The topic turned to the Poet.

Qu Ming said: “Of course! Who is the poet? He can be mentioned on equal terms with the first expert profiler Yu Yan! Let’s compare him with this Teacher Su. The Poet was always at the forefront of vicious cases. His logic and thinking are both very bold, and he is especially good at inferring this kind of organized crime. He can even predict the next move of the murderer. And this Teacher Su, although very good, has given us a lot of suggestions, but we are actually always one step behind the criminal. We can’t outrun the criminal, and there will be new victims…” 

Having said that, Qu Ming turned his head and asked Qiao Ze, “Xiao Qiao, have you dealt with the Poet too?”

 “There is only one Poet in the whole of Huadu.” Qiao Ze paused and added, “Let’s not talk about other things, even the second-ranked Moonlight is a lot worse than him.”

 Zheng Bai frowned: “You all say that the Poet is awesome, so just invite this person over.”

 As soon as he said these words, all three people in the conference room looked at him.

 Zheng Bai was taken aback, “Did I say something wrong?” 

Qu Ming shook his head: “First of all, who the Poet is. This question is a secret of the entire police station. Only the high-level officials know his true identity. Second… This Poet, whether he is alive or dead, no one knows.” 

Qiao Ze also whispered: “I also heard people say that the Poet is actually dead.” 

In the past two years, the Poet had never appeared again, and this person seemed to have disappeared into thin air. 

To be precise, the entire analysis team had been disbanded on the spot at that time, and only the legends left by the mysterious profilers were left in the police station. 

Qu Ming took a deep breath and continued: “Second, second, you must not mention the Poet in front of Captain Lu.”

Zheng Bai’s face was full of question marks: “Why?” 

Qu Ming shook his head: “I don’t know the specific reason, but I heard that when a high-level summary meeting was held, Captain Zeng of the Criminal Investigation Unit occasionally mentioned the Poet, and Captain Lu’s complexion was very bad at that time. During the discussion, he didn’t say a word, and left the venue as soon as it was over.”

 Lu Junchi had always been mature and steady, and this behavior was obviously not the usual style of their leader. 

It’s okay if he didn’t explain, but Zheng Bai was even more confused when he explained: “Does the Poet have a grudge against the Captain?” 

Xia Mingxi folded her arms and said, “I’ve heard a rumor. You know that the Captain has never looked for a girlfriend, right? All signs point towards the fact that Captain Lu’s long-term situation is because of an unforgettable old love. Some people suspect that the Poet left with Captain Lu’s White Moonlight, consequently, the two grew to hate each other… It became taboo to mention the Poet in front of the Captain. And the person they liked… was probably the only woman among the four profilers, Robin.” 

Zheng Bai suddenly came to a realization: “Oh…”

 Qiao Ze didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this: “Oh my ass, gossip with no evidence at all, you women are born idle… Have you all brought Robin into this by yourselves?” 

Qu Ming also said: “Unfounded rumors, don’t spread them, be careful the Captain doesn’t find out.” 

Xia Mingxi whispered: “I also heard it… Our Captain is so handsome, he is definitely the Huadu police grass, and the Poet, he has a high IQ. The criminal police captain and the criminal profiling expert rob someone of something they cherish, it’s very emotional to think about.”

Qiao Ze brought the topic back: “Speaking of Teacher Su, he is a teacher who came to lend a hand. Don’t be too demanding?” 

Qu Ming smiled wryly: “This case is definitely an unconventional case. We haven’t encountered such a difficult case in the last year. Also, Qiao Ze, do you think this teacher is here to help? I don’t think he is so kind.” Seeing that no one was talking, Qu Ming continued to analyze, “What do you think, if this Teacher Su is just giving advice, why not just send it to the Captain, why did he make a special trip to the General Bureau? Did he have to call us in for a  meeting?” 

Qiao Ze thought for a moment: “Probably because the theory is too complicated, we won’t be able to make sense of it later when it’s passed on?” 

Zheng Bai suddenly blinked his eyes and understood what Qu Ming meant: “Our team has been short of a consultant…”

 Xia Mingxi nodded and said, “It makes sense. Maybe this Teacher Su has made up his mind to be the consultant. I suppose Captain Lu may also have this idea.” 

It seems that there might not be such a  possibility. There are no less than one hundred or eighty people who wanted to be consultants of the Major Crimes Unit, but Lu Junchi was very picky, and he had rejected all the previous resumes. 

The few people quieted down for a while, adding another person to the team as a consultant was yet to drop from the sky, sounds a bit subtle. If they’re easy to get along with, it’s fine, if not…then the organizational structure and the relationship between colleagues would change a little bit… 

“The consultant of our Major Crimes Unit is not low in rank.” Zheng Bai frowned.

 Xia Mingxi said, “Then I’m more curious about how much this Teacher Su has.” 

Qiao Ze didn’t know why when it came to the issue of consultants, the originally comfortable and peaceful team suddenly had a sense of crisis and a feeling of xenophobia. 

In his opinion, if this Teacher Su was willing to come over as a consultant, it would be a great thing. 

Among these people, he was the one who’d met Teacher Su. With Teacher Su’s manner of treating something as no big deal, he was definitely not the kind of person who cared about his position. Moreover, Teacher Su didn’t seem to want to come to the special investigations team, from the beginning it was Captain Lu who sought other people’s opinions.

