novelraw Chapter 436 - 262: Sun Zhidong’s Grievance
Chapter 436 - 262: Sun Zhidong’s Grievance
Without needing Wang Ruigang to mention it, Li Xiang also noticed.
He put on gloves, first taking out the evidence box of the first case, the one simulated by the system, and opened it. Inside, there wasn’t much, just some of the victim’s clothing, including a pair of stockings.
Li Xiang took out the stockings and observed them carefully.
The system’s case simulation was really amazing, the stockings were almost identical to the real ones.
This proved that his speculation was correct.
Next.
Li Xiang put the stockings back and then opened the evidence box of the second case, taking out the victim’s stockings to observe.
The situation was similar; these stockings also showed no signs of violent pulling.
The only regret now was that the case-handling police didn’t pay attention to this detail and didn’t take close-up photos of the victims’ soles.
However, having gone through all the files, Li Xiang vaguely remembered that some crime scene photos captured the soles, although he hadn’t paid attention to whether there were marks on the feet at the time.
This needs to be reconfirmed.
For now, it’s essential to confirm whether other cases bear similarities to the first one.
Down to the last of the eleven evidence boxes, Li Xiang examined each pair of stockings seriously, and things indeed were not as simple as they seemed.
All the stockings were like this.
"What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with these stockings?" Wang Ruigang, standing next to Li Xiang, looked at him curiously.
Li Xiang didn’t seem like someone who had a stocking fetish. Why would he take out each pair to look at so intently?
To those unaware, it might seem like Li Xiang had some kind of fascination with stockings.
"Yes, a big problem," said Li Xiang, taking several more photos of the stockings.
He couldn’t be 100% sure yet. Only by looking at the photos of the deceased taken at the crime scene could he confirm it.
After all, he saw the victim’s feet in the System Space before, and whether there was any error with the system was crucial.
With a cautious attitude, Li Xiang decided to take a look himself first.
Seeing that Li Xiang hadn’t explained anything before leaving the big evidence department, Wang Ruigang was left wondering about the stockings.
"What’s the mystery here? What’s wrong with these stockings?"
Wang Ruigang took out the stockings Li Xiang had been looking at and examined them himself.
"Aren’t these just ordinary stockings? What’s the issue?"
He looked over them several times but couldn’t see what Li Xiang had noticed.
Sometimes, a clue is just like a thin piece of window paper; once pierced, everything becomes clear: Oh, it was so simple.
But if no one tells you, you can rack your brains and still not know what’s going on.
Wang Ruigang was in such a situation; to him, the stockings seemed utterly ordinary.
Meanwhile, after returning to the office of the guidance team, Li Xiang took out the files, found photos from all the case scenes, and picked out all the photos that captured the soles of the victims’ feet.
In every selected photo, there was little dust on the victims’ feet, not resembling marks from a fierce struggle.
Having seen all the photos, Li Xiang had a pretty clear understanding in his mind.
He then sent a message in their group chat: "Continue finding patterns today, and tomorrow at 8 AM, we’ll have a case analysis meeting for further discussion."
The task force members replied one after another: Got it.
Sun Zhidong also received the message.
Knowing that no one from the guidance team returned to their dorms for sleep last night, he felt he couldn’t be the odd one out.
Li Xi went back to sleep without anyone saying anything, but if he went to sleep, Li Xiang would have something to say; it’s truly... frustrating!
He couldn’t follow Li Xiang’s lead; he had to work harder while Li Xiang slept, making progress while aiming to catch up.
The story of the tortoise and the hare has taught us from a young age that the fastest runner doesn’t always reach the finish line first.
"I’ll stay up late tonight too."
After mentally preparing himself all afternoon, Sun Zhidong decided not to join Li Xiang in slacking off; he too would stay up late with everyone else tonight.
After dinner, Sun Zhidong specially bought a strong American Starbucks coffee and drank it to prepare for staying up late, then headed to the guidance team office.
But as he approached the door, he felt something wasn’t quite right.
"Why aren’t the lights on? Are they saving on electricity?"
Upon opening the door, he found no one inside.
"Am I the first one? Did they not come back after eating? Well, I guess I’ll wait for them."
Sun Zhidong turned on the lights, then buried himself in the files, honestly, he hadn’t finished reading all of them yet.
It was really hard to get into them.
It was challenging to concentrate; even pretending to stay engaged now, his mind struggled to focus on the case.
He occasionally checked his phone for the time, muttering to himself: Why aren’t they coming? Maybe they won’t come after all?
The more he thought like this, the harder it was to settle down.
So, he sent a message in the guidance team group chat asking: "Hey everyone, are we continuing to fight on tonight?"
Yan Xindong: "I’m old, I can’t endure it anymore, taking a break today."
Song Yingwen: "Stayed up all last night, spaced out all day today, taking a break today."
Ji Huanhuan: "Got dark circles, can’t pull another all-nighter, resting today."
Qi Liyan:...
...
Reading the group chat made Sun Zhidong freeze on the spot.
You are not staying up late, so what am I doing here?
But now, he couldn’t sleep even if he went back.
After drinking a bitter cup of coffee, he was now wide awake!
How should he handle this?
This was quite hopeless.
-----------------
The next day, Sun Zhidong showed up in the meeting room with panda eyes.
Everyone was already inside waiting, and as soon as he appeared, all eyes were on him.
"What did you do last night, turned thief?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the girls in the meeting room couldn’t hold back anymore, letting out soft laughs.
"How can this be my fault? I thought you were also going to work late last night, so I specially went to Starbucks to buy a strong American coffee, ready to stay up with you. Who knew none of you would show up?"
The more Sun Zhidong talked, the more aggrieved he felt. Was he wrong?
No,
They were the ones at fault.
"We stayed up all night the day before yesterday; couldn’t hold up yesterday, we’re getting older and can’t endure this kind of fatigue."
Indeed, staying up another night would make it three days and two nights, who could handle that?
"Alright, sit down; let’s start the meeting."
Li Xiang let Sun Zhidong take a seat and then officially started the meeting.
"Yesterday, everyone discussed the case all day; has anyone summarized some patterns? Let’s skip the tried and tested; speak up if you have some fresh insights."
Finding patterns—the task force had already discovered many, but those patterns hadn’t helped solve the case.
If the guidance team follows the old path of the task force, it won’t benefit solving the case at all.
"Captain Li, let me start by sharing my view. My opinion is that the 11 victims were not random targets; their life paths should have intersected with the killer."
"However, the task force has carefully studied the social connections of these 11 victims. They range in age from the youngest being 18 to the oldest 39, quite a span, and they don’t know each other at all, making it nearly impossible to have encountered each other. How could the killer link them together? Other than random crime, I couldn’t think of a way."
"The killer carefully surveyed every crime scene and understood each victim’s route home, so this could not merely be a simple random crime; there must be a deeper reason we haven’t unearthed."
"That makes sense."
"I think the victims’ body types might also form a pattern; their weight is generally not over 110 pounds."
"Don’t most attractive women pay attention to body management? This can only be a reference point."
The meeting room buzzed with discussion, each person presenting their views, but still, no one noticed the detail about the stockings.
"Captain Li, why don’t you share your thoughts as well? You disappeared yesterday without saying anything," Ji Huanhuan covered her mouth, chuckling. She was determined not to let Captain Li slip away this time.
"Cough, how can you say disappeared? I just wanted to hear your views."