Solving the case: Combining the police dog's olfactory genes at the beginning

"What do you want to know?"

Su Jing stirred her coffee, the pale purple glitter on her nails shimmering slightly under the light.

"You and Zhang Weiwei are very close?"

Chen Xuanran asked.

"We've been best friends since junior high."

Su Jing's gaze drifted out the window.

"She's a silly girl, too trusting."

Luo Fei noticed that as she said this, her right hand unconsciously rubbed a thin scar on her left wrist.

"Can you tell me about Zhang Weiwei's sexual assault?"

Su Jing's coffee spoon fell onto the saucer with a "clatter".

she was.

That day was Christmas Eve, 2022.

"Weiwei played mahjong at her friend's house until 2 a.m. that night."

Su Jing's voice grew softer and softer.

"On my way home, I was dragged into an alley by four men."

Chen Xuanran gripped the pen tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Luo Fei's expression remained calm, but his eyes sharpened.

“They took turns. While the first person was assaulting her, the other three held her down.”

Su Jing's lips trembled.

"Just as the second person was about to continue, a woman suddenly appeared at the alley entrance."

Luo Fei leaned forward.

"What kind of woman?"

"I couldn't see her face clearly, but I remember she was wearing a red coat and holding something in her hand."

Su Jing closed her eyes, as if recalling that scene.

"She shouted, and those beasts froze for a moment. Weiwei took the opportunity to break free and run away."

"and then?"

Chen Xuanran pressed for an answer.

Su Jing opened her eyes, tears silently streaming down her face.

"After Weiwei ran out of the alley, she heard the woman screaming. She was too scared to turn around or call the police."

Luo Fei and Chen Xuanran exchanged a glance.

This is a completely new lead. There is more than one victim.

"Later, Vivi found out she was pregnant."

Su Jing continued.

"She thought it was Lu Shaochuan's child and foolishly tried to use the child to force him to divorce her."

"The result wasn't right?"

Luo Fei had already guessed the ending.

“Lu Shaochuan had his tubal ligation done a long time ago.”

Su Jing gave a wry smile.

"After he learned the truth, he gave Weiwei an apartment with a 100 million yuan mortgage and then dumped her. Weiwei was unemployed, couldn't afford the mortgage, and had nowhere to turn."

The coffee had gone cold, and none of the three of them touched it.

Luo Fei's brain was working at lightning speed.

Four perpetrators, a woman who tried to intervene but was murdered, and a discarded mistress. The case was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Do you think Zhang Weiwei's death was an accident?

Luo Fei suddenly asked.

Su Jing's eyes sharpened.

"How many accidents are there in this world?"

On the way back in the police car, Chen Xuanran remained silent.

She didn't speak until they entered the police station parking lot.

"Captain Luo, do we really want to continue this investigation?"

Luo Fei turned off the engine.

"What do you mean?"

"Those beasts."

Chen Xuanran's voice was filled with anger.

"They deserve it!"

"Chen Xuanran!"

Luo Fei shouted sternly.

"Remember who you are! We are police officers, not judges!"

An awkward silence fell over the car.

Luo Fei sighed, his tone softening.

“I understand how you feel. But if we all decide whether to investigate a case based on our personal likes and dislikes, society will be in chaos.”

Chen Xuanran bit her lip and remained silent.

"The law may not be perfect, but it is our only tool for maintaining order."

Luo Fei looked at his tired eyes in the rearview mirror.

"That woman in red. No matter what she went through, murder is a crime."

The air in the conference room seemed to freeze.

Luo Fei gently placed the investigation report on the table and glanced at each of his colleagues present.

Everyone kept their heads down, and no one wanted to make eye contact with him.

"Based on the existing evidence, it can be determined that Jiang Xia was involved in the disposal of the body."

Luo Fei's voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet conference room.

"And the murderer is inside the Shanshui International residential community."

Criminal police captain Chen Zhiqiang sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Luo Fei, we've investigated for so long, but all the leads have gone cold. Jiang Xia is refusing to talk, and the surveillance footage didn't capture any crucial moments."

"Has the investigation stalled?"

Luo Fei interrupted him, his voice suddenly rising.

"Just because it's difficult, we're going to give up? Who will be responsible for the lives of those three girls?"

Cheng Yunchuan from the technical department pushed up his glasses.

“It’s not that we’re giving up, it’s just the reality we’re facing. Jiang Xia only admitted to desecrating the corpse, but he has nothing to do with the murder. We can’t even find a trace of the killer.”

Luo Fei forced himself to calm down.

He walked to the whiteboard and picked up a marker.

Let's go through this again.

"The murderer disguised himself as a woman to lure the victim out, and after the murder, Jiang Xia disposed of the body to create the illusion that a man had committed the crime."

Luo Fei wrote down the key points on the whiteboard.

