Chapter 598 - 498: Ghost Gate

Chapter 598: Chapter 498: Ghost Gate

At 3:00 AM, Zhang Hancheng gathered the leads of the various investigation teams for a meeting to review their progress.

The crime scene was still being processed and reconstructed, but there were no new discoveries. The investigation into the stolen property had also yielded no leads.

In Old Zheng’s words, even disregarding the effects of the fire and the water from the firefighters, the perpetrator had done a very thorough cleanup.

The team was still digging into Li Siyu’s social circle, especially her relationships with Wang Liang and her top patrons from the streaming platform.

They had found nothing on the top patrons.

On the other hand, more and more was coming to light about her relationship with Wang Liang.

Now, Cui Xuesong and his team were certain the two were lovers.

After a full day of investigating the burglary-turned-homicide angle, it was the same story: nothing.

The thief’s marks didn’t match any known patterns, and they hadn’t heard back from the other cities they’d asked for assistance.

Canvassing the other apartment residents had also turned up nothing.

The autopsy, however, had revealed a few things.

It wasn’t a more precise time of death. Rather, the autopsy had detected trace substances deep within her vaginal cavity.

These included silicone oil and hyaluronic acid.

These were likely ingredients in the lubricant on the outside of a condom.

Furthermore, they detected traces of sodium hypochlorite.

In other words, a common bleach-based disinfectant.

Wang Xiao Jin theorized that Li Siyu had engaged in sexual intercourse before her death and that a condom had been used. After strangling her, the killer had cleaned the body with the disinfectant.

He had likely douched her genital area to ensure no DNA would be left behind.

Normally, it’s hard to leave DNA behind if a condom is used and doesn’t break. Using disinfectant on top of that was a move to eliminate even the slightest possibility.

Combined with the fire, this three-pronged approach was why they still hadn’t been able to extract any usable DNA, despite multiple attempts.

Shen Xin noticed Zhang Hancheng’s expression was grim as Wang Xiao Jin explained these findings.

’He’s probably worried that even if we identify a suspect, the chain of evidence will be too weak for a conviction.’

But the problem was, they couldn’t even identify a suspect yet.

Zhang Hancheng brought up the idea of releasing Wang Liang and opened the floor for discussion.

His reasoning was the same as what he’d told Shen Xin: as long as Wang Liang was locked up at the station, he wouldn’t slip up.

They couldn’t get enough evidence to nail him and make a breakthrough.

If they let him go, they might discover something new.

If the killer really was Wang Liang, he set the fire at 1:30 AM and was brought to the station for questioning just after 4:00 AM.

He might not have had time to dispose of some physical evidence, or he might have made a mistake while covering his tracks.

Even the most meticulous killer can’t think of everything.

Keeping him here was just a stalemate. It was pointless.

Two days had passed, and their three-day deadline was almost up. He thought it was time to take a gamble.

"We have our technical surveillance methods, and we have Shen Xin," Zhang Hancheng said, looking over at him.

Part of the reason he was so set on releasing him was Shen Xin. He knew Shen Xin could use his cat, and now even a police bird, to conduct surveillance without being noticed.

They were all veteran detectives and knew how crucial the initial phase of an investigation was.

If they poured all their resources in at the beginning and found nothing, it would be much harder to make any progress later on.

It was better to take a calculated risk and try a new approach.

Liu Baoqing said, "I think if Wang Liang is the killer, then he faked the signs of a burglary."

"The key, then, is the stolen items he supposedly took, especially the camcorder. We brought him in for questioning so soon after the incident; he might not have had enough time to get rid of everything."

"If we release him now, he’ll definitely try to dispose of that stolen property. That’s our chance."

Zhang Hancheng nodded. That’s what he was thinking, too.

The scene clearly showed signs of a burglary.

But after canvassing so many people, no one had noticed anyone casing the apartment.

There were no other recent burglaries in the area either.

They had also checked in with known fences, but nothing had turned up.

So, Zhang Hancheng couldn’t help but suspect the burglary had been staged.

The phone, laptop, luxury items, and camcorder—even if they’d been burned, they would have left traces.

"Then let’s release him," Cui Xuesong said after a moment of thought, nodding in agreement.

He’d been interrogating him for so long that he found it strange himself; he couldn’t figure out how Wang Liang was holding up.

Even the most cold-blooded killer should have cracked after such a lengthy interrogation.

But Wang Liang hadn’t. It was as if he’d hypnotized himself into believing he was innocent.

The group reached a consensus: they would release him.

After discussing the surveillance plan for after his release, the meeting adjourned.

"Shen Xin."

Zhang Hancheng called out to him.

Shen Xin stepped forward. "Zhang Zhi, I’ll go get the cat right now."

Without a doubt, Sergeant was still the best choice for reconnaissance.

"I’m not talking about that." Zhang Hancheng shook his head and pulled Shen Xin over to a corner by the window.

He lit a cigarette.

He’d only gotten two hours of sleep in the past forty-eight, and his eyes were completely bloodshot.

"Shen Xin, I have a question."

After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Hancheng asked, "As I recall, Dou Dou has tracked a car over a long distance before."

"And in that last reservoir case, Fan Lei took off on an electric scooter, and Odin was able to track him over a long distance, too. The trail only went cold because Fan Lei passed a construction site where they had just hosed down the ground."

"So why did the trail go cold in the parking lot this time? Why couldn’t the tracking continue?"

"Of course, at this point, debating whether the killer left by car or some other means isn’t that important, but I’m still puzzled by it."

The investigation was covering all bases.

If the suspect left by car, they were checking every vehicle that had left the area since the time of the murder.

If they left on an electric scooter, they were checking all nearby road surveillance from around the time of the incident for any passing cars or scooters.

