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墨書 Inktalez
The project team finally arrived at the cliff.
After parking the vehicle, it took them another ten minutes to climb up to the edge of the cliff. This place was quite remote; if one wasn't familiar with the terrain, it would be difficult to find. The wooden cabin was built on a slope, with a sheer drop at the end. The area was cold and damp, and there was no opportunity for swimming or fishing—ordinary people would rarely come here.
Building a house in such a location suggested a desire for seclusion, but it was unclear how long it had been since anyone had lived here. There was no electricity, and few could endure life without power.
Jiang He stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down. The vertical distance to the sea below was about ten meters. Although it was low tide at that moment, he could still see the waves crashing against the shore, the turbulent waters roaring and tearing at everything in their path. If someone were to fall from this height, they would likely be swept into the depths of the ocean—a fate from which there would be no return.
Xu Yiman watched Jiang He standing at the cliff's edge and felt as if he were contemplating jumping off. She called out from a distance, "Jiang He, you’re not seriously thinking about jumping, are you? Don’t do it!"
Jiang He slowly turned his head to look at Xu Yiman and replied, "How could I possibly jump? As I told you before, I wouldn’t end my life without reason. I only take risks when there’s at least a sixty percent chance of survival."
"Moreover," Jiang He added, "who knows if those who commit suicide truly see no way out or if they simply choose not to?"
Hearing this, Old Shao suddenly laughed. "I’ve read your file. During the capture of Feng Bin, if he hadn’t come back to save you, you would have been dead long ago."
Jiang He stepped back from the cliff and said, "Actually, at that time, I believed there was a sixty percent chance I would be fine. But then an unexpected event occurred—something I couldn’t foresee. Just like standing at this cliff’s edge; I might feel there’s an eighty percent chance I won’t fall. But if someone were to push me unexpectedly, I would definitely fall. That situation is something I could never predict in advance, so there’s no need to worry about things that are fundamentally unpredictable."
Jiang He’s reasoning seemed well thought out; it appeared he had ample justification for everything he did.
Xu Yiman couldn’t help but tease him. "It seems you’re quite a rational person."
"One could say that," Jiang He nodded.
Xu Yiman continued, "Then what if one day either I or Old Shao were in danger and you were the only one who could save us? If saving us meant risking over forty percent of your own life, would you choose to save us or not?"
Jiang He did not hesitate and said, "In my opinion, this assumption is unlikely to happen. The probability of both of you being in danger at the same time is very low. Moreover, I would be able to see how likely it is for you to fall into danger beforehand, allowing me to prevent you from taking actions that could lead you into peril."
Xu Yiman walked into the room and replied, "Using your words, as long as the probability is not one hundred percent, anything can happen."
Jiang He nodded and said, "Then I probably won't save you. I need to stay alive in order to catch the Murderer..."
Xu Yiman fell silent and simply looked at Jiang He.
The three of them entered the room and began to take in their surroundings.
From the furnishings in the room, the criminal police from Hujin District had already been quite clear over the phone. Aside from a bed and two stools, there was no other furniture. On one stool was a basin containing toiletries like toothbrushes and towels. On the other stool lay a black Apple Phone.
The phone was glossy black, a model that had just recently hit the market.
Next to it was a large black plastic bag, which revealed nothing about its contents from the outside. Jiang He approached it, peered inside, and understood much more. He put on gloves and began to take out the items one by one from the black plastic bag.
The first item Jiang He pulled out was something red. As he shook it open, everyone saw that it was a long red dress. When Jiang He unfolded the dress, they noticed it was still damp; however, there were no bloodstains on it at that moment, suggesting it had been washed clean by the rain.
Even so, a simple chemical reaction test would suffice. Even if just a drop of blood were mixed into a large vat of water, forensic experts could easily find traces of its presence. As long as this garment had once been stained with blood and had not undergone special treatment, it would definitely be detectable.
However, Jiang He did not need to check if there were bloodstains on the Red Skirt; he had already seen that there was a seam that had come undone at the edge of the skirt. This area was on the left side of the dress. Before her death, Shih Wenshan had used her right index finger to tear this dress open, and the opening matched perfectly.
Jiang He was eighty percent certain that this was indeed the long red dress worn by the Murderer earlier that morning.
