Chapter 11
Shen Yi

Huang Zhenyi isn’t the type of leader who dictates everything or acts like a patriarch. He agreed to let Li Ke continue the investigation, believing that regardless of success or failure, it’s a valuable experience, and one must be willing to take risks.

Because of this, Li Ke has a lot of respect for Huang Zhenyi.

Xie Qing also thinks highly of him, recognizing his leadership skills. He supports the ideas of young people while also leaving himself an out—just in case the killer is among the three suspects.

As they left the cafeteria, the sky was already darkening, and the two walked shoulder to shoulder toward the dormitory building.

Li Ke said, “Even though there are only three suspects, we have no clues at all. It feels like we don’t know where to start.”

Xie Qing stopped and looked at the rising moon, “If the killer is really among the three, this case will be simple.”

Li Ke also looked up, “The moon is beautiful tonight, but it would be even better if you could help me.”

Xie Qing said, “To investigate a case, you start with the case itself. Including the old town case you and Li Ji found, there are a total of four cases. Which one do you think is easier to investigate?”

Li Ke thought for a moment, “The Huang Qi case is recent, so it’s easier to investigate.”

Xie Qing asked, “Combining this case with the three suspects, how do you think we should investigate?”

Lacking experience, Li Ke didn’t have an answer until they reached the dormitory entrance, “We could enlarge the photos of the three suspects and ask Huang Qi’s relatives and everyone in his activity area if they’ve seen them. Or we could find out where Huang Qi caused trouble and see if any of the three suspects were in that area at the time.”

Xie Qing nodded, “You could also look into the old town case. I noticed something interesting—the victim’s home isn’t far from any of the three suspects. You could check if there’s any connection between them.”

“Right!” Li Ke’s eyes lit up, and she playfully punched Xie Qing’s shoulder, “Thanks! If we solve the case, I’ll treat you to barbecue.”

Xie Qing smiled, “Alright, I’ll be waiting.”

…

On Friday, at 3:10 AM, the piercing sound of the pager woke Xie Qing from deep sleep. She picked it up and saw the message: “Police station entrance, Cao.”

Something had happened.

She had prepared her clothes by her pillow: underwear, a short-sleeved shirt, long pants, and a loose long shirt.

Xie Qing quickly dressed, grabbed her bag, locked the door, and went to the bathroom. In less than five minutes, she was downstairs.

She first went to the office to get the investigation kit, put on a white coat and then went to the police station entrance to meet the others.

Two Santana police cars were dispatched. Huang Zhenyi and several veteran detectives from the second team were there, but Cao Haisheng was not.

Huang Zhenyi sat in the driver’s seat, “Your mentor is coming from home. Get in.”

Xie Qing got into the only empty front passenger seat.

The police car smoothly left the station.

Huang Zhenyi briefly introduced the case to Xie Qing, “In the Development Zone, on Jinhua Road, Deputy Mayor Shen Moyan’s eldest son, Shen Yi, was found dead in his car.”

Xie Qing was shocked, opened her mouth, and then closed it.

She remembered that in the book, this was a key character who appeared briefly. The female lead and Shen Yi’s sister, Shen Qing, were high school classmates and best friends. The male lead and Shen Yi were friends, and just before Shen Yi’s accident, they had gathered at the Golden Cabinet.

So, the female lead, the male lead, and the main antagonist, Guan Yangzhi, all attended Shen Yi’s funeral. Guan Yangzhi fell in love with the female lead, Xie Yun, at first sight. The second male lead, Tan Yi, took over the case and secretly investigated Xie Yun and Gu Ling, which led him to develop feelings for Xie Yun. Meanwhile, Shen Qing fell for Tan Yi.

This marked the beginning of a tangled and dramatic love story.

In other words, Huang Zhenyi couldn’t solve Shen Yi’s case, so Tan Yi would come to take over? Or did Tan Yi take over as the captain of the Development Zone’s criminal police team?

What a hassle!

If she solved this case, would Tan Yi not come?

Sigh… The author was too lazy, summarizing Shen Yi’s death in one sentence and the case being solved in another, without any details about the case. There was no chance to take shortcuts.

Lost in thought, Xie Qing’s face became serious, and her posture stiffened.

Huang Zhenyi thought she was scared and reassured her, “Don’t worry, your mentor is here.”

Xie Qing snapped back to reality, “Don’t worry, Captain Huang, I’m not nervous.”

The road was empty, and the car sped along, reaching the development zone’s sub-bureau’s roadblock in twenty minutes.

Xie Qing put on a mask and gloves, grabbed the investigation kit, got out of the car, and ducked under the police tape, heading towards the white Santana.

Forensic doctors An and Ding were there. An was still examining the car while Ding was writing something on a clipboard.

“Forensic Doctor An, Forensic Doctor Ding,” Xie Qing greeted them.

“Oh… it’s Xiao Xie!” Forensic Doctor Ding seemed a bit surprised, “Where’s your mentor?”

Xie Qing said, “He took a taxi and should be here soon. What do you need me to do?”

Forensic Doctor Ding said, “You…”

“Screech!” The sound of a sudden brake interrupted Forensic Doctor Ding.

Xie Qing and Forensic Doctor Ding looked towards the sound.

