Chapter 44: Suspicion

"Captain, aren't you coming back with us?"

"No, I'm heading over to the Yuxi Police Station ahead."

"Alright then, we'll head back."

Hearing this, several of Xia Baokun's team members climbed into the rear vehicle. As for the lead vehicle, it was naturally left behind for Xia Baokun.

"Forensic Doctor Sun, sorry to trouble you and your team tonight to get the autopsy report out," Xia Baokun said, turning to one of the individuals who looked like a forensic investigator.

Forensic Doctor Sun nodded and said, "Don't worry, the results will definitely be out tonight."

There had already been three homicides with remarkably similar *modus operandi*. Clearly, this was a serial killer case. The Municipal Bureau was paying close attention to it, and everyone was under immense pressure. At a time like this, no one dared to slack off, and everyone hoped to apprehend the perpetrator as quickly as possible to prevent any leaks that might trigger public panic.

Seeing them leave, Xia Baokun drove over to the Yuxi Police Station.

Perhaps because Lin Guoliang and the others had given advance notice, Guan Xueming, the head of the Yuxi Police Station, was already waiting at the entrance. Spotting Xia Baokun's car pull in, he immediately walked up to greet him.

"Old Xia."

"Station Chief Guan."

Xia Baokun quickly returned the greeting.

"Lin Guoliang and the others briefed me. For this to draw you folks in personally, it seems this case is no small matter." Guan Xueming shook hands with Xia Baokun.

"Indeed. A serial murder case with an extremely malicious impact. The leadership at the Municipal Bureau is urging us to solve it as soon as possible."

"The pressure must be immense," Guan Xueming sighed.

Sometimes, cases cannot be solved simply because you want them to be, but the higher-ups don't care about such nuances.

"Who are you telling?" Xia Baokun pulled out a cigarette and handed one to Guan Xueming.

By now, the sky had turned completely dark, but the area outside the police station was lit up as bright as day. Instead of going inside, the two men stood at the entrance, smoking and chatting idly.

However, Xia Baokun only provided a rough outline of the three serial murder cases without revealing too many details. Until the case was cracked, much of the information needed to remain confidential.

"The killer possesses an exceptionally high level of counter-reconnaissance awareness, and every time after committing a crime, they call to notify us. This is nothing short of a direct provocation against the Binhai police force..." Xia Baokun said with a hint of indignation.

"To be able to stump our Captain Xia, it seems this killer's intelligence is not low," Station Chief Guan joked.

He then dropped his cigarette butt to the ground and ground it out with the tip of his shoe.

"You said it. That's why we haven't been able to find any useful clues so far. Yet today, a young woman actually came to your station to report a crime. This might just turn out to be our breakthrough."

Guan Xueming nodded. "After Lin Guoliang and the others came back and reported to me, I had them pull the surveillance footage. I imagine it's ready by now. Let's go take a look together."

Guan Xueming took the lead and walked toward the station building, with Xia Baokun hastily following behind.

The outermost section of the police station was the service hall, primarily used for receiving visiting citizens, and the computers there were only used for querying and registering information.

All the surveillance terminals were located in the innermost server room. From here, one could access surveillance data from all traffic monitoring devices within the jurisdiction, including the monitoring equipment of the Yuxi Police Station itself.

***

When Guan Xueming led Xia Baokun and pushed open the door, they found the three people inside sweating profusely and wearing expressions of sheer terror.

There were three of them because the room contained not only Lin Guoliang and Jiang Xiyue, but also the technician in charge of the server room.

"What's going on here?" Guan Xueming asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Station Chief~"

Hearing his voice, Jiang Xiyue hurried over to Guan Xueming with small steps, her face full of panic.

"What happened?"

"I... I..."

For a moment, Jiang Xiyue didn't know how to explain. She even began to doubt whether something was wrong with her mind. If everything was merely her own imagination, how could they explain the fact that they had actually found a corpse?

"Old Lin, what is going on?"

Guan Xueming shifted his gaze to the more mature and steady Lin Guoliang.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Guoliang said, "We checked the surveillance footage, but we couldn't find the young woman who reported the crime."

"What do you mean? The cameras didn't catch her?" Guan Xueming asked, puzzled.

Didn't they say they met right at the entrance of the police station? Was there a blind spot in the surveillance right outside the station door?

"Take your time, don't rush," Xia Baokun tried to comfort Jiang Xiyue, helping her steady her emotions.

