Chapter 93: A Sudden Halt to Youth

Just as they were having fun, Ji Yushan had to go home again. Both of them felt that time had passed too quickly, and they lingered near Ji Yushan's house, reluctant to part.

"It's ten-thirty. Go back quickly. We'll have plenty of time to play together in the future. I'll call you in half an hour," Du Long said.

"Okay... I'll wait for you." Ji Yushan quickly kissed Du Long on the cheek and then ran home.

Du Long touched his cheek, a smile appearing on his face. Since he had successfully kissed her last time, his relationship with Ji Yushan had advanced rapidly. Du Long was already looking forward to taking it to the next level.

Du Long quickly returned home, but the first call he made was not to Ji Yushan, who was still taking a shower. He called Ma Guangming first.

"Uncle Ma, how's the situation over there?" Du Long asked.

Ma Guangming's voice was low and sounded somewhat tired. "It's okay. Many things have finally settled down. The only difficult part is the disputes over the coal mine ownership. We've arrested some people and dismissed a few officials who were widely hated by the public. That's about all we can do for now. How's the situation on your end? How long will it take to complete the ballistics tests on those guns?"

Du Long replied, "The forensic department said it will take two to three days. I'll go and urge them first thing tomorrow. The most important thing is to find the gun used in the murder. Have the bullets been sent to the forensic department?"

Ma Guangming said, "They were sent a long time ago, but the forensic team is still busy looking for fingerprints on the guns. You might as well check in on them tomorrow. I hope we can wrap this up as soon as possible."

Du Long agreed with a "Mm-hmm." After Ma Guangming hung up, Du Long quickly took a shower and then happily chatted on the phone with Ji Yushan in bed.

The next morning at eight o'clock, after having breakfast, Du Long drove the minivan to the city police department's forensic department. After registering his visit, Du Long went to the firearms and toolmark examination room, but found no one inside.

After waiting for five minutes, he saw the ice queen Yue Bingfeng and the researcher Xiao Lu walk in from outside.

Seeing that they looked refreshed, not like people who had been up all night, Du Long couldn't help but complain, "Ladies, didn't you say you would work all night to help me with the ballistics tests? This case is really urgent!"

Yue Bingfeng's face turned cold as soon as she saw Du Long. Without even looking at him, she went into the firearms and toolmark examination room. Xiao Lu, however, wasn't as composed. She glared at Du Long and said, "What's wrong with you? We've been working non-stop for your case. Do you think we can go without eating and starve to death?"

Du Long said, "You don't look like you've been working all night. Tell me, how much progress have you made? More than a third?"

Xiao Lu huffed, "Why should I tell you? You're not my boss. We worked with the night shift until the early morning! Then we came in early to take over. We also have a three-shift system in the forensic department! If it weren't for major cases with mountains of evidence, we would be exhausted!"

Du Long realized he had wronged them and chuckled, "You say I'm impatient, but you're even more so. I was just asking casually. Why are you so worked up?"

Xiao Lu glared at him, about to argue further, when Yue Bingfeng called from inside, "Xiao Lu, come in and start working. Why are you wasting time with useless talk?"

Xiao Lu listened to Yue Bingfeng and stuck her nose up at Du Long before going in. Du Long followed, asking, "Three bullets were sent over yesterday. Have you started the ballistic comparisons?"

Xiao Lu said, "Not until this afternoon at the earliest. Do you think fingerprinting is that simple? We don't have enough people or equipment. If you can, ask your boss to assign more people and get more equipment."

Du Long rubbed his nose and said, "I'll come back this afternoon."

If he couldn't deal with them, he could at least avoid them. Du Long left the firearms and toolmark examination room. After some consideration, he decided not to waste time. The criminal investigation department had a new case, so he might as well see if he could help.

After receiving Du Long's call, Huang Jiehao asked him to return to the West District Police Division's autopsy center, where he was working with Old Geng on the new case.

Du Long drove to the West District Police Department. The autopsy center was on the second basement level. After parking his car, he went down by himself.

Old Geng had returned that morning. Huang Jiehao, Meng Hao, Liu Yong'an, and Shen Bingqing were listening to his analysis of the autopsy.

Old Geng and the others only nodded slightly to Du Long, who also nodded and stood to the side, listening attentively while observing.

The deceased was a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth. She lay quietly on the autopsy table. Unlike most corpses, her skin was not completely pale. Her cheeks and lips were a seductive pink, making her look like a sleeping princess rather than a cold, lifeless body.

"Carbon monoxide poisoning?" Du Long asked. "Was it due to a gas leak?"

Geng Weidong replied, "Carbon monoxide poisoning is correct, but it wasn't a leak. It was suicide, at least for now. Apart from the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, there were no other external injuries or marks on her body. The toxicology results haven't come back yet, so we can't rule out the possibility of murder."

Huang Jiehao said, "We'll have to wait for the toxicology results. Du Long, are you done with your business?"

Du Long said, "For now, I'm free. I came to see if I could help with anything. Captain Huang, is there something suspicious about this case?"

Huang Jiehao nodded and said, "Yes, there are some suspicious points. It's strange enough that a young couple would choose to commit suicide for no apparent reason, but even stranger is that the man's suicide note was written by the woman. A suicide note is a personal thing, and it's unusual for someone else to write it unless the person couldn't write it themselves."

Du Long was surprised. "There's a man too? Is he still alive?"

Meng Hao answered, "Don't look for him. He's still in the hospital, not yet awake. His symptoms of poisoning were milder, so he was saved. The girl, however, was declared dead on the way to the hospital."

Du Long said, "Do you suspect the man planned to murder his girlfriend? There must be a reason for murder or suicide. Why did they want to end their lives?"

"The suicide note says they chose to end their lives because their parents wouldn't allow them to be together. They were both in their final year of high school, and their parents believed that continuing their relationship would be detrimental to their studies, so they forced them to break up. This has been confirmed by both sets of parents," Shen Bingqing said.

Asking this way would waste time. On the way back to the Criminal Investigation Team One office, Du Long directly asked Huang Jiehao for the case file and began to read it carefully.

The young couple were both students in their final year of high school at the Experimental High School in the West District Development Zone of Yuming City. They were both academically excellent. According to their teachers, family, and classmates, they had been in a relationship for about six months, but it was unknown to their teachers and parents until the summer break. The incident began when their teacher noticed that Dong Xiuna, one of the top students in the class, was distracted during summer tutoring and her test scores plummeted. After investigating, the teacher discovered their relationship and immediately informed both sets of parents. The couple was then isolated by their families and the school.

After school resumed, the two were placed in different classes. With the busy schedule of their final year, they were closely monitored and had no opportunity to interact. It was thought that their relationship would gradually fade, but just a few days into the new term, the girl's parents received a text message from her saying she was going to commit suicide and providing the location. The parents immediately called the police, and the 110 and 120 emergency services rushed to the rental apartment. They found both deeply poisoned by carbon monoxide and rushed them to the hospital, but Dong Xiuna could not be saved and died in the ambulance.

At first glance, this seemed like a typical case of a young couple committing suicide together. However, experienced detectives noticed some suspicious points, such as why the man's suicide note was written by the woman, and why the man's carbon monoxide poisoning was much less severe than the woman's. According to the forensic examination, the time between the girl's first signs of poisoning and the sending of the text message was not long, and it was confirmed that the text message was set to send at a specific time. If she was determined to die, why didn't she set the time further in advance?