Another few days have passed.
This morning, Luo Fei started work at 7:30 as usual, and the office was basically empty.
In the first few days, Zhao Le, a newcomer, arrived early, but after realizing everyone else was starting right on time, they followed suit.
Arriving at the office, he first boiled some water, then Luo Fei took out "Evidence Law", turned to where he left off yesterday, and began reading.
He hadn't been reading long before he was interrupted.
"Tap tap tap," came the sound of urgent footsteps, and soon the head of the department, Zhou Weimin, walked in.
"Luo Fei, are you the only one in the office?" Zhou Weimin asked after looking around.
"Yes," Luo Fei nodded.
"A murder has happened over at Orchid District, Wuyi Old Street; come with me to maintain order." Without waiting for Luo Fei's response, Zhou Weimin headed straight outside. Luo Fei quickly put on his hat and jogged to catch up.
"Don't go back to the police station; head straight to Orchid District, Wuyi Old Street, where there's been a murder." Zhou Weimin said while on the phone, and Luo Fei followed alongside him, reaching the parking lot in no time.
"Do you have a driver's license? Can you drive?" Zhou Weimin put away his phone and looked at Luo Fei as he asked.
"Yes, I've driven before," Luo Fei nodded.
Without further ado, Zhou Weimin tossed the car keys to Luo Fei and jumped into the passenger seat.
It's less than three kilometers from the police station to Wuyi Old Street, so they arrived in seven or eight minutes, with Zhou Weimin making phone calls the entire time.
When Luo Fei drove to Orchid District, he quickly saw a crowd gathered around the greenery of the complex's lawn—a clear indication of the crime scene.
"Make way, make way, we're from the police station." Luo Fei and Zhou Weimin walked over, and Zhou Weimin shouted loudly.
Seeing the police arrive, the crowd naturally cleared a path.
As Luo Fei and Zhou Weimin approached, they finally saw the situation on the scene clearly.
On the green lawn lay a young girl in gray pajamas. She looked to be quite young, with a lovely face and fair skin. Alive, she must have been a pretty girl, but now she had permanently closed her eyes.
"Did she commit suicide, or was she murdered? What's the time of death?" Seeing the corpse, these were the first thoughts that came to Luo Fei's mind and then...nothing followed. He could solve cases in novels, but not in real life. He knew about estimating time of death by body rigidity and livor mortis but didn't really understand how to do it.
"Luo Fei, first set up the police tape; don't let anyone disturb the crime scene. The detectives have just arrived." Zhou Weimin instructed from nearby.
Luo Fei set up the police line and maintained order, waiting for the detectives to arrive.
About two minutes later, the detectives arrived—four people, two men, and two women.
Luo Fei recognized the leader, Detective Zhao Donglai. Compared to Zhou Weimin's approachable manner, Zhao Donglai's aura was much stronger, with an aloof and stern expression that warned strangers to keep their distance.
Among the remaining three, Luo Fei had previously seen the short-haired woman with glasses and the crew-cut man during the Gu Youguo murder case; both were from the detective team. The third person, a tall woman with a ponytail, fair skin, and a cool demeanor, was unfamiliar to Luo Fei.
"Chief Zhou, what's the situation?" Zhao Donglai asked immediately upon arrival.
Zhou Weimin shook his head, "We just got here too. We set up the police line but don't know anything yet."
Hearing this, Zhao Donglai said nothing but turned to the onlookers behind him. "Who called the police?"
"Me, I did. I'm the property manager of the complex." A middle-aged woman with black-framed glasses raised her hand.
"Come over here," Zhao Donglai gestured for her.
When the middle-aged woman came over, Zhao Donglai asked, "Is this girl a resident of your complex?"
"Yes, yes, that's Su Xiao; she lives in 808, works at the silk factory." The middle-aged woman replied hurriedly.
"Your complex doesn't have surveillance cameras?" Zhao Donglai glanced around and frowned at the middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman's face showed embarrassment upon hearing this, "It's an old complex; none of the buildings here have surveillance cameras."
