Ren Qiang and Zhang Hui’s expressions froze slightly.
The team already has a clear grasp of Liang Song’s situation.
Forty-eight years old, with a wife and children, and he has two kids.
The older child is from his previous marriage and is already in high school.
The younger one is with his current wife and has just started kindergarten.
Liang Song remarried three years ago, and his wife is an art teacher at Haizhou First Middle School, whom he met while she was learning painting from him.
However, just two years into the new marriage, Liang Song fell in love with someone else, who was also his student.
"Who is Zhang Zixuan’s boyfriend?"
"His name is Li Hongtao, a teacher at their school. He approached me two months ago."
"Did you two have a conflict?"
"No, he warned me not to get entangled with Zixuan again, and I haven’t seen him since."
Zhang Hui noted down the information, and Ren Qiang continued to ask, "Tell me when was the last time you saw Zhang Zixuan, and where was it?"
Ren Qiang began reporting the interrogation results.
"Liang Song and Zhang Zixuan had been maintaining an illicit relationship."
"On August 12th, Zhang Zixuan’s boyfriend Li Hongtao once approached Liang Song and issued a warning."
"However, there was no conflict between them."
"The last time Liang Song saw Zhang Zixuan was on September 21st, which was the first day of her leave for a family visit."
"That day happened to be a Wednesday; they met in the studio, and after having a relationship, Zhang Zixuan left."
"According to Liang Song, Zhang Zixuan planned to return to Tianzhou City, and they arranged to travel together during the National Day holiday a week later."
"That’s the general situation."
Ren Qiang returned to his seat, and Qin Yong continued to preside over the meeting.
"Everyone, let’s share your thoughts."
Wang Shuai from Action Team One was the first to speak: "I think this Liang Song is not honest and hasn’t told the truth."
"There are a few points. First, Liang Song’s fingerprints appeared on Zhang Zixuan’s skin after her death. What does this suggest?"
"This suggests that he had contact with Zhang Zixuan’s skin. If he wasn’t the killer, who else could it be?"
"Second, since they had arranged to travel during the National Day holiday, why didn’t he report it when Zhang Zixuan never showed up?"
"Third, Zhang Zixuan’s parents said they knew nothing about her taking leave for a family visit." Thıs text ıs hosted at novel※fire.net
"And Liang Song said Zhang Zixuan was returning to Tianzhou City after meeting him on September 21st."
"If she was going home, wouldn’t Zhang Zixuan inform her parents in advance?"
"Now, all clues point to Liang Song as the murderer. I think we need to interrogate him further."
Wang Shuai’s remarks resonated with many detectives.
Other than that, Liang Song is certainly the most suspect due to the fingerprints.
"Does anyone else have other views?"
Qin Yong looked around, and Zhang Hui shook his head: "Captain Qin, I was involved in all the interrogations of Liang Song."
"I think there is suspicion on Liang Song as the murderer, but it’s not significant."
"Oh? Can you explain why his suspicion isn’t significant?"
Zhang Hui stood up and walked to the whiteboard: "Firstly, I don’t think Liang Song has a motive to kill Zhang Zixuan."
On the whiteboard, Zhang Hui wrote the names of the two: "Liang Song and Zhang Zixuan had been maintaining an illicit relationship."
"In this relationship, Liang Song was cheating on his wife, while Zhang Zixuan was betraying her boyfriend."
"From this perspective, both Liang Song’s wife and Zhang Zixuan’s boyfriend have motives to kill Zhang Zixuan."
"But only Liang Song doesn’t have a reason to kill Zhang Zixuan."
"Also, when Liang Song heard the news of Zhang Zixuan’s death, he was very shocked, and his expression didn’t seem fake."
"Regarding Wang Shuai’s first point of evidence, the fingerprints on Zhang Zixuan’s skin could very likely have been left when the two were being intimate."
"If, I mean if, the two were intimate and Zhang Zixuan was killed that same day, then it’s even more likely that Liang Song’s fingerprints were left behind."
"Additionally, Lu Chuan only matched two fingerprints on the skin, but there is one fingerprint that hasn’t been matched to an owner."
Seventy-nine fingerprints were found, seventy-eight have been identified, but one remains unmatched in the database.
"Second, regarding the National Day holiday trip, I think this discovery can be explained."
Zhang Hui took out a phone: "This is Liang Song’s phone. We found this in the chat records."
"’Darling, my father is sick; I need to stay in Tianzhou for a few more days, so I can’t go out with you during the National Day...’
"On September 28th, Zhang Zixuan sent this message to Liang Song."
"Moreover, we found in the moments that just the day before yesterday, a day before we discovered the artwork with human skin, Zhang Zixuan’s moments were still being updated!"
The day before yesterday?
Though the exact time of Zhang Zixuan’s death wasn’t precise and spanned within a month, updating moments the day before yesterday is absolutely impossible.
Because that artwork had already been delivered to the studio last Thursday.
"Are you saying that the killer has been holding onto Zhang Zixuan’s phone all this time?"
"That’s for sure, and I suspect the message sent to Liang Song was also from the killer."
"Because Liang Song sent video invites to Zhang Zixuan on September 28th and October 2nd, but both were declined."
The case had reached a breakthrough.
Although Liang Song’s fingerprints appeared on Zhang Zixuan’s skin, just as Zhang Hui mentioned, it could have been left when the two were being intimate.
Even though the skin was later soaked in formalin, the fingerprints might actually have been preserved, which is why Lu Chuan managed to extract them.
Meanwhile, the fingerprint that hadn’t been matched to anyone is most likely left by the culprit.
"Widen the investigation scope, go through everyone known to Liang Song and Zhang Zixuan, and compare their fingerprints with the ones found on the skin."
"Additionally, focus the investigation on Zhang Zixuan’s boyfriend Li Hongtao and Liang Song’s wife Chen Yating."
The confirmed identity of the human skin and the fingerprint comparison results provided a clear direction for the action team’s ongoing investigation.
Much clarity was also brought concerning Zhang Zixuan’s timeline and locational trajectory.
While Ren Qiang, Sun Jun, and others were expanding the search, Lu Chuan was sleeping soundly.
Having worked for more than forty hours straight, Lu Chuan was utterly exhausted.
Lu Chuan woke up in his office’s sofa to find it was already half past nine at night.
After completing the fingerprint analysis in the morning, Lu Chuan was so tired that he didn’t go home and slept right in the office.
Opening his eyes, Lu Chuan groggily stretched his arms.
It was the familiar voice of Liu Guodong: "The cafeteria saved some porridge for you this afternoon. It’s in the thermal container, drink some now, and we can go out to eat later."
"Master? Why are you still here?"
Lu Chuan looked at the time; it was already past nine in the evening.
"You haven’t gone back yet, how can I leave?"
"I let Old Bai and Yang Sen go back in the afternoon."
Lu Chuan nodded, picking up the bowl of porridge Liu Guodong handed over: "I haven’t eaten all day; I’m really a bit hungry."
"Master, how’s the case going, any progress?"
Liu Guodong nodded: "We’ve already caught the suspect."
Lu Chuan didn’t expect that while he was asleep for a few hours, the case had been solved: "Is it that grassroots painter?"
Three fingerprints were found on the human skin, two matched Liang Song.
Normally, Liang Song would be the most probable suspect.
Moreover, the artwork was found in his studio.
But Liu Guodong shook his head: "It’s not Liang Song; it’s someone else."
"The owner of the third fingerprint."