Chapter 195: Following the Clues

In the animal kingdom, eagles are known for their incredible eyesight. They can see objects from dozens of kilometers away, with vision six times stronger than humans. They can easily distinguish between moving and stationary objects.

With the enhanced vision of the Eagle’s Eye, Xiao Yu’s lips curled into a mocking smile. He spotted something—a thin, thread-like seam on the platinum ball.

Up until now, the police had always assumed the metal ball was solid, with nothing suspicious about it. No one had ever thought to use a magnifying glass or microscope to check for seams, as the possibility that it wasn’t a single piece had been overlooked. 

It was just human nature. No one questioned such a small, expensive metal ball. Its outward value had distracted everyone from considering what might be hidden inside.

But there was more to this platinum ball than met the eye.

Xiao Yu’s fingers gently ran over the surface of the metal ball. After feeling around for a moment, he found the right spot. Then, with a small twist of his hands, the supposedly solid platinum ball easily unscrewed.

It split into two oddly shaped halves, like puzzle pieces fitting together.

Xiao Yu’s eyes locked onto the center of one half. He saw a tiny groove, no bigger than a fingernail.

This was it. The missing piece of the puzzle.

But…

As Xiao Yu stared at the small groove, he started thinking again. What could possibly be hidden in such a tiny space?

The shape of the groove was strange, too. It had an irregular form, one that seemed oddly familiar to Xiao Yu, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

And then it clicked. He knew what the groove was for.

It could hold an SD card, the kind used for mobile phones.

***

Once Xiao Yu found this new clue, word spread quickly, and soon a bunch of team members came over to check it out.

Even Zhao Changshan showed up.

After examining the platinum ball, everyone gave each other knowing looks, like it all made sense now.

Then, they all turned to look at Xiao Yu with complex expressions. It was that familiar feeling of frustration that underachievers have when looking at the class genius.

Xiao Yu pretended not to notice their stares.

‘Don’t blame me. Maybe you guys just need to step up your game?’ Xiao Yu thought to himself, conveniently ignoring the fact that he had a system cheat helping him out.

Now that they had found the hidden compartment in the platinum ball, the investigation could continue.

Let’s assume the killer was after the ball.

The motive was clear.

It was highly likely they wanted the SD card hidden inside the platinum ball.

But then why go to the extent of killing the entire family?

“Did the killer lose their temper because they didn’t get what they wanted? Maybe the killer didn’t get the SD card? So, they killed the whole family?” Xiao Yu muttered to himself.

That was how logical reasoning works. You think, deduce, hypothesize, and imagine possible scenarios. In modern criminal investigations, this process is essential.

If the assumption holds, then what could have been on that SD card?  

Even with Xiao Yu’s intelligence, there was no way he could just magically know. It’s not like he could just guess or do some mystical fortune-telling. Everything so far was just speculation, and Xiao Yu still wasn’t sure about any of it. 

He forced himself to clear his mind, making his thoughts more precise and focused.

Even though the case files could partially recreate the crime scene, they weren’t enough. There was no trace of the killer. The idea that the family might have been murdered was still just a theory.  

‘And what’s the point of all this if we don’t have proof?’

Cops need hard evidence to solve a case. Only when clues start to pile up can we figure out the sequence of events.

Wait a minute…  

Xiao Yu’s eyes suddenly lit up.

‘If my theory is correct and the family was killed because of the SD card, does that mean the killer never got the card, which is why they resorted to murder? So, where did the card go?’

Xiao Yu grabbed his tablet and once again pulled up the case file.  

After the Ji family reported the theft to the police, they couldn’t find the platinum ball, and eventually…  

The family just went back home.

“Let’s go to the crime scene!” Xiao Yu suddenly stood up and gave the order.  

“Yes, sir!” Guo Qiang and the others followed behind him as they left the detective squad.  

It had been six years since the case. What clues could still be left at the crime scene now? Wouldn’t everything have been destroyed by now?

Here’s the fun part. Let’s say you wanted to hide something in your house. Would you leave it out in the open?  

You’d probably hide it in some secret spot, right? Somewhere no one would ever think to look.

When people talk about the crime scene being tampered with, they’re usually referring to obvious clues being disturbed. But if something is hidden well enough, how would anyone know to mess with it?

***

The crime scene was in a unit inside a residential building.  

The entire family of three had died, and all their inheritance was claimed by relatives. The company was sold off, and the savings were split up. Everyone took their share of the money. The house wasn’t worth much. It was considered a haunted property and couldn’t be sold. In the end, one of the relatives got it.  

When Xiao Yu and the others arrived, the current owner—who had received a call from the police—came to meet them. 

Most people wouldn’t dare to refuse when the police call them in.  

The man was middle-aged and seemed a little cautious, a little confused when he saw Xiao Yu and the team.  

“Sorry to bother you, but we need to take another look at this place,” Xiao Yu said, glancing at him.  

“Sure thing. Honestly… there’s not much to see in there,” the man replied quickly, pulling out a key. “I renovated it a bit afterward, hoping to sell it, but no luck. The place has been sitting empty ever since.”  

That was pretty much what Xiao Yu had expected. If the house had been left completely untouched for six years, that’d be strange.  

As the door opened, a musty smell wafted out.  

That was normal. No one had lived there, and without heating in the winter, the place would’ve gotten damp and musty over time. After all, most building materials were wood-based, and without heating, moisture seeped in over the course of a winter.  

Xiao Yu stepped into the living room, scanning the area.  

The house looked fairly new, but you could still spot some mold spots in the corners and on the white walls—signs of moisture damage. The so-called renovation was really just a surface-level refresh, not a complete overhaul.  

Xiao Yu felt like his luck was decent. As long as the place hadn’t been completely gutted, there was still a chance of finding something. He couldn’t be sure, but if that SD card really existed, it might still be hidden somewhere in the house.  

“Check every hidden spot,” Xiao Yu instructed Guo Qiang and the others, then turned to the middle-aged man. “If we end up damaging anything, the police will compensate you.”  

“Don’t worry about it. You guys are serving the people,” the man said cheerfully. “Besides, you’re investigating my second brother’s case. Don’t just damage it. Feel free to tear the place apart if you need to.”  

Xiao Yu chuckled, giving the man a once-over. This guy was interesting—people like him were pretty rare these days!