Chapter 23: Peeling the Silk to Find Clues

Meng Hao proudly said, "This is where the Ice Sculpture Beauty needs to use her pure hacker skills and social engineering techniques. With my hard work and cooperation, she told me some details. For example, she logged into QQ and sent a crying emoji to a few people, waiting for their responses. In general, the responses from normal people and the murderer are different. This falls under the realm of social engineering and criminal psychology. The Ice Sculpture Beauty is an expert in this field, and I believe she will find the criminal very soon!"

While Meng Hao was boasting about the technical detective's prowess, Du Long noticed that she hadn't given him any real opportunities.

As Meng Hao was boasting, Chen Boxiong frowned and walked over. He nodded at Du Long and said, "We found some clues. It seems that Xiao Du's speculation is correct. There was no laptop stolen from the scene today because the family uses desktop computers. It's said that two hard drives were stolen. Stealing a laptop doesn't mean much, but stealing hard drives is significant. Unless there was important data on the hard drives, the murderer wouldn't have gone to such lengths to remove and take them."

Meng Hao excitedly said, "Did the victim like QQ? If we can get her QQ account, we might be able to compare the QQ friends of the two victims. If they have common QQ friends, then it's highly likely that one of them is the murderer!"

"But..." Chen Boxiong frowned, "The victim's husband doesn't know her QQ password. Their relationship was very tense. According to the neighbors, both of them seemed to have affairs. The husband was reportedly having an affair with a colleague, while the wife spent a lot of time online, possibly in a cyber relationship. This was overheard by the neighbors during a recent argument."

Meng Hao boasted, "Without the password, it's a bit tricky, but the Ice Sculpture Beauty said that by gathering enough information about the victim, she can use social engineering to guess the password, and the success rate can be quite high."

Huang Jiehao said, "I'll leave this to you, Old Chen. When did the victim die? What was her husband doing at the time?"

Chen Boxiong replied, "The victim's husband went on a business trip the day before yesterday and was supposed to return tomorrow. He unexpectedly came back early and found his wife's body. Their son is in high school and didn't come home for lunch, so he didn't know anything."

Du Long suddenly interjected, "Was the victim's husband's business trip planned last minute or scheduled long ago?"

Chen Boxiong frowned, keenly aware of the importance of this question. He quickly called his subordinates to verify it, and Huang Jiehao nodded approvingly at Du Long.

Du Long said to Huang Jiehao, "Captain Huang, if the victim's husband's business trip was planned last minute, it suggests that the murderer didn't have a premeditated plan, or his schedule wasn't well-prepared. Perhaps he has a list of potential victims, and the women on the list often stay home alone and trust their online friends, making them easier targets for the murderer. However, the murderer still needs to find the best opportunity to strike. Therefore, I believe the murderer has been online these past few days, ready to meet his online friends and strike at the first opportunity."

Huang Jiehao pondered, "These inferences are based on the assumption that the murderer indeed finds his targets online. If this premise is correct, the killer is likely not from Yuming City. Perhaps we should investigate the internet cafes and hotels in Yuming City..."

Meng Hao said, "Right, the investigation should focus on middle-aged men around the same age as the victims, who are physically strong. This person came to Yuming City not for tourism or business but to spend his days online. Apart from eating and killing, he probably has no other entertainment activities."

Huang Jiehao smiled bitterly, "The problem is that Yuming City is a tourist city with countless hotels and inns, most of which offer free broadband internet. As for internet cafes, there are plenty of people who fit the criteria. We need to narrow down the investigation range further."

At this moment, Chen Boxiong received a message and said, "The victim's husband's business trip was planned last minute. It seems the murderer got this information in time. Could the murderer be a real-life acquaintance of the victim?"

Huang Jiehao shook his head, "Old Chen, I've reviewed the profiles of both victims, and their lives have no significant overlap. Don't underestimate the internet. People nowadays share everything online, and sometimes even their neighbors don't know what they do, but distant online friends might be the first to know."

Meng Hao said, "That's true. Mobile phone location services are no longer rare. Many people post photos with location tags after having a meal to show off. It's said that modern burglars must gather information from various websites and forums to understand the routines of their targets, ensuring a successful theft every time."

Chen Boxiong shook his head, "What's wrong with people these days... They talk about protecting personal privacy, but are they just foolish or ignorant?"

As Chen Boxiong was lamenting, Du Long, after some thought, said, "Captain Huang, Captain Chen, I think we can narrow down the investigation range further. People tend to associate with those of similar status. Since these women considered the murderer a close friend, his lifestyle is likely not too low. These women have relatively comfortable lives, so the murderer probably wouldn't stay in a low-end hotel. Since he now has a laptop, we can boldly speculate that he is likely staying in a mid-range hotel, spending his days online. This would significantly narrow down the investigation range."

Everyone pondered this. Chen Boxiong suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "We don't have any leads, so let's follow Du Long's suggestion and start the investigation. I'll contact the police in Baihua District and Yulong District."

Huang Jiehao said, "Alright, if we find any suspects, don't alarm them. We don't have solid evidence yet, so please have the local police keep an eye on them."

Chen Boxiong's walkie-talkie crackled, and someone said, "Captain Chen, the crime scene investigation is complete."

"Good, I'm coming up!" Chen Boxiong said, then turned to Huang Jiehao, "Let's go, take them up to see the scene."

The four of them arrived at the crime scene. The family's living environment was similar to the previous case, with a well-kept and tidy home. The only difference was that the victim was slightly older, and the master bedroom was more like a normal couple's room, without any stuffed animals.

The victim lay quietly on the bed, covered by a thin blanket. There were no signs of struggle on the bed, but her face, like Zhou Lina's, was twisted in fear and confusion, her eyes white from the terror she had experienced.

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