Chapter 30: You Finally Look Like a Human

“I was just saying it offhand, you actually took it seriously,” Yu Dazhang smiled.

“If you could solve cases just by guessing, what’s the point of the technical team?”

Upon hearing this, Qian Cheng’s expression returned to normal.

That makes sense—ultimately, determining an object’s composition still depends on test results.

“I’ll go right now; as soon as the report comes out, I’ll bring it to you.”

After speaking, Qian Cheng left the conference room in a hurry.

At this moment, the large conference room was left with only Yu Dazhang alone.

When assigning tasks earlier, he had already noticed that everyone on the task force—including his master—didn’t understand his approach.

He told Lu Zhongxin to investigate toward innocence, and everyone else to look into the social backgrounds of both parties involved.

Just these two points show that Yu Dazhang has already concluded Kong Lingjie is not the real killer.

No one knew where his confidence came from.

Yu Dazhang was also frustrated; he wanted to explain everything, but some things couldn’t be said.

In his past life, Kong Lingjie’s alibi was definitely genuine—that was the key evidence that let him escape punishment.

And that big lawyer? Someone else must have paid to hire him for Kong Lingjie.

From these two points, it’s clear Kong Lingjie was merely a puppet pushed to the front.

Unfortunately, Yu Dazhang couldn’t speak of events that hadn’t happened yet.

His current situation: he understood clearly, but couldn’t speak it aloud.

Even if he claimed he was a reincarnated soul, someone would still have to believe him.

Near noon, Qian Cheng returned, holding a test report in his hand.

“The report’s out—guess what that particle is?”

Qian Cheng looked excited; whenever it involved his specialty, he became unusually energetic.

“Carbon,” Yu Dazhang answered without hesitation.

“More precisely, activated carbon.”

Qian Cheng: !!!!!!

I slipped up—I let it slip!

You just said guessing alone can’t solve cases, yet you guessed it perfectly.

Is this something you can identify with the naked eye?

Did your eyes get connected to a spectrometer?

What kind of creature are you even made of?!

Seeing Qian Cheng gaping, staring blankly at him, Yu Dazhang smiled and said:

“Nothing to be surprised about.”

“The crime scene report shows the body was placed supine on the bed, with the head positioned at the foot of the bed.”

“And that particle was found precisely at the foot of the bed—the only logical explanation is… the particle fell from the victim’s hair.”

“This is the only hypothesis that links the particle to the victim.”

“Combined with the condition of the rented apartment, it’s easy to deduce the particle’s function.”

What function? Qian Cheng wore a “ghost just appeared” expression.

Brother, keep going!

If I could’ve guessed it myself, I wouldn’t be in the technical team!

Seeing Qian Cheng’s hesitant, half-speechless look, Yu Dazhang was momentarily baffled.

I’ve hinted so clearly already—still don’t get it?

Helplessly, he continued:

“When we went to the scene together, didn’t you notice anything odd about the room?”

Qian Cheng thought for a moment, then helplessly shook his head:

“Nothing special—we arrived after the scene had already been fully examined.”

That Yu Dazhang had found two new clues already surprised him; he simply couldn’t imagine what else might be wrong.

“The smell!” Yu Dazhang gave him an exasperated look.

“Under normal temperatures, a corpse begins to emit odor after twenty-four hours; after forty-eight hours, it becomes unbearable to approach.”

“But when Zhang Yan’s body was discovered, she had been dead four days—given Songhai’s current temperature, it should’ve been reeking.”

“Even if the body was moved, the odor would linger for at least a week. But when we were in the rented apartment, there was a faint odor—so weak you’d miss it unless you sniffed carefully.”

“You yourself said at the scene: the principle of crime scene preservation is maintaining the original state.”

“So no one would’ve deodorized the scene.”

“Therefore, the killer must have used some method to preserve the body…”

As Yu Dazhang spoke these words, Qian Cheng’s eyes lit up—he immediately raised his hand to interrupt:

“I—I—I get it! The killer used activated carbon’s strong adsorption properties to deodorize and preserve the body!”

He had thought of it—but only after Yu Dazhang was about to reveal the answer.

Qian Cheng stared at this unconfirmed rookie beside him and began doubting his own intelligence.

We went to the scene together—how did he notice so many unusual details?

Meanwhile, I was just a tourist at the scene.

Please… Your Majesty… collect 6…9…books…please…!

At this moment, he felt his thinking had opened up, his mind alive again.

“The killer must have read forensic textbooks—possibly even studied forensic science specifically.”

Qian Cheng said, thinking aloud:

“Preserving a corpse with freezing would be obvious during autopsy—that’s a method only amateurs use.”

“Only someone who has studied forensic science would think of using activated carbon.”

“This method not only masks odor but also effectively slows decomposition.”

“That means the victim’s actual time of death must be pushed further back!”

You finally look like a person… Yu Dazhang nodded in satisfaction.

He had once suspected Qian Cheng was just filling a quota, since technical staff rarely joined task forces.

But after several interactions, Yu Dazhang realized Qian Cheng’s professional knowledge was truly expert-level.

Someone like this doesn’t need him to analyze cases—just needs to give professional input when he raises doubts.

Like now.

Yu Dazhang had deduced the killer used activated carbon to preserve the body, but didn’t know activated carbon could also slow decomposition.

That’s the gap between a specialist and a layperson.

“Also,” Qian Cheng spoke more fluently, beginning to correct Yu Dazhang’s mistake:

“What you said about forty-eight hours being especially foul is inaccurate.”

“The corpse actually begins to soften at forty-two hours—urine and feces are expelled from the body due to muscle relaxation…”

“Enough, enough,” Yu Dazhang quickly interrupted.

“No need to lecture me—I get the general idea.”

Lunchtime’s almost here—I think you’re deliberately ruining my appetite… Yu Dazhang knew these tech nerds.

Once they start talking about their specialty, they get fired up and want to dump everything they know.

But he was grateful for Qian Cheng.

Without his expertise, Yu Dazhang wouldn’t have realized the time of death could be manipulated.

If the time of death is pushed back, Kong Lingjie’s alibi falls apart.

“Qian Ge, you need to go to the forensic center again,” Yu Dazhang said quickly.

“Explain the new developments to the forensic pathologist, request a second autopsy, and determine the time of death as soon as possible.”

Yu Dazhang knew this was critical—time of death is evidence too.

And you can’t just say it—you need an authentic, valid autopsy report.

“I’ll go right now,” Qian Cheng said, handing Yu Dazhang the particle test report.

The inaccurate time of death was deduced using his professional knowledge.

That meant he, too, had helped advance the case.

Precisely because of this, Qian Cheng now felt highly motivated.

Yu Dazhang then went to the room beside the interrogation room and picked up the microphone:

“Master, let’s take a break—the case has changed.”

(End of Chapter)