Chapter 17 of 100

Chapter 17: A Clue That Isn't a Clue

19 min read4,819 words

Du Long nodded and said, "Understood."

Huang Jiehao said, "If you understand, then take a look around. Maybe we can find something we missed."

Du Long nodded and first stood in the center of the living room to observe the environment. This was a three-bedroom, two-living room apartment of at least 100 square meters. The interior decoration and furnishings indicated that the owner's living standard was above average. The room was very tidy, and a pot of asparagus fern was growing well and meticulously trimmed, suggesting that the owner was diligent and had good taste.

After getting a general idea of the living room, Du Long walked towards the main bedroom where the incident occurred. Compared to the case in Liyuan Neighborhood, this crime scene was too clean and tidy, with no bloodstains. If he didn't know it was a crime scene, Du Long would have thought he had mistakenly entered a young girl's neat bedroom.

The room was warmly decorated, with the walls painted pink. A light yellow teddy bear was placed on the bed, and the slippers on the floor were cartoon-themed. This didn't seem like the room of an old couple whose daughter was already in junior high school. If it were said to be a teenage girl's room, no one would object.

Meng Hao came to Du Long's side, holding a photo of the crime scene. In the photo, the victim was lying on the bed, with the teddy bear beside her, covered by a pink air conditioner blanket. If it weren't for her wide, white eyes and distorted face revealing the truth, her husband might have thought she was just sleeping when he returned home at midnight.

"Du Long, don't you find this room a bit eerie?" Meng Hao said.

Du Long replied, "Yes, a woman in her late thirties decorating her bedroom in such a color scheme is indeed strange. The strangest part is that the murderer cleaned up the scene meticulously but left the victim's distorted face and wide-open eyes untouched. Why?"

"Exactly, why?" Huang Jiehao walked in, and even Zhao Wuwei stood at the door watching.

"It's simple; the murderer is a psychopath!" Du Long said. "In the 'Criminal Psychology' course at school, the teacher gave us many examples of psychopathic killers. Some of them enjoy staring at the victim's eyes after killing them, admiring their twisted, fearful faces. The murderer in this case might be a psychopathic killer. After killing the victim, he carefully cleaned up the scene and might have been talking to the victim, looking at her face... Captain Huang, did the autopsy report mention a comprehensive examination of the victim?"

Huang Jiehao said, "I understand your point. Although the official comprehensive autopsy report isn't out yet, it has been confirmed that the victim did not engage in sexual activity before her death."

Du Long nodded and said, "That's not surprising. Each psychopathic killer has a different level of perversion. This one might be slightly more normal, without... that kind of fetish..."

Du Long's gaze swept over the victim's bedroom, which was as clean and tidy as the outside. All items were neatly arranged. On the bedside vanity, the victim's various cosmetics were neatly lined up.

Du Long approached the vanity and said, "Besides cash and a phone, did the murderer also take a laptop from the victim's home?"

Meng Hao replied, "Yes, the laptop was originally on the vanity. It was a pink, 13-inch lightweight HP laptop for women."

Du Long asked, "How much is it worth?"

Meng Hao thought for a moment and said, "It was bought for about 6,000 yuan, but after two or three years of use, it would be worth about 3,000 yuan if sold second-hand."

Du Long nodded and opened the vanity drawer to take a look. Huang Jiehao and the others also began searching, hoping to find new clues to solve the case.

The murderer had wiped everything clean, leaving only the homeowner's fingerprints. Du Long didn't find anything new in the bedroom and left to look around. Huang Jiehao and the others didn't have high hopes for him—Du Long was a recent graduate from the police academy, having worked for less than half a month. If he could find new clues in a scene thoroughly examined by experienced detectives, it would be a disgrace to them. Huang Jiehao brought him along to test his courage, so as long as he didn't tamper with the scene, they let him be.

Du Long indeed didn't touch anything. He circled a few rooms and returned to the main bedroom after about ten minutes. Everyone was still meticulously examining the scene, a level of detail Du Long couldn't match. He leaned against the door and watched for a while, then suddenly asked, "Captain Huang, did the Zhao family only have one computer, Zhou Lian's?"

Meng Hao replied, "No way. Zhao Anhua is a hardcore gamer. It's said that he spends more than half of his free time playing games. One of the main reasons for their poor relationship is the lack of communication. One likes to chat online, and the other is always playing online games. Their daughter is also a computer enthusiast, so they sent her to a boarding school, and she took her laptop with her."

Du Long exclaimed, "Then why didn't we see Zhao Anhua's computer?"

Meng Hao said, "He took it. The guy can't live without his computer. I don't think it's related to the case, so after consulting with Captain Huang, I let him take his laptop and some clothes. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Du Long said, "No wonder I couldn't find the computer. I thought he didn't like computers... By the way, Brother Meng, his laptop can play games, so the configuration must be good, right?"

Meng Hao said, "Not just good, it's a top-of-the-line gaming laptop from this year. It has a 17-inch screen, an eight-core CPU, a high-end graphics card, and both physical and mechanical hard drives. It even has a Microsoft motion sensor. It can play all the new games this year. It's really impressive."

Du Long exclaimed, "That's amazing. How much is it worth?"

Meng Hao thought for a moment and said, "It's a Lenovo, and a new one would cost about 9,000 yuan."

Du Long said, "That's expensive. Zhao Anhua really splurged. I would just use it for browsing the internet and watching movies, so a 1,000-yuan one would be enough. My old computer at home is a dual-core antique from high school."

Meng Hao laughed and said, "If you don't play games, that's enough."

Du Long nodded and said, "Brother Meng, I find it strange. If the murderer was after money, after taking the cash and the victim's jewelry, why didn't he take Zhao Anhua's new gaming laptop and instead took Zhou Lian's outdated lightweight laptop? Is it because the 17-inch gaming laptop is too heavy and big to carry?"

Meng Hao hummed and thought for a moment, then said, "Now that you mention it, it does seem strange. The laptop I saw was indeed a bit big, but it could easily be stuffed into a backpack and taken away. Could it be that the murderer took Zhou Lian's laptop for a reason other than selling it for money? He already took over 10,000 yuan in cash and jewelry. If he was after money, I would have taken the gaming laptop too, unless the murderer didn't know its value..."

Huang Jiehao heard their discussion and walked over, saying, "Du Long's observation is interesting. Meng Hao, if the murderer deliberately took that laptop, it's possible that it contains clues related to the case. If so, what kind of clues do you think it might be?"

Meng Hao quickly said, "It could be videos, pictures, files, or chat records. Captain Huang, do you think this was done by someone Zhou Lian met online?"

"Bring a net friend home? Zhou Lian is almost forty. Could she be that naive?" Zhao Wuwei said. "Most victims of online scams and harm are under twenty, even fifteen."

Du Long said, "That's just most of the time. This could be an exception. Look at how the bedroom is decorated. The psychological age of the victim, Zhou Lian, is probably much younger than her actual age!"

Huang Jiehao said, "Yes, Du Long is right. This can be a key direction for further investigation. Meng Hao, call Zhao Anhua immediately and ask him to provide some clues about his wife's online friends."

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