"Crackle~"
Pushing open the door of the small room.
The rapid tapping sound of a keyboard flooded into his ears.
Occasionally, he could also hear his colleague Tom's shrill and excited cursing.
This guy was wearing headphones, engrossed in a game on the office computer that was similar to the game "Warcraft", which Brian knew from his previous life.
Brian glanced at the focused Tom, then at the game interface's time and data, understanding the situation.
No wonder Tom seemed deaf when Brian made noise just now.
The game demanded high hand speed and concentration.
Tom probably wasn't pretending.
Thinking this,
Brian sighed in relief.
Although the likelihood of exposing his "Golden Finger" was low, if anyone suspected him of mental issues due to his previous strange behavior, that'd be troublesome.
Because he really was ill.
...
The immersed Tom suddenly felt a chill on his back.
Turning around instinctively, he caught Brian's benevolent gaze.
Tom thought Brian was about to question him for not helping out after finishing up and instead hiding here playing games, hastily he explained, "Dude, I'm not avoiding helping you, just afraid I'd mess things up and cause you trouble."
Brian generously waved his hand, "No worries, it's just facial scars on two bodies, not only gruesome but also highly coincident, this is probably not a simple homicide."
Talking about the case,
Tom, the former detective, perked up.
He quit the game, throwing down his headset, eagerly started to analyze,
"The traces left by this case are quite obvious.
Both victims were clearly beaten to death with a blunt object, and the scattering of blood at the scene signifies the attacker was extremely agitated.
Moreover, the death times of the two victims, as determined by the on-site tests, differ no more than half an hour.
This indicates that the killer, after killing one victim, didn't hesitate at all before attacking the other.
Do you know what that means?"
"What does it mean?"
Brian felt like an idea was about to spring forth in his mind after hearing Tom's analysis, but it just got stuck.
That's probably the difference between ordinary people and geniuses in terms of intelligence.
Seeing no reaction from Brian, Tom couldn't help but roll his eyes,
"It means that the killer's motive was very clear.
Both female victims were neighbors.
It's highly likely that the killer had conflicts with them or shared some common interest disputes."
Having said that.
Tom confidently said,
"These clues are too obvious!
I bet my colleagues at the Detective Bureau can arrest the killer in just a few days."
"So that's the case."
Brian nodded thoughtfully, then felt somewhat disheartened.
Colleague Tom had no remarkable performance in his detective career.
But often, in terms of logical capabilities, he still overshadowed Brian.
During college, the subjects weren't extremely complex, and with hard work, Brian didn't feel too pressured by his classmates.
But that changed at the Forensic Bureau.
Colleagues around him were all high achievers with high IQs.
Even the field agents like Tom, who joined before the Forensic Bureau, were veterans in their related fields.
Brian often felt inadequate intellectually and couldn't integrate into the group, ultimately relying on his rich resources in used cars to bribe his senior forensic colleagues to barely make it to where he was now.
The gap between people.
Sometimes, it's even bigger than the gap between humans and dogs.
Who knows if his "Golden Finger" could help with that?
...
Brian shook his head, remembering his purpose, quickly suppressed the random thoughts, and shifted the topic, "The two victims were neighbors and had a fixed residence, so their information should be easy to gather, right?"
Tom nodded, "Yeah, their basic information is in the database."
Speaking of which, he handed two printing reports still smelling of ink to Brian.
Neither report was thick.
In the top-right corners, a colored portrait photo of a woman was clipped with a paperclip.
Brian first looked at the first report.
The dead was named Carolina Ellis, 34 years old, unemployed homeless.
Because he dealt and organized dealing of drugs, he had been incarcerated twice.
Carolina Ellis had been married three times.
However, due to health reasons, she had no children.
Her last husband was named Andres Cook...
Hmm?!
Brian was jolted by the sight of that name!
Wasn't this the obsession of the woman on the right?
Were the couple actually husband and wife?
Then, why was the deceased's obsession to kill Andres, and why, it seemed, was she so angry with her own husband?
Could it be...
Brian suddenly realized.
Was the murderer Andres?
...
Brian quickly turned to another report.
This must be the basic information of the woman on the left.
Brian first glanced at the photo.
It was of a blonde woman with a gentle smile.
Instantly seeing her could make you think of the mild sunshine of spring, gentle but not scorching, involuntarily lifting one's mood.
Recalling her horribly disfigured face he'd seen in the morgue...
Even the numb-hearted Brian couldn't help but sigh.
Why do beautiful things always meet with grim fates?
With a sense of regret,
Brian's eyes moved down.
The gentle woman, named Emmaline Keller, was 27 years old, an employee at a domestic service company, with no criminal record.
Emmaline Keller, had been married once.
But on the form, under husband's section, it was listed as deceased.
This meant that Emmaline Keller had not divorced but was a widow.
However, she still had a daughter.
The daughter, three years old, was named Alli Dicker.
"Alli!"
Brian immediately zeroed in on the crucial information.
The left body's obsession was ensuring Alli survived!
Could she have been worrying about her daughter before she died?
Indeed!
The deceased, Emmaline Keller was a widow, and her daughter was only three years old.
At the time of the murder,
Emmaline Keller's daughter Alli was most likely also in the house!
But, Tom said that there were only two victims at the scene.
Could the murderer have spared Alli?
Or, did the murderer take three-year-old Alli with him?
...
Brian feigned pity and said, "The deceased named Emmaline Keller had such a gentle smile, and she has a daughter just three years old, sigh."
Tom followed with a sigh:
"Emmaline Keller died in the bathroom.
Fortunately, her daughter was asleep upstairs at the time.
The person who reported the incident was another victim's husband, Andres.
He and his wife had a huge fight over financial issues.
Andres went to a bar to drink.
When he returned,
he found his wife dead in the living room and reported the incident.
The police sealed off the scene and knocked on the neighbor Emmaline Keller's door for some information, waking the little girl upstairs.
The police then discovered there was another victim.
But don't worry, judging by the time, that poor little girl should have been settled by the colleagues at the police station by now."
Hearing that the little girl was safe,
Brian breathed a sigh of relief.
But within a few seconds,
the numerous blood-red light dots representing the obsession of the body on the left transformed into a blonde woman with a gentle smile, who said "Thank you" to Brian, then dissolved into countless lights, completely merging into Brian's body.
Brian was a bit baffled.
The obsession, was that it?
Then... where's my reward?