I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 136: Chapter 134: A New Case, Meeting Shen Shilan

Su Miaoyi told Zhuang Yanzheng everything she had seen in Jiang Junrui’s eyes.

After hanging up, she thought for a moment before deciding to head to the municipal bureau.

When she arrived, Zhuang Yanzheng and his team had just received an alert from the command center.

”I was just about to call you and tell you to go straight to the scene,” Zhuang Yanzheng said when he saw her.

”What is it? What happened?” Su Miaoyi immediately fell in step with them.

”Jinghai University. Graduate student dorm. A homicide,” Zhuang Yanzheng stated.

Su Miaoyi followed them into the car.

As he started the car, Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”I’ve already informed the Jiangcheng police about the casino under the pool hall. Captain Kang wants to arrange for someone to scout out the Jiang family’s pool hall once we’ve confirmed the details.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. ”That’s a safer approach. What’s the case at Jinghai University?”

”A double homicide in a graduate dorm. The caller was probably terrified and wasn’t very clear. We’ll have to see for ourselves when we get there.”

...

Jinghai University, men’s graduate student dormitory, room 9311.

By the time Su Miaoyi and her team arrived, university security had already cordoned off the area.

Students from the neighboring rooms who were already in the dorm were told to stay inside.

Those who weren’t in the building were temporarily barred from entering.

Zhuang Yanzheng spoke briefly with the university administration to get an overview of the situation and the victims’ information. Then he had Yan Cheng, Su Miaoyi, and Chu Xingrou bring the crime scene kits into the dorm room.

It was a two-person dorm room.

The room was set up with loft beds over desks.

The two beds faced each other.

Two bodies lay in the aisle between the desks.

Qi Feng took the initial photographs.

Zhuang Yanzheng came over. ”Both victims lived here. One is Wen Zouyu, twenty-three. The other is Guan Yang, twenty-five. Both are from Jinghai.”

”From the looks of it, they got into a knife fight,” Qi Feng said after he finished taking photos.

Yan Cheng crouched down to examine the bodies.

Two bodies.

Pools of blood had formed beneath them.

One victim, identified as Wen Zouyu, was positioned as if he had been crawling toward the door. He had three stab wounds in his back, near his heart.

The other victim was lying on his side, his back propped up by a toppled chair. It looked as if he had tried to roll onto his back but failed.

A comparison with his file photo confirmed he was Guan Yang.

Guan Yang, lying on his side, had five stab wounds in his abdomen. A fruit knife lay near his right hand.

Based on their current positions...

...it appeared that as Wen Zouyu was crawling away, Guan Yang stabbed him three times in the back, killing him. Guan Yang then collapsed beside him and died.

The wounds on Wen Zouyu’s body, the bloodstains on his clothes, and the distance at which Guan Yang had fallen all seemed to support this theory.

Yan Cheng first examined the wounds on Wen Zouyu’s back.

They were consistent with the fruit knife found near Guan Yang’s hand.

The fruit knife was long—a single-edged blade, twelve centimeters in length, with a bloody handprint on the handle.

Zhuang Yanzheng compared the print on the knife to Guan Yang’s bloody hand and confirmed the print was his.

”All three of these stabs struck the heart,” Yan Cheng said. ”But the blood loss...”

”Is low,” Su Miaoyi finished.

Yan Cheng nodded. ”Help me turn him over.”

They turned the body over.

Only then did they discover that Wen Zouyu also had six stab wounds in his abdomen. The wounds, when measured, were also consistent with the fruit knife.

”Two of the stabs pierced his liver,” Yan Cheng said. ”Rigor mortis is advanced. Time of death was between twelve and twenty-four hours ago.”

After his preliminary examination, Yan Cheng moved on to Guan Yang’s body.

Five stab wounds to the abdomen, two of which had also pierced the liver.

Yan Cheng examined them closely. The wounds were also consistent with the fruit knife.

’They both used the same knife. One stabbed the other, who then snatched it away and stabbed him back?’

Yan Cheng took another look at the location of the abdominal wounds on both men.

”What is it?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”I’ll wait until after the autopsy to say more,” Yan Cheng replied.

He finished speaking and looked at Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi shook her head.

She hadn’t seen anything.

”This fruit knife looks brand new, like it was just purchased,” Zhuang Yanzheng commented.

