The package has assigned me way too many objects.

Just as the two reliable and mature women were about to lead Chu Yinan into the canteen to check on the situation, a tall, thin male prosecutor with glasses stopped them, his tone cold and lacking in friendly communication.

"Prosecutor Shibuya, what are you doing bringing an elementary school student in here? Are you trying to cause trouble?"

Chu Yinan's fist clenched. "Who are you calling a primary school student?! Believe me or not, I'll grow bigger right now, jump up, and whip you!"

This is a prosecutor from the third department. Shibuya knows his identity, but their relationship isn't exactly good; strictly speaking, he's a competitor of hers from the second department.

Furthermore, the other party knows Chu Yinan. Because of what happened before, some people who dislike her are saying that she took credit for something that was just a child. Now, probably no one in the hall doesn't know Chu Yinan.

Shibuya Yi didn't care much about this. As long as she knew her own abilities, that was enough. Even before Chu Yinan came, her work results were ahead of other prosecutors of the same rank, and she had only been working for a few years.

“Prosecutor Li Zaiye, this is Chu Yinan, a second-year high school student at this school. He was eating in the cafeteria half an hour before the incident and is a witness. If there is nothing else, I will continue with my work.”

Leaving the male prosecutor behind, Shibuya led Mandy and Chu Yinan straight into the cafeteria.

Mandy chuckled mischievously, "See? You weren't willing to suffer losses back then, and now you're being targeted everywhere, aren't you?"

"It's just nitpicking that doesn't really hurt, and I'm just stating the facts; I don't want to compromise."

Mandy remained noncommittal, shrugging to indicate her opinion. Seeing Chu Yinan's curious gaze, she added a few words:

"Crimes within the prosecutor's office are generally committed by organized groups..."

"It's teamwork!" Shibuya Gyu corrected her impatiently.

"Yes, yes, teamwork... Then a newly hired prosecutor couldn't stand the team leader slacking off and giving all the work to his subordinates, so he did all the work himself. When reporting credit, he ignored his superior's name. Similar things happened a few times, and this prosecutor was seen as someone who stole credit to get promoted."

Chu Yinan didn't know how to comment. He had read a lot of news and felt that such things were quite common; he could see complaints about them on student forums every day. For example, judges would invite outstanding law students to be unpaid interns, then assign them all-night paper writing assignments, publish the paper, and claim the first author title while the student would get a second author.

Thinking about it this way, Prosecutor Shibuya Gyoshi was quite brave, doing something that many people wouldn't dare to do.

......

The new fragments of the remains were indeed found in the food at the restaurant where Chu Yinan had just eaten.

Technicians extracted evidence, which was a piece of little finger. It showed traces of formaldehyde soaking, but did not have the pungent smell of formaldehyde, suggesting that it had been intentionally cleaned.

Thinking of this, Chu Yinan's stomach churned again. He had just comforted himself while vomiting, saying that the old lady's stew was very bland today. If there were any "special ingredients," the pungent smell would not have been hidden. Therefore, the body fragments were probably put in later, rather than being put directly into the pot.

But now they're telling him—the smell of the corpses has been washed away!

Whether the food he ate was clean or not is now back to Schrödinger's cat state.

"You're the ones who found the fingers? Who are you? You don't look like students here." Mandy glanced at the group in front of her.

"It was found in Ancheng's food. We are interns at the culinary school. We are usually responsible for helping the school cafeteria process ingredients, clean the kitchen, and move trays."

The speaker was a boy who called himself Kasai Zen. The boy he mentioned, Kishi, was an unremarkable guy. There were three or four other boys and girls eating with him, all wearing kitchen intern uniforms. You could tell from their uniforms how well they washed their clothes. Kishi had washed his clothes rather carelessly, and they were covered in stains.

"You're also a kitchen intern? Why aren't you wearing a uniform with your colleagues?" Shibuya Yi stared at Kasai Zen, sensing that this person was rather unconventional.

