I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 246: Chapter 244: A Figure on the Tiles

The team split up and went to several locations, but they didn’t get any useful information.

At every place they visited, someone knew Xing Chang and Chang Yong.

They’d either eaten there, gone for karaoke, or played video games.

Moreover, these were places they frequented. They would go every few days, always with a group of friends.

At each location, the team found the friends they used to hang out with.

Some knew the two men quite well, while others didn’t know them at all.

The ones who didn’t know them well purely liked hanging out with them because Xing Chang and Chang Yong always paid for their meals and entertainment. They had no idea what the two did for a living.

As for those who were more familiar with them, they all said the two were great guys.

The duo had never said anything strange to them either.

They trickled back to the municipal bureau and held another meeting to discuss their findings.

Having failed to uncover any useful information, the meeting was adjourned.

By the time the meeting ended, it was already quite late.

A few of them made instant noodles and sat together eating.

"When we questioned Xing Chang and Chang Yong’s friends, they praised the two so much you’d think they deserved a ’Good Samaritan’ award," Chu Xingrou said. "For a second there, I started to wonder if our investigation was headed in the wrong direction."

"I don’t think there’s a problem with our direction," Qi Feng said. "At the very least, those two aren’t as great as their friends make them out to be."

"Besides, this happened last night," Su Miaoyi said. "They probably got word and have already cleared out. These are all high-traffic places. Besides a few familiar regulars, the owners probably don’t remember most people clearly."

Chu Xingrou nodded, gave her half of the sausage in her hand, then leaned in and asked her in a low voice, "Sister Miaomiao, did you see anything?"

Su Miaoyi shook her head.

Upon getting her answer, Chu Xingrou returned to her seat.

"I just don’t get it. Why didn’t they call the police after being scammed?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Ji Jiabao didn’t dare tell his family," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Huang Chen’s first reaction after realizing he’d been scammed was to find them and make them cough up the money. He wanted to get the money back himself so his dad would stop calling him an idiot. As for why Huang Qiang’an didn’t report it, we haven’t been able to find that out."

"So, was this Xing Chang and Chang Yong’s first time committing fraud?" Lu Zhishen asked again. "If not, why didn’t anyone else file a report?"

"Either this was their first time, or they used different methods before," Su Miaoyi said. "Even if reports were filed, the police wouldn’t have been able to find them."

Lu Zhishen nodded.

After eating, everyone went their separate ways to get back to work.

Shen Yanzhou had already picked up An’an in the afternoon.

Su Miaoyi went over to the autopsy room. Yan Cheng was still busy; he had also performed an autopsy on the other body.

She tried again to see if she could ’see’ anything, but still, nothing came.

So, she went back to reviewing the surveillance footage.

The footage from just after two to past three, a little over an hour, had already been reviewed in detail many times.

But the case seemed to have stalled here, and Su Miaoyi felt that all they could do now was re-examine the footage.

She switched between the different camera angles, watching the footage back and forth, over and over again.

The camera in the fire escape stairwell had blind spots.

While the person in the nurse’s uniform waited in the stairwell, they sometimes stood leaning against the wall, sometimes squatted on the steps, and sometimes paced back and forth.

When leaning against the wall, she was standing directly below the camera, so it could only capture her shoes and ankles; the rest of her was out of frame.

Su Miaoyi first watched this segment on fast-forward.

Then, she watched it again at normal speed.

She leaned back in her chair, her eyes glued to the computer screen without blinking.

This clip from the stairwell was the longest, nearly an hour in length.

She kept staring, and after the video was about two-thirds of the way through, Su Miaoyi suddenly sat bolt upright.

She immediately rewound the video and watched it again, even more carefully.

The camera had captured a very faint wisp of smoke, completely unnoticeable if you weren’t looking for it.

Su Miaoyi immediately hit the pause button.

’This person was smoking in the fire escape stairwell?’

But a whole day had passed. The hospital’s trash was cleaned up and taken out in the morning and at noon.

’Besides, this person is so cautious; they probably took the cigarette butt with them.’

’But if she was smoking, she must have taken off her mask.’

’Took off her mask... in the camera’s blind spot.’

Su Miaoyi checked if there was a camera in the hallway aimed at the stairwell entrance.

There was a camera that could see the door to the stairwell, but... once the door was closed, it couldn’t see inside.

Su Miaoyi leaned closer to the computer. The door had a glass window, and she wanted to see if the camera captured anything through it.

It didn’t.

She turned her attention back to the stairwell footage.

She kept watching the monitor, and as she watched, she suddenly noticed that the wall tiles were reflecting a human figure.

Su Miaoyi quickly zoomed in on the footage, scrutinizing the white tiles on the wall.

She could see the figure, but not the facial features.

However, when the person in the nurse’s uniform turned to the side, the outline of their face was visible.

In the reflection on the tiles, she could see the person looking left and right.

It was certain now: she had taken off her mask to smoke and was vigilantly surveying her surroundings.

Su Miaoyi immediately called Lu Zhishen and asked him to come over.

"What did you find?" Lu Zhishen looked directly at the computer.

Su Miaoyi played the clip for him. "There’s a reflection on the tiles. See it?"

Lu Zhishen first looked at the reflection on the tiles, then at Su Miaoyi.

’She even noticed this.’

He was looking at the zoomed-in version; after zooming out, it was very difficult to spot the reflection on the tiles.

"You can only see the profile, not the features," Su Miaoyi said, looking at him.

Lu Zhishen played the video in slow motion, watching it carefully.

The part of the video showing her leaning against the wall and smoking wasn’t long. After it finished, Lu Zhishen watched it again.

"Can you draw it?"

"I can try." Lu Zhishen played the video once more. "Look here. When she turns to the side, you can see her nose, mouth, and forehead."

Su Miaoyi nodded.

"Here, look closer. When she’s in profile, you can just make out the shape of her eye," Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi stared at the screen, craning her neck further and further until she was practically inside the computer. "N-no, I don’t think so."

"You can’t see it?" Lu Zhishen looked at her.

Su Miaoyi shook her head. "Are you sure you’re not just imagining it?"

Lu Zhishen looked back at the screen. "You can see a little. I have to say, these hospital tiles are surprisingly reflective."

"The lighting isn’t very bright, and the person is leaning against the opposite wall. Even though the space is small and the walls are close together, for it to reflect a person’s profile... these tiles are something else," Lu Zhishen said. "You’re incredible. How did you spot it?"

"She was smoking. I just kept staring until I saw it," Su Miaoyi said.

"Amazing," Lu Zhishen said. He turned to a nearby police officer. "Please help me clip this section of the video."

The clip was quickly extracted, and Lu Zhishen immediately returned to his sketch room.

Su Miaoyi continued watching the surveillance footage for a while longer...