Su Miaoyi looked at the fruit knife.

”Would students really use a fruit knife this long, with a non-retractable blade and no sheath, in a dorm room?” Qi Feng asked. ”Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to store? And it doesn’t seem safe. The only place I’ve ever seen a knife like this is in my own kitchen.”

”My family uses a fruit knife just like this—it’s great for cutting watermelon,” Chu Xingrou said. ”But I wouldn’t use one in a dorm. I agree, it feels dangerous.”

Su Miaoyi also stared at the fruit knife in the evidence bag.

It was, indeed, a bit long.

”Both phones are password-protected. We’ll have to take them back to the tech department,” Qi Feng said.

Su Miaoyi glanced around at the overturned chair, the toppled water cup on the desk, a sheet of A4 paper that had been soaked and had since dried, and the books that had fallen from the desk’s bookshelf.

It looked like a struggle had taken place in the room.

A very violent one. Nearly everything that could be knocked over was, including the water dispenser.

’Did they fight all the way from the balcony to the doorway?’

Su Miaoyi crouched down to look at the books and a photo that had fallen from the desk and bookshelf.

She first examined the bloodstains on them.

For all of these books, the bloodstains were on the side that was touching the floor.

Su Miaoyi looked at the photo.

It was a photo of two people.

A photo of Wen Zouyu and a young woman.

From their poses, they looked like a couple.

Su Miaoyi crouched down again to look around before standing up, grabbing the edge of the desk, and giving it a shake.

The desk-and-bookshelf unit was attached to the loft bed above it, making it very sturdy.

Zhuang Yanzheng examined the dust on the bookshelf.

These were all books that hadn’t been moved in a long time, and since they hadn’t been dusted, clear outlines were visible in the layer of dust.

”These books all came from the top shelf,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, also giving the desk a shake. ”This thing is solid. Even if it weren’t, the position where the books fell... it’s not quite right.”

It didn’t look like they’d been knocked down; it looked like they’d been thrown.

”And they were thrown down *after* the victims were already injured and bleeding,” Su Miaoyi added.

”Someone staged the scene,” Chu Xingrou said.

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng both nodded in agreement.

Once the on-site investigation was complete, the bodies were prepared for transport back to the municipal bureau.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou went to the bathroom and tested the sink with a luminol reagent.

”Sister Miaomiao, it’s glowing blue,” Chu Xingrou said.

The two of them quickly collected a sample to be taken back for DNA analysis.

When they exited the dorm room, Zhuang Yanzheng was speaking with someone outside.

As Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou drew near with the crime scene kit, they heard the woman speaking with Zhuang Yanzheng say, ”Both of them were my students.”

The voice sounded strangely familiar, so as she reached Zhuang Yanzheng’s side, Su Miaoyi glanced at the woman.

”I always felt that their relationship...” Shen Shilan trailed off, sensing someone approach, and glanced to the side.

Her gaze met Su Miaoyi’s, and the rest of her words died on her lips.

Both of them froze.

Shen Shilan stared at Su Miaoyi, her initial stupor giving way to shock, then agitation.

Her pupils trembled slightly.

After a few seconds, Shen Shilan suddenly took a step forward, grabbed Su Miaoyi’s hand, and stared into her eyes. ”You...”

Su Miaoyi stared back into her eyes.

”Aunt Shen.” Zhuang Yanzheng gently took Shen Shilan’s arm.

Shen Shilan kept her eyes fixed on Su Miaoyi.

”Aunt Shen,” Zhuang Yanzheng repeated.

Shen Shilan finally snapped out of it and looked at him. ”Yan Zheng, she... she...”

”Aunt Shen, she’s a consultant for our criminal investigation team.” Zhuang Yanzheng then looked at Chu Xingrou. ”Chu Xingrou, take two officers and check the campus supermarket and other nearby stores. Ask about the fruit knife.”

”Got it.” Before leaving, Chu Xingrou noticed Su Miaoyi was still in a daze and tugged on her sleeve.

Su Miaoyi snapped back to reality, but her hand was still in Shen Shilan’s grasp, and she didn’t pull away.

”Do you have enough people? If so, could you have her question me?” Shen Shilan asked.

”You can,” Zhuang Yanzheng replied.

...