Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It was nice being young. No matter how tough the work was, they could still manage to look energetic.

The little incident at the entrance did not seem to have affected anyone. After entering the office, sunlight seemed to fill most parts of the office.

Xiang Wan had just drank half a cup of warm water when Tang Yuanchu called her to go for the meeting.

It was the case analysis meeting that was fixed yesterday.

Xiang Wan smiled and acknowledged, “Be right there.”

The status of their relationship would not affect their work.

It was still the same conference room. The whole meeting was supported by the high-tech display system which was comprehensive, thorough and clear. Everyone was clearer on the case after going through it one more time.

The person who organized the meeting was still Bai Muchuan.

Maybe the rejection at the door had thoroughly made him disheartened. Since Xiang Wan stepped into the office, he did not look at her at all.

Xiang Wan had felt that.

It was now the forensics team to give their report on the autopsy of Cao Mengjia.

“What we see now was the scene where the deceased, Cao Mengjia, lied on her side on the bed. The blade that was used to slash the wrist was found on the ground. The bloodstains that splattered landed on the bed sheet and on the floor.

“There were 15 cuts on the deceased’s wrist; of which, 14 of them were hesitation wounds, and the fatal trauma was an arterial incision. The cause of death was excessive blood loss.

“Judging from the direction of the blade, the angle and the formation of the wounds and the like, it can be confirmed that the person holding the knife was the deceased herself.”

The one who presented the report was Mei Xin as usual.

In the Criminal Investigation Unit, she was as though the spokesperson of Cheng Zheng.

Next, Mei Xin mentioned several discoveries on the scene.

In conclusion, the deceased, Cao Mengjia had committed suicide and died!

“Another suicide!”

Bai Muchuan chuckled. “That’s all?”

He looked at Cheng Zheng where he also looked back at him.

“That’s all.”

Bai Muchuan nodded his head and turned away without saying anything about the verdict. Several other detectives in charge of the case reported the information that they had found.

Next, he asked Xiang Wan, “Teacher Xiang, what’s your view on this case?”

While they were speaking, Xiang Wan was holding a small notebook and taking down notes like a conscientious pupil. She was quietly absorbing knowledge and doing analysis at the same time. The sudden call of her name confused her as she looked at him in a dazed manner.

“What?”

Bai Muchuan looked calm. It seemed that he was not bothered about the unhappiness just now. “Teacher Xiang,” he said calmly, “you’re here because you’re our advisor.”

His words were rather harsh!

It felt that he was accusing her of doing nothing when she was paid for it.

But he knew very well that she was not a professional advisor on criminal investigation. Those who could usually be advisors were either veteran criminal investigation police officers with a lot of experience or they had extraordinary abilities…

On the contrary, Xiang Wan did not consider herself to be a person with special abilities.

And the reason for her coming to work here was to learn about criminal profiling which she had specifically said so.

Under the confused gazes of everyone in the meeting, Xiang Wan got up from her seat and cleared her throat. She looked at the notes in her notebook and appeared slightly hesitant.

“Before I talk about my views. I would like to understand what is the meaning of hesitation wound…”

Bai Muchuan furrowed his eyebrows, pursed his lips and remained quiet.

Everyone in the conference room looked at her as if she was a rookie.

Xiang Wan felt a little ashamed. “My apologies, I did not know if the meaning of this forensics term is the same as my personal understanding. Hence, I would like to confirm this.”

Cheng Zheng looked at her. “Hesitation wound, also known as tentative wound, is a forensic pathology term.” He explained slowly, “It refers to the cuts of various lengths and depths that appear near fatal cuts. Generally speaking, it is difficult to kill oneself in just one slash. Therefore, these less severe, experimental cutting marks, are characteristics of a suicide.”

“I understand now.” Xiang Wan nodded her head and asked Cheng Zheng seriously. “That means, if there’s suicide, there will be hesitation wounds. But, does it indicate that the hesitation wounds on the deceased have to mean it’s a suicide?”

The reason for the appearance of hesitation wounds of varying lengths and depths were often caused by inexperience and hesitation, which was very understandable. After all, if one could really deal oneself a fatal cut at once so steadily, accurate and ruthless, that would mean that person had a lot of courage. Such a person would not commit suicide easily.