"Jiang Xia risked his life to help, which shows that this woman is extremely important to him."

“We investigated all his social connections.”

Deng Yunzhou interjected.

"Ex-girlfriend, relatives, colleagues, no suspicious persons were found."

Luo Fei suddenly stopped writing and turned to look at Cheng Yunchuan.

"Retrieve the surveillance footage from the entrance of Shanshui International between 7:00 and 8:00 AM on December 24th."

The screen showed an image of the community gate.

Luo Fei fast-forwarded to 7:40, then paused.

"Look at this woman."

In the video, a woman wearing a mask and a hat walks quickly out of the residential compound and never returns.

Did you notice her figure?

Luo Fei's voice was a little strained.

Doesn't she look like Li Ya?

The meeting room instantly erupted in commotion.

"What a joke!"

Chen Zhiqiang suddenly stood up.

"Li Ya is one of ours!"

Deng Yunzhou leaned closer to the screen.

The walking posture doesn't quite match.

"What if it's a disguise?"

Luo Fei countered with a question.

"Check the garage surveillance footage from that day to see when Li Ya's car left."

Cheng Yunchuan quickly retrieved the garage video footage.

At 8:10 a.m., Li Ya's white SUV drove out of the residential area.

"The time doesn't match up."

Deng Yunzhou frowned.

"The woman at the gate left at 7:40."

Luo Fei's eyes gleamed sharply.

“Jiang Xia drove out at 3 a.m., remember? I suspect he went to pick someone up.”

“We’ve seen the video of his return.”

Cheng Yunchuan shook his head.

"He was the only one in the car."

Luo Fei's lips curled up slightly.

What if the person is hidden in the trunk?

The conference room fell silent again.

"That's a far-fetched argument."

Chen Zhiqiang broke the silence.

“Even if Li Ya and Jiang Xia knew each other, what motive would she have to kill him? Besides, she was having a party with her colleagues on Christmas Eve, which is perfectly normal.”

Luo Fei did not answer immediately.

He took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Xiao Zhang, please help me check Li Ya's whereabouts throughout December 24th, the more detailed the better."

After hanging up the phone, Luo Fei looked at his colleagues.

“I know this sounds absurd. But all the clues point to Shanshui International, and we still haven’t found the person Jiangxia is protecting.”

"Li Ya was with three female colleagues that night."

Cheng Yunchuan pulled up the photos from the gathering.

"They all said that Li Ya is perfectly normal."

Luo Fei stared at Li Ya smiling in the photo, his brows furrowed. Her makeup was flawless, her expression natural, showing no sign of anything amiss.

"The genius eye shows that she is not a suspect in the murder."

Deng Yunzhou reminded him.

Even if someone hires a hitman, there will still be traces.

Luo Fei suddenly felt a wave of fatigue.

He rubbed his temples.

"I need to think about adjourning the meeting."

For three consecutive days, the case made no progress.

Director Meng Haonan's patience was running out, and even Deputy Director Wan Qiang, who was attending a meeting out of town, called to inquire.

"The case is complex and will take time."

That was all Luo Fei could say. After hanging up the phone, he let out a heavy sigh.

The office door was pushed open, and Li Ya walked in.

She was dressed in a neat police uniform, but her face was slightly pale.

"Captain Luo, I'm back at work."

Her voice was soft but firm.

Luo Fei looked up and quickly adjusted his expression.

"Are you alright now?"

"Yes, I've had enough rest."

Li Ya smiled.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Luo Fei's eyes flickered.

"Let's familiarize ourselves with the work over the next few days first, there's no rush."

After Li Ya left, Luo Fei immediately summoned the members of the special task force.

"No information about the case shall be disclosed to Li Ya. Cheng Yunchuan, you are in charge of monitoring her every move."

"Captain Luo, do you really suspect her?"

Cheng Yunchuan lowered his voice.

"There's no evidence."

That's why we need to investigate.

Luo Fei's eyes were sharp.

"Remember that her phone password is 0923, and find an opportunity to check her phone."

The next day at noon, Luo Fei saw Li Ya come downstairs to pick up a package and immediately slipped into her office.

He quickly entered the password to unlock his phone and browsed his contacts, text messages, and social media apps.

There is no second WeChat.

Luo Fei muttered to himself, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Call logs are normal."

Suddenly, a deleted text message draft caught his attention.

After restoration, there are only a few words.

"Clean it up thoroughly, leave no trace."

Luo Fei's heart raced, and just as he was about to take a closer look, footsteps sounded outside the door.

He quickly locked the screen and put the phone back, pretending to be looking for a file.

"Captain Luo?"

Li Ya stood at the door, holding a delivery box in her hand.

"Do you need help?"

Luo Fei calmly picked up a folder.

"Looking for last year's case files. Have you finished picking up your package?"

"Ah."

Li Ya walked in and placed the package on the table.