"Because it's the weekend, there's not much work, so the management is more relaxed. Also, I'm planning to go out with some people this afternoon, so I secretly changed my clothes after finishing my morning work. It wouldn't be right for me to go out in my kitchen uniform..." Kasai Zen replied somewhat embarrassedly.

“An Cheng, is that right? Describe the situation when you found your finger, starting from when you entered the cafeteria.” Mandy put away her nonchalant attitude and began to seriously search for clues.

"We've already said it once, do we have to say it again?" a girl muttered softly.

Kishiri stammered a little, perhaps from nervousness: "I... I think I arrived around 11:30. I played on my phone for a while, about 20 minutes. My friends were hungry and were going to get some food, but I hadn't finished my game yet, so I asked Kasai to bring me some food."

Before the stuttering boy could finish speaking, Lee Jae-yeop, the prosecutor from the third department who had been standing at the door, came over and said:

“We’ve already questioned these people. You can go back and review the recordings and statements. There’s no need to keep asking them. It will only cause trouble for innocent people. The students who have conflicts with the shopkeeper are the ones who deserve more attention. You can go back now.”

These interns had clearly wanted to leave for a long time, and after receiving permission from Li Zaiye, they happily walked away.

Shibuya Yi frowned; this was clearly someone looking for trouble, but Lee Jae-yeop preemptively warned her:

“Prosecutor Shibuya, the higher-ups are now asking us to handle cases with compassion, to make the parties involved feel our care, instead of just adding to the worries of unrelated people. Didn’t you see how tired that guy named Kasai Zen is? There are flour stains on his trouser legs from work! You should have noticed that and ended the questioning sooner so they could go home and rest.”

And what good has it done you to have a student you have working with? The witness can leave once they've provided the information!

Chapter 55 Anger

“But there are some highly suspicious people among them. Are we going to let them go too?” Chu Yinan said, looking directly at Li Zaiye’s dissatisfied gaze.

The intern cooks who had just stepped out of the canteen stopped and turned to look at Chu Yinan. Their expressions ranged from innocent to surprised, but quickly turned into anger, as if they had been slandered and offended.

"We are innocent. We have been cooperating with the police and prosecutors all along. What right do you, a little kid, have to say we have a problem? How can you spread rumors so openly!" The girl reacted strongly.

"It's definitely not me, I'm completely innocent!" Anshi Chenglian stammered as he tried to defend himself, and his nervousness seemed to make him stutter even more.

“That’s right, how can you accuse us of being suspects for no reason? We’re just cooks, we have no grudge against this place, and we’re not some heartless murderers!” Kasai Zen added.

Lee Jae-yeop let the kitchen intern retort fiercely, and then said, "It is our job to determine whether someone is a suspect, not the job of a witness or a child. If you are trying to cause trouble, I may have to ask you to leave here."

"Hey, this kid is a witness brought here from our police station. We haven't even asked him about the situation yet. Is it appropriate for you to just kick him out?" Superintendent Mandy shielded Chu Yinan on his side.

Although the police station is subject to oversight by the prosecutor's office in its work functions, Mandy's position as a superintendent is of a higher rank and does not require her to completely follow the instructions of a junior prosecutor.

"Tell me your thoughts," Shibuya said to Chu Yinan, her voice filled with trust and anticipation, a sense that this "little mascot" might bring some surprises.

Chu Yinan walked up to the group of kitchen interns and asked the stuttering man first, "Don't you kitchen staff need to buy your meals from the front desk?"

The stuttering man answered with difficulty, each word squeezed out with great effort, as if each syllable was stressed:

"Yes, yes, yes, you can serve yourself in the kitchen, you don't need to pay..."

"Are you sure Kasai served you your food?" Chu Yinan asked, glancing at the people around him.

The girl was impatient with Ancheng's stuttering speech and wanted to explain things clearly as soon as possible. She felt stupid to be chased and bitten by a little kid. She felt like a clown who could be manipulated at will.

"Yes, Kasai Zen helped him get the food and brought it back the whole time. No one even lent a hand to Kasai Zen. If there were any problems, he could ask him and Kishi Shige privately."