“What I’m trying to say is, is there any possibility that the murderer deliberately disguised it as a suicide by making these hesitation wounds?”

Cheng Zheng squinted his eyes and wanted to answer when Mei Xin directly chimed in and explained professionally.

“Teacher Xiang, the autopsy is done to solve the problem. Our conclusion of suicide is not only based on hesitation wounds, but also from the direction, the angle, the strength of the blade, and the like. It is a result of a composite analysis…”

“Well, what if you meet a master of disguise? For example, the other party happened to understand these professional principles and deliberately gave us a scene like this?”

Her rhetorical question stumped Mei Xin who tried to open her mouth

but nothing came out of it.

Seeing that everyone was silent, she smiled faintly. “Apologies everyone, maybe what I will be saying might sound rather childish. This is mainly because I don’t have much experience and don’t know much about them. Everything is based on my gut feeling.”

Cheng Zheng lifted his head. “Do tell us about it.”

“I feel that the whole chain of incidents that started with the stealing of the doll happened too perfectly,” Xiang Wan spoke after a moment of hesitation, “imagine what would have happened if we did not manage to rescue Xie Wanwan from her suicide attempt?”

She looked at everyone and uttered the following words slowly.

“Everyone related to the case are dead! No testimony, no clues, no evidence, no survivors!”

Everyone had their gazes on her without saying a word.

“If Xie Wanwan died, our last witness would be gone,” Xiang Wan continued, “isn’t this a perfect criminal case? Do you think a university student like Cao Mengjia could think of and execute something perfect like this? Your thoughts?”

Bai Muchuan studied her for a moment but quickly pulled back his gaze.

“Even if Cao Mengjia is not the mastermind of the case,” Cheng Zheng said emotionlessly, “it will not affect our verdict on the cause of her death.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

Her suicide had nothing to do with her being the mastermind or not.

Xiang Wan was startled for a moment and felt uncomfortable.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in the autopsy results of the forensics team. I just feel that there’s something fishy about the case. She did not seem to have committed suicide, but rather, she was silenced. Even though she made those hesitation wounds personally, she must have been forced.”

“Suicide because of fear of conviction is also a type of coercion.”

A lot of people were like that. They dared perform illegal acts, and yet they did not dare accept what the law would mete out at them.

“Kong Qingping is the one who stole Xie Wanwan’s doll but got killed by his own father.” Xiang Wan laughed ironically. “Yet, the doll appeared beside Cao Mengjia, who also died. The two people who once had the doll with them are dead. In other words, what exactly happened before we recovered the doll is still a mystery.”

There were some who nodded their heads at her words.

“According to what we’ve gotten, Cao Mengjia was not an aggressive or assertive student. Her results were just average, and she never did anything outrageous in school. She was someone who did not look like she had the guts to travel so far away just to kill someone. Moreover, she and Kong Qingping did not know each other and they had no common social relations. So, how did this doll get to Cao Mengjia from Kong Qingping’s hands? I think it’s better to figure this out before concluding anything.”

Bai Muchuan’s lips seemed to have moved, as if he had just smiled.

Then, his line of vision moved toward Cheng Zheng.

Cheng Zheng did not look at him, and there was not much emotion on his face, either. “What Teacher Xiang said makes sense. Our current conclusion is only a conventional forensic analysis. I look forward to the truth.”

Everyone discussed it.

Most of them agreed with what Xiang Wan had said.

Tang Yuanchu gave it a thought and looked at Bai Muchuan.

“Captain Bai, I feel that we should go understand the situation from Xie Wanwan immediately…”

Xiang Wan was right about one thing.

The only person alive in this case was Xie Wanwan.

Only she would know who had threatened her and the kind of threats the person made.

Everyone nodded their heads to express their approval.

However, Bai Muchuan changed the topic by summarizing the case once again and instructed a few investigation missions to the teams.

“Inform Ye Lun to come here to cooperate in our investigations!” he instructed Tang Yuanchu.

Everyone was stunned.

Ye Lun? Didn’t they already interrogate him?

On the day of the group brawl, he was also there but did not participate in it.

There was a surveillance camera footage that could prove that.

He was lucky. That day, he had sat right in front of the surveillance camera that recorded everything without any blind spot…

Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh. “The more innocent he seems, the more suspicious he is.”

