Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 12 Evidence
"Young man, what are you doing here?"

Because of what happened the day before yesterday, the man with the mustache lost the arrogance he had shown in front of Xu Zhihai and the others when he was with Ai Liang. He pulled him aside and asked him a question.

“I was assisting the police in their investigation of the murder last night when I saw the suspect dump a bag of things into a recycling center and wait for it to open.”

Ai Liang lied. Simply saying she was looking for something would arouse suspicion. It was better to use the pretext of assisting the police in their investigation to intimidate Xiao Huzi first, since she would have to notify the police to come over later anyway.

"what!"

The man with the mustache turned pale upon hearing the keywords "murder case" and "black garbage bag": "Murder and body disposal?"

"No, the bag isn't big. It might just be a tool used in the crime. I'm worried someone else might pick it up, so I'm waiting here. I'll notify the police once I've confirmed it."

Ai Liang knew perfectly well that what was inside wasn't a corpse, but he couldn't say it outright.

The man with the mustache looked at Ai Liang with some hesitation, but remembering Ai Liang's composure when he helped him find his phone the day before yesterday and his calmness when facing the thief, he decided to trust him.

Besides, I'm just a junkyard with nothing of value, so there's no need to lie to myself.

"Make way, don't go in yet! The police need to investigate and collect evidence!"

The man with the mustache stopped dawdling and hurriedly ran to open the gate, shouting for the scavengers to wait before going in to avoid disturbing the scene.

The scavengers made way for him. Although they didn't believe the man with the mustache, they didn't want to offend the owner of the recycling station for a moment, so they wisely stepped aside.

Ai Liang walked in front, with the man with the mustache following closely behind.

The man with the mustache looked left and right. He hadn't noticed those bulging woven bags before, but now they gave him the creeps.

It always felt like they were oozing blood, and if you tore open a small hole, you could see a pile of dismembered remains.

The trash bag that Wang Zi threw was not far from the door. The black plastic bag stood out conspicuously in the middle of the road. Ai Liang walked over to check it, and the man with the mustache nervously swallowed.

He took out two napkins, and slowly opened them without disturbing his fingerprints, taking a quick look inside. It was all for show.

"What is it?"

The man with the mustache didn't dare to come closer and kept a one-meter distance from Ai Liang.

"It's a pair of gloves."

Ai Liang gently picked up the bag through the napkin.

He took out his phone and dialed Xia Qinian's number.

Who's there so early in the morning?!

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be half asleep; their voice sounded tired and impatient.

"I'm Ai Liang. You should have the criminal investigation team's phone number, right? Send it to me."

Ai Liang felt that standing in the middle of the road guarding the trash bags wasn't a good idea, so he asked the man with the mustache to open his office door and carefully moved the trash bags inside.

"Huh? Where did you get my phone number?"

"I saw it on the business card in your car yesterday. Stop talking nonsense and send me the number. I found the gloves that the suspect threw away."

Xia Qinian, who was lying on the bed with his eyes half-closed on the other end of the phone, suddenly woke up with a start when he heard that Ai Liang had found evidence.

"Wait a minute! I'll be right there! Wait for me! Where are you now?"

Xia Qinian threw off the blanket, revealing his strong chest muscles, and pulled up his pants while holding his phone between his shoulder and arm.

After spending the day together yesterday, Xia Qinian had a pretty good understanding of Ai Liang's personality. That cold-faced middle school student probably wouldn't joke about something like this; he would never speak carelessly without being absolutely certain.

"Find the waste recycling stations near Jinyang Avenue on the map yourself."

"Hey, don't rush to call the police, remember to wait for me! Hey? You brat!"

Xia Qinian didn't wash his face or brush his teeth. He got dressed, grabbed his phone and keys, and ran downstairs.

Twenty-five minutes later, Xia Qinian's car stopped in front of the scrap metal recycling station.

"Kid, where's the stuff?"

As soon as he entered the office, Xia Qinian asked anxiously.

Ai Liang was sitting on a stool in the office, drinking soy milk, which Xiao Hu made using soy milk powder from the office.

"Give me the number on the table. I was staking out the suspect's apartment complex yesterday and watched him throw the things here. He wasn't wearing gloves last night, so there should still be his fingerprints on the bag."

"You already had a suspect all along? Why didn't you say anything yesterday?"

Xia Qinian was surprised to find that Ai Liang had been hiding something from him in her reasoning yesterday, and immediately questioned her.

"Why should I tell you?"

Ai Liang retorted, "Even if I told you the truth, what could you do?"

This time, Xia Qinian was speechless. Ai Liang was right; even if he told him, it would be useless. He had no obligation or need to tell him.

Everyone understands the principle, but when it comes to their own situation, most people can't accept it.

So Xia Qinian retorted irritably, "If I'm useless, then why are you asking me for the criminal police's phone number?"

