☆, Archimedes and Cipher

Zhen Ai immediately dialed the phone: “911, I found my roomie killed, please…”

“Slaughtered,” Yan Su crouched on the ground, his voice carrying an indescribable chill.

Zhen Ai paused. Indeed, this scene of bloodshed was not just murder, but slaughter. Yet, she ultimately ignored him and continued to report the incident to the police as she saw fit.

After hanging up the phone, she gently closed the door, standing by it without entering or leaving.

“Why didn’t you call an ambulance? How did you know she was dead?” Yan Su, wearing gloves, was examining the deceased.

It was typical of him to question her at a time like this.

Zhen Ai didn’t find his question intrusive. She calmly replied, “From the bathroom to the dormitory, there’s at least 2 liters of blood.”

“You have good eyes,” he said ambiguously, “You’re so calm. Do you understand human anatomy?”

Zhen Ai’s heart skipped a beat, her dark lashes drooping over her dark eyes, as calm as ever as she replied, “I don’t.”

In those surprised and hesitant few seconds, it was easy for Yan Su to analyze. The answer was—

She was lying.

His response to this was, “In the time it took for you to react, the Earth has traveled 74,475 meters around the sun.”

Annoyed by her slow response, Zhen Ai remained silent this time.

Yan Su pressed his finger against Jiang Xin’s neck, staring at the wound with indifference. “A small fruit knife, the blade isn’t long but very deep. It accurately severed the carotid artery. The killer was really lucky.”

Zhen Ai could tell that his last sentence was sarcastic, so she made no comment.

Sure enough, his next words were, “However, making a logician believe in luck, this abstract thing…” There was no hint of a smile in his tone.

The deceased, Jiang Xin, was dressed neatly, but her shoulder-length hair was wet. Her arms were spread out like ghostly hands on the ground, with a long trail of blood from the bathroom to the room.

Yan Su examined the body in place, finding marks on both sides of the neck and vague bruising on the shoulders, which hadn’t fully developed due to the short time since death, making them hard to see.

Standing up, he surveyed the scene but didn’t move, apparently afraid of disturbing it.

The dormitory room was quite ordinary, with Jiang Xin’s bed and desk on the left, filled with clothes and accessories that seemed valuable. The dressing table was cluttered with various perfumes and cosmetics, almost overflowing. There was also a calendar with many circles, indicating a busy schedule. A jewelry box had fallen on the floor, with brooches, hairpins, and earrings scattered everywhere.

On the right were Zhen Ai’s bed and desk, simple and clean. There were rows of mass media books on the desk and expensive and stylish clothes hanging on the bed, nothing else.

Yan Su’s gaze fell on Jiang Xin’s dressing table. Suddenly, he asked, “How many jewelry boxes does she have?”

Zhen Ai looked at the scattered jewelry on the floor and casually replied, “One… I don’t know.”

“There’s a problem with that,” the meticulous logician furrowed his brow, “Since you answered ‘one,’ why say you don’t know? And if you don’t know, why guess?”

Zhen Ai: …

Yan Su glanced at her and didn’t pursue further.

The window next to the dressing table was half open, and the afternoon snow left two clear marks on the dark table.

Zhen Ai noticed, one was square and the other rectangular. The rectangular one matched the shape of the fallen jewelry box, but the square one… she looked around and was sure that something was missing from the scene.

Just as she thought about it, Yan Su muttered to himself, “Two things missing.”

Zhen Ai furrowed her brows. Two things?

How come she didn’t realize?

She was curious to ask, but ultimately decided it was better to keep quiet. Plus, looking at Yan Su’s face, it was obvious it said “Do Not Disturb.”

He glanced at the bathroom, splatters of blood on the wall. This was the first crime scene. But in front of the dressing table, there were only small blood droplets. Why did the killer drag the victim into the room, making such a mess?

The victim’s clothes were neat, but her hair was wet. Why?

Most importantly, with so much blood spilled, the killer couldn’t have left without being covered in blood. How did they swagger out of here?

He turned to look at Zhen Ai by the door and said flatly, “If you feel scared or uncomfortable, you can leave.”

“I don’t feel that way,” Zhen Ai said.

Yan Su squinted slightly, as if his assertion had been challenged. After looking at her for a while, he turned away and said decisively, “You’ve been standing here with your arms crossed. It’s a subconscious self-comforting posture, so…”

He paused and concluded, “No need to lie to me.”

Faced with his questioning, she neither admitted nor denied, simply responded with an indifferent “Oh.”

Yan Su fell silent, his expression somewhat peculiar. Her response didn’t follow the conversational rules of linguistics, with no coherence or logic.

According to linguistic concepts, this conversation couldn’t continue.

So he didn’t intend to continue, but after a while, he said, “I actually feel like you’re disturbing me by standing here.”

Zhen Ai looked up at him. “I haven’t moved or spoken.”

“Your breathing makes noise.”

“…”

Zhen Ai left the room.

Soon, Owen arrived, followed by the local police. Yan Su came out of the room then, letting the forensic team collect blood traces, footprints, and other evidence.

