Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 69 Strange Corpse 7
Compared to serial murder cases, this should be a relatively simple case, yet a clear lead remains elusive, shrouded in mystery.

Being a criminal investigator is a complicated job, like finding mountain paths in a foggy day.

On his way out of the technical team, Zheng Yan was still deep in thought when a clump of green dough appeared beside him.

Tan Jia pushed it forward: "Give it a squeeze, calm your mind. Maybe if you give your brain a rest, you'll be able to think more clearly."

“…You have a good attitude.” He took it, rolled it into a round shape, then rolled it up again, pinched out flower petals with his fingernails, and took a deep breath to expel the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

Jiujiang values ​​the inheritance of traditional crafts like dough figurines, and many people can make one or two.

He made a simple flower, and for some reason, he glanced at the side of the flower twice.

"Why are you looking at me?" Tan Jia glanced sideways.

Zheng Yan asked casually, "I don't think I've asked you this yet. Aren't you scared of these dreams? They're so realistic, and they affect your emotions. But you've seemed so relaxed all this time."

"Being afraid is useless, so I'll just treat it as an early experience of a holographic game."

"With all the clues dead and no one able to find the murderer, don't you feel lost? When your brother first became a criminal investigator, his brows were always furrowed, and he couldn't eat or sleep peacefully. As for you, I've only ever seen you anxious in the cases of Qu Li and the others."

Tan Jia, munching on a biscuit stick, casually said, "That's because I want to help them. When you have a goal, you get anxious when you can't achieve it. When you don't have a goal, a case is like a math problem in front of you. I know there must be an answer, so I'm not in a hurry. If I can't solve it, I'll look at my class notes. After all, the problem was assigned along with today's lesson, so I'm sure I can find a solution."

Zheng Yan simplified the language for her: "Since you're just doing odd jobs, there's no rush."

"...That's correct."

He laughed, which was completely incorrect.

That's just her personality; she has a perfect grasp of empathy, which doesn't affect her emotions or state of mind. Her nonchalant attitude makes her seem quite at ease.

He is much more reliable than Tan Ming.

After relaxing for a while with one dough flower, Zheng Yan roused himself and moved on to the next step.

"Let's go ask those thirteen people again."

Knowing that the deceased most likely died from asphyxiation due to inhaling gas, the interrogation became much more targeted.

First is Zhong Xiaoyang.

Zheng Yan went straight to the point and asked him if he and the deceased had a habit of using aphrodisiacs.

"No!" Zhong Xiaoyang denied immediately, looking embarrassed. "I'm only twenty-three years old. I'm not old enough to be unable to get up!"

Tan Jia: "I don't think so. It's not like you need aphrodisiacs just because you can't get an erection. Aren't there some drugs that can help your boyfriend relax his muscles and increase his sensitivity?"

That's so vivid, it made Zhong Xiaoyang even more embarrassed.

"We...we've never used those things...but..."

He stammered, and after a long pause, he managed to utter a seemingly true but actually false statement: "Sometimes, he really is more... more in-form than usual."

Tan Jia understood, helping to bring every sentence back to its straightforward nature: "You mean the deceased might have secretly used those aphrodisiacs?"

"Yes, that's possible."

"But many aphrodisiacs have a smell, and to achieve the desired effect, you need to use other tools to help with inhalation. You live together, you couldn't have not noticed, could you?" Zheng Yan gave Tan Jia a deep look, then said seriously to Zhong Xiaoyang:

"Please cooperate with the investigation and tell us everything you know. Your boyfriend is dead, don't you want to find out who did it? What if that person is still lurking around you?"

Zhong Xiaoyang: "I, I really didn't know. I never discovered that he had this kind of hobby. To be honest, we rarely live together. It's all for filming videos and live streaming. I have my own house."

They were still in a fake relationship.

Although he couldn't confess anything, he pointed out the next person to be interrogated.

The girl named Xiaoqi was the deceased's best friend. On the day of the birthday party, she and the deceased arrived at the hotel in advance to set up the venue.

During her interrogation, they finally received some good news.

"Balloons? Chenxing popped the balloons himself. Using aphrodisiacs? Impossible! He didn't tell me. That day he only said he was going to prepare a surprise for Zhong Xiaoyang, bought an outfit, but got drunk halfway through..."

As she was talking, Xiao Qi suddenly froze, her expression turning strange.

Zheng Yan immediately sensed something was wrong and pressed, "What's wrong? Did you remember something amiss?"

"That's right, during the birthday party, Chenxing was blowing up balloons for no reason again, looking like he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing. He even handed me one of the balloons and asked me to blow it up too." Xiaoqi's tone suddenly became flustered.

"I really thought he was drunk. He was very excited and kept laughing. I tried to get him to play cards, but he said he couldn't see clearly. When I asked him questions, he seemed dizzy. I blew up a balloon, and I inhaled some of the air inside, and he seemed a little lightheaded..."

It really was the gas that the deceased inhaled.

Moreover, the symptoms after taking the drug were very representative, and Zheng Yan guessed what it was almost instantly.

"Laughing gas." He closed his eyes and shook his head, his expression a complex mix of knowing and noting.

"Laughing gas is nitrous oxide. It was initially used as a dental anesthetic, but it was later abused. Excessive inhalation can lead to addiction and, in severe cases, suffocation. A few years ago, the police arrested a large number of people who bought and sold laughing gas. Although it is not considered a drug under the law, it was treated as a drug purchase and use in judicial practice."

Tan Jia didn't feel angry or sorry at all. Her first thought was: if this line of investigation is clear, wouldn't the case become much clearer?
"Now the cause of death has been determined. The murderer took advantage of the victim's secret of inhaling nitrous oxide and added belladonna to the yogurt to increase the toxicity, causing him to suffocate due to lack of oxygen. Now we just need to trace the source of the belladonna to find out who the murderer is."

The murderer may not be among those thirteen people; rather, it is very likely the fan who asked the deceased to book room 3801.

Unfortunately, Tan Ming, who went to the hotel to check for yogurt waste, did not bring back good news.

"No yogurt container carrying belladonna toxin was found. We asked the people who were with the deceased, and they also said that they had never seen the deceased drink any yogurt from the time they met until the incident."

Zheng Yan refused to believe it: "What happened before they saw the deceased? Yogurt was stained on their clothes, and no one noticed it all day?"

“The deceased was rushing back by plane that day. After getting off the plane, he took a taxi to the city and went to the hotel with his friends to set up the venue,” Xiao Chen delivered the investigation results of the deceased’s itinerary. “If he didn’t drink the yogurt after meeting his friends, then it could only have been before he left the airport.”

This needs to be investigated, and there was no one familiar with the situation who witnessed it at the time.

A group of people returned to square one. The good news was that they finally found a main thread, but the bad news was that it was very difficult to find.

How could someone who has disappeared online have gotten the deceased to drink poisoned yogurt?
The criminal investigation team was prepared to review a large amount of city surveillance footage, but an unexpected case the next day brought a turning point—

Two people completely unrelated to this case were also hospitalized with belladonna poisoning, both from drinking yogurt.

(End of this chapter)