Chapter 10

"The first witness, Tyler, I really didn't expect his family to be so wealthy. He seems so ordinary at school, just like…" Zhen Ai started but then closed her mouth.

She usually keeps to herself and has only superficial interactions with her classmates, so all she has are vague impressions. She wasn't sure if she was right.

"Just like an average student, not someone with a background," Yan Su finished her thought.

Zhen Ai was taken aback: "You noticed that?"

"The Porsche sports car. 

To get from their house to the school, you have to pass the NYT toll booth. The dashboard was filled with machine-printed receipts but none from the toll, plus there was no long-term parking permit from the school, which indicates that this car isn't just a school vehicle. He's really low-key for someone with such a flashy car not to have driven it to school. You can tell from how he and his parents dress as well."

Zhen Ai seemed to have gotten a hint and was trying hard to remember: "Once, I heard Jiang Xin telling another girl that she envied that person because his boyfriend was richer than Tyler. And her later style of dressing was so revealing; a boyfriend wouldn't buy clothes like that for a woman to wear for other men to see."

After she finished, she felt a faint sense of regret.

Yan Su, however, remained unfazed: "Well, there's the reason for the argument."

Zhen Ai didn't understand: "Why would Tyler hide his family background from Jiang Xin? Is he afraid she's with him for the money?"

"The deceased may not have cared about the money at first. You saw it too; Tyler's garage was filled with trophies. Boys who excel in sports at university are often quite popular," Yan Su paused, a hint of discomfort flashing across his face before he continued, "But later, things changed."

Zhen Ai picked up on his unusual tone and curiously tilted her head: "Were you good at sports in college?"

Yan Su's face darkened momentarily, and he didn't respond.

Zhen Ai looked as if she suddenly understood.

Yan Su: "I was only 13 at that time!"

Zhen Ai gave him a pitying look.

Yan Su: … 

Zhen Ai smiled and changed the topic: "So, could that ring have been bought by him?"

"Yes," he answered briefly and definitively. "Tyler had a fresh bruise around the second joint of his left pinky; it was a scar from pulling off a new ring in a hurry. He was holding onto that paper box, probably to cover his hand."

Zhen Ai was stunned; at that moment, Yan Su had been looking around, paying attention to these details.

Could it really be Tyler? Zhen Ai dared not speculate further.

So she continued: "What about the second witness, Wen Bo? When you asked him about the note, I could tell. You only mentioned the note and didn't bring up the password, but his answer revealed he definitely knows."

"Right." His calm demeanor was evident in his words. "He lied; that wasn't a death password. He said that to mislead us. He is the one who wrote the password and communicated with the deceased."

Not a death threat?

Zhen Ai felt puzzled but didn't ask immediately. Instead, she tried to sort through other details: "How do you know he sold the baseball bat?"

"There were many sports items displayed in the bookstore's glass window, and there was a slightly darker shape on the wall where the bat hung. That was because the sunlight faded the paint on the wall, but the area covered by the bat remained fresh, indicating it had been hanging there for a long time and wasn't initially intended for sale. He's short on money recently.

Also, I saw several taxi receipts in the change box by the cash register, showing he was out late at night in a well-known nightlife area. I think he communicated with the deceased using passwords, possibly related to their nocturnal activities."

Nocturnal activities?

Zhen Ai felt an inexplicable resistance and shifted the topic: "What about the third witness, Zhao He?"

"That set of baseball cards isn't his," Yan Su said in a low voice. "He was holding a book on cryptography, but there were no other cryptography books on the shelf, nor was there a space left for that book he held. The place he was sitting wasn't his desk; the neat desk beside him was. However,"

He paused and glanced at Zhen Ai with shallow eyes.

"I'm thirsty."

"Ah?" Zhen Ai was engrossed in the conversation and was caught off guard.

Yan Su looked at her bewildered expression and suddenly asked, "Do you know what the speed of sound is?"

Zhen Ai hesitated: "346 meters per second."

