After questioning Liang Jing for quite some time, they found a lot of clues. While leaving the housing community, Xin Bai said excitedly, "Wow, investigating a case is really interesting. Do you often encounter such interesting things?"

"What's the use of it being interesting? I haven't grasped the key clues yet." Chen Shi said.

"Didn't you ask about the names and contact information of a bunch of loan sharks?" Xin Bai said.

"The loan sharks won’t kill people. They will catch the people who don’t pay them back and beat them up or threaten their families, but they won’t use a knife to stab people directly to death. After all, their purpose is money."

"Was that lover just then a suspect?" Lin Dongxue asked.

"I observed that his height is shorter than mine, and it doesn't match the characteristics of the murderer... I don't think we have to verify his alibi."

"Loan sharks will kill people if they don't get the money!" Xin Bai said, "I wrote in a novel that they buy insurance for those that don’t pay up and then forge accidents to kill people."

"You’re making things up! Insurance must have an immediate family member or spouse be the beneficiary. Even if they threaten his family to submit, the insurance company will come to confirm the death with the police and it would be revealed immediately." Chen Shi explained.

"Shall we check the loan sharks now?" Lin Dongxue asked.

Chen Shi considered, "Let’s go to the crime scene and have a look."

When they arrived at the gym, Lin Dongxue stared lustfully at the muscular men who lifted weights, and Chen Shi asked, "What’s so good about the same muscle?"

"Don’t you guys love looking at breasts when they look the same as well?" Lin Dongxue retorted.

"Lecherous!" Chen Shi smiled.

The shower room was cordoned off by the police. The three put on shoe covers and went in. There were still blood stains on the ground, which were marked by cards one by one. The shower room was separated by screens. Lu Ming was killed in the innermost one. It was afternoon when there were a lot of people, so the employees didn’t pay attention to who went in and out.

There were no witnesses at the scene. Lin Dongxue said, "Since there are many people in the afternoon, why was he the only one in the shower room?"

"This isn’t a bathhouse.[1] The members will leave as soon as they’ve showered off their sweat. They won’t stay for too long, so there must be some time when it’s free. That is, when only the murderer and the deceased were present at the same time." Chen Shi looked around. "This is a good place for a murder. There’s no security camera and there’s hot water at the scene to wash away most of the clues."

"Then the murderer was here pretending to take a shower while waiting for the deceased to appear?" Lin Dongxue said.

"What if someone came in at this time? The murderer wielded a knife while he was naked so he’d be exposed at once." Xin Bai asked.

"The simplest solution is to kill the witness directly... Wait, was the murderer really alone? If it were me, wouldn't it be safer to find an accomplice to stay at the door as a scout?"

"Let’s go and ask!" Lin Dongxue said.

The three of them inquired about it in the gym. Lin Dongxue took the opportunity to appreciate abdominal muscles and was satisfied.

A man in a tank top who was lifting dumbbells said, "I didn't see any suspicious person, but there was a small accident in the gym that day. One piece of equipment broke. When the man used it, the plates fell off with a crash. It hit his back muscles, and we all ran over to check the situation."

The time he was talking about happened to be the time when the crime happened. The occurrence of this small accident drew everyone's attention away for five minutes, and those five minutes were enough to commit a murder.

"Which man?" Chen Shi asked.

"I can't name him, but I often see him around. Right, he has a wolf head tattooed on his shoulder."

"Which equipment did he use?"

"That one who trains arm strength."

Chen Shi went to check, and sure enough, the belt on the top was newly replaced. He said, “One possibility is that this was done by the murderer’s accomplice, and the other is that this person himself did it by himself in order to divert attention.”

"Let’s consider both possibilities!" Lin Dongxue said.

"Could do. No one usually touches the back of the equipment. If that person wasn’t wearing gloves, there may be fingerprints left behind."

Thus, they contacted Peng Sijue to send someone to collect fingerprints. They actually found a palm print, which was like finding treasure.

The three of them did not leave right away, and stayed there until the afternoon. They even had a fitness meal there at noon.

In the afternoon, they finally found the tattooed man. Upon questioning, he was the person who had the accident that day. Chen Shi felt that he shouldn’t be suspected of assisting the murderer based on his reactions.

This day passed just like that and Xin Bai commented, "It's really tiring to investigate a case."

"Yes, it's like embroidery. Every detail has to be verified. If the person under investigation casually says anything, we have to run around to verify it." Lin Dongxue said.

"The key clue is the piece of gold hidden within all the sand." Chen Shi said.

"Thank you for bringing me to collect materials. I’ve learned a lot today. I’ll treat you guys to some food!"

"No, I’ll treat you."

The three of them ate at a nearby restaurant. Xin Bai talked without stopping throughout. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy. Lin Dongxue suddenly took a look at her mobile phone and said, "Captain Lin told us to go back, saying it’s something important!"

Xin Bai wanted to follow, but Chen Shi urged him to go back home and write his manuscript, saying that he would be called when they go to prison, so he left obediently.

When the two returned to the bureau, Lin Qiupu was sitting in his office, looking at a piece of paper with a serious expression, as if something terrible had happened.

"Why did you suddenly think of meeting Chen Fengde?" Lin Qiupu asked.

"Ah? Didn't I already say that it was Miss Gu's request?"

"If it was a coincidence, then it’s really a big coincidence!" Lin Qiupu put down the document in his hand, which was an identification report. "Captain Peng found a match to the fingerprints you brought back today in the fingerprint database. It’s 100% Chen Fengde’s!"

"What?!" Lin Dongxue was inexplicably shocked. "He should still be in prison right now!"

"I think things are very weird and it doesn’t make sense. It's not a big deal to see a prisoner, but the prison’s side keeps dragging on... The person ran away and is still committing crimes outside!"

"Lu Ming's case happened three days ago. It seems that Chen Fengde's escape from prison was even earlier." Chen Shi said.

Lin Qiupu crossed his arms and sighed. "Lu Ming's interpersonal relationships don’t need to be investigated. I’m afraid this case isn’t an ordinary murder for revenge. I will pressure the prison through the chief. If that still doesn't work, I will find the leader of the provincial government and I’ll go with you to see what happened there!"

"Brother, the gym doesn't get off work until 9:00. If Chen Fengde had actually been there, someone from the staff may have seen him." Lin Dongxue suggested.

"Take the people who haven't got off work, and then go to the gym to investigate... Take the photo of Chen Fengde."

While leaving the Public Security Bureau, Chen Shi suddenly thought of something and asked, "What year was Lu Ming born in?"

Lin Dongxue glanced at the information stored on the phone. "1979!"

"He’s the same age as the three vegetative people killed back then!"

1. Where everyone is in the same area.