Chapter 500: Does efficiency have to be this high?

"Ether?" Han Fei stuck his head out the window, just as Xu Mo had said, and indeed there were tire tracks on the vacant lot below.

According to Xu Mo's conjecture, the murderer used ether to knock out the little boy who came in to use the restroom, then tossed him out the window to a waiting accomplice, and later swaggered out through the main entrance.

Thus the police couldn't pinpoint the real suspect on the footage, because the killer never took the boy out through the main door.

He wasn't acting alone; he had help—this is a gang crime!

No wonder the murderer could evade the cameras… thanks to Xu Mo's insight, Han Fei finally grasped the killer's method.

Glancing at the tiny flying insect that Xu Mo pointed to, which had been knocked out by ether, he couldn't help but sincerely admire Xu Mo's meticulous observation, sharp insight, and strong deductive ability.

Relying only on a single unconscious bug in the restroom, he painstakingly reconstructed the killer's method—such ability is truly undeniable.

So even veteran detective Han Fei, after years of criminal investigation, was completely won over by Xu Mo; after all, he couldn't have deduced the whole case from finding a bug at the scene.

"Impressive—so you inferred all this because of that bug?" After a brief pause, Han Fei asked.

"Yes." Xu Mo nodded; he wasn't lying—he truly learned the killer's method because of that little flying insect.

"When we were in the car earlier, I already sensed you had a clue about this case; I didn't expect it to be true. No wonder you had Chen Ke drive back to the mall—you had already guessed ether, guessed the killer's method, and sent Chen Ke back just to locate the little flying insect knocked out by ether at the scene?"

Xu Mo hadn't expected Han Fei to think that way, but he still nodded at Han Fei's gaze.

"Right, that's it—Han Team is indeed impressive, guessed it in one go."

By now, Han Fei fully understood.

Xu Mo had already formed a hypothesis while in the car; he had Chen Ke drive back to the mall merely to test his guess.

As for why Xu Mo asked me to copy a surveillance clip earlier, it's probably because he already knew the killer's method and wanted to use the footage to filter the suspect again.

"You had me copy the surveillance because you already knew the killer's method and wanted to watch it again to filter the suspect, right?" Han Fei said with a look of having seen through everything.

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone: "I've already copied the footage from the time after the incident; let's watch it together."

I only had you copy the footage to distract you... Xu Mo forced a nervous laugh, gave Han Fei a thumbs‑up: "Han Team is indeed impressive; my little scheme couldn't hide from your eyes."

Hearing Xu Mo flatter himself, Han Fei instantly broke into a delighted grin.

"Ha ha, that's not impressive; I merely read your thoughts—just hindsight."

The two of them watched the surveillance again on Han Fei's phone.

While watching, they eliminated suspects by the process of elimination.

"Not him—this person was inside only briefly, just long enough for a quick bathroom break, no time for anything else. Moreover, the shirt folds caught in his pants changed compared to when he went in; he probably just went in to pee."

"It's not that person either—he was inside even shorter, and when he came out his hand still had water stains; he must have gone in to wash his hands."

"Cross off the student dragging the suitcase; we just went to Yangcheng University to look for him, and his suspicion has been eliminated."

"……"

"That's him." Upon seeing the last person wearing jeans and a white short‑sleeve, Xu Mo tapped his phone, pausing the video.

As he spoke, he dragged the video timeline back a bit and pointed at the screen: "Han Team, pay attention to his trouser pockets."

"I see it," Han Fei nodded. "When he went in, the left pocket of his jeans was bulging and smooth; after he came out, the pocket was messed up. The left pocket likely held a towel; the right pocket's outline shows a small bottle—entered with the bottle mouth up, exited with it down. That pocket probably contains ethanol… it must be him."

Han Fei also noticed this detail.

The suspect must undoubtedly be this guy in jeans.

If I'm not mistaken, his jean pockets contain exactly a towel and ethanol—the tools used to knock out the little boy.

While reviewing the footage to filter suspects, Han Fei and Xu Mo had no disagreement; both deemed the man in jeans the prime suspect.

Having identified the suspect, the next step was to make the arrest.

At that moment, the officers Xu Mo had earlier sent away returned to his side after carefully checking the mother‑baby room, the women's restroom, and the accessible restroom.

"Team Leader Xu, Han Team, we've checked everything, there are no other exits. What should we do next?"

The officers also asked the two whether they had further instructions.

Han Fei waved his hand: "Next, back to the Police Station to check the Sky Eye… arrest!"

Upon hearing the words 'arrest', the officers present showed a hint of confusion on their faces.

"Arrest whom? We haven't even confirmed the suspect yet!"

Seeing through the officers' thoughts, Han Fei gave a brief explanation.

"Earlier, while you were searching elsewhere, Team Leader Xu had already locked onto the suspect and his method."

Officers: "???"

It was only that long? The suspect's identity is already locked down?!

Just recently we were all stumped by this case; who knew that in the blink of an eye the suspect would be identified, and even the suspect's method guessed by Team Leader Xu??

Does efficiency have to be this high!

After a brief bewilderment, the officers chattered, voicing their lingering doubts.

"The suspect is locked in? How was he locked in?"

"Who is the suspect?"

"How did he evade the cameras?"

"……"

"We'll discuss it on the way," Han Fei gestured. "On the way to the arrest, let Team Leader Xu explain the process to you. Let's go."

Time was tight; he had no time to explain to the crowd—it would waste precious minutes.

In a human‑trafficking case, the police must race against the clock, not a second to spare, because each second each night adds another ounce of danger to the victims.