Ye Lun was definitely one of the reasons that the fans chose to meet and fight over the incident.

Yet after the incident, he was the first to steer clear of it.

Just like what happened in Sun Shangli’s case. He was the one who treated everyone in the room for a meal, where many of them took drugs. Yet, he came out “clean” in that matter.

Tang Yuanchu nodded his head. “What about Xie Wanwan…” he asked hesitantly.

Bai Muchuan seemed to be in thought. “For her, we need to wait a while.”

Everyone exchanged glances with one another but remained quiet.

Everyone had heard about the livestream yesterday.

What happened to Xie Wanwan was really heartrending. There were reasons why the team did not interrogate her the moment they rescued her. Firstly, she still had the urge to kill herself, and therefore, she was unable to cooperate with the police. Secondly, she was recovering from her injury and her state of mind was weak. Coming from the humane angle, it was not a suitable time to get her to talk.

But…

If they could not get more information from her, the case might come to a deadlock?

Tang Yuanchu looked around the room, and seeing everyone was silent, he decided to ask again.

“Captain Bai, we can try to talk to her. We’ll try our best not to provoke her…”

Without waiting for Bai Muchuan to reply, Cheng Zheng chimed in, “Don’t be worried about getting information from Xie Wanwan. She’s Captain Bai’s friend. He will find a way to settle this.”

Friend? Those who were in the conference room, except Xiang Wan, did not know about this.

Some showed a slight surprise but did not ask about it.

Bai Muchuan took a glance at Cheng Zheng and smiled before getting up.

“Meeting dismissed!”

…

In the restroom on the second floor.

Cheng Zheng just finished washing his hands but was blocked by Bai Muchuan.

There was no one around, and the atmosphere was rather tense.

Cheng Zheng looked at him with a blank expression and wanted to walk past from his left. Bai Muchuan sneered and blocked him once again. He looked sly with a chilly feeling.

“Leaving just like this?”

Cheng Zheng asked, “Captain Bai, what do you want?”

“You’re deliberately asking for trouble, right?” Bai Muchuan said coldly.

“Did I say anything wrong?” Cheng Zheng raised an eyebrow slightly. “I did not say that she’s your girlfriend. Isn’t that enough?”

“You’re lucky to not have said that.” Bai Muchuan gave a wry smile when he suddenly narrowed his eyes and approached him ominously. “Otherwise, I will beat you up in front of everyone, do you believe me?”

Cheng Zheng raised his face calmly without a word and walked past Bai Muchuan from the other side.

…

In no time, Ye Lun was brought back.

Xiang Wan had just filled up her mug with water and met them along the walkway.

There was a big difference between a celebrity and an ordinary person, especially for a stud like Ye Lun, his dress sense, temperament, or the way he carried himself. He was totally different from the group of plainclothes detectives.

Usually, Xiang Wan felt that Tang Yuanchu seemed pleasing to eye, but when he stood beside Ye Lun, his looks was like the plummeting line graph.

Tang Yuanchu might have noticed that as well and gave Ye Lun a cold glare.

“This way, follow me.”

Ye Lun followed accordingly. He walked with his hands in his pocket, giving off a slight feeling of an uncomely, evil aura.

When he passed by Xiang Wan, he looked at the mug that had a cartoon print that Xiang Wan was holding—his eyes seemed to lift upward, revealing an extremely arrogant disdain or maybe contempt. The next instant, he looked elsewhere.

Xiang Wan was unable to capture his attitude accurately.

After mulling it over, she was very sure that she never had contact with him before…

What did that look of his indicate? Could it be that he was a narcissist who thought she was just like his female fans that adored him for being so gorgeous like a stud, and thought that was why she had been looking at him the moment he entered the office?

Oh no!

Xiang Wan may have liked pretty boys, but she wasn’t someone who would go gaga over every single pretty boy out there.

She did pay attention to Ye Lun, but the reason for doing so was because Ye Lun was involved in Sun Shangli’s case as well as Xie Wanwan’s case although he managed to pull himself out of it clean.

Therefore, Xiang Wan really felt like participating in the interrogation.

However, this time around, Bai Muchuan did not ask her to participate.

