I did not personally analyze the materials; I handed them over to my colleagues in the forensics department. I then went to He Xin's side. I was very curious about how powerful her new invention was. Although she had never disappointed me before, this time I was quite expectant. There was another person who shared this feeling: Liu Yuning.
Like two loyal fans, we sat beside He Xin, attentively watching the images on the screen. He Xin was currently operating a program, connecting to the all-angle, omnipotent listening and monitoring device installed in the drug rehabilitation center.
After a series of data transmissions, we finally saw the scene inside the rehabilitation center.
Surprisingly, the monitor was originally installed only near the main gate. Yet, now all angles of the rehabilitation center were clearly visible, even the extremely inconspicuous nooks and crannies.
Even more astonishing was the incredible clarity. It could even capture a passing fly.
If He Xin's technology could be widely used in forensic science, it would likely be a huge breakthrough. However, He Xin said that this device was extremely difficult to make. She had spent years to succeed, and it had a drawback: it would overheat after a period of use and needed to rest.
That was rather awkward. It must not fail when a problem arises. But the criminal probably didn't know we had installed this device in the rehabilitation center, did they? I hoped so, otherwise, this plan might fall through.
Even Xiao Yuande, who rarely praised others, couldn't help but give a thumbs-up when he saw the surveillance footage.
Gao Mingqiang said with even more admiration, "Amazing. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe such a capability existed in the world. Am I dreaming?"
"Can't you see for yourself? Why are you still doubting?" He Xin gave a wry smile. It wasn't just Gao Mingqiang; anyone present, including myself, would have the same thought, believing they were dreaming.
Her advanced technology was truly incredible. However, concentrating on so many screens at once would surely be painful. After tapping on the keyboard, He Xin distributed all the footage to the surrounding technical police officers, including Shao Zhengzhi. It seemed that all recent work was focused on watching the surveillance.
Liu Yuning and I also watched for a while, but it wasn't our job to constantly monitor these feeds. After watching for a bit, we gave up. Our eyes would get too tired. Xiao Yuande, Gao Mingqiang, and Xia Hou continued to stay there.
As Liu Yuning and I were leaving, Gao Mingqiang couldn't help but complain, "You two leaders have it easy, always assigning the tedious tasks to us juniors!"
Liu Yuning replied nonchalantly, "Otherwise, why would they be called leaders? Leaders are meant to give orders!"
"Alright!" Gao Mingqiang said, completely convinced. A moment later, he returned to his focused mode.
The two of us went to the canteen. Of course, we hadn't completely put work aside. We got the most substantial boxed meals for everyone, ate them quickly, and then brought them to the information department. They would eat first, and then temporarily hand over the task to us.
The information department was actually the technical department; we preferred to call it the technical department. When I record these words, I mostly use local terms.
While eating, Gao Mingqiang praised again, "You two leaders are so thoughtful!"
"Hurry up and eat. You have to keep watching after you finish!" I reminded him. Gao Mingqiang started eating frantically, and everyone followed suit. They were truly racing against time. Seeing their enthusiasm for work made Yu Ning and me feel relieved.
Being a leader, one enjoys seeing subordinates working diligently.
In the evening, everyone continued watching. Liu Yuning and I also came to keep them company. I watched very attentively, using my amazing eyesight for several hours, but found nothing. It wasn't until Liu Yuning suddenly let out a cry that I was drawn to her. Just a minute before, I had been so tired that I was about to fall asleep.
"What's wrong?" I moved to her side. She showed me a corner of the rehabilitation center's surveillance footage. A man was picking up a cleaver and violently hacking at something below. Blood splattered onto his clothes. However, this man didn't look like the strong man we were looking for; he appeared quite thin. For some reason, he dared to kill someone here so unscrupulously. For a moment, the man even looked up. Although he was wearing a mask, I noticed his pair of peculiar bronze-colored eyes.
"Quickly go to the rehabilitation center, we might still make it in time." I urged, rushing out of the information department first. The others immediately followed.
Arriving back at the rehabilitation center, I quickly found the spot we had seen in the surveillance footage. However, there was no one there at the moment, only a large pool of blood still lingering. Given the time, the killer definitely wouldn't have had time to clean up. But why did he leave so quickly? Once discovered, it would quickly attract the police's attention.
"This guy seems to have committed the crime deliberately for us to see," Xia Hou mused, looking around the environment.
I nodded and looked around. I squatted down and touched the surrounding walls, noticing several marks from knife chops. This guy had hacked a few times here before. Judging by the impression, it was left by the weapon he was holding earlier.
It was too strange. Wasn't this unnecessary? This would make it easier for us police to identify the murder weapon. However, it was also possible that the killer couldn't help but hack out these marks in a fit of anger. I suddenly thought of something and told everyone to stop standing there and spread out to ambush in hidden corners.
I had noticed fresh bloodstains on the ground extending from a room outwards, which proved that the killer had dragged the body.
I decided to wait here, expecting the killer to return to clean up the scene.
But we waited for a long time without anyone returning. Before executing this task, Xiao Yuande proposed an idea to pursue and capture. I agreed and assigned four criminal investigators to accompany him. Seeing that we found nothing, I contacted him via radio. He replied, "We lost them. We seemed to have spotted someone lurking in the forest near the rehabilitation center, but we couldn't keep up after giving chase!"
"Alright, you guys come back first!" I was a bit puzzled at the time. With Xiao Yuande's abilities, how could he lose someone? Could it be...