Clown Game
Chapter 247 - 234: Simple, Yet Perfect Murder Case (Part Six)

Chapter 247: Chapter 234: Simple, Yet Perfect Murder Case (Part Six)

(The conversation with Old Xing is just a comedic interlude, not to say that all real-life criminal investigators are like this, just to clarify that here.)

"Hmm... the general environment of the balcony."

"A close-up of where the fall happened."

"The cross-section of the barricade fence."

"The little step at the connection of the fence... These powders, it looks like footprints or fingerprints have already been collected."

"Huh—there are high-angle views between the body and the building too, for distinguishing between a fall, suicide, or being pushed by external force, the methods used are pretty much the same."

Chen Xiao picked up the photos on the table one by one, muttering to himself, then tossed them aside.

"Just as expected... standard as described in the textbooks."

As he spoke, he stressed the words "textbook," his tone lightly tinged with disdain.

Hearing this, Old Xing took a deep breath, obviously wanting to say something, but then held it back,

In his younger days, he really hadn’t been a stranger to the interrogation room, having seen all sorts of people: clueless newcomers committing their first crimes, seasoned veterans who had been in and out of jail, silent types who wouldn’t say a word no matter what, and even a few smart enough to dare to match wits with the police, the so-called "high IQ" criminals.

But in the end, all of them gave confessions, honest and true.

Because interrogation... is a contest between people.

In this sentence, the keyword isn’t "contest," it’s "people."

Yes, people. As long as they’re human, it’s all manageable.

There’s absolutely no need for any violent process. Torture, instruments of pain—those are just figments of people’s imaginations. In truth, humans are much more fragile than they show. Intimidation, exhaustion, lighting, temperature, or even sometimes just a cigarette can make someone tell the stories buried deepest in their hearts. Even for the toughest, professionally trained people, there are techniques to handle them.

Just like Director Lou always said, "Even if you’re as powerful as the sun, once you’re in our station, we’ve got ways to cut you down to size."

...

But Old Xing never in a million years thought he would encounter a situation like this.

The guy in front of him... how to put it, he had long since left the realm of "daily matters"; this bastard was practically dragging you by force into trouble with him, and you had no choice but to deal with him! And while dealing with him, he’d point out everything you did wrong—this wasn’t good, that wasn’t right—complaining all the while, occasionally showing a disdainful face as if to say, "That’s too little."

So, Old Xing was truly suffering! Extremely suffering.

But he couldn’t lash out.

After all... this guy named Chen Xiao... hmm... it seemed his skills were pretty impressive.

"Quit the crap, and just say what you want!" Old Xing barked irritably,

Chen Xiao just shrugged his shoulders.

"Then since all this has already been checked, it means there are no suspicious fingerprints at the scene, no strange traces around, and the weathered railing definitely wasn’t made to look like it fell due to tampering, right?"

Old Xing responded grudgingly with a dismissive twist of his lips, "Nonsense!"

"And there were no signs of forced entry, and no suspicious individuals found on surveillance footage, right?"

Old Xing nodded his head in confirmation...

Chen Xiao hesitated for a moment: "I need to go to the scene!"

"Huh? What do you need to go to the scene for?"

"What else, to take a look! Or do you think I’m going to perform an exorcism or something!" Chen Xiao retorted with obvious dissatisfaction at Old Xing’s question.

"But you have everything here already!" Old Xing also raised his voice, pushing the photos on the table forward!

"That’s bullshit! Are looking at photos the same as seeing the scene for yourself? Is sitting at home watching porn the same as getting down to the real action? Forget it, you wouldn’t know the difference—you’ve never experienced it!" Chen Xiao shouted back, not giving an inch.

...

Silence

...

"You... how did you know that?" Old Xing asked, somewhat shocked.

"Pfft... haven’t you ever heard the saying ’It’s as obvious as lipstick on a shirt collar’?" Chen Xiao replied with scorn.

"Who the hell said that!"

"Who cares who said it, just take me there now or I’ll accuse you of obstructing a suspect’s confession!"

"Ah?"

...

Alright, that’s enough of this meaningless conversation.

Finally, Old Xing couldn’t stand up to Chen Xiao and the two of them arrived at the entrance of the apartment building at No. 222 Shell Street.

It was close to midnight, and the night breeze carried a distinct chill.

Chen Xiao gazed upwards, silently contemplating the iron fence that had impaled the investor. After a while, he lowered his head. Blood had splattered a great distance and pooled under the fence. The scent of blood had not yet dissipated, and Chen Xiao could almost visualize the victim suspended in mid-air, writhing in pain, unable to make even a slight sound of lament, until, after several minutes of futile struggle, he slowly exhaled his last breath.

"Where’s the person who first discovered this?" Chen Xiao asked without looking up.

Old Xing, walking alongside Chen Xiao, replied, "Three and a half hours ago, by the community’s security guard."

"How did they find out?"

"Heard a collision sound...."

Chen Xiao nodded. He had known it would be this way since he lived in this community himself. He could almost clearly map out an aerial view of the entire scene in his mind, with the guard room no more than a dozen meters away. During the night, devoid of noise, the sound was bound to be heard.

"Did they call you over?"

Old Xing feigned an indifferent attitude and proactively offered this piece of information. In truth, he was curious to see what this guy could come up with...

"No need."

Chen Xiao responded tersely. Then, he looked up again at the balcony on the 5th floor. The neighbors around surely knew of the incident by now, thus the whole building was ablaze with lights, allowing one to clearly see a piece of metal railing swinging precariously on the edge of the balcony, as if it were about to fall off.

Chen Xiao frowned.

This small detail didn’t escape Old Xing’s keen observation.

"What’s wrong?" he asked. This time, Old Xing dropped his disdainful demeanor, as he knew this damn kid must have noticed something.

Chen Xiao hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the building above.

"Look, there’s an air conditioner..."

Old Xing followed Chen Xiao’s pointing finger

Several air conditioner units were haphazardly hanging on the exterior of the building.

"What about it?" he asked, puzzled.

Chen Xiao’s raised finger dropped swiftly, tracing a straight line among the air conditioner units, down to the bloodstained iron fence on the ground level.

"Why didn’t he hit the air conditioners?"

Chen Xiao murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

Old Xing sighed in slight exasperation.

"So he didn’t hit them, so what? He fell straight down, not in a parabolic path as if he’d been pushed. What’s so strange about that?"

Chen Xiao licked his lips and nodded.

Indeed, if he didn’t hit them, he didn’t hit them. The path down which the victim fell just happened not to have any air conditioners; it wasn’t anything suspicious.

"Have you found anyone with a motive?" he asked.

"We did. The victim was clean, never offended anyone. We strained to identify a few businessmen who might benefit slightly, but none had any possibility of being the perpetrator."

"What about his wife?" Chen Xiao asked further.

"She’s on a business trip. They notified her when it happened; she probably won’t be able to catch a flight back until after midnight."

"That’s it?"

"That’s it. At least up to now, we haven’t been able to find anyone with a motive for the crime. We can’t just arrest anyone with even the slightest connection, can we?"

....

Chen Xiao’s brows were still furrowed.

"Let’s go... up the stairs to have a look."