So even if Celestial Skill had been able to continue the pursuit, they would have ended up following these same investigative procedures anyway.

"What I’m trying to say is, could the suspect have used some special method to evade tracking by our animals?"

Shen Xin was silent.

Shen Xin had already had his own doubts about how the suspect got away.

In fact, Shen Xin had already considered Zhang Hancheng’s question in two phases.

The first phase was during the initial tracking, right after the crime was discovered.

Back then, using the third stage of Celestial Skill, he had clearly seen the scent trail disperse.

If the suspect had crossed the planter, there should have been some residual scent on the other side, even if they’d used some special method to mask it.

Shen Xin had checked—he’d gone out onto the road and searched the surrounding area, but he hadn’t found anything.

Secondly, Celestial Skill can track exhaust fumes.

Back when he was tracking Fan Liping’s group in Mianguang, he had tracked not only the scent of blood but also their exhaust.

The trail only went cold later when it started to rain after he tracked them to that small town.

As Zhang Hancheng suspected, it was possible to track exhaust fumes.

At the time, Shen Xin’s reasoning was that exhaust fumes are emitted when a car starts, leaving various chemical residues on the ground.

But this was an open-air parking lot. Unlike in Mianguang, where there were few cars and the exhaust was mixed with the scent of blood, this lot had constant traffic, meaning the exhaust fumes were constantly layered on top of each other.

It would be very difficult for Celestial Skill to distinguish the target vehicle’s exhaust from all the others.

That’s why he was convinced at the time that the suspect had left by car, and the trail had ended where they got in.

The second phase of his thinking came last night, when he went back to Orange Apartment to search the garage.

Shen Xin had reconsidered the problem then.

’Logically, the suspect’s scent should have been on the door handle when they opened the car, leaving a trace on the exterior.’

’No matter how faint, there should have been something.’

’But Celestial Skill didn’t detect anything, which made me suspect the killer was wearing gloves.’

’They must have used those same gloves to open the car door.’

’Then, if the car had a good seal, that would explain why the trail was cut off.’

Shen Xin explained his thought process to Zhang Hancheng, concluding, "Zhang Zhi, I still believe the suspect left by car."

Zhang Hancheng’s brow furrowed even deeper after hearing the explanation.

It had been two days. They had checked every vehicle that left the parking lot after the incident, and still, they had found nothing.

If the suspect left by car, where did the car go? Did it sprout wings and fly away?

With a soft sigh, Zhang Hancheng said quietly, "Shen Xin, don’t you feel this case is a little... strange?"

Shen Xin nodded.

It was more than strange; it was baffling.

’Based on Li Siyu’s situation, everything points to a crime of passion.’

’With today’s investigative techniques and the dense Skynet surveillance network, a case like this should be solved in hours. If the murder happened in the morning, we should have had a suspect by the afternoon.’

’And yet, here we are, forty-eight hours later, having poured so many resources into it, and we still can’t even identify a suspect.’

"Go get ready," Zhang Hancheng said, his words just a sigh of frustration. He gestured for Shen Xin to go.

At 5:00 AM, the sky was still dark.

Wang Liang completed the discharge paperwork, collected his phone and car keys, and walked out of the station headquarters on unsteady legs.

He turned his head.

Cui Xuesong had followed him out and was standing on the steps, watching him with a cold expression.

Upstairs, Zhang Hancheng and the others were watching his every move from a window.

"Officer Cui, you don’t have to look at me like that. I really didn’t kill anyone. I’ve been framed," Wang Liang pleaded, a wronged expression on his face.

Cui Xuesong remained silent and expressionless.

Wang Liang waved his hand in frustration and turned to head for the parking lot.

His S-Class was in the parking lot.

He opened the car door and saw the interior was as clean as if it had been professionally detailed—not a single scrap of paper in sight. He suddenly remembered signing the consent form to have his vehicle searched.

"Did you even take out my seats?!"

After crouching down to check, Wang Liang turned and complained to the officer who had followed him.

When the officer didn’t respond, Wang Liang muttered a few resentful curses, got in his car, and drove away.

The moment he drove off, Shen Xin’s car pulled out to follow him.

Yang Zeran was driving.

In the back seat, Shen Xin was studying the floor plan for Wang Liang’s apartment in Li Lake Garden, weighing the possibility of sending Sergeant in to investigate.

They had done it before in Songpu, so the question of its legality was no longer up for debate.

The only problem was that the guy didn’t live in a house.

It was a single-story apartment with only one entrance.

"What about the exterior wall?" Zhao Tianxing suggested from the passenger seat. "Cats are always jumping from balconies to air conditioning units and things like that."

The method was plausible.

But most balconies are enclosed these days. Even if a window was open, there would still be security screens. There was no way in.

"We’ll see when we get there," Shen Xin said after a moment.

’Besides,’ Shen Xin thought, ’even if he did take the stolen goods, he wouldn’t hide them at home.’

They had already searched his home yesterday and found nothing.

Seeing Shen Xin’s furrowed brow, Ding Yuwei, who was sitting beside him, reached out and patted his arm reassuringly. "Don’t worry," she said, giving him an encouraging look. "If it’s him, he won’t get away."

Shen Xin nodded.

That was easy for her to say, but Shen Xin truly felt like he was lost in a thick fog with this case, completely without direction.

He was afraid that the longer it dragged on, the more likely it would become a cold case.

And as feared, that’s exactly what happened.

They tailed him for three days and came up with absolutely nothing.

The investigation was now on its fifth day.

There’s a saying among detectives: three days is a critical hurdle, but seven days is the Ghost Gate.

The entire task force felt like they were already standing before the Ghost Gate.