Zhao Donglai was prepared for this answer. Not only this complex, but many in Ningjiang lack monitoring systems. Without dwelling on the camera issue, he continued asking, "Who was the first to discover the body?"
"It was Zhao Xiaohui, a cleaner from our complex. She found the body while clearing trash from the lawn this morning and told me, after which I immediately called the police."
Zhao Donglai called Zhao Xiaohui over to ask for details, which matched what the property manager had said.
A few minutes later, Zhao Donglai had a basic understanding of Su Xiao's situation.
Just then, the ponytailed, cool-spirited female detective took off her gloves and walked over after examining the body.
"Detective Zhao, based on livor mortis and body rigidity, the time of death is around 6 AM. The deceased's hands and knees show no signs of comminuted fractures, yet the lumbar vertebrae are fractured, and there's a large area of trauma on the back of her head, indicating the deceased landed in a supine position without resistance, which usually means she was either unconscious or already dead upon falling. Whether she died before or after falling can only be confirmed after a forensic report."
Listening to the female detective's professional analysis, Luo Fei felt himself to be a novice again. He had also looked at the body, but didn't notice anything, while she gleaned so much information from just a corpse—that was true expertise, far beyond his own.
Zhao Donglai nodded and then spoke, "There's another detail you might have missed—the deceased's position."
Upon hearing this, Luo Fei immediately looked at the corpse.
Indeed, being pushed off a building versus jumping off by oneself creates different landing positions; pushed-off tends to land further away. This realization dawned on Luo Fei, but... now, he couldn't quite tell whether the landing position was close or far.
"The position where the deceased landed is too far. She should have fallen from the eighth-floor balcony; if she jumped or fell accidentally, the body would have landed within one meter of the balcony. But now it's well over a meter away, suggesting she was likely thrown off." The ponytailed female detective explained.
Now that's expertise, Luo Fei felt a bit disheartened, knowing his knowledge in criminal investigation was scarce. He had only scratched the surface, checking materials occasionally due to writing mystery novels.
Dedicating himself, Luo Fei decided that upon returning, he must diligently study criminal investigation knowledge and not remain a rookie—lest he stay clueless.
Even though Luo Fei didn't say it, since obtaining the guiding clue, he had never considered spending his life as just a police officer. To advance, he knew that apart from the assistance from the clue, his own efforts were indispensable.
Just as Luo Fei resolved to study criminal investigation, he saw his mentor Zhang Haiyang, Liu Haiquan, and apprentice Zhao Le arriving on the scene.
After a moment, Zhao Donglai left one person behind to photograph and gather evidence, and took the others upstairs to 808. Luo Fei followed his mentor and Zhang Haiyang up, while Zhao Le and his mentor Liu Haiquan stayed behind to maintain order at the crime scene.
Room 808
"Try not to touch anything in the room to avoid compromising the scene." As soon as entering, Zhao Donglai reminded everyone.
Upon entering the apartment, Luo Fei smelled faint cigarette smoke, prompting him to check for ashtrays or cigarette butts around the room—though, half an hour later, he hadn't found any.
Additionally, outside, he didn't smell smoke on the victim's body, suggesting she likely didn't smoke, meaning the cigarette odor in the room could possibly be left by the perpetrator.
Everyone was busy searching for clues in the room, but it seemed only Luo Fei could smell the faint cigarette odor.
Luo Fei looked around; in the living room, Chief Zhou, Detective Zhao, and the detectives were discussing something. Luo Fei wanted to join them, but as a trainee officer, he wasn't qualified.
Thinking it over, Luo Fei approached his mentor Zhang Haiyang.
"Mentor, I smell cigarette smoke in the room." Luo Fei shared his find with Zhang Haiyang; he didn't consider hiding his sense of smell. To progress, he needed to seize opportunities and demonstrate his abilities. Only then could others notice him, and possibly open doors for him.
Zhang Haiyang took a deep whiff of the room's air and skeptically asked, "Really?" He smelled nothing himself, yet knew Luo Fei had a sensitive sense of smell; last time's murder case was discovered due to Luo Fei detecting the odor of decay.