Having said that, Lao Qu surprisingly didn’t speak anymore, this old fox seems to be using others as spearmen. 

While chatting, Zheng Bai who had sharp ears glanced meaningfully hushing everyone in warning, “Here they come.” 

Everyone immediately became serious, and each took their seats in the conference room as if they were students waiting for the invigilator to enter the examination room. 

There were footsteps outside, mixed with the sound of a metal scepter hitting the ground. 

After the previous conversation, when Lu Junchi brought Su Hui into the conference room, everyone’s eyes naturally fell on Su Hui.

Several people sized up Su Hui. 

Xia Mingxi looked up at Teacher Su. The man in front of her was tall and thin, and he was not well-dressed, his bangs were slightly long, and he was wearing a simple white shirt. At first glance, Su Hui’s whole person didn’t seem to be eye-catching, but when she looked closely, his general facial features were actually delicate and pretty, gentle, wise, and farsighted, with a cultured and refined temperament.

 

What attracted everyone’s attention was that the half-human-height cane that Su Hui held in his hand seemed to add a sense of mystery to his whole person. 

At first glance, Xia Mingxi had a good impression of Su Hui… 

“This is Su Hui from the Department of Criminology of the Chinese Police Academy, Teacher Su. Recently, Teacher Su has given us a lot of help in the case of severed limbs.” Lu Junchi briefly introduced, “Today, Teacher Su will give us suggestions and analysis from a professional perspective, hoping to continue the investigation of the case and help us find the ‘Butcher’. Next, Qu Ming can introduce the details of the case first.”

 

Qu Ming immediately stepped forward and briefly explained the recent case of the Major Crimes Unit: “At present, the team has conducted further investigations on several sites where severed limbs were found. We *followed the vine and got the melon, and destroyed the abandoned vehicle exchange of the underground black market. Recently, we have made a breakthrough in the identity of the victims. We have confirmed the specific time and location of the kidnapping of the three victims. In addition, two missing women are also suspected to be victims… …”

 

Show/Hide Note

*(shun teng mo gua) Lit: Follow the vine to get the melon – Fig: to track something following the clues

After Qu Ming introduced these, he listed all the photos, physical evidence, relationship diagrams, etc. on the whiteboard. 

Lu Junchi said, “Next, I invite Teacher Su to give us a professional analysis.”

On the way here today, Lu Junchi briefly communicated with Su Hui, and he felt that Su Hui’s suggestion was very feasible.

  

When Su Hui suggested that there might be a way to advance the investigation the previous night, Lu Junchi really had the selfish intention of wanting this Teacher Su to be a consultant, so he came here to explain to the special investigations team and brought Su Hui along to meet them.

 

However, being a consultant was a big deal. It required the approval of Su Hui, the approval of Tan Ju, and the acceptance of the team members. Lu Junchi wanted Su Hui to be able to come into contact with several team members, later he might as well ask their opinions.

 

Su Hui was not aware of Lu Junchi’s thoughts. He was indifferent to the eyes of everyone in the special investigations team and nonchalantly took out a laptop from his backpack.

 

Lu Junchi said to Qiao Ze, “Help me with the projector.” 

Qiao Ze responded and hurried over to help.

Xia Mingxi held her cheeks in her hands and looked Teacher Su up and down. 

Qu Ming pretended to lower his head to record something, his attention was fixed on the side. 

Zheng Bai twirled the pen in his hand but still did not speak. 

Qiao Ze wanted to say a sentence to warn Su Hui, but when he looked up, Su Hui still had the same expression, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him, so he swallowed the words.

“Okay.” Qiao Ze said as the projector lit up, and Su Hui’s computer screen was projected on the screen. 

Lu Junchi raised his head to look at the projection, and couldn’t help lowering his head while holding his forehead.

 Su Hui’s computer desktop was covered with various files from left to right, even to the far right, and the arrangement of these files was very intricate and not systematic. Some files were also stacked on top of each other. At the same time, the hyphen logos were not clearly visible.

 As a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder with no more than two rows of files on his desktop, Lu Junchi was itching to rush up to help him arrange the desktop.

 The other people had different expressions when they saw the desktop. Zheng Bai even covered his mouth and let out a chuckle. He had seen messy computer desktops but he had never seen such a mess before. When students receive projections, are they so informal?

 Qu Ming frowned deeply. He often inferred people’s behavior from details. Many small habits in life could expose people’s subconscious.

 The computer desktop was so chaotic, which meant that the user’s thinking was fragmented, jumpy, and incoherent.

This Teacher Su didn’t seem like a person with meticulous logic, how can he infer the case with clear thinking?

Su Hui was still completely unaware, and calmly opened one of the many files, blocking the messy desktop. 

It was a picture with some overlapping circles covered with various colors, and it looked like it was created using the basic drawing software that came with the computer. 

Zheng Bai couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher Su, what is this?”

 Qu Ming also frowned and asked, “What new kind of criminal psychology portrait is this?”

 Everyone thought that the picture looked like a child’s doodles.

TN:

Hasn’t this task force never heard of the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? Well in this case it’s a nightmare-inducing messy desktop but that’s a moot point. Can’t wait for some good old-fashioned face-slapping.