Chapter 19: The Details are the Devil

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

Lin Dongxue didn't understand why he reacted so greatly and looked at him with a puzzled look. Chen Shi smiled helplessly. “I disproved your hypothesis just then. You said that the murderer was hiding in the bathroom. How could the deceased finish going to the bathroom if there was someone in the bathroom?”

Lin Dongxue thought about it and it seemed to make sense, but it seems to be flawed. She argued, “No, no, that's not right. this urine might not necessarily be the deceased. Maybe the murderer who was hiding couldn’t help himself and urinated. Since he was scared that he would alarm the family, he didn’t flush”

Chen Shi smiled and praised, “You have learned to think for yourself. Not bad. Who is the owner of this urine? We will know it after a test... Tell me the results later.”

Lin Dongxue scratched her face in confusion. “I don't understand. Three people are dead here. The scene is messy. You’re not even looking at the weapon, but you’re studying the urine over here. Is it that important?”

“Miss Lin, the details are the devil! In a case, every abnormal thing must be thoroughly studied. This is often the key to solving the case.”

“Who are you quoting?”

“I paraphrased it myself.”

“You summarized it yourself? Where are you summarizing it from?”

Chen Shi stated calmly, “I usually watch TVB's[1] criminal investigation drama. I love to summarize; Can't I?”

“Who would believe that?!” Lin Dongxue was disgruntled.

Chen Shi once again stressed, “I think this corpse of this man has a lot of areas that should be investigated. After the technical team is here, it is necessary to investigate this one carefully.”

When Cao Cao was spoken of, Cao Cao arrived[2]. There were the sounds of sirens coming from downstairs. Chen Shi immediately came out of the bathroom. “Let’s hurry.”

He quickly came to the female body in the living room and checked the body with the same procedure. He said, “The time of death is also almost 12 o'clock. There are bruises and scrapes on the knees and elbows. It seems to be from falling. There is also a bruise on the right side of the forehead...” He glanced at the back of the sofa. “It came out of the back of the wooden sofa. It should be an injury before she died. In addition, there are injuries on her hand from when she struggled. The murderer should have these traces as well.”

Chen Shi spoke very fast, and Lin Dongxue could only note down in her little book vaguely.

After checking the lady, Chen Shi went back to the bedroom of the old lady and checked the body of the old person. “The time of death is the same. There is almost no trace of resistance. It seems that she was killed in a state of complete drowsiness. When she was killed, did she shout? Make a soundproof test. Hurry and go outside the house!”

“Oh!” Lin Dongxue immediately went outside the house. Chen Shi asked in the room, “Can you hear me clearly?”

“Yes!”

Lin Dongxue entered the house and Chen Shi addressed, “The wooden door, the sound insulation effect does not seem to be very good, the old lady may have made a sound when she died. Maybe she alerted the people outside...” He touched his chin, picked up the weapon and glanced at it, “Butcher, cleaver, meat knives. There was a missing knife in the holder of the kitchen, it should be this one. The knife edge is a bit curved?. From the look of the injury, the murderer repeatedly cut many times in this area. As for the wooden handle, it cracked as well. Wait, there’s blood stains on the wooden handle!”

Chen Shi was so focused in his thoughts that he lost himself, completely immersed in the analysis of the case. Lin Dongxue looked at him incredulously, as if she saw an experienced and quick-thinking top detective. She would not believe for the life of her that Chen Shi was just an ordinary driver.

“The minor traces of blood on the handle are likely to be left by the murderer. This should be important evidence.” Then, he sniffed at the mouth of the deceased and mused, “What did the victim eat before they died? It seems to be something sweet. Just then in the other bedroom, there was a bowl of white fungus lotus seeds sweet soup. I saw a large pot in the kitchen as well. After that, I made a simple hypothesis. There might be sleeping pills within it... Strange, was this done by the murderer? Is it premeditated?”

“Who is inside?!” A fierce shout came from the living room. Lin Dongxue was listening carefully to Chen Shi's analysis and was shocked by this sudden shout.

Turning her head around, she saw that Lin Qiupu had brought a few policemen in. They thought that suspicious people had come in and had guns in their hands.

After seeing two people, Lin Qiupu’s eyebrows furrowed. “It’s you again!”

Chen Shi stood up and smiled. “Captain Lin, how have you been?”

“Who allowed you to come into the scene of the murder, messing around everywhere? Do you know how much trouble your actions will bring to the police? Lin Dongxue, as a criminal police officer, not only did you not protect the scene immediately, but you actually brought an irrelevant person in here?”

In the face of Lin Qiupu's reprimand, Lin Dongxue almost cried. “He...We were afraid there were living people inside, so we came in to see.”

Chen Shi also pointed to his own gloves. “Captain Lin, don't be too impulsive. I have been wearing gloves.”

“You actually prepared gloves!?”

“No, I took it from the kitchen.”

“What!?” Lin Qiupu's volume suddenly increased by an octave. “You actually took something from the scene of the crime?! Do you know your behavior...”

“I know, I know, I know!” Chen Shi confessed, “I know I am in the wrong! I won't bother Captain Lin solving the case. I hope that Captain Lin can crack the case this time. I will go first!”

Chen Shi did not care about Lin Qiupu’s glare in his eyes. Lin Dongxue argued, “Brother, he only surveyed the scene, but he analyzed it quite reasonably. We found some areas of doubt...”

“Lin. Dong. Xue!” Answering her was a shout that almost collapsed the ceiling. “You are simply an unorganized and undisciplined person with no sense of teamwork! Call that guy back. If I find even half of his fingerprints or footprints here, I will detain him with the crime of obstruction of justice.”

Lin Dongxue shrunk her neck and hid between her shoulders, tears swirled in her eyes. Lin Qiupu suddenly felt soft-hearted, but his face was still stern. He couldn’t comfort her in front of his subordinates, so he just ordered, “Hurry on out!”

When she went outside, Chen Shi was standing in the corridor smoking. Lin Dongxue yelled angrily, “I blame you! You just had to run in and see!”

“Blame it all on me. I will make it up to you, okay? I’ll treat you to hot pot at night, okay?” Chen Shi smiled.

“Cut it out, you’re just trying to shoot your shot!”

The two stood quietly for a while, and there were camera sounds coming from the house. The forensics team was taking pictures and fixing the crime scene. Chen Shi exhaled the last bit of his cigarette, put out the butt and remarked, “This case is not like what it seems on the surface. It’s not that simple. Your brother won’t be able to solve it.”

“I guess I have to ask genius detective master Chen here to sort it out then?” Lin Dongxue said with sarcasm, thinking, This guy sure feels good about himself.

“I can’t say I’m a genius detective. I am just a good-hearted citizen who can’t rest with injustice.”

“Ugh, that went over your head.”

“Let’s not talk about this, I am seriously telling you that there’s some twists to this case. Do you want to make a meritorious deed?”

Lin Dongxue twirled and played with her hair. “Always just investigating solo with you, won’t the team criticize me behind my back?”

“Do you want to make meritorious deeds?”

“Yes!”

“All I need is that line!” Chen Shi smiled. “I will help you once again!”

1. Hong Kong television channel.

2. An expression that is used often. Essentially the same as when people say “Well, speak of the devil!”. See the following link for the origins of this phrase, https://www.echineselearning.com/blog/shuo-cao-cao-cao-cao-dao-speak-of-the-devil-and-he-appears.