Yan Su nodded: "What I just said has already reached the bottom of the mountain, but you haven't reacted yet."

Once again being mocked for her slow reaction…

Unexpectedly, he added, "346 is at 25 degrees Celsius; now it's around 15 degrees at night, so it's only 340 meters per second… but still faster than you."

Mocked for being bad at physics too…

Zhen Ai stood up to pour water for this guy who claimed to be "lacking water in the five elements," also getting herself a glass.

The two faced each other, sipping slowly from their glasses.

"However, it's true that the baseball gold card is missing," Yan Su lowered his gaze, fiddling with his water cup. "The most valuable card in the whole set is the gold card; if collected, such a precious item wouldn't just be left on the table."

Zhen Ai tilted her head, pondering for a while: "Actually, I've noticed something."

"What?" Yan Su looked at her calmly.

"There are two formats for the lost and found forms in the dormitory, and his roommate has one on his desk too, but the date is wrong. It's as if…" Zhen Ai hesitated.

Yan Su stared at her intently: "As if what?"

Zhen Ai gritted her teeth: "His roommate directly modified the contents of the lost items on the previous electronic template but forgot to change the date. His roommate frequently loses things."

Yan Su looked at her meaningfully, the sparkle in his eyes quietly blossoming: "Not frequently losing things, but frequently being stolen."

Zhen Ai found it easy to accept this: "The boys' dorm is so tidy; someone with an organizing habit wouldn't easily lose things; it's likely internal theft."

Yan Su was quite pleased with her involvement: "Moreover, he looks very honest, too honest. Some liars don't avoid eye contact with the questioner as commonly understood; they actually need eye contact to gauge whether others believe what they're saying."

He smirked slightly, seeming to look at a fragile opponent.

"Just like the fourth witness, I forgot her name. When I asked her questions, she answered almost without thinking. It's not a quiz show; a normal person would take a moment to consider."

Zhen Ai felt a bit embarrassed, avoiding his gaze. The slightest change in parameters like eye contact or time could determine whether someone was lying; he truly had a knack for this.

Unconsciously, she bit the glass: "I also think that girl is a bit strange… um, her name is Yang Zhen."

Yan Su lifted his eyes, noticing her small teeth biting his glass. He frowned in silence, wanting to say, "I think you're a bit strange too… um, your name is Zhen Ai."

But he ultimately averted his gaze, ignoring her strange little movements, and continued discussing Yang Zhen: "She doesn't have a boyfriend, but there is someone she likes; she says she isn't obsessive about cleanliness, yet she is."

"I can tell she's clean; her room is tidier than the average college student's. But what about the boyfriend thing?"

"Whether she has a boyfriend is a simple question, yet she hesitated, indicating she has someone she really likes—so much so that when asked, she wished she could answer 'yes.' And don't you find her clothes and cosmetics give off a certain vibe?"

Zhen Ai recalled and thought, "Like Jiang Xin's style?"

"When a woman imitates another woman, it's either because she likes them or she's jealous," Yan Su replied, then suddenly asked, "Did you notice the shopping bags on her desk?"

Zhen Ai tried to remember, "They seemed to be filled with towels and other daily necessities."

"Good memory." Yan Su smiled slightly, seemingly enjoying their leisurely conversation, "But did you notice that there are no old towels in the bathroom, and none in the trash bin either?"

Zhen Ai suddenly realized something: "Yes, no one would throw away an old toothbrush before buying a new one; similarly, a normal person wouldn't discard an old towel before getting a new one, unless that old one has been used for something it shouldn't have been." A flash of insight struck her, "There was a bloodstain that had been wiped clean."

"Smart." Yan Su praised her without hesitation.

Zhen Ai pressed her lips together, suddenly realizing how much he had guided her into this discussion, which made her quite happy, though she didn't show it—just remaining calm on the surface.

After a while, something came to mind, and she looked straight at him.

Yan Su met her gaze, his expression stiffening: "What's up?"