She held her mug and returned to her seat. She waited and would look at the pathway toward the interrogation room. She would also look at her mobile phone time and again, hoping to get called into the interrogation room. Her curiosity about the case was as though a cat was living inside her heart, jumping up and down restlessly. Even her palms felt ticklish.

And, she was disappointed.

During the meeting, Bai Muchuan gave everyone missions but not her.

Therefore, she was free. But at the same time, this freedom had bound her as well.

When she saw that everyone was busy doing their work, she felt the time was especially slow as she had nothing to do.

Xiang Wan took a look at the profiling analysis she had just written on the laptop and felt troubled. Finally, she decided to just email her profiling analysis to Bai Muchuan. Then she got up from her seat and walked to his office.

As she expected, there was no one in there.

She looked around and walked toward the interrogation room.

The interrogation room was at the utmost left corner of the office.

Ye Lun was at Interrogation Room One, which was the one on the left.

As Xiang Wan was dithering over to the interrogation room, she met Tang Yuanchu.

“Teacher Xiang? Is there anything?”

Xiang Wan gave a smile. “Has the interrogation started?”

Tang Yuanchu was a little perplexed but raised the dossier that he was holding with a smile. “Going to start any moment now. I’m supposed to bring this document inside.”

Xiang Wan looked around. “Where’s Captain Bai? He went in?”

Tang Yuanchu always thought of himself with having a good eye for things. Usually, Xiang Wan was not someone who would take the initiative to come looking for them to chat. Her motive was clear to see, he assumed.

“He has gone to the restroom…”

He said it softly when suddenly, he chuckled awkwardly and pointed behind her.

“There, he’s here.”

With that, Tang Yuanchu pointed at the interrogation room and blinked at Xiang Wan before quickly entering the interrogation room. There, Bai Muchuan was also about to enter.

The hallway in the interrogation room was a little dark. Under this kind of light, Bai Muchuan’s face seemed especially cold. Xiang Wan suddenly felt a chill in her spine and her arms were somewhat cold as well.

She thought for a while and asked directly. “Captain Bai, can I participate in Ye Lun’s interrogation?”

Bai Muchuan’s mouth set in a hard line. “No.”

Xiang Wan was shocked. “How am I going to do my work like this?”

“You’ve attended the case analysis meeting,” said Bai Muchuan plainly, “if there’s anything unclear about the case, you can find Tang Yuanchu. If there are any new leads for this case, you can also look for him, and he’ll tell you about it…”

As he said all these, there were not many changes in his expression. There also wasn’t a tinge of emotion in his tone. But somehow, Xiang Wan felt that he had distanced himself from her.

“I understand now.” Xiang Wan nodded her head. “Oh, I’ve written the profiling report and just sent that to your email.”

“Okay, I’ll read when I’m free.”

He walked past her with a cold, solitary demeanor, without even stopping to talk to her, and entered the interrogation room directly.

The atmosphere there felt cool and slightly prickly, similar to his sudden, cold expression.

Her line of gaze followed by turning around and saw his indifferent back view.

Bump! The door to the interrogation room closed.

Xiang Wan looked at that door.

To her, it was not only a door but also a world.

She knew she was being isolated from Bai Muchuan’s world.

…

From that moment, Bai Muchuan no longer allowed Xiang Wan to directly participate in the investigation of the case.

Over here, he was the top dog, and his command was absolute. His attitude would determine the status of Xiang Wan in the team. Almost suddenly, she was no longer a part of the core investigation team, and she was unable to know the progress and sequence of the case. Now, she no longer got immediate updates of the case, and they would only tell her after they screened it and deemed appropriate to tell her about it.

The people on the team were smart and alert.

They were able to sense a change like this.

They had a good impression of Xiang Wan. When they looked at her, their eyes would inevitably show sympathy.

That made her feel as though she had been abandoned by Bai Muchuan.

This beautiful misunderstanding was exactly what Xiang Wan did not want to see.

The Criminal Investigation Unit may not need her, but she need not sympathy from others as well.

In fact, she hoped that Bai Muchuan would dismiss her directly, instead of suddenly turning her into a freeloader.

Criminal profiling. Hur, if she had nothing to begin with, how would she be able to write anything?

She spent the whole morning thinking and used an afternoon to write her resignation letter. Just before it was time to knock off from work, she walked to Bai Muchuan’s office.

…