Among them was a very beautiful Latina forensic scientist with wheat-colored skin, naturally curly hair, and a sexy figure. Upon seeing Yan Su, she smiled and said, “Hey, weirdo!”

Yan Su glanced at her without responding, but Owen was quite enthusiastic.

The forensic scientist, named Eva Diaz, wanted to go inside, but noticing Yan Su’s indifferent gaze, she provocatively asked, “What? Trying to guess where I went today and what I did again?”

“Not guessing, observing and deducing,” Yan Su corrected her, “You didn’t go home last night, stayed over at a man’s place. The probability of inflammation or infection increases by 3-4 times if you don’t shower and change clothes after sex.”

Eva gritted her teeth with a smile. “Thanks!”

“No need,” Yan Su said.

Eva walked into the room with a toss of her head.

Zhen Ai glanced through the window and saw the room with curtains drawn, shrouded in darkness. Under the purple light, the crimson bloodstains were particularly chilling. As she continued to watch, Owen’s body blocked her view. He patted her shoulder. “Ai, don’t be afraid.”

Zhen Ai nodded.

“S.A.,” a police officer called Yan Su. This time, it was

a black-haired, tan-skinned officer speaking in English, looking very familiar with Yan Su and Owen.

Her name tag read Jasmine Van De Bilt. Zhen Ai was puzzled. Clearly, she was of Asian descent. How could she have such a traditional, even old-fashioned English surname?

Van De Bilt was a very active family in politics for hundreds of years. Did she marry into it? Looking at her age, around 23, Americans usually marry late, which didn’t make sense. Did her mother marry into the family? That didn’t fit either. Yan Su had very obvious mixed-race features, deep eye sockets, light irises, high nose bridge, thin lips, black hair, and white skin. But Jasmine didn’t look mixed-race at all; she had a very typical Eastern facial features, with a flat face, thin eyebrows, low forehead, slender eyes, and even darker skin than the average tan-skinned person. But her features were more harmonious and pleasant, with two dimples when she smiled.

Jasmine was very elegant, appearing intelligent and approachable. But on this issue, Zhen Ai was clueless. She had little social experience since childhood, so she couldn’t understand the meaning conveyed by others’ expressions or behavior.

She stood aside without saying a word. Jasmine didn’t notice her, as she admired Yan Su, asking for his opinion on the crime scene and wanting to hear his views.

But Yan Su refused, citing that the forensic evidence collection wasn’t complete yet. He said he had only observed some things and hadn’t formed any ideas yet, nor did he want to say anything to disturb the judgment of the police officers.

After saying this, Jasmine clearly admired him more. Even Zhen Ai couldn’t help but glance sideways, surprised by his principles. Turns out he wasn’t someone who always showed off his intelligence.

Yan Su raised his eyebrows lightly, meeting Zhen Ai’s gaze calmly, then turned away without a ripple.

After Jasmine finished inspecting the scene, she came out to discuss the case with Yan Su. “It seems that something like a jewelry box is missing. Could it be a robbery?”

Yan Su replied calmly, “Robbery wouldn’t involve dragging the victim from the bathroom to the room, making it difficult and leaving footprints. Moreover, it was stabbing, not slashing. The killer had resentment.”

“Then I’ll check if there are similar cases, to see if it’s a serial…”

“No need to waste time,” Yan Su decisively interrupted her, “Even if she’s the target type, a serial killer would abduct rather than choose a public dormitory on the fourth floor to kill. But this killer,” he habitually squinted slightly, “is skilled, calm, and came prepared. This time, the anger was vented, but next time… it’s very likely to develop into a serial killer.”

Jasmine was puzzled. She didn’t know how Yan Su could discern the killer’s personality, although curious, she didn’t ask in the end. Instead, she nodded, “Just as I thought.”

Yan Su walked to the door of the room and said to the forensic personnel inside, “There’s an irregular bloodstain over there, like it’s been wiped; over there looks like something flattened the blood spot, focus on it; also, check if the rectangular imprint on the dressing table has any non-adhesive components.” The personnel at the scene followed his instructions to collect evidence.

After everything was done, the deceased was carried out.

When Eva came out, Yan Su gave another instruction, “Check the victim’s lungs.”

At this point, a police officer asked who made the call to report the crime scene and if they could go back to the police station to assist with the investigation.

Usually, the first person to discover the scene and report it was highly suspicious.

Yan Su pointed to Zhen Ai without hesitation.

The officer was surprised. “Aren’t you the roommate of the victim?”

Owen knew Yan Su was familiar with the police, so he quickly said, “She came with S.A.”

Yan Su glanced at Owen and told the officer, “She came with me.” After a pause, he added, “But before arriving at the scene, I only spent less than 5 minutes with her. Based on the bloodstains, the victim had been dead for over an hour, so it can’t be used as an alibi.”

This cooperative behavior was the epitome of a model citizen.

Owen looked at him speechlessly, then turned to Zhen Ai and said, “Ai, I’ll notify a lawyer for you. If you don’t want to speak, you don’t have to say a word.”

Yan Su nodded. “Owen will find you the best lawyer.”

Owen continued to look at him speechlessly. Which side are you really on, you fence-sitter?