She was surprised: "You didn't analyze their personalities? For example, Taylor is somewhat ambiguous; Wen Bo is very cautious; Zhao He is adept at navigating situations; Yang Zhen has a strange personality."

Yan Su's eyes darkened slightly, and he said disdainfully, "That kind of behavioral analysis will get you killed if you say it out loud."

Zhen Ai shrugged.

Yan Su lowered his head slightly, his light-colored eyes deepening: 

"Infer facts from evidence, sure, but making psychological portraits of others without consent is far-fetched. They are four perfectly normal individuals standing in front of us, not even criminal suspects. It is a mental invasion to speculate about ordinary people's psychology based on one's professional knowledge and reach conclusions. Undoubtedly, this isn't the purpose of my studies."

Zhen Ai was slightly taken aback, impressed by his calm and righteous demeanor.

Such presence and restraint—this is what makes a truly reliable and trustworthy man, right?

No wonder he became a special advisor for FBICIA at such a young age; there must be many with similar expertise, but someone with such clear boundaries is truly invaluable!

Yan Su, unaware of Zhen Ai's thoughts, continued, "Behavioral analysis isn't a standalone discipline, nor is it as mystical as you think. Often, it has to be supplemented by psychology, criminal investigation, and forensics. Remember, sometimes even the evidence can be false."

His voice was low, carrying an inexplicable richness in the night.

Zhen Ai felt a sudden peace within.

They sat in silence for what felt like ages until Zhen Ai recalled something she had been overlooking, "You mentioned that the note was missing three items from the start. I know one is a jewelry box and another is a ring box. But how did you know that note was there before?"

Yan Su reached for a photo hanging on the rope and handed it to Zhen Ai.

It was a close-up of two imprints left on the dressing table after being sprayed with mist, one rectangular and one square. The rectangular imprint had a small triangular protrusion that he circled with a red marker, making it stand out.

Zhen Ai was genuinely impressed; she realized he had noticed this at the scene.

How could one person have such keen observation skills?

Now Zhen Ai understood: "So, the spot where the jewelry box was placed had a note underneath. But now the jewelry box is on the floor, and the note is missing."

"Yes, I had someone check there; there were indeed traces of adhesive. The adhesive from the note."

Zhen Ai immediately asked, "Could the murderer have taken it?"

"Unlikely." Yan Su calmly set the glass on the piano and continued, 

"The jewelry box must have been accidentally knocked over while someone was pulling the note. They had to pull it because their position made it inconvenient, and they didn't want to step in the blood. They couldn't reach it first without picking up the jewelry box.

Some of the items fell into the pool of blood, yet didn't get stained. This means that when the person took the note, the blood on the floor had already begun to coagulate.

I don't think it was the murderer who came back to retrieve it. After all, someone who could spill that much blood and walk away without harm wouldn't forget to take something if they had intended to from the beginning."

He leaned back slowly in his chair, "So, someone had been there before we discovered the crime scene."

Zhen Ai had no questions left; she gazed at him, her mind blank, flowing along with his thoughts.

Just now, he had seemed like a sorcerer, completely controlling her thoughts.

Her mind was a void, only able to hear his calm, rich voice, moving gracefully as if playing the piano, sharing the sparks of ideas in his head. He meticulously dissected the case.

This was a world she had never encountered—evidence, reasoning, details—everything was thrilling and intense. Each subtle discovery could trigger a chain reaction, and at some future moment, a quantitative change could lead to a qualitative one.

What a breathtaking affair!

She looked at him intently, suddenly curious about how his mind worked, longing to dissect it and see inside.

Just then, Yan Su's gaze shifted, meeting Zhen Ai's calm eyes. As always, they were clear yet deep, revealing no emotions, no behavioral or psychological theories to rely on.

It seemed that since their first meeting, after he had perceived so much information about her, he could no longer discern what she was thinking, and she had nothing new to contribute.

Yan Su pondered slightly in his heart; she truly was a strange girl, the more he interacted with her, the less he could see through her.