The security captain on duty that night, school leaders, and Ning Xue's counselor arrived at the lakeside quickly after receiving a call from the police. Yu Hanjiang questioned them one by one.
The security guards said they were patrolling the stadium area when the incident occurred. Because there was an annual campus singing competition that night, they were worried about potential safety hazards, so most of their manpower was sent to the competition venue. No one paid attention to the lakeside and did not find any suspicious persons.
The counselor, Ms. Zhang, stared in disbelief at the corpse at her feet. She said, " Ning Xue was a lively and cheerful girl. She was outstanding in singing and dancing, and she could also play the piano. She was a very talented girl. She got along well with her classmates. I had never heard of her having any grudges against anyone, nor had I heard that she had encountered any difficulties recently... How could she have died so suddenly?"
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Do you know about her family situation?"
Teacher Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Her father is a doctor and her mother is a nurse; they both work at the local People's Hospital."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Give me her parents' contact information."
Teacher Zhang said, "Okay, but I need to check on the computer in the office. The students' information is all on the computer."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Print a copy for me after you find it."
A moment later, Teacher Zhang printed out a copy of the class directory and handed it to Yu Hanjiang. It was already 9:30 PM, and the host in the gymnasium excitedly announced, "Now, please welcome the champion of this competition, Ye Qi, to the stage to receive his award!"
The host's voice, amplified by the microphone, was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears, followed by deafening applause and cheers, with countless people shouting the name " Ye Qi ".
The screams and applause in the venue were deafening. The school leaders looked grim and leaned close to Yu Hanjiang's ear, saying, " Officer Yu, tonight's singing competition has attracted thousands of students. After the event, they will all pass by the lake. If they see a body and find out someone died in the lake, the students will definitely panic, which will negatively impact the school's reputation. Do you think we could..."
Yu Hanjiang stated decisively, "I understand. Our forensic doctor will remove the body soon. Please keep the discovery of the body in the lake tonight a secret for now, and do not mention it to anyone. Do not speculate too much before the police give a clear answer."
The school leaders immediately nodded: "Okay, we will definitely cooperate fully with the investigation."
Yu Hanjiang waved behind him, and two Forensic Doctor assistants came over, lifted the body onto the hearse, and closed the door. The hearse quickly drove out of the campus, and Yu Hanjiang then told these people to go back to the Police Station to give detailed statements.
Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao were also among them.
Upon arriving at the police station, a young Criminal Police Officer led them to an interrogation room to give statements. Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao cooperated fully, describing everything they had seen. Yu Hanjiang did not reappear. Xiao Lou was anxious but helpless, as the current Yu Hanjiang was not his teammate and was unaware that he and Liu Qiao needed to solve a puzzle to complete their mission.
After leaving the police station, Liu Qiao frowned and said, " Professor Xiao, what should we do next? Captain Yu won't give us any clues about the case. If we ask him directly, we won't get any results, will we?"
This is also what gives Xiao Lou a headache.
If Yu Hanjiang were a teammate, things would be much easier. Just invite him out for dinner, and Yu Hanjiang would naturally tell Xiao Lou all the clues related to the case, as well as his analysis of the case, without missing a single detail, and then discuss it with Xiao Lou.
But now, Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao are bystanders who discovered the body, while Yu Hanjiang is the head of the Criminal Police Detachment...
Criminal police officers must maintain secrecy during investigations, and Yu Hanjiang would never voluntarily reveal this confidential information. Neither coercion nor bribery could easily extract clues from Yu Hanjiang. Furthermore, most of the evidence in the case was in the hands of the police, leaving Xiao Lou with only one way to obtain it—steal.
He glanced back at the door of the Criminal Police Detachment with a sigh, and whispered in Liu Qiao's ear, "It seems we can only be 'gentlemen on theft' this time, sneaking into the Police Station late at night to steal the case-related information."
Liu Qiao thought for a moment and said, "I can also shrink to the size of a thumb and hide in Captain Yu's pocket."
" Yu Hanjiang is too vigilant. It would be easy to be discovered if it were hidden on him. Perhaps…" Xiao Lou glanced around and saw the young Criminal Police Officer who had been following Yu Hanjiang earlier leading a man and a woman into the Police Station building.
Xiao Lou winked at Liu Qiao: "Shrunk me down and hid me in this young police officer's pocket. This guy is probably Yu Hanjiang's intern, and he'll definitely be involved in solving the case."
"Understood." Liu Qiao understood, immediately hid in the shadows and shrunk Xiao Lou to the size of a thumb. Then she walked over, pretended to "accidentally" bump into the trainee officer's shoulder, and casually put the thumb-sized Xiao Lou into the officer's pocket.
The young police officer was inexplicably hit and turned around to look at the girl in front of him with a puzzled expression.
Liu Qiao bowed apologetically, "I'm sorry, I was distracted and didn't see where I was going."
The officer recognized her, smiled, and said, "It's okay. Go back and calm down. Think carefully about what you might have missed. If you think of any clues, contact us as soon as possible."
Liu Qiao nodded and turned to leave.