Jiang Xiyue took a deep breath, took over the explanation, and said, "It's not that, Station Chief. The surveillance captured me, but on the footage, there is absolutely no one standing opposite me. I was just talking to myself the entire time."

By the end of her sentence, Jiang Xiyue's voice was trembling slightly. She was seriously beginning to suspect that her brain was malfunctioning.

Guan Xueming reacted similarly. He looked with astonishment at Jiang Xiyue, who was on the verge of tears, before quickly shifting his gaze back to Xia Baokun.

"Let's check the surveillance footage first," Xia Baokun suggested.

The two men walked over to the monitoring equipment. The computer screen was currently playing back the surveillance footage, and indeed, the video showed only Jiang Xiyue standing alone and talking to the empty air.

Frowning, Guan Xueming said, "Xiao Mo, replay the footage from the beginning for us to see."

Hearing this, Xiao Mo immediately dragged the progress bar backward, jumping straight to the moment Jiang Xiyue entered the courtyard on her motorcycle.

They watched as Jiang Xiyue rode her motorcycle into the yard, appeared to notice something, slowed down, and drifted slowly toward the entrance of the police station. She seemed to be speaking with someone, and then she killed the engine and took off her helmet.

"Right here. The young woman should have been standing right around this spot."

Jiang Xiyue, who had walked over with them, pointed to the area slightly ahead and to the left of the motorcycle.

"Seeing that she was a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, I took the initiative to ask her what she needed."

"She opened her mouth and called me 'Police Uncle', so I told her I was an 'Older Sister' and asked her to take her time and tell me what was wrong..."

***

Standing beside them, Jiang Xiyue followed the progress of the video and explained what had been said at the time.

The exchange had been brief. Then they watched as Jiang Xiyue suddenly got off her motorcycle, ran toward the courtyard entrance, looked around outside for a moment, and then ran back.

Immediately afterward, Lin Guoliang appeared at the entrance of the police station.

Lin Guoliang, standing nearby, also offered an explanation: "Seeing her block the entrance with her motorcycle, I asked her casually what was going on. Xiao Jiang told me a young girl had come to report a crime..."

The two of them had then left the police station, and the surveillance recording ended there.

"Xiao Jiang, have you been working too hard lately? Would you like me to give you a few days off so you can go home and get some proper rest?" Guan Xueming looked at Jiang Xiyue, his face full of concern.

"Station Chief, I... I'm not tired, I'm fine," Jiang Xiyue quickly argued in her own defense.

It wasn't that she didn't want a break, but rather that she didn't want people to mistakenly believe her mind was broken.

Beside them, Xia Baokun rubbed his chin in thought. "If your mental state really is failing you, why would there actually be a corpse in that abandoned building?"

At these words, everyone turned in unison to look at Jiang Xiyue, whose face instantly drained of all color.

"It wasn't me! I didn't kill anyone! A little girl really did come to report a crime!" Jiang Xiyue was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.

"Alright, Xiao Jiang, don't panic. We all believe you," Station Chief Guan comforted her, trying to steady Jiang Xiyue's crumbling composure.

"Xiao Jiang, don't be nervous. We know it wasn't you," Lin Guoliang chimed in to comfort her as her mentor.

"However, right now you are the prime suspect," Xia Baokun suddenly interjected.

Station Chief Guan and Lin Guoliang both shot him displeased looks.

Acting as if he hadn't noticed, Xia Baokun continued, "If the killer isn't you, then the situation becomes rather difficult to explain."

Jiang Xiyue, who had only just managed to steady her emotions, felt like she was about to fall apart all over again at these words.

"Don't panic. You're a police officer too; how can your psychological resilience be this weak? Back in the day, when your father had a gun pointed at his head, he could still remain calm and collected."

"You know my father?" Jiang Xiyue asked with a hint of a sob in her voice.

Then she recalled that Xia Baokun had asked her earlier if she was Jiang Haitao's daughter, which meant they must indeed be acquainted.

However, Xia Baokun ignored the question and pressed on: "Since there is no image of her on the surveillance, yet you claim you saw her—that being the case, do you still remember what she looked like?"

Hearing this, Jiang Xiyue nodded vigorously. "Of course I remember."

After all, she was a graduate of the police academy; rapidly committing a person's physical features and characteristics to memory was a fundamental skill.