Murder in the Bathroom

Gu Yuan washed his hands, changed his clothes, and turned on his phone to find two missed calls from the same unknown number.

Since no one answered, they sent a text message:

“Hello Mr. Gu Yuan, this is Dr. Zhou’s Psychological Counseling Office. Are you available tomorrow? We are scheduling appointments for tomorrow afternoon. Since your call was not answered, we have temporarily booked you for 4 PM tomorrow. Please arrive on time for the consultation so Dr. Zhou can better understand your situation. Address: No. 99 Lin Yin Road, 19th floor.”

Gu Yuan rubbed his temples and immediately called Wen Zihan back. The call was answered almost instantly.

“I told you, I don’t need a psychologist.”

“Just think of it as a chat, it’s no big deal.”

Wen Zihan seemed to be playing a game, with the sounds of a keyboard and mouse clearly audible.

Gu Yuan had been receiving psychological treatment since university, but after years, it had no effect and only increased his aversion to counseling.

“How do you know it won’t work if you don’t try?”

“I’m fine as I am.”

Gu Yuan hung up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked desolately through the police station lobby.

A young female police officer standing in the corner handed him a coffee.

Gu Yuan glanced at it, “I don’t drink coffee.”

The female officer awkwardly withdrew her hand.

He was so gloomy, it was hard for people to approach him.

Back home, Gu Yuan quickly took a shower, swallowed two sleeping pills, and put on earplugs.

Two hours later, he opened his eyes, staring blankly at the dark ceiling.

At this moment, his mind began to race.

Every night at this time, his brain would start working frantically, often causing insomnia due to excitement.

Images of Zhou Yun’s death scene kept popping into his head, every detail magnified infinitely…

The victim’s eyes, bloodstains, fingers, needle marks, wax blocks, slippers, blades…

It was as if the killer was both faking a suicide and telling the police it was a murder…

The next day.

When Gu Yuan walked into the police station, he looked like he hadn’t rested well, with faint dark circles under his eyes.

As soon as he entered, he felt the atmosphere was a bit strange.

There were many people in the station, all dressed neatly, and compared to yesterday, there were suddenly a lot more people.

The clock on the wall told him he wasn’t late, but actually ten minutes early.

A group of people gathered outside the captain’s office, and a few female criminal police officers stood by the office door, whispering, “He’s really handsome!”

Inside the captain’s office, a man sat on a leather sofa, his long legs crossed.

His leather shoes looked high-quality, exuding an expensive vibe.

His black trousers were impeccably pressed, and he wore a gray-black shirt, with a dark red bow tie adding a touch of bright contrast to the serious colors.

The shirt wasn’t form-fitting, but you could vaguely see the muscle lines underneath.

He quickly finished reading the documents in his hand, a slight smile on his lips, “It’s obvious the killer isn’t the same person.”

His words were shocking!

Outside the office, people quickly started discussing.

“Our forensic doctor provided me with some information. I think it’s necessary for you to see it.”

Xiao Ze took out the forum screenshot Gu Yuan submitted last night from a file bag and handed it to Mo Lin.

Mo Lin glanced at it, the smile on his lips becoming more pronounced, “I’d like to meet this forensic doctor…”

He placed the screenshot back on the table, the diamond-shaped cufflinks on his shirt sleeves flashing with a delicate metallic sheen.

Gu Yuan had just changed into his police uniform when he heard someone calling his name. He hesitated whether to put on his hat.

Li Meng found him in the locker room, “Consultant Mo is looking for you.”

Gu Yuan put the hat back in the locker and locked it.

When he walked to the office, Xiao Ze happened to come out. Seeing the captain come out, the people gathered outside the office quickly dispersed, returning to their posts.

Now there were only three people in the office, all strangers, making Gu Yuan feel a bit uncomfortable.

He didn’t like facing strangers in a closed space.

The man in front of him was flipping through the screenshots he printed last night.

Even though he had taken the earliest flight, he showed no signs of fatigue.

His hair was carefully styled, falling on either side of his forehead, with prominent brow bones and a high nose bridge, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

His profile was like it was carved, yet naturally so, exuding a strong sense of masculinity.

Such looks would be hard to ignore even among male celebrities.

Hearing the commotion, Mo Lin took off his gold-rimmed glasses, revealing his narrow eyes.

“Is there something you need from me?” Gu Yuan stood opposite him, hands habitually in his pockets.

He wasn’t very comfortable wearing a police uniform, because a junior once said he had a uniform temptation vibe when he wore it.

The person sitting on the opposite sofa chuckled lightly, giving an impression of deep meaning. He stood up from the sofa, his straight and long legs very eye-catching, and Gu Yuan instantly felt a sense of height pressure.

Gu Yuan was of average height in a crowd, but the man in front of him was half a head taller.

“This isn’t a serial murder case, the killer is imitating someone else’s crime.” Mo Lin immediately overturned Gu Yuan’s hypothesis, as if telling him, “I’m the authority here.”

“But you’ve provided us with a new direction. The serial killer might be hiding in the forum.” Mo Lin smiled at Gu Yuan, trying to find some other emotion in his not-so-friendly expression.

Xiao Ze: “So far, we have no information on the killer. Our people are visiting those the victim interacted with before death.”

“The victim died in a rental apartment, and we’ve verified the rental information with the landlord. The rent has six months left.”

“Xingning Community is an old community, currently only the area where the security guard is has surveillance, but the community is close to the university, with a large flow of people, making it difficult to investigate.”

“The victim had a complicated social life, often hanging out in bars and KTVs, not very close with classmates or roommates.”

