Chapter 35: The Crime Scene

Cutting off the head and the tail, we're finally getting to the core stage... Yu Dazhang raised an eyebrow and continued asking:

"Did you get the details from her parents?"

"When they came to the police station to file the report, I already asked them in detail." The officer said slowly:

"That day Zhang Yan was unusually let out of school early, so the two of them decided to make something nice for their daughter."

"At two in the afternoon they went to the market, and got back home around three."

"After cooking, they waited and waited, but their daughter never came home; when they called, they found Zhang Yan's phone was switched off."

"It wasn't until nine that night that they finally confirmed something had happened to their daughter, and only then did they come to the station to report it."

Yu Dazhang carefully savored his words, his mind racing at the same time.

Could Zhang Yan really have been abducted right at her doorstep?

Otherwise, how could her parents not have seen her?

As Yu Dazhang thought it over, he also recalled the scene from the surveillance video.

The video showed that Zhang Yan disappeared around the corner at 2:12 p. m.

From there, she could have been home in two minutes.

If she really did get home, even if she stayed less than an hour, when she went out again she would surely have called her parents to let them know.

The problem lies in the window between 2:12 p. m. and three o'clock.

Yu Dazhang's brow furrowed tighter and tighter; he kept feeling something was hovering just out of sight before his eyes.

Getting close...

Right in front of me, right in front of me!

He forced down the excitement inside and looked at the officer beside him:

"Nothing else?"

"That's all they said at the time." The officer spoke, but a thoughtful look crossed his face — he seemed to be digging through his memory.

A moment later...

"I remember now — they came back a second time!"

Yu Dazhang, afraid of breaking his train of thought, didn't ask anything, just watched him quietly.

"It was three days after Zhang Yan went missing." The officer said, recalling as he spoke:

"The reason they came was to tell me... Zhang Yan had been home that afternoon."

Seeing him pause, Lu Zhongxin at the side couldn't help but ask:

"How could they be sure Zhang Yan had been back?"

Yu Dazhang immediately reached out and patted his master, signaling him not to interrupt the officer's train of thought.

When listening to someone lay out what happened, it's best to wait until they've finished before asking questions.

If you butt in or interrupt midway, it's easy to make them forget what they were about to say next.

Or even forget altogether what they've already said.

I'm sure everyone's heard a line like this... Sigh, where was I just now?

Familiar, right~

That's because this kind of thing happens all the time.

Luckily the officer was only in his twenties — right in that age range of being earnest and having a good memory.

He only paused briefly before saying quickly:

"According to Zhang Yan's mother, on the morning of the day Zhang Yan disappeared, she went into her daughter's room to clean."

"She usually makes a habit of cleaning her daughter's room, so she remembers the placement of every single thing in Zhang Yan's room very clearly."

"After Zhang Yan went missing, she was so worried and scared that she didn't clean the room for several days in a row."

"But on the third day, missing her daughter so badly, she went into Zhang Yan's room to look at her daughter's photos."

"She discovered that things in Zhang Yan's room had been moved, and the neatly folded quilt on the bed had pressure marks on it, as if someone had rested their head on it."

"So Zhang Yan's mother was certain her daughter had been back."

That's it... After hearing this, Yu Dazhang immediately formed a new judgment.

Just as the officer described, Zhang Yan must have been home.

After a short stay, she left the house again and went somewhere else...

No, wait!

Yu Dazhang suddenly recalled a line from the officer's account.

There were pressure marks on the neatly folded quilt!

That meant Zhang Yan came home to rest, and if so, she wouldn't have gone out again on her own accord any time soon.

And then there's...

Even if she did go out, how did she get past every camera to leave the complex?

Or rather... how did the perpetrator move her out?

"I know!" Yu Dazhang suddenly stood up, eyes shining as he looked at Lu Zhongxin:

"Master, I know where the crime scene is!"

All three people in the room were startled by Yu Dazhang's sudden move. Lu Zhongxin stared blankly at his apprentice:

"Wh-where is it?"

"Quick, quick, let's go — to Zhang Yan's house." Yu Dazhang urged as he headed for the door:

"I'll explain in detail on the way."

Seeing the officer wasn't following, Yu Dazhang beckoned to him again:

"You know the address. Please come with us."

On the road.

Lu Zhongxin drove, glancing at Yu Dazhang beside him:

"You can talk now, right?"

No answer came. When he turned his head again, he saw Yu Dazhang staring straight ahead with a blank look.

"I'm asking you a question!" Lu Zhongxin raised his voice.

"Oh, hold on." Yu Dazhang came back to himself, turned sideways to look at Qian Cheng in the back seat:

Please... save... 6... 9... book....!

"Brother Qian, contact the technical division now. Bring the investigation tools and come to Zhang Yan's house."

"Got it." Qian Cheng agreed, then sensed something was off and asked with a frown:

"Are you saying Zhang Yan's house is the first crime scene?"

That thought was far too bold... Qian Cheng couldn't help muttering to himself.

She was killed in her own home, then her body was moved. Is that even a possibility a human could come up with?

In broad daylight, how did the killer get into the house?

Why didn't Zhang Yan even cry for help?

Why didn't Zhang Yan's parents notice anything unusual afterward?

It doesn't add up!

What the three people in the car didn't expect was Yu Dazhang stating flatly:

"Your guess is right."

Qian Cheng got a fright and quickly denied it:

"When did I guess anything? It was clearly you who said it."

This might well be a trap; he didn't dare own up to it.

"Get in touch with them first." Yu Dazhang said calmly.

From his tone, it seemed he really was quite confident.

After contacting the technical division, Qian Cheng put down the phone and looked at Yu Dazhang in front:

"The section chief is bringing people and will be here shortly. You'd better not have gotten this wrong."

He was also a member of the task force; if this turned out to be a blunder, he'd lose face right along with them.

Yu Dazhang paid no heed to Qian Cheng's complaint, and said evenly:

"Since we can confirm Zhang Yan returned home, my deduction can't be wrong."

"There are pressure marks on the quilt, which shows Zhang Yan lay on the bed. She had no intention of going out anytime soon."

"On top of that, she didn't tell her parents when she left home."

"These two points are enough to show her leaving home was involuntary."

The three people in the car listened silently to Yu Dazhang's analysis, none daring to speak, because they truly couldn't get a word in edgewise.

These details were ones they hadn't considered, but also the easiest to overlook.

"You guys..." Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then asked:

"Why did Zhang Yan's parents only discover three days later that Zhang Yan had been home?"

The car fell silent.

After a while, Lu Zhongxin spoke up:

"Didn't we already say it before? Her parents had no mind to tidy the house during those three days, so they didn't notice the things in their daughter's room had been disturbed."

Yu Dazhang didn't argue, but fell quiet.

Lu Zhongxin waited a while, feeling restless all over, and couldn't help saying loudly:

"Out with it, then!"

Yu Dazhang sighed:

"Master, we should step outside the existing framework and look at this objectively. We can't be led along by someone else's line of thinking."

(End of chapter)