"Fine, if you won't give it to me then, I'll just call the police."

Ai Liang took a sip of soy milk, squinted her eyes, and said.

"I'll give it to you! I can even help you fight it!"

Xia Qinian could tell that Ai Liang had him cornered, and he said through gritted teeth.

Beep beep, beep beep.

"Sorry, this is the user you dialed."

"Damn it, Shi Feng, you bastard, you hung up on me!"

Xia Qinian angrily hung up the phone and, cursing, dialed Ai Liang's number.

"I am Shi Feng, who is this?"

"Captain Shi, this is Ai Liang. I think I found the gloves used in the crime yesterday. Could you please bring someone over here?" "Okay, I'm at the scrap metal recycling station near Jinyang Avenue."

After hanging up the phone, Ai Liang picked up her soy milk again and sipped it slowly.

Xia Qinian's stomach rumbled as he hadn't had breakfast yet. He asked Ai Liang, "Is there any soy milk left?"

The man with the mustache glanced at Xia Qinian, then thought back to how Xia Qinian had acted like a gangster boss when he was cursing the police. He realized that this man was not someone to mess with, so he quickly made him another cup of soy milk.

"Thank you." Xia Qinian didn't stand on ceremony. He took the cup, took a sip, and after drinking the soy milk, Xia Qinian decided to say something to ease the serious atmosphere.

"Boss, you even have a printer in your office."

Xia Qinian downed the warm soy milk in one gulp, went to his desk, and tapped on the printer.

"Hey, what boss? I'm just a junk collector. I bought this from the secondhand market to make printing receipts easier. I don't actually use it much myself; I usually get Xu Zhihai, the guy with the glasses and the slightly goofy, swollen forehead, to help me with these things."

The man with the mustache rubbed his hands together as he approached Xia Qinian and introduced him, his eyes slightly darting around.

"A scavenger would use this?"

Xia Qinian made it clear that he didn't believe it.

"He's not a scavenger."

The man with the mustache cleared his throat and shifted the topic to the glasses: "He used to be a math genius at Peking University, but he fell on hard times and came to me for a job. I took pity on him and let him manage this recycling center for me."

When talking about Xu Zhihai's past, the man with the mustache spoke with great enthusiasm, just as if he himself had been admitted to Peking University. He recounted his family background and how he had fallen to such a state.

They showed absolutely no regard for personal privacy.

They probably wanted to use the story of a fallen genius to increase the visibility of their recycling center.

Listening to the mustachioed man's earnest explanation, Xia Qinian looked at the bespectacled young man outside who was weighing waste paper for the scavenger with skepticism. Why did he feel like this young man was just a simpleton?

On the other side, after receiving Ai Liang's call to the police, Shi Feng immediately took Gao Bin and Wang Xun to the waste recycling station.

Yesterday, Ai Liang's analysis in the interrogation room impressed even him, the captain of the criminal investigation team. Without realizing it, he began to regard him as a colleague of the criminal investigation team, and the two even discussed the case together.

Shi Feng decided to believe him this once.

Shi Feng, who was driving, knew every street like the back of his hand, and arrived much faster than Xia Qinian.

"Shi Feng, you scoundrel, you actually hung up on me!"

As soon as they got out of the car, they heard Xia Qinian's angry curses. Since they weren't in the criminal investigation team, Xia Qinian didn't need to restrain himself to give him face.

The man with the mustache secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the police finally arrive, then looked at the half-empty bag of soy milk powder with a pained expression.

Xia Qinian really didn't hold back, drinking one cup after another as if he wasn't afraid of getting burned.

Shi Feng glanced at Xia Qinian but ignored him and walked straight to Ai Liang.

Ai Liang didn't say anything, but pointed to the trash bag on the table. Wang Xun, wearing white gloves, immediately went over to check it.

"It was a pair of white cotton gloves with scratch marks on them. Whether they were the tools used in the crime still needs to be taken back to the technical department for comparison."

Wang Xun said to Shi Feng.

"Are you sure this was thrown down by the suspect and not something you forged yourself? Think carefully before you speak."

Shi Feng glanced at the gloves and garbage bag placed in the evidence bag and looked at Ai Liang with an extremely imposing gaze.

“I know you have a suspect, but finding evidence and creating a disguise are two different things. If these gloves are fake, I will arrest you for false accusation regardless of whether the suspect is the murderer or not!”

Shi Feng was only saying this to scare Ai Liang. He was worried that such a promising young man with a strong sense of justice might go astray because he was too eager to find evidence, so he took the opportunity to give him a warning.

"Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon at the supermarket across from Jinyang Community, keeping an eye on the community exit. After the supermarket closed, I wandered around the area."

Around midnight, I saw the suspect climb over the fence and leave the residential area. If he had nothing to hide, he would have gone straight through the main gate; there was no need for him to be sneaky. Furthermore, when he threw away the trash bag, he wasn't wearing gloves or using any protective material to separate his fingers from the bag, so his fingerprints were definitely still on it.