“She moved out of the dormitory at the end of the first semester to live alone and hasn’t changed apartments since.”

“It’s said the victim had a wealthy boyfriend she met at a bar.”

“We’ve retrieved the victim’s phone and call records, finding someone named Ni Bin. According to the victim’s roommate, Ni Bin is the victim’s boyfriend.”

“We’ve already sent someone to bring him in. He should be at the station soon.”

Li Meng pushed the door open: “Boss, Ni Bin is here.”

“Just in time!” Xiao Ze pushed the door open and left.

Mo Lin’s smile remained: “Doctor Gu, would you like to join?”

“I don’t like going into the interrogation room.”

Gu Yuan didn’t like having other people present in the interrogation room.

Mo Lin nodded and smiled, “Understood.”

Ni Bin sat in the interrogation room, surrounded by closed walls. Opposite him was a glass wall, with a rectangular table in front, not narrow, with recording and video equipment on it.

Before long, two people walked in.

Xiao Ze sat opposite Ni Bin, his gaze sharp, immediately giving off an interrogative vibe. Next to him sat Mo Lin, whose lips always had an upward curve, giving the impression he was in a good mood.

“I didn’t kill anyone, I was surprised she was murdered too!”

“Where were you at 10 AM yesterday?” Xiao Ze asked.

Gu Yuan stood outside the glass window, listening intently to the audio equipment, trying to find clues behind the words.

“The night before, I played at the bar until late, switched to a KTV with some buddies at 3 AM, got drunk, and slept at the bar.”

“Since I’m a regular at the KTV, the owner let me sleep there.”

“When I woke up, it was already 10 AM, then I went out to find a Chinese restaurant, had a quick meal, and called a driver to take me home.”

“By the time I got home, it was noon, I was exhausted, and took another nap…”

“You can check my phone’s spending records and driver records, the bar and KTV must have surveillance too!”

Ni Bin looked indifferent: “I didn’t kill her!”

Xiao Ze: “How long have you been dating the victim?”

Ni Bin: “Half a year.”

“Did you know she was pregnant?”

“I knew, she told me. I told her to get rid of it, even gave her compensation. She had it taken care of last month!”

“The autopsy report shows the baby was still in her womb, and it was already three months old!”

“That b****, she lied to me!”

Ni Bin’s face instantly turned sour: “She was scheming against me!”

A few seconds later, Ni Bin’s expression changed 180 degrees: “Could she have committed suicide because she couldn’t handle the baby situation?”

“Did she drink alcohol?” Mo Lin asked softly.

“Drink? She never drank, she’s allergic to alcohol. When we went out, she always drank soft drinks, no fun!”

“Did she have any friends in the medical field, like doctors, nurses, or even medical students?”

Mo Lin’s question left Ni Bin puzzled, but it also opened his memory box.

“A month ago, I said I would accompany her for the abortion, but she refused, saying she had someone to accompany her, a nurse from the hospital. I didn’t think much of it.”

“I should have watched her go into the operating room. Now it’s a double tragedy, such bad luck!”

Mo Lin: “A nurse? Any more information?”

“That’s all I know. You can check Zhou Yun’s phone, everything’s on there. If there’s nothing else, let me go, I’m busy!”

Ni Bin was clearly getting impatient.

Zhou Yun’s phone information had been cleared—no recent contacts or WeChat chat records, no transfer information.

The recent call records only showed calls with classmates and Ni Bin; the rest were with her parents.

Since young people now prefer voice calls, no useful information was found.

Li Meng received new information from the examination team.

“No alcohol was detected in the stomach tissue, but the autopsy results show a large amount of alcohol in the victim’s blood.”

This was something Gu Yuan hadn’t expected.

Gu Yuan used his medical knowledge.

“Alcohol in the body is absorbed into the blood through the stomach. Normally, if alcohol is detected in the blood, it should also be in the stomach.”

“Besides, it can be injected intravenously in very low doses…”

Gu Yuan stopped here, thinking of the fresh needle marks on the victim’s arm, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Mo Lin suddenly snapped his fingers.

“The killer is male, about 1.75 meters tall, works in the medical field, has access to syringes, and is closely related to the victim.”

“Additionally, the killer likely suffers from severe depression, is extremely sensitive, and has been under immense psychological pressure for a long time.”

“From the clues of the whole case, it doesn’t belong to the previous serial murders but is a crime of passion.”

“Has the criminal profile been completed?” The people present seemed not to have reacted yet.

In just half a morning, the case had made such significant progress!

“Consultant Mo is amazing!” The girls at the police station started daydreaming again, imagining all sorts of scenarios.

Mo Lin stood at the front of the meeting room, his straight and long legs overly eye-catching. Wearing glasses, he had a more scholarly air, his lips upturned, exuding a charming friendliness.

Mo Lin noticed Gu Yuan sitting in the corner, staring intently at him, so his smile became even more pronounced: “Doctor Gu, do you have any questions?”

Gu Yuan: “No questions.”

Although Gu Yuan had high talent in his professional field, criminal psychology was indeed not his strong suit. Perhaps due to a lack of emotional capacity, he couldn’t see through a person’s heart through subtle clues.

Mo Lin could determine in such a short time that this criminal case didn’t belong to the serial murders and could sketch a criminal profile from the minutiae. Either he was overly confident, or he was truly a genius.

Gu Yuan found the peacock on stage too dazzling, feeling a bit uncomfortable, so he simply left.

Xiao Ze noticed his actions, feeling a bit stifled, thinking it necessary to give this newcomer a lesson.