In addition to the dress, he also discovered a handmade saw inside the black plastic bag.
When Jiang He pulled out the hand tool, Xu Yiman stated decisively, "If the murderer used this hand saw for dismemberment, it is highly likely. Both the density of the teeth and the size of the hand saw match the wounds on Song You's body."
Jiang He examined the teeth of the saw closely. In the tiny gaps between the teeth, he discovered some extremely fine bits of flesh and bone fragments. Borrowing a technician's brush, he gently collected these remnants to take back for DNA testing.
Next, he revealed a hammer.
Jiang He weighed it in his hands; it was quite heavy, probably around ten pounds. On one side of the hammer, there were subtle red stains that appeared to be dried blood. Everyone could see that if this hammer were to strike someone on the head, it would surely result in a fatal injury. Even someone as slender as Jiang He would likely break bones using it.
The wooden handle of the hammer had been sawed down to about twenty centimeters, just enough for a person to grip with both hands. It seemed that the murderer had done this for ease of transport, allowing them to quickly hide the hammer after committing the crime.
Jiang He handed the hammer to Xu Yiman and said, "There are bloodstains in the patterns of the hammer; it's going to be difficult to extract them. Testing should reveal traces from three individuals."
Xu Yiman responded with an "Oh."
Finally, he produced a pair of shoes—men's athletic shoes in size 4. Those wearing size 4 typically stood between 1.75 and 1.80 meters tall. According to the files Jiang He had seen, Kong Anping indeed matched the height and weight estimated by the police.
Jiang He scrutinized the shoes; both the soles and sides were caked with dried mud, indicating that the murderer had walked through a very muddy environment while wearing them. This reminded Jiang He of the muddy alley he had encountered earlier that morning, where several footprints had been found.
He turned the shoes over and examined the tread pattern closely. "Xu Yiman, are these the type of shoe prints?"
Xu Yiman carefully took the shoes in her hands, cradling them as if they were a priceless treasure. If anyone else saw them, they might think these shoes were extraordinarily expensive. Xu Yiman was cautious because she feared losing any of the mud clinging to them; that dirt was crucial evidence.
The composition of this mud could be compared with that found in Dahuai Tree Street's alley to determine if they originated from the same soil type. Additionally, analyzing the overall tread pattern could provide further insights into the shoes' design. After observing for a moment, Xu Yiman confirmed, "That's right; those footprints we found that night definitely came from this type of shoe sole—there's no mistake."
Jiang He waved a plastic bag to indicate that it was now empty.
Xu Yiman carefully packaged all the evidence and spoke up, "So the situation is clear. Just as I suspected, the murderer is Qin Qingxue's ex-boyfriend, Kong Anping. Kong Anping knew about Qin Qingxue's strange suicide and was aware that she would curse those people even in death, so he killed for her."
Xu Yiman sighed deeply. "It's quite lamentable that a child who seemed so good in the eyes of parents and teachers has turned out like this. If it weren't for Zhuang Ziming, things might not have developed to this point. Now that we know Kong Anping is the murderer, should we lock down the entire city? Is it possible he has already escaped?"
Old Shao looked at the evidence and countered, "If he really wanted to run, he could have easily thrown all this into the sea and just taken his phone with him. By the time we discovered him, four or five hours had already passed. That's plenty of time for him to use his alibi. He was supposed to be traveling to another province; wasn't that also to throw people off his trail? But why didn't he even take a few minutes to destroy the murder weapon?"
"Leaving the phone here was a mistake; it will definitely lead us to him," Old Shao said, glancing at the phone on the stool. "It shows he didn't intend to cover his tracks. What did you find on the phone?"
He directed his question to the detectives from Hujin District Branch.
The Squad Leader replied, "By the way, we found many fingerprints on the back of the phone, and we've collected them."
Xu Yiman looked at the black Apple 7 and remarked, "A glossy black Apple Phone, also known as a fingerprint collector; it's very easy to pick up fingerprints."
"What about that notebook?" Old Shao asked again.
The Squad Leader responded, "When we checked the phone, it opened directly to that notebook; there was no password set on this phone. And you were right, Old Shao; after looking at that notebook, you'll understand everything. This person named Kong Anping definitely hasn't escaped."
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