"Wait a minute, you asked me to take you to Jinyang Avenue yesterday so you could stake out the area? You've been keeping watch by yourself since yesterday afternoon?"

Xia Qinian looked at Ai Liang in disbelief.

"Is there a problem? The supermarket and nearby surveillance cameras can testify for me."

There was no sign of fatigue on Ai Liang's face.

Upon hearing Ai Liang's words, Gao Bin looked at him with a deep sense of respect. People who love to slack off always have respect for workaholics.

Regardless of whether the gloves were used in the crime, the fact that he monitored the suspect for more than ten hours deserves his respect; this was originally their job.

"Then why didn't you call the police last night and waited until now?"

Although Wang Xun admired him, he still had to ask the questions he needed to.

"Because I'm not sure what his purpose is in coming out in the middle of the night. What if he just came out to surf the internet or simply wanted to throw away some special books or utensils that he doesn't want others to see?"

I only called the police this morning after seeing the gloves in the bag with my own eyes, because no normal person would go that far in the middle of the night just to throw away a pair of ordinary gloves.

Wang Xun was stunned as he listened, and the look in his eyes as he looked at Ai Liang gradually overlapped with that of the police officer who had interrogated Ai Liang for the first time.

A hint of appreciation flashed in Shi Feng's eyes. Ai Liang was very meticulous in his speech and actions, and his observation and reasoning abilities were no less than his own. With proper training, he would surely become a rising star in the criminal investigation team.

Shi Feng made up his mind: he had to find a way to bring him in.

"If it's true, I will send a banner to your home and a banner to your school on behalf of the police."

Shi Feng walked up and patted Ai Liang's shoulder forcefully to show his approval: "How about you take the police academy entrance exam and become a criminal investigator? I'll recommend you, and I'll personally mentor you after you graduate."

Shi Feng's words were much more serious than yesterday's. He was moved by the fact that he had been monitoring the suspect for more than ten hours. This time, he genuinely wanted to bring Ai Liang into the criminal investigation team.

"Thank you, but I don't plan to take the police academy entrance exam at the moment."

Ai Liang politely declined, leaving Shi Feng some face by not making a definitive statement.

"Is that so? Let's not talk about that for now."

Shi Feng understood Ai Liang's meaning and decided to let the matter drop for the time being. "Are you sure you're following Wang Zi? If he doesn't admit it, we might need you to come out and act as a witness later."

"no problem."

After saying that, Shi Feng and Ai Liang were about to leave.

"Wait a minute! Shi Feng, you bastard, are you ignoring me?"

Xia Qinian grinned maliciously and grabbed Shi Feng's neck, a sinister smile on his face.

Although Shi Feng looks imposing and tough, his combat ability is actually below average among the team's field personnel. He was completely immobilized when Xia Qinian carried him like that.

"Xia Qinian! I am currently on official duty!"

Shi Feng was held tightly by his body and could only shout angrily, "Wang Xun! Gao Bin!"

Shi Feng called out the names of the two accompanying criminal police officers. Although he didn't say what he was going to do, the meaning was already very clear.

Wang Xun and Gao Bin stood there with stiff faces, finding themselves in a difficult situation.

"Keep yelling. This isn't the police station. You can yell until you're hoarse, it won't do any good. Have you forgotten how I dealt with you before, you little lunatic? Hmm?"

Xia Qinian pinched Shi Feng's cheek and squeezed his lips into an "O" shape.

Seeing his superior's disgraceful behavior, Wang Xun felt that if he continued to stand idly by, he would never have a good life in the team again.

"Never mind, Brother Nian, we still have to investigate the case later."

“Yeah, yeah, let’s forget about it.” Gao Bin said after seeing Wang Xun speak.

"I finally found the evidence with Ai Liang, and you're just going to dump me like this?"

As soon as Xia Qinian opened his mouth, he shamelessly took half of Ai Liang's credit, and his hands were not idle either, making Shi Feng's mouth turn into an 8 and then an O.

"Brother Nian, let go of Captain Shi first. You can always come back with us."

Wang Xun seized the opportunity to create a stepping stone.

"That's right, Captain Shi didn't say you couldn't come along, right, Captain Shi?"

Gao Bin also chimed in with his advice.

Xia Qinian watched the two of them echoing each other like they were doing a comedy routine, and then pushed Shi Feng away.

Shi Feng glared fiercely at Wang Xun and Gao Bin, but the two of them didn't dare to meet his gaze and gave him an awkward smile.

Xia Qinian put his hand on Ai Liang's shoulder and said to the three of them with a grin, "It's not good to always let students ride in police cars. Is it okay if I take him to the criminal investigation team for you, Captain Shi?"

Shi Feng stared at him without saying a word, then snorted coldly and got into the car.

(End of this chapter)