Chapter 678: Made A Big Mistake[1]

Noticing that Chen Shi had been snubbed by the police, Lin Dongxue ended the conversation with a few short words. After all, they couldn't find any valuable information here. The police cast around for a conversational topic and asked, "Miss, you’re still single, right?"

"No, he’s my boyfriend." Lin Dongxue said openly as she took Chen Shi's arm. The policemen were surprised.

At this time, one of them suddenly rushed to the door and asked, "Little Chun, why are you here again?"

A teenage girl standing outside the office said timidly, "I heard that experts from the city came to investigate my sister's case. I’m here to see if I can help... Are you the experts from the city?"

The last sentence was directed at Chen Shi. Chen Shi said, "We are from the city, but we’re not experts."

"That’s great. Oh, by the way, I'm Chunqin's younger sister, Chunli. Do you have anything to ask me?"

A policeman said, "Chunli, you’re not an eyewitness. Don't come here and cause trouble. We’ve been investigating this case. We will definitely notify you as soon as there is a result."

"I know, but my sister and my brother-in-law died tragically. During the Chinese New Year, the whole family sat together but only the two of them were missing. My parents were so upset that they cried again. I was just anxious and hoped the case could be solved soon." As she spoke, Chunli rubbed her eyes sadly. The loss of family members was devastating to a family.

Chen Shi exchanged glances with Lin Dongxue, and Chen Shi said, "Let's just have a simple chat!"

They found an unoccupied office. Chunli talked a lot about Chunqin. Actually, sometimes it's the family that least understands their family members. As a younger sister, Chunli’s impression of Chunqin was that she was kind, gentle, and brave. Her evaluation was overly subjective and she didn't know about many of Chunqin's private matters.

Sure enough, they couldn't find out any valuable information from her but Chen Shi noticed that Chun Li kept looking at Chang Juan, and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

"No... we don't. I was just thinking that city girls dress really well." Chun Li smiled in embarrassment.

"Aren't you also studying in the city?" Lin Dongxue asked.

"Yes, I’m in my third year of high school this year, but I hardly leave the school normally, so I don’t have any contact with the outside world."

After talking with Chunli, she bid them goodbye first. Chen Shi looked out the window and said, "The murderer is someone from out of town, and I feel that they’re a habitual offender. Don't investigate the local affairs. It’s a waste of time."

"Why hasn’t Captain Peng come back yet? Should we go to look for him?" Lin Dongxue then asked Chang Juan, "Are you going to come with us or go home first?"

"I’ll go with you guys."

Chen Shi said mockingly, "Since you claim to be possessed by Chunqin, why were you so indifferent when you were talking to that girl just now? She’s your own sister."

After a few seconds of silence, Chang Juan said, "You’ve already exposed the lie anyway, so I won't pretend anymore."

"How straightforward!" Chen Shi commented, "You admit that your spirit channelling is just an excuse, but you still don't want to let us know why you’re involved in this case, and why you know the details of the case, right?"

Chang Juan nodded.

"Did your parents really die in a car accident?"

Chen Shi asked this sentence unexpectedly, and Chang Juan's pupils shrank suddenly. Then she furrowed her brows and continued to remain silent.

Afterwards, Chen Shi called Peng Sijue. Peng Sijue said he was busy at the moment and told Chen Shi not to head over as he’d come back soon. He also asked them to help him with booking a hotel.

There were only a few motels in the town. The conditions were so-so. After smelling the mustiness of the blanket, Lin Dongxue frowned. She hadn’t stayed in such a hotel for a long time. Taking advantage of the sunshine in the afternoon, Chen Shi opened the curtains and spread the blanket out for the sun to shine on.

Chen Shi looked around the room with peeling walls. "Look at this room that looks like a crime scene. It actually still costs two hundred for a night. Only by comparing do you realize how convenient the ones in the city are.”

"Why are you speaking so pleasantly during the first lunar month?" Lin Dongxue smiled.

"By the way, let’s see what Chang Juan is doing."

Chang Juan's room was also on this floor. She deliberately chose a room that wasn’t next to anyone else’s.

Lin Dongxue went to "spy" on her, came back and reported, "She’s sitting down."

"Sitting?"

"Yes, just sitting motionless in the room... This girl is really weird!"

"To be honest, I'm used to her kind of 'weirdness' now." Chen Shi smiled.

Peng Sijue hadn't come back and there was nothing to do on their end. Chen Shi wandered around in the town and went to the scene again on his way. He and Lin Dongxue reconstructed the case there.

In the evening, the two heard the sound of the police siren and they went to the bureau. Peng Sijue and his party had already returned. The chief had been accompanying him for half the day and was exhausted. The smile on his face still hadn’t diminished. As they walked, he said, “Criminal police from the city sure are amazing. All these kinds of advanced equipment and methods make my eyes dizzy. Captain Peng, after a busy day, it’s time to relax. Shall we go for dinner?"

"Old Peng, were there any leads?" Chen Shi asked.

"I should really have let you go too today." Peng Sijue smiled, and then said to the chief, "Before dinner, I have a few words to say."

"Captain Peng, you can talk at the dinner table if you have something to say!"

"It’s about this case."

"Oh, are you still talking about work? The police from the city are really dedicated." Chief Zhang's obsession with eating was unmatched.

"Let's go inside!"

Chief Zhang had no choice but to follow them in, and Peng Sijue called the other policemen who were involved in the case over. He showed Chen Shi a copy of the autopsy results. After reading it, Chen Shi laughed involuntarily, thinking that there would be a good show.

"Ahem!" Peng Sijue cleared his throat, "When I went to reexamine the material evidence today, I found that the outsourced forensic investigators had many loopholes in their processes, and the autopsy records weren’t very detailed.”

"It can’t be helped. After all, they’re not professional forensic pathologists. It would be nice to have our own forensic pathologist on our team." The director laughed.

"In addition, have you done a sample comparison of the 'suspect’s’ semen inside Chunqin?"

"This... Mainly since we haven't caught a plausible suspect, there have been no samples to check. Of course, we have also sent a copy to you guys and checked it against the DNA database. This person seems to have no previous conviction."

Many of Peng Sijue's subordinates secretly fought to keep from laughing. The chief faintly noticed something was wrong, but he didn’t know what part of what he had said was incorrect. He had a dazed expression. Peng Sijue clarified, "I compared the semen with the DNA of the deceased, Li Tiezhu. It turned out that the semen was Li Tiezhu’s, so it was obviously not left by the suspect."

The chief was so shocked that his jaw hung open. This was a big mistake and the sample was right in front of him, yet they didn’t make a comparison.

The chief's face alternated between going pale and flushing. He still tried to explain, "You don't know about this but it takes three days for us to do a DNA test here, which is very troublesome..."

"You don't need to explain anymore. We are here to assist with solving the case. Fortunately, this loophole was discovered in time. It’s not too late to fix it. In addition, from a forensic point of view, I can understand why such a mistake occurred. The deceased Chunqin had a large number of scratch marks both inside and outside her vagina. This showed that she was forced to have involuntary sex. Therefore, the doctors believed that the semen found near the vagina belonged to the suspect, but overlooked that she and Li Tiezhu were husband and wife. The two had had sex before the suspect arrived."

1. Author used a cuter way of saying “mistake” which is something along the lines of “whoopsies” and can refer to a mistake or misunderstanding etc.