"Dad, do you mean there's something wrong with the surveillance?" He Xin was the first to react.
Yuan Hezhan said, "Yes, look, the footage is repeating, there's no change at all. It seems like someone tampered with it!"
"So, the killer must have been there at the time, otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to destroy the surveillance!" I said.
"But we can't find it now. Dad, it seems your reasoning is correct, but there's no way to prove it now. However, could there have been a witness in the corridor at the time?"
This meant we had to go back to the hotel. Gao Mingqiang and I exchanged glances. Neither of us wanted to go, but the hotel was the only place we could still investigate.
After leaving the police station and driving to the hotel, we went to the long corridor upstairs. I stood there, observing the view of the second-floor lobby. I discovered that from behind a flower vase on the south side of the corridor, the entire explosion scene was clearly visible.
I pretended to be the criminal and mimicked a peeping action. I found traces of the flower vase having been moved. I sprinkled seaweed ash and yellow wine on the ground. The combination of the two made the traces of movement on the ground even more obvious, and there was also a footprint!
Because the bottom of the flower vase had covered it, the footprint was not obscured by other shoe prints.
I quickly took photos. Gao Mingqiang gave me a thumbs-up and said, "Team leader He, you are very observant!"
"This is just the forensic investigator not being diligent enough. Pay attention next time!"
"I know. Was the killer really observing the scene below from here?"
"It's very likely. Even if the surveillance didn't capture it, there are restrooms on both sides. Perhaps someone saw something. But if it was a guest, they're probably gone by now."
We could only ask the cleaning staff and some of the waiters, but they all said they hadn't noticed anything. This lead had to be temporarily put aside.
Returning to the police station, we handed over the collected shoe print to the technical team.
After comparison, they said the shoe print was left by an Anta sports shoe, size 41. The owner should be a male, about 1.8 meters tall, weighing 50 kilograms. This guy should be quite thin. Due to the heavy pressure at the heel and the point of force being towards the back, the technical team believed that the man should have been carrying something heavy on his back at the time.
Could it have been the murder weapon the man was carrying?
We couldn't draw a conclusion yet. Anta sports shoes can be bought everywhere, so it was unrealistic to investigate the owner.
The case stalled. The Punishment Punishment team was exhausted. I told everyone not to dwell on it, to rest if they needed to, and to eat if they were hungry. I, however, continued to work overtime, reviewing surveillance footage or the victim's files.
When I was truly exhausted, I lay down on my desk for a brief nap.
Late at night, unsure of what to investigate, I stood up and made myself a cup of coffee to perk up. I also ate a piece of betel nut. Although I didn't really like eating it, I heard it had a stimulating effect, so I tried a piece.
Indeed, the moment it entered my mouth, I felt much more alert. It just felt like something was stuck in my throat. After I felt a little more comfortable, someone knocked on the door outside my office.
I opened the door and saw Liu Yuning standing outside. "Everything that needed to be checked has been rechecked, but there's no progress. Let's put this case aside for now!"
"We can't put it aside. I think that person will definitely commit another crime soon!"
"Oh? Don't be a harbinger of doom!"
"It's not me being a harbinger of doom. This type of criminal thinks they are very smart and sees themselves as a judge of the world. They will see many dark families and end their lives. Of course, I don't know exactly when they will commit the crime, but it should be soon!"
"Hey, you talk as if you're a worm inside the killer's mind. You're starting to scare me!"
"Investigating a case is like this. Only when you stand in the killer's shoes can you understand many things!"
"I understand. Alright, let's rest for now. You told everyone to relax, but you're secretly working overtime here!"
"I know. You shouldn't overwork yourself either!" I patted Liu Yuning's arm. She patted mine back before turning to leave.
I returned to my office and lay down on the sofa, planning to sleep until dawn.
However, good luck never seemed to favor me. A sound like pouring rice entered my ears. I thought someone had accidentally dropped a pot of rice so early in the morning. But I was quite far from the canteen, so how could I hear such a sound?
When I opened my eyes, I realized it wasn't pouring rice at all. It was He Xin standing at my desk, scooping popcorn.
I curiously asked her, "Are you eating this for breakfast?"
"No, I don't know if this popcorn has gone bad. I wanted to see if you were awake to check."
Uh...
I was a bit speechless. I picked out a few and looked at them. "It's fine. Eat as much as you want. By the way, has there been any progress on the case?"
He Xin was eating popcorn with relish and said with a chuckle, "Not yet. I guess we'll just have to wait for the next case and for the killer to leave some clues!"
"That's the worst-case scenario. After all, no one wants to see more victims."
"Really? Haha, then you won't be able to solve the case!"
"We solve cases to reduce victims. If we can't avoid this situation, then the existence of police is meaningless."
"That's right. Everyone wants a world without thieves. But if that day really comes, we police officers will starve. Doesn't that sound contradictory?"
I fell silent. Outside, Gao Mingqiang's shouting was heard. This kid always made such a noise when he had bought breakfast for everyone.
Opening the office door, I went outside. He was distributing breakfast to everyone, like a leader awarding medals. I walked up to him. He handed me a plate of fried noodles and said, "Team leader He, you like this!"
"Oh, you know that?"
"Of course. I see you always order this. Eat up, I even ordered an extra chicken drumstick for you!"
I opened the lunchbox and started eating. Gao Mingqiang sat next to me and said, "I didn't sleep all night yesterday, and I watched the surveillance dozens of times, but I didn't find anything wrong. It seems this case is really cold, unless something else happens..."
While eating my noodle soup, Gao Mingqiang reached over and took a bite of the chicken drumstick from my lunchbox. I immediately hit his finger with my chopsticks. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just testing the taste for you!"
I rolled my eyes at him. Just as I was about to pick up the chicken drumstick to eat, Gao Mingqiang took it again and took another bite. "I'm saying, Team leader He, if there aren't any similar cases, we should just set it aside. Otherwise, we'll all collapse from exhaustion!"
Just as I was about to speak, Gao Mingqiang took another bite of my chicken drumstick...