“The deceased, name Jiang Yun, female, age twenty-five, from Yuecheng, only child of her family, currently an entertainment streamer on Platform X. Her social circle is relatively simple. She lived alone, and the apartment in Jinrong Residential Complex was rented. Her parents have been notified and are on their way.”
“The deceased had ligature marks on her wrists and ankles, defensive wounds on the backs of her hands, and a stab wound to the abdomen with a lacerated liver. Cause of death is hemorrhagic shock; the liver laceration alone could also have been fatal. Based on the condition of the body, time of death is approximately fourteen hours ago. We arrived at the scene at one-thirty in the afternoon, so time of death should be around eleven-thirty last night.”
“The door lock showed no signs of forced entry. Preliminary assessment suggests either the killer was someone known to the victim, or the killer disguised themselves as a delivery driver or courier.”
“At the scene, we found three sets of footprints: the victim’s, the reporting party’s, and an adult male’s. Size forty-three, with a slight limp in the left foot. He remained at the scene for a long time. No suspicious fingerprints were found. The victim’s phone was also not recovered from the scene.”
Hearing “a slight limp in the left foot,” Zhuang Yanzheng looked up at the forensic technician. “What about surveillance?”
“There’s a camera outside unit 2001, the victim’s residence, but it had been broken for a week before the incident—it captured nothing. We’re still reviewing the elevator footage. No suspicious individuals spotted so far. The cameras in the stairwell and at the building entrance were both non-functional. The victim was also the only resident on the twentieth floor; all other units are vacant.”
The difficulty of the case had just increased significantly.
Zhuang Yanzheng recalled what Su Miaoyi had said about financial dealings between the killer and the victim. “Look into Jiang Yun’s streaming account. Focus on the gift donations.”
“Understood.”
“Have Su Miaoyi’s drug test results come back?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
“Yes, negative. However, the preliminary diagnosis on her medical record today is schizophrenia.”
“She does seem mentally unstable,” Zhuang Yanzheng said expressionlessly. “Take her to the interrogation room.”
“Captain Zhuang.” Qi Feng had just returned from the hospital. He handed the tablet to Zhuang Yanzheng. “The surveillance from the east gate of Sixth Hospital, between 11:58 and 12:02, did capture Su Miaoyi with a man.”
When Zhuang Yanzheng had left Jinrong Residential Complex, he’d sent Qi Feng to the hospital to pull the footage.
He took the tablet and reviewed it. The man did indeed have a slight limp in his left foot, and his height and build matched.
“The man’s name is Wang Lang, from Jinghai, thirty-six years old, security guard at the hospital’s inpatient building. He’s already been brought in,” Qi Feng said.
Wang Lang had happened to be on duty at the inpatient building today, so Qi Feng had brought him in.
“When we showed our badge, he tried to run,” Qi Feng added.
Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at the information on the tablet. “Let’s go see this Wang Lang first.”
“Understood.”
…
Interrogation Room
Su Miaoyi had been clutching the hem of her shirt the entire time, but was forced to let it go when she came in.
She wasn’t feeling well at all right now.
Not just because the hem of her shirt was touching her skin, but also because… she’d been sitting here for a very long time.
No one had come to talk to her for ages!
The dizziness, nausea, and weakness had faded.
There was no other discomfort—she was just stiff from sitting too long.
Su Miaoyi stared blankly at a fixed point.
There was no clock in here, and no change in lighting.
But she could somehow tell it was probably past six in the evening.
That was the thing—lately, knowledge she’d never learned kept popping into her head.
Like her current sense of time.
Or how, when she walked down the street and saw a footprint, she could analyze the person’s weight, height, and walking posture.
Or… when she ate out, she’d observe the micro-expressions of the restaurant patrons.
And then… today, she’d determined time of death based on rigor mortis.
Thinking about it, Su Miaoyi smiled.
She’d grown up without even knowing what rigor mortis was.
And strangely enough, sitting here, she didn’t feel fear—instead, she found it a fascinating new perspective.
From the bottom of her heart, there was a sense of, “So this is what it feels like to be in here.”
Something was one hundred and twenty million percent wrong.
Finally, the door to the interrogation room was pushed open.
Su Miaoyi watched Zhuang Yanzheng walk in.
His sharp, piercing gaze swept across her face.
Zhuang Yanzheng sat down and reviewed her information.
Half a day had passed—her file had long since been pulled up.