Chu Yinan didn't mince words, turning the conversation to Kasai Zen, and glancing at his clothes: "You said you had an appointment, so you changed your clothes early after finishing work?"

Under the watchful eyes of the prosecutors and police, Kasai looked nervous, as if he didn't understand why they were focusing on this question: "Yes, it's true, you're asking a girl out. Kitchen worker's clothes don't look good, and they get dirty after work. Is it a problem to change them? You can't go on a date with a girl all dirty!"

"Then why didn't you change your pants? Your pants are dirty too." Chu Yinan pointed at Ge Xiquan's pants. "You shouldn't have emphasized that you were going on a date with a girl."

Chu Yinan's words drew everyone's attention. Following the direction he pointed, they could see that Ge Xiquan's pants were indeed stained with white flour spots. If they saw him outside, they might mistake him for a painter who had just finished painting, although that profession is rarely seen nowadays.

Lee Jae-yeop also paid closer attention to Kasai Quan's pants; he had even pointed them out earlier.

—Didn't you see how tired that guy named Kasai Zen was? There were flour stains on his trouser legs from work.

He vaguely realized that something was wrong, but he couldn't find the source of that unease in his mind, nor could he grasp the gradually clear but still unclear inspiration.

Kasai's eyes widened, and he became agitated: "Hey! You don't really think I'm suspicious just because my pants are dirty, do you? Isn't that ridiculous? My pants aren't obviously dirty, so what if I didn't want to change them? Besides, the flour stains are on my calves and back, I didn't notice them, I didn't think about changing them, so what! Is there a problem!"

"Of course you could have missed it, absolutely!"

Chu Yinan nodded in agreement with the other party's statement. Li Zaiye put away his previous arrogance and became cautious and somber. However, this caution seemed more like an attempt to hold onto the credit that was about to be lost.

"Are you asking these nonsensical questions? Go back to where you belong and stop causing trouble. Those interns, stay here and cooperate with the prosecutor's office's investigation!" As he said this, Li Zaiye straightened his tie, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.

"Why!" the girl exclaimed incredulously. "They just said they could let us go!"

“I’ve noticed something suspicious about the case. Please cooperate with the investigation. Could it be that you’re hiding something from the prosecutor’s office?” Li Zaiye used his position to intimidate people.

Chu Yinan had witnessed firsthand the strange atmosphere within the prosecutor's office and could somewhat understand Shibuya's unsociable behavior.

The reason she seems out of place with most of her colleagues in the prosecutor's office is simply because she is a normal person, a normal person who doesn't want to become abnormal.

How could a prosecutor, an adult, act so shamelessly! Chu Yinan didn't have much contact with outsiders. Living under the moral guidance of AI and the protection of her sister and Aunt Liu, she felt that while adults outside might be concerned with personal gain, they should still have a bottom line of morality.

But after personally experiencing the disgusting behavior of this male prosecutor, he was filled with uncontrollable anger. Why are these AIs, which serve humanity so considerately, the recipients of their services such as this guy?

"Then, Prosecutor Li Zaiye, can you explain their suspicious points? He simply forgot to change his pants and didn't notice the stain on the back of his pants. Why is that suspicious? Can you point it out? Or have you discovered other suspicious points? Even if you need to provide relevant investigative assistance, it doesn't mean you can restrict someone's personal freedom without clear reason!"

Chu Yinan's voice was loud, almost questioning, and all the officials in the dining hall turned their gazes toward him, looking at Chu Yinan and Li Zaiye.

The kitchen interns were also stunned, confused about the situation. Wasn't this little boy supposed to be questioning them? Why was he suddenly speaking up for them again?

The tall, thin male prosecutor was barely suppressing his impending loss of composure, but even so, the menacing look in his eyebrows was still palpable.

He was a prosecutor, a social elite selected through rigorous screening, yet he had been rendered so humiliated and disgraced by a mere youth. He spoke in a somber voice:

"Who do you think you are? I don't need to answer your questions! All investigation results will be released at the appropriate time. As a prosecutor, I will not make any inferences that could slander others before the truth is revealed, as that would damage the reputation of the prosecutor's office!"

