Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“How did you think of lifting her bed board?” The murder victim had both hands cuffed together, how would she be able to leave any evidence? Moreover, the killer definitely would not have given her time to do so.
“I saw scratch marks when I lifted the pillow,” Xu Lan took out a magnifying glass to pass to Sun Fei and pointed at the position of the scratch marks calmly.
Sun Fei took the magnifying glass and saw fingernail scratch marks on the bed board.
…
It was not well-defined, but enough to be recognized as a hint. Immediately, Sun Fei drew it onto the notebook that he always carried around. Then, he stood up and patted Xu Lan’s shoulder.
“You did well. Hey, where’s Officer Li?” he asked, realizing that he did not see Li Xiu after entering the place for quite some time.
“He went out to buy water. I’ll give him a call,” mentioned Xu Lan.
“Uhm, are there any more discoveries? Your tone over the phone was so promising that I thought we’ve found the killer. I even brought the whole team,” Sun Fei asked while trying to force a smile.
Xu Lan looked at the six or seven men that entered the house and cursed softly, “Serves you right.”
“I heard that.”
“Well, it was meant for you!” Xu Lan was furious. He brought the whole team out at this point, how silly could he be?
“Haha, we’ll leave if there’s nothing else,” Sun Fei laughed out loud and slapped Xu Lan’s back.
“Pfft, have you eaten a Hercules pill?” Xu Lan grumbled in between coughs while he smacked off Sun Fei’s hand with annoyance and walked out of the door. He walked towards the picture windows and said, “Try searching the curtains and sofa, there might be fingerprints.”
“But we found nothing during our last visit,” Sun Fei asked in bewilderment.
“The curtains have yet to be inspected.” During the last visit, Xu Lan thought he could leave the curtains out, but they were not able to find the killer’s fingerprints anywhere else. He could not be so arrogant about his own assumptions anymore.
“Okay, I will check again,” said Sun Fei.
‘Beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep…’
“Hello?” Xu Lan took out his cell phone and answered the call.
“Hello, Brother Lan, I’m Xiao Xiu.” The other end of the call was very noisy. Xu Lan frowned and thought, ‘Why would he go such a distant place to buy water?’
“Uhm, Xiao Xiu. What happened?”
“The thing is, Brother Lan, something happened when I went to buy water. I will have to request for a few days off,” Li Xiu said calmly.
“What? What happened?” Xu Lan asked, puzzled.
“No, no big deal. I bumped into a three-wheeler, that’s why I called you, Brother Lan…”
“You got hit by a car! Where? Is it serious? Has the ambulance arrived yet? Don’t move, it’ll prevent you from secondary injuries. Wait for the paramedics. Send me your location, I’ll come over immediately,” Xu Lan bombarded him with questions to clarify the situation and waited for Li Xiu’s message.
“Li Xiu had an accident?” Sun Fei asked with doubt. Although he was quite capable, he seemed to get caught in trouble frequently.
“Uhm, you settle the things here first. I’ll go look for him in a while.”
Xu Lan led Bai Wu out. He had to return and inform Hu Cheng to ease his mind at the very least.
“Okay, you go ahead. I’ll call you if there’re any problems,” Sun Fei said hurriedly.
“Uhm.” Xu Lan nodded and drove off in the police car. He did not see Li Xiu along the way back. He was probably taken by the ambulance.
Xu Lan drove back to the police station hastily and walked towards the office.
“Sergeant Xu, you’re back.” It was Xiao Zhang’s shift again today. He jumped out of his chair and stood up after seeing Xu Lan walk in with such a cool demeanor.
“What? What happened?” Xu Lan was startled by Xiao Zhang’s reaction, so he stopped and asked.
“No, nothing,” Xiao Zhang mumbled.
“Papa, you’re too fierce. He’s afraid of you,” Bai Wu said with an angel-like grin.
“Am I that fierce? You can sit down, I came here to look for the director,” Xu Lan peered at Xiao Zhang and asked perplexedly. His voice was quiet as if he was speaking to himself.
Only after Xu Lan and Bai Wu walked passed him did Xiao Zhang remember that this little guy was the one who called in yesterday night. He tried to file a case without even changing his voice! How dare he embarrass him in front of everybody!
‘Humph! This little guy is too wicked! I’ll have to interrogate him thoroughly next time to make up for my hurt feelings!’ Xiao Zhang thought angrily.
This little guy was like an angel at times, but he could also be a devil in some instances. For Xu Lan and Zhu Jing, they wished to be with him all day. However, for some of them, it was the beginning of a nightmare.