Lin Dongxue’s face became drained of color from shock, “Not the same person? No way... Her phone showed that she was in your car. You’re trying to play me for a fool!”

Chen Shi shook his head helplessly, “Miss Lin, if you still think that I’m the murderer, then we can’t continue discussing this. How do you know that this phone belonged to the deceased?”

“Are you trying to say the other person in your car is the murderer even though it is a woman?!”

“I literally just said that the rape was faked!”

“The murderer is a woman? Do you remember what she looked like?”

Chen Shi signaled for Lin Dongxue to sit down, “Don’t rush to conclusions based on assumptions alone. The woman sitting in my car may not be the murderer. Let’s analyze.”

Chen Shi flipped through the photos on her phone and noticed a minuscule detail. The deceased’s right palm had a circular impression with some patterns on it, but it was very faint and blurry in the photo.

Chen Shi asked, “Was the item the deceased was holding found at the scene of the crime?”

“No. We looked carefully, but we couldn’t find it anywhere.”

“It would be nice if we could go take a look around the area.”

“There are people on the field who are reviewing the case at the moment. I don’t have the capability to take you there right now.”

“I was merely pointing out that it would be nice. By the way, have you noticed that the scene is a rocky beach with the water receded? The possibility of friction is very high. The clothes of the deceased were thin and torn in many places. If the deceased was truly raped, then there should have been large bruises on the body as well. However, there isn’t any. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

Chen Shi smiled, “Unless the murderer hung her up to rape and kill her.”

“Bastard!” Lin Dongxue poured her cup of tea on him.

“Oi, oi, why are you like this?!” Chen Shi made a complaint and wiped himself down with a paper towel.

Chen Shi continued looking at the photos, and Lin Dongxue asked, “What else have you found?”

“At the moment, unless I can see the body for myself, I can only identify this much.”

“Tch, you’ll spit out what you’ve found eventually.”

“Do you think I’m like you?!”

Chen Shi returned the report and the phone to Lin Dongxue. Chen Shi had analyzed everything and established a perfect crime hypothesis with all the details rounded up. Lin Dongxue couldn't help but ask, “Who exactly are you?”

“A guy who really likes his Hong Kong and Taiwanese crime shows. Are you happy with this answer?” Chen Shi lightly chuckled.

“Cut the crap! I won’t believe that!” Lin Dongxue stared straight into his eyes.

Chen Shi lit a cigarette. “So, are you willing to cooperate with me?”

“You have to answer my question first. I don’t work with people who have unknown backgrounds.”

“Let’s just say I can’t tell you. Just pretend I’m a master civilian[1], okay? When the two of us become more familiar with each other, I’ll tell you all about who I am!” Chen Shi raised his eyebrows pervertedly.

“Who’s going to become close with you? Don’t take advantage of me!” Lin Dongxue raised a hand as if she was going to hit him.

“Aiya, aiya!”[2] Chen Shi pretended to plead for mercy until Lin Dongxue dropped her hand. Then he suggested, “Let’s set up some cooperation ground rules!”

“Let’s hear it!”

“First of all, don’t always ask me about my identity as I have to retain a little privacy. Next, this matter is to be kept secret temporarily. I will help you with your investigation secretly, and if it’s successful, then all the credit is yours. Of course, if you want to reward me with a portion, that’s up to you. Lastly, I need you to trust me completely.”

Lin Dongxue couldn’t believe that there could be such a good thing. A civilian expert extended an offer to help in the case and not take all the credit. Suspicious, she asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I like it!”

Lin Dongxue’s face went red, “What are you on about?”

“I’m saying that I like to crack cases. Also, I can see that your brother is heading in the wrong direction. I can’t sit still. I am a man of justice, and I have to take care of things that I know are wrong.”

“And you’re that noble?” Lin Dongxue showed a face that didn’t believe him at all.

“I’ve told you this previously. Being noble and being selfless are two different things. After it’s all said and done, I will have my reward; You have to take me out to dinner!”

Lin Dongxue bit her lip. This guy is unpredictable, and she can’t see through him at all. Perhaps she should believe him just this once. It seems that he does possess the ability to solve the case.

After all, she wants recognition of her merits more than anyone else. She wanted to let others see her in a new light and do a double-take.

“Deal!”

Chen Shi extended a hand and Lin Dongxue asked dubiously, “What are you doing?”

“A symbolic representation of our cooperation!”

“Is there a need for this?”

“Of course, there’s a need!”

Lin Dongxue reached out her arm and shook hands with him. Chen Shi’s hand was delicate and warm, quite unlike the usual palm of a driver.

When the two got inside of the Feng Zhilin Hotel, Chen Shi offhandedly said to the front-desk reception, “I just mentioned that I forgot my ID, but nobody believed me. Now I’ve brought a real police officer with me, so believe me now!”

Chen Shi gave Lin Dongxue a look, and Lin Dongxue got out her ID, “We are currently investigating a case and we hope that your hotel will cooperate with us.”

The front desk staff suspiciously snuck a peak at Chen Shi and asked, “What do you need to investigate?”

“We would like to look at check-in records from the 10th to 11th of September,” Chen Shi specified.

The staff member loaded the information on the computer and Chen Shi glanced at the list and asked Lin Dongxue, “What was the name of Gu Mengxing’s boyfriend?”

“Chen Jun!”

“Obviously, he didn’t check-in here on that day. Have you visited this person?”

“Erm...”

“You put all your attention towards me, huh?” Chen Shi asked the staff, “Do you have a parking lot here?”

“Yes. It’s right next to us.”

Chen Shi looked back at the door and noticed that it was pretty full. He asked, “Is the parking lot monitored?”

“Yes!”

The two went into the monitoring room and brought up a video of that day. Chen Shi set it to eight times faster than the normal speed and stared at the screen without blinking. When the screen displayed 2 o’clock in the upper right corner of the screen, he suddenly pressed pause and pointed to the right side of the screen that had a glare appear, stating, “This is my car!”

“Are you positive?” Lin Dongxue could not believe it.

“It’s my beloved car. Of course I wouldn’t get it wrong. The passenger asked me to park here that day.”

They continued to play the surveillance footage. In the video, after Chen Shi’s car had left. A woman wearing an a-line skirt walked to the parking lot. As her pace hastened and it was dark, her face wasn’t too clear to see.

“Didn’t drive, yet went into the parking lot!” Chen Shi muttered to himself.

The two continued to watch the surveillance footage to see when the woman left. However, they only saw several cars leaving. Lin Dongxue was half watching and half taking down the licence plates of those cars.

“No need to take them down. She’s not in those cars!” Chen Shi declared.

“How do you know?”

Chen Shi rewound the footage and then played the video one frame at a time until he reached an image where a black family car was visible. He stopped at a certain frame and pointed to the underside of the car, where there was a pair of feet in high heels shown.

“She used the car as a cover to play a magician’s disappearing act on us!” Chen Shi smiled. “It seems that she discovered the surveillance cameras when she came, had intentions to evade, and didn’t want to be photographed again!”

“Sure enough, it’s pretty suspicious!” Lin Dongxue finally believed him this time that the murderer was someone else.

“Let me test you a little bit. How are you going to investigate from here on out?”

1. A civilian who has a trick or two. While incomparable with a professional, they have more skills compared to the average person.

2. The equivalent of “Ow/Ouch” in this context.