Xiao Lou hid in his pocket and followed the three into the building. The young police officer knocked on Yu Hanjiang's office door and whispered, " Captain Yu, these two are Ning Xue's parents. They came to identify the body after receiving a call."
Yu Hanjiang stood up: "This way, please, both of you."
He
He led the two of them out through the back door and into another building next door.
The long corridor was bathed in the cold light of the overhead incandescent bulbs. Yu Hanjiang's expression was stern and serious, while the middle-aged couple's faces were as pale as paper, and the woman's legs trembled as she walked.
It wasn't until Yu Hanjiang pushed open the door that the Forensic Doctor inside glanced at him and lifted the white sheet covering the corpse.
The woman's legs went weak, and she collapsed to her knees beside the corpse, wailing in despair, "Xiaoxue, my daughter! What happened? How could my daughter suddenly die!"
The man's face was ashen. He gently patted his wife's back to comfort her as he asked, "Officer, was my daughter's body found in the lake? Who killed her?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "We haven't performed an autopsy yet, so we can't determine the specific cause of death."
The man paused, then frowned and said, "Wasn't he drowned?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "On the surface, it appears to be a drowning death, but whether she ingested any other drugs before falling into the lake, or whether she was drugged and then thrown into the lake, requires a detailed autopsy to draw conclusions. Before the forensic doctor performs the autopsy, the family members need to sign a consent form."
The man gritted his teeth and said, "I'll sign! My daughter can't just die for no reason. Please, officer, find her killer and give her justice!"
Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, "How can you be sure that Ning Xue won't commit suicide by drowning?"
The man clenched his fists angrily: "My Xiaoxue has always been cheerful. Just a few days ago, when she came home for dinner, she was chatting and laughing with us. How could she suddenly commit suicide?!"
The woman stopped crying at this point, wiping away her tears as she choked out, "That's right, my daughter could never have committed suicide. Please, officer, you must find out which beast killed my daughter!"
The two family members were emotional, so Yu Hanjiang offered a few words of comfort and then had the trainee police officer escort them away.
Xiao Lou, trapped in the pocket of trainee police officer Xiao Wu, had no choice but to follow him. When Xiao Wu returned to the autopsy room, the forensic doctor had already obtained the results, and Yu Hanjiang and the forensic doctor were discussing them in hushed tones.
The female forensic doctor said, "According to the autopsy results, the deceased inhaled a large amount of lake water. Components consistent with lake water were detected deep in her nasal cavity and alveoli, indicating that she was not thrown into the lake after death, but rather drowned herself before her death."
She then produced another report, saying, "Her blood alcohol level was above the legal limit, indicating that she had consumed a large amount of alcohol before her death. Apart from that, no traces of other drugs or toxins were found in her blood, and a large amount of undigested beef was detected in her stomach, indicating that she had just eaten dinner an hour before she died."
Yu Hanjiang frowned as he looked at the corpse on the platform: "What about their sex life?"
The female forensic doctor said, "She had sexual intercourse in the last two days. Judging from the marks, it was not forced. There are no signs of surgical abortion on her uterus. She should have a regular male partner."
Yu Hanjiang: "Are there any other injuries on your body?"
The female forensic doctor shook her head: "After a thorough examination, there was no external injury, and no internal organs were damaged."
Trainee police officer Xiao Wu was diligently taking notes, which allowed Xiao Lou to hear the entire conversation clearly.
Suddenly, Yu Hanjiang turned to look at him: " Xiao Wu, what are your thoughts?"
The intern being questioned was visibly nervous. He tensed his back, scratched his head, and slowly said, "The deceased's parents, teachers, and classmates all said that she had a cheerful and sunny personality and was well-liked. It's impossible for her to commit suicide for no reason, and there's no possibility of homicide. The autopsy results showed that no external or internal injuries were found on the deceased's body, and the residue in her lungs and nasal cavity proves that she drowned."
The intern became increasingly convinced of the validity of his theory. He paused for a moment, then continued his analysis: "The deceased had consumed a large amount of alcohol before falling into the lake. In addition, the footprints found by the lake belonged to only the deceased and were noticeably messy. I believe the most likely explanation is that the deceased drank excessively, became hallucinated while drunk, and accidentally fell into the lake while passing by, where he drowned."
A five-second silence fell over the room.
Just as Xiao Wu was feeling uneasy, Yu Hanjiang stared at him and asked, "Did you study forensic identification at the police academy?"
Xiao Wu nodded earnestly: "I've learned it!"
Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow: "How did you manage to pass this exam?"
Xiao Wu realized that Captain Yu was scolding him, his face immediately turned red, and he lowered his head, saying, "Did I...did I say something wrong?"
Yu Hanjiang said coldly, "Footprints, and the words carved on the tree branch, such obvious clues, and you didn't notice them?"
The intern looked completely bewildered.
Yu Hanjiang patiently explained, "Pay attention to the depth of the footprints. The deceased weighed approximately 90 kilograms. For a woman weighing less than 100 kilograms, wearing flat shoes, the footprints she left in soft soil shouldn't be that deep, which means..."
He paused, his gaze suddenly sharpening: "There were two people by the lake at the time. This was a meticulously planned murder."