A Crown car had stopped, with a small and special license plate, clearly a government vehicle. Three adults got out, one man and two women—the middle-aged man was Deputy Mayor Shen Moyan, and the young woman was the supporting character Shen Qing.

Shen Qing’s mother was crying and trying to run past the police tape but was stopped by a female officer in uniform.

The officer gently advised, “Madam Wan, the forensic team is still investigating. If the scene is disturbed, it will be difficult to solve the case. Please wait a moment.”

“Deputy Mayor Shen, my condolences.” Several leaders also approached, blocking Shen Moyan and Shen Qing.

Seeing this, Huang Zhenyi breathed a sigh of relief and said to Forensic Doctors An and Ding, “The newly paved asphalt road won’t have any footprints. It’s all up to you. Any findings?”

Forensic Doctor An said, “The deceased’s muscles are relaxed. Based on the pupils and body temperature, the time of death is between 1:30 and 2:30 AM. The deceased’s face, lips, and nail beds are cyanotic, and there is petechial hemorrhage in the conjunctiva, consistent with general signs of asphyxiation. But strangely, there are no signs of mechanical asphyxiation on the mouth, nose, neck, or chest.”

Huang Zhenyi asked, “So, the cause of death is unknown?”

Forensic Doctor An said, “You could say that.”

Huang Zhenyi frowned, “Any other findings in the car?”

Forensic Doctor An said, “We found a few hairs and several cigarette butts, but nothing else.”

Huang Zhenyi looked at Xie Qing, shook his head, and then looked back just as a taxi stopped, and Cao Haisheng jumped out.

Forensic Doctor An said, “Forensic Doctor Ding, Xiao Xie, the car is done. Move the body to the stretcher, and after Forensic Doctor Cao examines it, it can be taken to the funeral home.”

The two addressed nodded, put down what they were holding, and immediately got to work.

Xie Qing lifted the legs, and Forensic Doctor Ding lifted the upper body.

After death, rigor mortis begins within 1-3 hours, usually starting from the head and moving downwards.

Shen Yi’s lower body hadn’t developed rigor mortis yet. His shoes were shiny, but one toe was dented, indicating a collision with a hard object—crocodile brand shoes, not particularly high-end but fitting for Shen Yi’s status. He wore dress pants with sharp creases and clean cuffs and a Goldlion belt. His top was a trendy military green casual blazer over a pointed-collar white shirt, both clean at the collar and cuffs.

Shen Yi’s phoenix eyes were half-closed. Despite the purplish face making him look somewhat grim, his elegance and vigor in life were still evident.

A promising young man, written off just like that.

Xie Qing sighed regretfully, then wondered if she could have saved him if she had remembered this earlier.

The answer was no.

In her previous life, she was too busy with work and only skimmed through the book, finishing it in less than a day. If she hadn’t transmigrated, she might not even remember the protagonist’s name. Even if she did remember, she wouldn’t know when, where, or how Shen Yi died—after all, the funeral was held a month and a half later.

Forensic Doctors Cao and An exchanged a few words and then squatted down together to re-examine the body.

They still found nothing.

A sub-bureau leader came over and asked Huang Zhenyi, “What clues have you gathered?”

Huang Zhenyi replied, “Director Yan, from the tire marks, there are signs of sudden braking. The car doors and windows are intact. The victim died of asphyxiation one or two hours ago. The specific cause needs an autopsy to determine.”

Director Yan said, “The victim’s sister said she and her friend spoke on the phone, and the victim left the Golden Cabinet with a few friends at 1 AM. The time of death matches.”

Huang Zhenyi nodded, “So, he encountered the incident after driving here, with no issues before.”

Director Yan said, “This is the primary crime scene. Investigate thoroughly and don’t miss any details.”

Huang Zhenyi straightened his back, “Rest assured, Director Yan.”

At this moment, Cao Haisheng unbuttoned the victim’s shirt and revealed the shoulder area, “The skin here is pale, showing signs of restraint.”

Logically, signs of restraint indicate homicide. But after another search, Cao Haisheng still couldn’t determine the exact cause of death.

Xie Qing took notes and whispered to Cao Haisheng, “Master, could he have died from morphine?”

Cao Haisheng’s eyebrows twitched, and just as he was about to speak, Forensic Doctor Ding interjected, “Impossible, there are no signs of that.”

Forensic Doctor An nodded in agreement.

In the 1990s in northern China, people had little exposure to drugs, so it wasn’t surprising that the two forensic doctors couldn’t recall the characteristics of such deaths.

Cao Haisheng didn’t rush to dismiss Xie Qing’s suggestion, “It’s possible, but there’s no evidence to support it.”

Seeing his pained expression, Xie Qing knew his old back couldn’t take much more, so she said, “Master, I have good eyesight. Let me look for needle marks.”

Cao Haisheng said, “We’ll do it at the funeral home.”

Just then, Deputy Mayor Shen’s trembling voice came from not far away, “Have the forensic doctors found the cause of death?”

It seemed they had to provide a cause of death on the spot.

Cao Haisheng gave Xie Qing a look and said, “Almost there.”

Forensic Doctors An and Ding shook their heads but didn’t say anything.