Chapter 298

Evening.

Yu Wenshu arrived late to find the crime scene already transformed into a scene of workers clocking out.

The officers carrying gear back, unbuttoning collars to cool off, scrolling phones while waiting for the elevator—all were from his own brigade.

Yu Wenshu's expression turned grim. As their leader, he had indeed arrived late, but that didn't mean they could just clock out like this.

Yu Wenshu's gaze swept quickly over the badge numbers on the officers nearby; his photographic memory let him memorize their numbers effortlessly.

The officers preparing to leave were terrified. All were homicide detectives—they could read a criminal's thoughts with a single glance, and the same applied to Yu Wenshu. Of course, this didn't mean their leader was evil, nor did it mean he was good—but in any case, homicide detectives had a knack for reading people.

Yu Wenshu had been brigade chief for so long that just by shifting his posture, everyone knew whether he'd drunk milk the night before.

His eyes flicked over their badge numbers—his intent was obvious.

An older officer stammered: "Chief Yu, the case is solved. We're just packing up gear."

"Solved? How come I didn't hear about it?" Yu Wenshu's gaze landed on the officer—his badge number was etched into his memory with pinpoint accuracy.

"It's basically solved… uh… it was Jiang Yuanjiang, the forensic pathologist, who cracked it. He's already verifying the suspect—probably calling you soon…" the senior detective rushed to explain.

As he spoke, Yu Wenshu's phone rang.

"Hello. Good, I'm here. Got leads? Great, great, excellent—I'm just a few steps away."

Yu Wenshu's eyebrows relaxed. He nodded to the officers whose badge numbers he'd noted, then walked forward.

The senior detective stared at Yu Wenshu's back in despair, sighing: "We're done. He's got our badge numbers now."

"So what? We explained ourselves, didn't we?" the young detective beside him didn't get it.

The senior sighed: "You think he's a god? He just forcibly memorized our badge numbers."

"Isn't that godlike? If I could memorize numbers after one glance, I'd have gotten into Tsinghua."

"Naive. Chief Yu remembers numbers—but he doesn't remember why."

"What… what do you mean?"

The senior spoke solemnly: "It means he remembers our badge numbers—but in a few days, he won't remember why he remembered them. But for Chief Yu, anyone whose badge number he remembers? Definitely not a good person. So we're screwed."

"Wait… but… what if someone performed well? He wouldn't remember them then?"

"For someone who performed well? He remembers their name."

At the scene, under Major Ma's explanation, Yu Wenshu carefully examined the crime scene, visibly pleased. He patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder: "You did a good job on this case. Without your time-of-death determination, the victim's husband would've been in deep trouble."

"The case isn't over yet," Jiang Yuan replied modestly.

"The rest can wait. With all this DNA evidence and digital data, matching the victim's social circle won't be hard." After reviewing the case, Yu Wenshu, like others, suspected a love triangle murder.

The victim was a middle-class woman in her forties—no known enemies, no significant conflicts. A deliberate murder under these circumstances? Almost certainly a love triangle killing.

A middle-aged woman's affair always involved sex. Even if Tang Jia's IFI search turned up nothing, her own phone likely held clues. If not, check hotel records, daily routines, etc.

In this age of digital footprints, an affair might escape a husband's notice—but escaping police detection? Nearly impossible.

Yu Wenshu didn't even feel the need to give extra instructions.

Major Ma was a seasoned homicide commander—he'd handle these checks like child's play.

Back in the day, Ma Jiyang investigated his own wife. To avoid violating discipline, he didn't use any advanced tech—he went undercover alone, spent a full day and night tracking time, place, and people, then walked away clean, guilt-free.

Yu Wenshu arrived in a hurry, stayed briefly, then left with the main team.

He never found it burdensome. Smooth case progress was his greatest happiness—he hated sitting at the scene, directing operations, and burning the midnight oil.

As you age, you hope for no cases. When there is one, you want it solved fast. When it's especially hard? You hope Jiang Yuan's there…

"Where are you going next, Jiang Yuan? I'll send someone to drive you." Yu Wenshu asked warmly. "Go home, rest well. You'll probably arrest the suspect tomorrow."

Major Ma listened beside him, not blinking. Homicide detectives don't sleep—it's common sense.

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "I want to see the body."

"Oh? Why… oh, right—you're the forensic pathologist." Yu Wenshu tapped his forehead and laughed. "Look at me, my memory's going. I used to recite the Great Learning—mention 'Yao and Shun governed the realm with benevolence,' and I'd instantly recall 'and the people followed.' Now I can still recite it—hahaha…"

"Chief Yu's memory is truly excellent." Most had grown tired of flattering his memory, but Major Ma still understood the duty of a cadre.