Su Miaoyi, twenty-five, native of Jinghai, graduate of Jinghai Normal University, occupation: web novelist.
Father: Ji Sheng. Mother: Cai Qinglian.
Eldest daughter of the family, with a younger brother named Ji Jiabao.
Zhuang Yanzheng wasn’t surprised that her surname was Su rather than Ji.
The Ji family was no small household in Jinghai.
He’d heard about what happened with the Ji family back then.
“Where were you at eleven-thirty last night?” Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her.
Eleven-thirty last night?
Time of death?
Su Miaoyi calculated the time point, matching it with the time of death she’d deduced in her head, then replied, “At home.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Zhuang Yanzheng watched her.
Su Miaoyi shook her head. “No. I live alone.”
“Did you hear any sound?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
Su Miaoyi shook her head again.
“What were you doing at the time?” Zhuang Yanzheng had been observing her expression the whole time.
“Writing a novel,” Su Miaoyi said. “I’m a web novelist. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that profession. It requires me to update four thousand words before 11:59 every night to keep my streak going without interruption. Once I break the streak, I lose recommendations, my traffic drops, and I’m out of money. So at 11:30 every night, that’s exactly when I’m in full-on grind mode.”
“Is the soundproofing at Jinrong Estate really that good?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
“No,” Su Miaoyi said.
“Then you heard nothing at all?” Zhuang Yanzheng’s gaze was sharp, as if it could pierce through a person’s heart.
Su Miaoyi met his eyes.
She felt she ought to be afraid, but at this moment, a strange sense of familiarity welled up instead.
“Between nine and twelve, I usually have my earphones on,” Su Miaoyi said. “Because her livestreams are really noisy, and my train of thought would get interrupted.”
Zhuang Yanzheng kept looking at her.
Too calm.
Wang Lang had confessed to everything.
Jiang Yun was killed by him.
But precisely because of that, Su Miaoyi was even more suspicious.
She knew everything.
The victim lived above her.
The killer was at the hospital she visited.
She said she saw the killing happen, and it matched up with Wang Lang’s account.
Too coincidental.
So coincidental that it all seemed orchestrated by her.
Her diagnosed schizophrenia was like a get-out-of-jail-free card.
After all, in all his years on the job, only the killer knew the details of the crime scene this well.
And her appearance, her name—everything made him suspicious, made him question her motives.
“Because the livestream was too loud, there was conflict between you two,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
“No. Once I put on my earphones, I couldn’t hear it anymore. It wouldn’t have escalated to conflict,” Su Miaoyi said. “Besides, her livestreams were pretty entertaining. When I wasn’t writing, I’d occasionally listen in.”
“Listen to what?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
“Thank you to Brother Wang from AAA Building Materials for the GAI gifted to the gemstone section,” Su Miaoyi blurted out.
She pressed her lips together after saying it.
Brother Wang from AAA Building Materials had been around for a while now—she’d developed a conditioned reflex to it.
Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her: “…”
Su Miaoyi cleared her throat softly.
Zhuang Yanzheng lowered his gaze, paused for a moment, then asked, “At the east gate of Sixth Hospital, why were you so precise about the time between 11:58 and 12:02?”
Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.
Trying to read something from his expression.
Zhuang Yanzheng seemed to notice what she was doing, and his left brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
An overwhelming pressure came crashing down.
Su Miaoyi lowered her gaze. “I was looking at my phone at the time. When I unlocked it, it was 11:58, and when the screen went dark, it was 12:02.”
“Such a good memory?” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Su Miaoyi didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Did you go to the hospital? Did you find the person?”
“Case details can’t be disclosed to the public,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Su Miaoyi said nothing.
Zhuang Yanzheng got up to leave.
Su Miaoyi immediately called out to him. “You’re not letting me go?”
“There are still doubts about you,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Su Miaoyi opened her mouth, then closed it again.
If she were a detective, she’d suspect herself too.
How could there be so many coincidences?
“I, I…” Su Miaoyi said in a small, pitiful voice, “I, I can’t break my update streak. My readers are all waiting.”
Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her miserable little face.
Seeing that he had no intention of letting her go, Su Miaoyi added, “Then can you at least get me something to eat? If I starve to death here, it’d be pretty troublesome for you guys too.”
“Didn’t you eat lunch?”
Su Miaoyi shook her head.
“Qi Feng, get her a meal,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
“Got it,” Qi Feng replied.
……