"You can't answer! You're just a useless piece of trash who's only thinking about credit and disrupting the normal investigation! At this point, you should be asking him when he changed his clothes, where the clothes are and if they can be shown, and immediately pull up the kitchen surveillance footage to see when he changed his clothes this morning and if he made any small movements while serving the food. Would these reasonable questions affect the reputation of the prosecutor's office? Why don't you ask them!"

Shibuya Yi hugged the angry little beast, rubbing the back of his head to soothe his rising and falling breaths. Mandy somewhat understood Chu Yinan's thoughts, and looked at the kitchen girl who was intimidated by Chu Yinan with panda eyes.

"When did Kasai change his clothes? We will check the surveillance footage to verify, please answer carefully."

"Okay, it seems like it was after the breakfast pastries were finished." The girl also started stuttering, her voice becoming much softer, clearly frightened by Chu Yinan.

"Do you need to prepare lunch?" Chu Yinan asked calmly, unexpectedly gaining a clue.

"Yes, I want it."

Kasai's face gradually paled. Chu Yinan looked at him, her tone completely different from before:

"If you want to be neat and tidy for a date with a girl, why did you change your clothes before you finished work at noon? Wouldn't that just get them dirty again because of work? Why go through all that trouble? Did you pick up some pungent smell when you washed things this morning that shouldn't be in the kitchen? Could you show us the clothes you took off so we can check?"

Chapter 56 Revenge

The key to the whole clue is that piece of clothing. Chu Yinan deduced that as long as he found that piece of clothing and smelled its scent, everything would be much easier.

The suspicion arose from the clothes, thanks to Prosecutor Li Zaiye's comment that Kasai Quan's pants were dirty, which made Chu Yinan notice the inconsistency in his appearance.

He claimed he changed his clothes because he cared about his image, but he kept his dirty pants on, which was very incongruous, especially since he emphasized that he was going on a date with a girl. This contradiction became even stronger.

So, in what situations do you have to change your clothes? It's definitely when there's something on your clothes, or a smell, that makes it necessary to change them.

What is this smell? Considering that Shibuya mentioned the smell of "formalin" had been washed away, the source of this smell is most likely from the residue left when washing the remains.

But why did he wash them? Because the stew shop owner, in order to avoid suspicion, specially prepared a light broth today. This broth couldn't mask the pungent smell, and after discovering this, he decided to wash the remains on a whim.

Chu Yinan remembered clearly that when he bought the food, the old lady specifically checked the dishes on the plate, probably because she was afraid that there might be some extra "ingredients". With such caution, she probably wouldn't give anyone the opportunity to add anything during the cooking process.

Up to this point, we've only raised the probability to a fairly high level. If you have time, check nearby trash cans or similar places for any suspicious discarded cans, confirm the information further with the old lady at the stew shop, or even find the garment directly. That would basically put the matter to rest.

However, Prosecutor Li Zaiye's outrageous behavior caused Chu Yinan to lose her composure, which led her to directly begin questioning him.

Fortunately, the other party's attempts to cover up the lie only made things worse, and they even provided the clue that "they changed their clothes after finishing breakfast work," which helped Chu Yinan out of a way.

In the end, Chu Yinan still didn't understand one thing: doing things requires motivation. What was the reason he did this?

"Can I see your clothes that you took off?" Chu Yinan asked again. "You're not planning to say you threw them away, are you? That explanation contradicts your statement that you changed them because they were dirty for the appointment. Are uniforms something you just throw away?"

While Mandy was questioning Chu Yinan, she had secretly ordered her men to investigate the lockers and other places belonging to the interns. With the assistance of the canteen manager, the police found clothes wrapped in plastic bags and two cans of meat wrapped in plastic bags in the interns' lockers.

"Senior Superintendent Mandy's clothes have stains and signs of washing, but there is a lingering smell of formaldehyde. This can also smell of formaldehyde. However, these items were not found in Kasai Zen's cabinet, but in an empty cabinet where no one was around."