"There are so many packages being delivered lately."

Luo Fei noticed that her movements when unpacking the package were very natural, and she used her right hand.

All the victims were killed by left-handed people.

Back in his office, Luo Fei immediately contacted the technical department.

"Can you recover the deleted photos from Li Ya's phone? The longer the better."

That evening, Cheng Yunchuan brought disappointing news.

"The data on my phone for the last three months has been overwritten and cannot be recovered."

Luo Fei stood by the window, gazing at the city lights in the night.

The case was like a tangled mess, with every clue leading to a dead end.

"Captain Luo."

Cheng Yunchuan hesitated.

"Are we going in the wrong direction? Li Ya doesn't look like the murderer at all."

Luo Fei did not answer.

He recalled the look in Li Ya's eyes that day, a look that was calm yet subtly probing.

"Snapped!"

Meng Haonan slammed the folder heavily onto the conference table, causing the water in his teacup to splash out.

The meeting room was completely silent; even breathing became extremely cautious.

The three criminal investigation team leaders had their heads down, and beads of sweat on their foreheads glistened in the stark white light.

"It's been a month! A whole month!"

Meng Haonan's voice scraped against everyone's eardrums like a knife.

"You haven't even caught a glimpse of the murderer, what are you all good for?"

Wan Qiang sat in the corner, his face pale.

He had just returned from the hospital, and his wound was still throbbing, but at that moment he wished he were still lying in the hospital bed.

When Meng Haonan's gaze swept over him, he subconsciously shrank his neck.

Only Luo Fei stood up straight, his gaze calmly meeting Meng Haonan's.

His slender fingers tapped lightly on the table, the rhythm neither too fast nor too slow, as if he were playing a melody that only he could hear.

"Luo Fei!"

Meng Haonan suddenly called out names.

"When the task force was first established, didn't you confidently say you could solve the case? What about now?"

Luo Fei's lips curled up slightly.

"Director Meng, this case is indeed extraordinary. The murderer was not only meticulous, but also had a highly skilled mentor behind him. No fingerprints or DNA were left at the scene, the murder weapon vanished without a trace, and everyone captured on surveillance footage has an alibi."

"fart!"

Meng Haonan rudely interrupted him.

"Are you trying to say this is the perfect crime?"

There is no perfect crime in the world.

Luo Fei's voice suddenly turned cold.

"There are only incompetent police officers."

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop to freezing point instantly.

Wan Qiang secretly looked up and saw Meng Haonan's face turn from red to green, then from green to white, finally settling on a dangerous calm.

"good very good."

Meng Haonan nodded.

"Then give me a definite answer: when will you be able to solve the case?"

Team leader Wang Gang wiped his sweat.

"Ten days. No, one week!"

Team leader Liu Zhiming quickly responded.

"Our team will also need about a week."

All eyes were on Luo Fei.

He gently pushed up his glasses, the light reflected from the lenses obscuring his eyes.

"Three days."

Luo Fei said.

"what?"

Wan Qiang almost jumped up from his chair.

Meng Haonan, however, showed his first smile of the day.

"Luo Fei, I admire your spirit."

He walked over to Luo Fei and patted him on the shoulder.

"However, what if the case isn't solved in three days?"

"I'll run naked."

Wan Qiang blurted it out, then realized what he had said, and his face turned deathly pale.

Meng Haonan laughed loudly.

"Alright! It's settled then! Wan Qiang will run naked around the police station three times!"

He glanced at his watch with satisfaction.

"It's 10 a.m. now. I want to see the results at this time in three days."

The conference room door was slammed shut, leaving behind a room full of dumbfounded police officers and a Wan Qiang who looked utterly hopeless.

"Luo Fei! Have you gone mad?"

Wan Qiang grabbed Luo Fei by the collar.

"Three days? Do you know how complicated this case is?"

Luo Fei gently pried open Wan Qiang's fingers.

"Captain Wan, trust me."

Wan Qiang stared at Luo Fei for a few seconds, then suddenly deflated.

"Whatever, I'm the one who's embarrassed anyway."

He turned to the others.

"Everyone, assemble in the small conference room in ten minutes!"

The small conference room was filled with smoke.

Wan Qiang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, frowned as he flipped through the case files.

Luo Fei stood in front of the whiteboard, which was covered with clues and doubts.

"Everyone, let's go through it from the beginning."

Luo Fei tapped the whiteboard.

"The first victim, Zhang Weiwei, 22 years old, a college student, was found dead in her rented room with ligature marks on her neck, but the real cause of death was a punctured heart. Strangely, there were no signs of struggle at the scene, the doors and windows were intact, and no valuables were missing."

"The second victim, Lin Xiaoman, 25, an office worker, died in her own bathroom. She was also strangled and then stabbed in the heart. The scene was also horribly clean."

Chen Xuanran added. (End of Chapter)