Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 215 Unexplained Motives 5
The only remaining suspects are the two friends the deceased met on the day of the incident.

When Xiao Chen and Tan Ming returned, they held a brief meeting in the office.

Zheng Yan recounted the statements from the people at both shoe stores: "We checked the surveillance footage from both neighborhoods last night, and they did indeed return home before 10 p.m. and didn't leave until 8 or 9 a.m. yesterday morning. Zeng Qiang, who appeared last night, also has someone who can testify that he didn't go out in the middle of the night."

He put a red cross next to those names, looked at two names on another line, and asked Tan Ming and the others:

"How's your investigation going?"

Tan Ming: "The deceased's hometown was Liushui Town, Shuangjin County, but he came to Jiujiang five years ago and studied at the Industrial College in the southern part of the city. After graduation, his first job was as a clerk in an optical company not far from the alley. At that time, he rented a house there for convenience to commute to and from get off work."

"About a year ago, she left the company without moving. Not long after, she went to work as a sales clerk in a shoe store."

“She had a so-so relationship with her colleagues at her previous company, and they hadn’t been in contact or seen each other for the past six months. However, they all thought the deceased was a good person. Although she wasn’t particularly close to anyone, she had never had any conflicts with anyone. They couldn’t imagine who could have killed her.”

As Tan Jia listened, he sculpted a dough figure. His mind was thinking, and his fingers were creating. With each press and flick of the sculpting knife, he unconsciously sculpted a head with a tilted head and wide eyes.

She stared at the inexplicable work for a second or two, and the person speaking had changed from Tan Ming to Xiao Chen.

"Because there is a surveillance camera outside the alley entrance, and it faces the direction of the express delivery station, the technical team still needs to investigate who might have been in that alley on the night of the incident. However, by following the surveillance cameras on both sides of the main road outside, I found the place the deceased went to on the day of the incident and the people he met."

"She went to the South District. Apparently, most of her former classmates and friends live there, so she usually goes there when she goes out. She met a man and a woman, both classmates. They had lunch together, went to a karaoke bar in the afternoon, went shopping, and then went to the Liuqin Road night market in the evening. They didn't part ways until almost midnight."

“The deceased was unable to take the subway, so he took a taxi back. They exchanged messages to let each other know he was safe when he got out of the car. I checked the surveillance footage from the parking lot outside the alley. The deceased did get out of the car safely, and the ride-hailing car quickly turned around and left. Then the deceased walked into the alley.”

Zheng Yan: "So the victim was safe outside the alleyway, but was attacked by the murderer as soon as she entered the alley? The murderer was waiting for her to come back from outside?"

Tan Jia thought for a moment: "There aren't many obstructions there. You can see directly to the end of the alley from this end. If the murderer started staking out during the day, someone would definitely have seen him. Since no one saw him, he must have started staking out at night. Then he must know very well whether the victim went home or not, and what time she usually came home when she went out. Is the male classmate who was with her a suspect?"

Xiao Chen shook his head: "He's quite short, and he's a test engineer at a car company. He lives in the employee dormitory. His colleagues on the night shift would return to the dormitory at four in the morning and see him fast asleep. He didn't have enough time to commit the crime in another area, and he quickly returned to the dormitory. The factory gate surveillance also shows that he didn't go out in the middle of the night."

“So there’s no suspicion.” Zheng Yan then crossed out the two names with red crosses.

All those who could have been suspects have been denied involvement. So who is the murderer?

Zheng Yan asked Xiao Chen, "Did those two boys and girls know anything about the deceased's recent events?"

Xiao Chen: "One of the girls said that the deceased recently wanted to quit his job at the shoe store and move to the same area to find a new job because he had an unpleasant experience with the shoe store owner and felt that the job was very awkward."

It matches the rumors that were circulating.

"No further news?"

Tan Ming and Xiao Chen both shook their heads.

Zheng Yan summarized: "Based on the information gathered from the interviews, the deceased had a very good interpersonal relationship. She didn't have a boyfriend, no romantic disputes, and no financial problems. The only conflict was an argument with the shoe store across the street, involving three people from both shoe stores. However, after checking the surveillance footage and questioning people, we can rule out their suspicion."

Ultimately, we still have no clue as to "who the murderer is" in terms of motive.

Xiao Chen scratched his head and hissed, "Why does it feel like this is another case of impulsive crime? Or was the deceased a two-faced person with some hobbies that nobody knows about?"

Drug use, gambling, and sex trafficking—all sorts of things popped into everyone's minds in that instant.

But Zheng Yan denied it: "If the deceased really had similar behavior, it's impossible that we wouldn't notice it at all. Even if you stay up too late, you'll notice." "Then let's use the simplest method," Tan Ming said, "look at the surveillance cameras at the intersections outside the alley, find everyone who might have entered that alley, and investigate them one by one. You can't possibly guess all the motives of a murderer, just ask them directly."

Zheng Yan agreed, but while using the cumbersome method, they also had to seize every opportunity to continue investigating other questionable areas.

Tan Jia raised the dough figurine as if he were raising an auction paddle.

Zheng Yan immediately called on her: "What are your thoughts?"

"What about phone location tracking? Call logs and chat logs? Unless the killer just wandered around and randomly killed someone, he and the victim would have some kind of connection, right?"

"They're still investigating. The tech team is busier than us right now. They were trying to persuade us to find the original files on the phones and computers so we could log in and check them directly."

Don't be fooled by the fact that people in offices and labs don't go out often; sometimes they're busier than those who go out on fieldwork.

Similar to the trace evidence examination, there are two bags under the eyes that have been there for a long time.

A few minutes later, a technician with bags under his eyes pushed open the door and said, "We've located Yang Jia's phone."

All four of them looked over at the same time.

"Where?"

"In the river."

...

Liuli River is called a river, but it is actually an artificial canal. A park has been built along the riverbank, which is only a little over a kilometer away from that alley.

When the criminal investigation team arrived at the riverbank, the salvage team they had contacted arrived first, and their machines pulled up a bunch of messy things.

The sorting staff found a small, black underarm bag and showed it to them.

"is it this one?"

Black, diamond pattern, metal chain, with wear marks on the zipper.

The deceased's friends and the shoe store owner identified the bag, and they all confirmed that it was the bag that the deceased, Yang Jia, was carrying.

The forensic investigators carefully opened the bag and took out the items one by one.

The most important item is a mobile phone, followed by sanitary napkins, a small pack of tissues, a charging cable, and a pair of Bluetooth earphones.

It was exactly the standard equipment for going out for fun, and it was all neatly arranged. I didn't notice anything was stolen.

Tan Jia was puzzled: "After killing the person, the murderer took the bag but seemed to leave it untouched, throwing it directly into the river. Why? What purpose did this serve?"

　I'm going back to being punctual *9 (straightens up)

　　Guess what story this is?

　　(End of this chapter)