Chapter 70: You

"Hahaha, Chen Fan, stop hiding—speak up, go in."

"Confess already, don't hide—you must know something."

"You can crack open a bank vault—still saying you're not a criminal?"

"Honestly confess, and you might get leniency—I'm serious."

Chen Fan sighed and said, "I really am not."

Old Li said, "If I didn't know your past, I'd even suspect you were planning something evil. I'm curious—why abandon being a cute little fresh meat to study all this?"

"What exactly did I study? Spell it out for me."

"Cutting people open, unlocking a girl's clothes in three seconds, picking locks—tell me, which of these is normal?"

"Just a personal hobby—can't I have one?"

Go away.

Old Li didn't bother getting involved.

The group entered the vault; money inside had been taken.

Old Li said, "When these victims died, someone dumped cash into their cars, then collapsed. After they fell, the driver left. We reviewed the surveillance—it was useless."

Was reviewing surveillance useless?

Chen Fan said, "There's a clumsy method."

Clumsy method?

Li Tian said, "Clumsy method?"

Old Song said, "Don't bother thinking—I've had everyone running every angle we could think of."

Chen Fan shook his head and said, "It's really, really clumsy. I don't want to say it—I'm afraid if I do, the other side will figure it out."

"No problem—say it. Let him know. That way, we can catch him easier."

Xiang Qinqin said, "I think I know what the clumsy method is."

"Fingerprint identification—the simplest kind. Build a database, input all fingerprints, compare them. The person whose prints appear least often is the killer."

Li Tian chuckled and said, "That's really not elegant at all."

"If you're so good at deduction, go ahead and deduce it."

Li Tian had nothing to say—Old Song's team had already checked nearly everything conceivable.

The group exchanged glances and finally decided to go with big data search.

But first, this case must be classified as a murder—otherwise, we can't proceed.

The big data method is simple: in any area, only so many people are active. The killer must have come to scout the scene. The person who appears least often is the one we need.

But how to find the person who appears least often among the crowd? That's puzzling.

It requires massive work.

Video comparison, fingerprint matching, street interviews, and more.

This method is labor-intensive—but what if this isn't a murder? What if it's just coincidence?

In fact, everyone present didn't believe it was coincidence.

Soon, Old Liu from the lab delivered data.

"It's poison—it accelerates heart activity. But we can't identify it yet; it's not in any known toxicology database. For now, we classify it as unnamed. We can officially define it as a murder."

Then everyone sprang into action.

Vast amounts of video footage, plus countless interviews—nearly the entire Fayibu Sect was mobilized.

Chen Fan was a guest and didn't need to participate, but fingerprint comparison—such tedious work—was a blow to the show.

Viewership would drop—inevitably. Forensics can't always be explosive and thrilling.

When facing a hard problem, the most primitive, clumsy method is often the best.

Li Tian, however, offered help.

That is, criminal profiling.

"An unnamed poison—self-researched. So this person is first and foremost arrogant."

"Arrogant people are mostly young—under thirty. Let's fix the age range at twenty to thirty."

"Low social recognition means low looks—look for the ugly ones."

"Also, he knows machinery, but earns little. Such people are unsuccessful—wear common brands. Look for these."

"Works at a hospital, or has contact with hospitals."

"Hmm, this person likely has a weak, frail physique."

"Also, he drives—his car is probably cheap."

"Old Song, revisit every place in the city that can check materials. Use my profile to find him."

Li Tian, hailed as a detective, had narrowed the suspect's profile down drastically with this.

By night, the database was nearly complete.

Old Zhou collapsed from exhaustion, dazed, muttering, "I really can't take this anymore—seriously, we should avoid this kind of thing."

Old Liu said, "We're right at his doorstep—still letting this bastard slip away?"

Bai Lu said, "Why would this person do this?"

Zhang Yishan said, "When I was at the police station, an officer told me some people turn extreme over tiny cases."

"Or maybe a small grievance pushed them to extremes—something so minor we wouldn't even notice, or something so huge we couldn't handle."

Suddenly, Li Tian snapped awake and said, "I get it—I'm such an idiot."

Everyone was puzzled.

"This person must know one of the five dead victims—and these victims only connected because this person introduced them."

"That one, you just need to start from the people around you."

"Didn't we already screen them before?"

Bai Lu asked.

Li Tian said, "Screening is just daily life. What I want to ask about the contact and such is a different question."