Chapter 554

"Chen Fan is now at the top tier anyway, yet he's still rummaging through trash for clues—how miserable is that?"

"What's so miserable about it? Watching Chen Fan search through garbage is entertaining."

"You upstairs are really twisted."

"But to be fair, even if there were clues on this carpet, it's now so filthy and contaminated by other trash—can you even find anything?"

……

When the carpet was delivered to the lab, Old Liu was almost impressed: "All of these were found by you at that waste collection station?"

Chen Fan said: "Yes. Stop wasting time with chatter—get it tested immediately."

Old Liu said: "Even if we found the carpet, we still have no concrete evidence proving the man killed his wife."

"That's not important; what matters is confirming whether the missing person has been murdered."

"As for the truth of the matter, I will find it."

Chen Fan was full of confidence.

Old Liu began testing all the carpets.

Although technology has advanced rapidly, this kind of testing still takes a long time.

Half an hour later.

Old Liu brought the test report to Chen Fan.

While Chen Fan read the report, Old Liu got straight to the point: "There are some bloodstains on it. After testing, they're human type-O blood, but we don't yet know if they belong to the missing person."

Chen Fan said: "Who cares? With this evidence, we can apply for a search warrant."

Chen Fan took the report and immediately called Li Tian, instructing him to apply for a search warrant and conduct a thorough search of the man's villa.

The search warrant arrived quickly.

Li Tian and Chen Fan returned to the villa again; this time they brought more professional personnel, who inspected everything without restraint.

Chen Fan and Li Tian focused their attention on the master bedroom.

After all, the carpet came from the master bedroom—if there was blood on the carpet, there must still be blood somewhere in the bedroom.

Chen Fan asked: "Think carefully—did you miss any place during the last search?"

Liu Mengyan and Xiang Qinqin both shook their heads.

Although the last search was rushed, both girls are detail-oriented, and they checked every place they could think of.

Indeed, they found nothing.

Chen Fan stepped into the master bedroom and looked around.

He thought: if the blood on the carpet really belonged to the flight attendant, then the flight attendant must have been injured.

That's basic logic.

Going further to the worst-case scenario: if the flight attendant was killed by her husband in this master bedroom, the blood might have splattered elsewhere besides the carpet.

Many pieces of furniture can be cleaned—bloodstains can be washed away.

But there is one thing that, once stained with blood, cannot be cleaned unless using special detergents or equipment.

The mattress!

Chen Fan finally fixed his gaze on the mattress.

The bed was covered with bedding; Chen Fan lifted the quilt and examined it closely.

Then he moved all the bedding aside and inspected the mattress surface carefully.

Still, he found nothing.

Li Tian sensed Chen Fan's intention and said: "If I were the killer, and blood had splattered on it, I'd definitely replace the entire set."

"He threw away the carpet—he wouldn't leave these behind."

Chen Fan said: "True, but… not necessarily."

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes; though he found nothing on the mattress, that didn't mean the mattress truly had nothing…

Suddenly.

Xiang Qinqin, who had been inspecting nearby, noticed another detail.

She pointed at the mattress: "This mattress is placed upside down—the label should be facing up."

Chen Fan gave Xiang Qinqin an approving glance.

Indeed.

Most mattresses are two-sided, but for wealthy families like this, the mattress has many functions and isn't meant to be used on both sides.

There must be a clear mark distinguishing front from back.

Chen Fan and Li Tian each stood at opposite ends of the bed and forcefully flipped the mattress over.

This time.

They finally found the clue—the side of the mattress that had been bound down was indeed stained with blood.

The viewers were thrilled.

"Holy shit, I never thought there'd actually be something here."

"Sure, this might be evidence, but blood on a mattress is normal—women often get their period and might stain the bed."

"Of course, menstrual blood might leak onto the bed, but menstrual blood and blood circulating in the bloodstream are different—like arterial blood and venous blood aren't the same; a forensic expert can tell the difference."

……

If it could be proven that the blood on the carpet and the blood on the mattress were the same.

Then the case would have made further progress.

Although only two suspected pieces of evidence had been found, this undoubtedly boosted everyone's confidence.

The sky slowly grew dimmer.

Everyone was still searching inside the villa.

Chen Fan didn't go to any other rooms; he stood in place, lost in thought.

After a while.

Xiang Qinqin, who had just returned from elsewhere, asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Chen Fan glanced at her, pointed at the mattress, and said, "Look here — there's a bloodstain with an edge roughly fifteen centimeters long. A streak this long means the person was injured by a blunt object."

Xiang Qinqin nodded. "In other words, this might not be a premeditated murder? But a crime of passion?"

"No, not necessarily. Until we find the body, we have no way of confirming that a person is truly dead."

Chen Fan said.

What if that flight attendant is still alive, and they announce his death over here — that would cause a huge impact and make the authorities lose a great deal of public trust.

The judiciary would also come under question.