Lin Dongxue said, “I think it's impossible. At that time, Xiaodong and I pushed people out. The shoe rack on the left side of the living room could not hide anyone and there was a door on the right side. They could have hidden there, but they would have had to go past Xiaodong and I.”

Xu Xiaodong agreed, “Yeah, yeah. Unless the killer attached themselves to the ceiling like a ninja.”

The questioner said, “You said you didn't turn on the lights at the scene. Are you sure you could see them if they tried to hide?”

“I’m sure!”

As a result, the police were divided into two factions as they argued over this issue. Chen Shi did not participate and was still looking through Peng Sijue's documents and photos.

“I think!” Chen Shi began, making everyone quiet down for a moment. “From the Weibo sent by the killer, he showed a very calm attitude towards this crime. If I were a killer, I must have had a perfect way to leave the room in order to bravely post a Weibo that would draw people in from the outside. So, it is more likely that the killer somehow delayed the Weibo post and he left the crime scene long ago.”

A questioner said, “Brother Chen, I know you are a smart person, so you always love to think about these tricky criminal methods. However, the killer may not be as clever as you. Maybe they just used the stupid method I talked about.”

“No, the murderer is definitely a smart person! Imagine what the situation was like back then. The man was hotly debated on Weibo. Countless people were scolding and searching for him. Two TV stations came to interview him. The police were right outside his house. If the killer came to kill him due to personal hatred, he wouldn’t have picked such a risky time to do it. However, the murderer turned up and created an impossible murder case. They even sent a Weibo post to 'show off'. I think they are an extremely intelligent and calm person!”

Chen Shi's words persuaded many policemen as they nodded.

Lin Dongxue felt that there was no benefit in discussing it further. She assigned the tasks accordingly. Since some people suspected the TV station, they were asked to investigate the TV station's people. Others continued to investigate the situation in the community.

“Adjourned!” Lin Dongxue announced.

After the people left, there were still Lin Dongxue, Peng Sijue, Chen Shi, and Xu Xiaodong left in the meeting room. Xu Xiaodong said, “Let me make an immature suggestion! I think the killer is an enthusiastic Internet user. About 8:00 last night, this man’s address was published on the Internet. Everyone had a chance to commit the crime... Isn’t the scope of suspects quite large?”

Chen Shi clapped and said, “Xiaodong's opinion is very good!”

“Hey, aren't you ridiculing me?” Xu Xiaodong was a bit wary.

“No, I also think that the killer must have found out about this situation from the Internet and then taken action. Your angle is correct.”

Lin Dongxue said, “The general range is available. The man was still alive at 11:00 last night. We will investigate the people who came in and out of the community after 11:00... In addition, I'm going to meet Miss Jiang[1]. She may not know about this yet.”

“You got Miss Jiang's key last night, didn't you?” Chen Shi asked suddenly.

“Yes, what's the matter?”

“Give me the keys.”

“I want to return it to her though...”

“The locks are broken already, so what’s the point? It also counts as evidence!”

Xu Xiaodong said, “Dongxue, I’ll go with you. I need to return the cat to her.”

Peng Sijue said, “The cat needs to come here for a check-up first.”

Thus, Xu Xiaodong went home to pick up the cat. Peng Sijue continued ahead and did an in-depth autopsy. Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were sitting outside the forensics lab. Chen Shi took out his phone and looked at it very seriously. Then, he suddenly smiled. All the speculations that could be possible were already posted. Some even said it was done by a high-dimensional intelligent lifeform, so they weren’t found in the locked room. If this was the case, then they shouldn’t investigate the case further.

“What are you looking at?” Lin Dongxue leaned over. “No way. The discussion on the Internet is already this overwhelming?”

“The Weibo post was sent out last night and there were reporters at the scene. You think the case can be covered up?”

“Fortunately, it was the killer who sent it. Otherwise Captain Lin would scold me for leaking the news... Anything about it on the Internet?”

“No. A group of keyboard warriors who weren’t at the scene can’t give us any profound conclusions.”

“Captain Lin! Captain Lin!” Someone was shouting.

Lin Dongxue was nervous for a moment. “My brother is here? ... Oh, you’re calling me!”

The policeman said, “Captain Lin, we have some findings.”

“Just call my name. You startled me.”

“Okay, Captain Lin.”

Chen Shi asked, “Are you a small captain now?”

Lin Dongxue smiled embarrassedly. “The smallest kind.”

The forensics team found sialidase on the tempered film of the mobile phone. It was compared with the sialidase of the victim, but it didn’t match. Judging from its live-activity, it was left around ten hours ago. In addition, there was a trace of something that could not be identified.

“Saliva on the cell phone? Was there a lot?” Lin Dongxue was slightly surprised.

“There was quite a bit. It can be said that the entire screen was covered in it.” The technical officer said.

Lin Dongxue opened her mouth and looked at Chen Shi. Chen Shi said, “How interesting. Literally licking the screen[2]. The murderer might have a strange hobby.”

“What did you find?” Peng Sijue emerged from the forensic lab with the smell of disinfectant on his body.

The subordinates presented their findings again and Peng Sijue took a personal look before saying, “It's sialidase!”

“By the way, I found that the owner of this sialidase is not very healthy. The bacteria content in the mouth is very high.”

Peng Sijue uttered a “hmm”, dripped reagents into the divided samples, and observed them under a microscope. He said, “This person is not only in poor health, but there’s amylase in their salivary enzymes.”

“What is amylase?” Lin Dongxue asked.

Peng Sijue explained that it was a biological enzyme that breaks down starch in the human mouth and is found in most omnivores and herbivores.

Lin Dongxue frowned and thought, “This person usually doesn't eat starch? Are they trying to lose weight?”

Chen Shi laughed uncontrollably. “Stereotypical thinking kills people, it’s obviously the saliva of a carnivorous animal.”

“How can there be a carnivorous animal at the scene... Ah!” Lin Dongxue realized suddenly. “That cat?!”

Peng Sijue picked up the phone and looked at it. “The cat licked the screen? Little Wang, did you say there was another ingredient that can't be detected?”

“It's an insoluble substance. I've never seen this compound before and there are no matching samples found in the laboratory.” The forensics assistant replied.

Chen Shi said, “Why did the cat lick the screen? It must have been covered in the cat's favorite food. This problem will probably be cleared up when Xiaodong comes back.”

During the waiting period, Chen Shi picked up the belongings of the victim and looked at them. Lin Dongxue noticed that he was comparing Miss Jiang's key with the victim's keychain and asked, “Did you find something?”

“A big discovery. Miss Jiang's key may not be able to open that door!”

1. Previously, the author wrote “Miss Dong”, however, the author has changed it into “Jiang going forward it seems.

2. Apparently, he’s making a joke with regards to the modern Chinese slang where people talk about how sexy someone is on their phone, so much that they want to lick the screen. Chen Shi is saying that he actually licked the screen like a creep.