduce his prison sentence.
Without further hesitation, Xu Changsheng looked around the room to ensure nothing was overlooked, then waved his hand decisively.
"Let's go! Back to the station!"
"I'll have the tech team repair the phone as soon as we return."
---
Back at the Huaihai Criminal Investigation Department, Xu Yiguo was sent directly to the interrogation room, where other detectives questioned him on his confession details. Meanwhile, the forensic team worked on repairing the victim's phone.
Since the latest iPhone models had waterproofing, the phone wasn't too difficult to repair even after being submerged for a while.
While waiting for the phone to be fixed, Xu Changsheng and Su Ming met in a conference room to discuss other potential leads in the case. Wang Hu was off learning how to repair water-damaged phones, preparing to shift towards forensic work.
In the conference room, Su Ming sipped his water, pointed to a small evidence bag containing tiny fragments, and spoke thoughtfully:
"Brother Xu, these are leather fragments found in the victim's manicure. I believe they might indicate the approximate location where the victim was strangled."
"Under normal circumstances, when someone is being strangled, there's a brief moment where they can struggle. Although resistance is usually short-lived…"
"Within seconds, they could lose consciousness due to restricted blood flow, but there's enough time to leave specific traces."
"Like this piece of leather."
"Considering where a victim might claw at leather during a struggle, it's likely to be in a private setting like a car, sofa, or bed."
"These places have an element of privacy, and for the victim to be in such a setting with the killer, it indicates they had a close relationship."
"Normally, I'd say once the phone is repaired and we identify recent contacts, we could likely pinpoint the suspect!"
"But given the type of leather, I'm beginning to have some additional theories…"
With his experience, Xu Changsheng was highly sensitive to various clues and details. When Su Ming pointed out the leather fragments in the victim's manicure, he immediately began considering the relationship between the victim and the suspect.
Su Ming's incredible deductive skills and keen insights took Xu Changsheng by surprise, leaving him quietly impressed.
"Based on experience, we can now roughly confirm the victim knew the killer. This doesn't appear to be a random crime."
"Xiao Ming, you…"
---
"Based on this piece of leather, have you found any other clues?"
It was clear that after Su Ming's remarkable performance in both capturing an A-level fugitive and investigating this homicide, Xu Changsheng no longer saw him as a rookie. Instead, he treated Su Ming as an experienced detective and an equal partner in solving cases.
Without trying to appear mysterious, Su Ming shared his deductions directly:
"From our previous assumptions, the victim wasn't well-off financially, yet she wore counterfeit clothes to keep up appearances. At the same time, her jewelry and watch were authentic, high-end items."
"This likely implies that the victim used her appearance to gain expensive gifts, such as those pieces of jewelry and the watch, from a wealthy benefactor."
"Now, looking at this piece of leather in the evidence bag, I can tell from a basic visual and material inspection that it's made from cheap synthetic leather—the kind that most wealthy people would never use."
"This suggests that…"
"The killer and the person who gave the victim her jewelry are probably not the same person. There's a high likelihood that at least two men are connected to this case, making this a possible revenge-driven crime of passion!"
At that moment, Xu Changsheng fell silent, understanding exactly what Su Ming was implying.
This silence wasn't out of disagreement but rather a stunned amazement at the depth of Su Ming's analysis. It was hard to imagine that, based on such a tiny piece of leather, Su Ming had deduced that at least two men were somehow involved with the victim. His reasoning skills were terrifyingly sharp.
Just then, Wang Hu entered the conference room, visibly excited as he held the repaired phone.
"The phone is fixed! The victim's identity has been confirmed!"