Chapter 10: If I Were the Murderer

Back at the Criminal Investigation Brigade, Xiao Yu again immersed himself in the case file, pushing aside all emotions to maintain a clear, analytical mind, crucial for rigorous deduction.

As he delved deeper into the information and clues detailed in the file, his brain worked like an overdriven CPU, piecing together the increasingly clearer puzzle of the case.

He identified three key doubts. 

Why did the victim go to the rooftop of the dormitory in the dead of night?

If the two female employees didn’t commit the murder, then who did?

How exactly did the murderer transport the deceased victim to the warehouse?

While Xiao Yu was engrossed in analyzing and forming hypotheses about the case, his fellow officers were also deep in their investigations. 

The deadline set by their superiors was dauntingly tight. With nearly five days already elapsed of the two-week deadline, they all felt the urgency to solve the case swiftly to avoid collective repercussions.

Xiao Yu recalled a murder case from his past life that had left a deep imprint on his memory. 

The detectives, driven by the urgency of the case, had worked tirelessly through the nights, brainstorming and constructing multiple speculative scenarios based on the available leads.

Based on this groundwork, they collected evidence, only to overturn their initial theories and start the reasoning process again. 

When the case was finally cracked, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted, nearly at their breaking point. Working in this profession, with its demands on the mind and body, rarely allowed for a long life. 

It was only around midnight when Xiao Yu snapped out of his deep concentration. He glanced at Guo Qiang, who was deep in thought and smoking next to him. 

“Master, how about we revisit the crime scene?”

“Go back there?” Guo Qiang looked at his apprentice in surprise, “Did you come up with something new?”

“No,” Xiao Yu shook his head. “I feel like the case files are missing details. I think we should recreate the crime scene.”

Recreating a crime scene was an essential skill for every detective, a key lesson emphasized in police training. 

By fully reconstructing the criminal’s actions, detectives could often uncover crucial details that led them straight to the perpetrator.

Guo Qiang clicked his tongue in contemplation, “Alright, let’s go.”

Visiting a crime scene at night, especially in winter, was a challenging and grueling task.

Under normal circumstances, Guo Qiang would have dismissed such a request, but this apprentice was different. His sharp intellect impressed him, raising the possibility of uncovering something new. So, Guo Qiang decided to accompany his apprentice for this late-night investigation.

***

The police car made its way back to the scene of the crime. Instead of immediately heading to the rooftop of the staff dormitory, Xiao Yu stood at the base of the building, observing intently.

‘If I were the victim…’ he thought, closing his eyes to shut out all distractions, immersing himself in the victim’s perspective—a crucial technique in criminal psychology for simulating crime scenes. 

By envisioning himself as the victim, he aimed to logically deduce the murderer’s every action.

In that moment, Xiao Yu’s adrenaline surged, his brain cells firing rapidly. If it were possible for brain activity to take a physical form, his would resemble a pond of koi in a feeding frenzy, creating ripples of intense thought.

‘Why would the victim go up to the rooftop in the dead of winter? It’s illogical unless he was lured there.’ 

He opened his eyes with a newfound realization. 

‘The person who called the victim to the rooftop could very likely be the murderer.’

So, what method did the murderer use to summon the victim to the rooftop?

According to the case file, there were no phone call records or social media conversations during the estimated time of the murder.

A light bulb went off in Xiao Yu’s head. 

The dormitory! The victim was in the dormitory, wasn’t he? Someone must have come for him, leading him to the rooftop. People who had free access to the dormitory were likely factory workers, possibly someone familiar, a manager, or… a female employee?

No, it couldn’t be those two female employees. 

The interrogation made it clear. If they had been involved, they wouldn’t have escaped the scrutiny of experienced detectives. They were suspects, yes, but the likelihood seemed low.

But what about other employees who were working overtime in the factory? 

That didn’t add up either. They could move freely during their shifts. It was possible someone could have left the workshop and returned to the dormitory. However, the workshops in the factory were under surveillance.

During the incident, surveillance footage showed only a few employees left the workshop, and none were away for more than half an hour.

Sneaking back to the dorm, locating the victim, leading him to the rooftop, committing the murder, and transporting the body… all within half an hour seemed implausible. 

This implied that the workers on overtime were unlikely to be suspects.

Was it an outsider? Xiao Yu pondered. But how would an outsider gain entry into the dormitory, especially with a guard present?

Wait a minute, the guard?

A glint of realization sparkled in Xiao Yu’s eyes. 

The investigation had indeed cast some suspicion on the guard, though it was deemed minimal. 

According to the guard’s statement, he was occupied with a mobile game at the time of the crime. An examination of his phone corroborated this, showing game activity logs that seemed to clear him of suspicion.

However, ‘minimal’ did not equate to ‘impossible.’ Xiao Yu recalled from his past life’s experience that many suspects had craftily manufactured alibis to prove their innocence.

The guard’s online competitive game, with the network IP linked to the dormitory’s WiFi, couldn’t be mistaken. Was there a deeper mystery?

Could an outsider have infiltrated the dormitory, lured the victim away, committed the murder, and then brazenly transported the body? Did the perpetrator possess magical abilities?

Xiao Yu’s expression grew icier with each thought. Even the seasoned detectives were perplexed, unable to pinpoint the crux. Now, he too found himself at an impasse.

Considering these factors, the perpetrator’s intelligence appeared remarkably high. 

Everything seemed meticulously planned, leaving no trace. It was a feat beyond the average person.

The approach of simulating the crime scene, then, seemed a dead end. His desire to solve the case was as intense as his frustration.

Suddenly, a sharp glint crossed Xiao Yu’s eyes, his thoughts racing anew.
‘If I were the murderer…’ he pondered, delving deeper into the criminal’s psyche.