"Send two officers to accompany Jiang Yuan. Follow him closely for the next few days." Yu Wenshu added to Ma: "Pick younger ones—physically fit. Jiang Yuan's technical staff—he's already encountered the killer twice at crime scenes. Weird stuff. Don't let anything happen again. Last time, that parkour guy nearly gave me a heart attack."

This was also Huang Qiangmin's directive to Yu Wenshu.

Previously, Huang Qiangmin had assigned personnel to follow Jiang Yuan to Changyang City. But since Yu Wenshu had been stationed there so long, sending more from Ningtai County had become inconvenient.

On one hand, Ningtai County was already short-staffed—sending three people at once was uncomfortable. On the other, you had to consider the morale of the officers. Short-term protection was fine, but long-term travel assignments like this were tough.

With the case progressing smoothly, Major Ma didn't need many officers now—he easily assigned two to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan didn't refuse. It was dark outside, and going to the morgue for an autopsy at night? Better to have two people with him.

Morgue.

Changyang City's morgue remained as lifeless as ever—larger than Ningtai's, but the atmosphere was identical. Especially at night, it felt like Ningtai's ghosts had transferred to Changyang for work.

The two young officers were bold enough to follow Jiang Yuan into the autopsy room, but not bold enough to relax—until they saw the corpse lying on its back, its sternum split open.

"I…" the youngest officer, least experienced, turned to flee the room—then stopped. Outside was the morgue.

Ye Tianhe had arrived earlier and worked with his colleagues. Now, covered in blood, he offered a wan, kind smile: "Don't vomit on the floor—you'll clean it up."

Jiang Yuan gave a warm expression: "I'll help."

Ye Tianhe felt slightly uneasy, but he couldn't turn away a smiling face. Jiang Yuan didn't seem to be mocking him. He adjusted his mood: "I checked the hyoid bone—no fracture. But the neck muscles are discolored. Strangulation with a cord. Anterior strangulation, single soft groove, width matches the rope used. The killer was well-prepared."

"Anterior strangulation" is also called typical hanging—the force point is on the front of the neck, matching suicide by hanging. Other types include lateral and posterior strangulation.

The groove refers to the mark left by the ligature; a soft groove means minimal skin abrasion, often indicating the softness or hardness of the ligature.

The number of grooves can also determine whether the noose was fixed or sliding.

For forensic pathologists, strangulation is a thoroughly studied field—so a single sentence conveys vast information through technical terms.

From this, the suspect's professionalism has dropped again. In this day and age, trying to fake suicide by hanging? Utterly naive.

"Did you take the gastric contents?" Jiang Yuan mainly wanted to confirm the time of death. He'd used this skill for the first time—he needed supporting data.

"Taken. Sent for testing. Time of death matches the 10 p. . estimate." Ye Tianhe had carefully performed the check, but even gastric analysis isn't precise—it only confirms the time range.

In fact, determining time of death has always been extremely difficult—accuracy is even harder.

Ye Tianhe's estimate being less accurate than Jiang Yuan's was normal.

Jiang Yuan said: "The killer planned carefully. First, he wanted to fake the scene as suicide by hanging. If that failed, he'd frame the husband. Too complex—easier to make mistakes."

Jiang Yuan said: "The killer likely planned this carefully—first trying to stage the scene as a suicide by hanging. If that failed, they'd frame the husband… Too complex a setup only invites mistakes."

Modern investigation methods are too numerous. You can mislead people all you want—there's always professional evidence to correct the trail.

The more the killer does, the more he exposes himself.

Jiang Yuan re-examined the victim's neck and, with Ye Tianhe, took the uterus for inspection.

During this, a pale blue dumpling rolled into Jiang Yuan's hand.

Liu Meiyan's Legacy: cosy (Lv2)—As Liu Meiyan crossed the age of forty, she could no longer pretend she wasn't middle-aged. Cosy was a small hobby she once tried—now it became her lifeline to save her life and reclaim her youth. Compared to younger cosplayers, Liu Meiyan could wear heavier makeup, show more skin, strike more flamboyant poses. Occasionally, she'd pick out a few attractive young men and teach them fresh knowledge.

Liu Meiyan's legacy: cosy (lv2)—When she crossed the threshold of forty, Liu Meiyan could no longer pretend she wasn't middle-aged; cosy, once a small hobby she'd dabbled in, had become her lifeline to salvage her life and cling to youth. Compared to younger cosplayers, Liu Meiyan could wear makeup longer, reveal more skin, strike more flamboyant poses, and occasionally, she'd pick out a few young men she found appealing, teaching them fresh knowledge.

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