Chapter 32

Parker's suicide note was neatly written, with clear handwriting and no spelling or grammatical mistakes. The sentences were well-structured, almost like an essay, and even carried a hint of literary flair.

Zhen Ai immediately pointed out a flaw: "Logically, when someone writes a suicide note, their emotions are unstable and tend to fluctuate. This is reflected in their writing through mistakes, short sentences, a lack of logic, and rich emotions. But Parker's note is the complete opposite. This can't be a genuine suicide; it's likely a forgery."

Yan Su pondered for a moment and asked, "So, have you figured out who the murderer is?"

Zhen Ai hesitated and blushed, "I checked the testimonies of the others. Anna came with Daisy, and they spent quite a while at the supermarket before heading to the gym. Kerry was smoking by the roadside since the gym had a no-smoking policy, and there's surveillance footage of him. Qi Mo and Tony walked over from their dorm together. They all seem to have alibis."

Yan Su looked at her and asked, "And then?"

Zhen Ai bit her lip. "There must be something wrong with the alibis or some strange method of killing involved. But with only testimonies, no scene investigation, and it being years later, how could I figure it out?"

Yan Su smiled slightly. "That's true."

After saying that, he stood up and began putting things away into a box.

Zhen Ai felt puzzled. She hadn't yet discovered the cause of Parker's death or the identity of the murderer. "What are you doing?"

"Packing up to go home!" Yan Su glanced at his watch and then at her. "What's wrong? Aren't you satisfied with your curiosity yet?"

Zhen Ai was taken aback by his words.

Seeing her in a daze, Yan Su felt a sudden urge to lean closer to her, resting his hands on the narrow desk. His tall shadow engulfed her in the dimly lit room.

Zhen Ai sat in her chair, unable to retreat, and stared at him with wide eyes, nervous.

He observed her for two to three seconds and found her dazed and slightly confused expression quite endearing. He paused, then lowered his voice and said, "To satisfy your curiosity, I brought you here. So, are you happy?"

His deep voice in the cramped, dimly lit room was quite captivating.

Was he trying to cheer her up?

Zhen Ai couldn't comprehend his thought process and remained puzzled. "Why?"

Yan Su remained in front of her, gazing at her closely.

"Before the concert, you asked me if I hadn't caught the murderer. I might have sounded a bit harsh, and my expression was off, which made you unhappy, so you stopped talking to me. Therefore, I wanted to cheer you up. That's why I brought you here to satisfy your curiosity."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of teasing in his tone: "Did I do well?"

Zhen Ai opened her mouth, trying to explain that she hadn't been unhappy and hadn't stopped talking because of that.

Oh, so this is what it meant to have assumptions and wild imaginations...

But thinking about it this way, his method of trying to cheer her up by bringing her to a midnight interrogation room to see a murder case was... pretty cool! \(^o^)/~

Zhen Ai smiled, "I'm really happy."

"Then let's go!" He had already packed everything.

Although Zhen Ai still had doubts about Parker's death, her real interest wasn't in him or the case but in Yan Su. Her interest lay in how this case connected to him.

But he didn't seem willing to share voluntarily, and there was no need for her to pry.

Today had already been delightful enough.

---

As soon as they got home and stepped out of the elevator, Yan Su muttered to himself, "I'm hungry."

Zhen Ai, feeling cheerful, eagerly volunteered, "I'll make you a late-night snack!"

Yan Su paused for a long time, seemingly holding back something. He didn't want to disrupt the friendly atmosphere they had just built, but truth always takes precedence.

So, in the end, he couldn't help but say, "Although I don't want to discourage you, Zhen Ai, what you make really can't be called food; it's a disaster."

He was already offering to help, yet he couldn't just accept her gesture without being sarcastic?

Zhen Ai raised her eyebrows in annoyance. "That's not for you to define."

"OK!" Yan Su shrugged. "Let's see what the Longman Dictionary defines food as."

Zhen Ai stopped, thinking he was going to fetch a dictionary, but instead, he recited it from memory:

"Food, things people can eat. Clearly, what you make doesn't meet that definition.

On the other hand, the term disaster means a sudden event that causes great damage or suffering, which perfectly describes your cooking."

Zhen Ai felt a lump form in her chest. For the sake of mocking her, he had resorted to such scientific and advanced methods! But her attention quickly shifted.

Rather than being hurt, she was more surprised: "You've memorized an entire Longman Dictionary?"

"Oxford, Collins, Merriam-Webster, Longman, various ones... But that's not the point; you're changing the subject." Yan Su frowned at her lack of scientific attitude, his tone becoming increasingly disdainful. "Hey, can't you speak with some logic and coherence?"

Zhen Ai was indifferent. "Whether I speak logically has nothing to do with you."

Yan Su countered comfortably, "If it doesn't concern you, then why are you speaking?"

"..."

When making the late-night snack, Yan Su wouldn't even let Zhen Ai help. As she reached out to intervene, he coldly shot her down, saying, "Your innate ability to destroy food will affect the ingredients' mood, consequently influencing the outcome of the dish."

Zhen Ai protested, "That statement has no scientific basis."

Yan Su calmly pointed to himself: "When a scientist says it, it's evidence."

It was the first time Zhen Ai had seen him acting so childish. She was caught off guard when she heard him mumble to himself, "Having relied on scientific methods, I occasionally need to use non-scientific ones."

Zhen Ai: …

What a jerk!

Zhen Ai sat by the open kitchen, tapping her spoon against the plate, watching Yan Su as he made the late-night snack, his shirt neat and his movements slow and steady.

The butter sizzled in the frying pan as the white bread cooked to a golden crisp, filling the room with a delicious aroma.

He layered the toast, cheese, egg whites, and ham neatly, creating a square dish with everything halved, the two golden triangles sitting on a plate alongside cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices, making it visually appetizing.

He also freshly squeezed kiwi and lemon juice.

He brought the exquisite plate over, still wearing his indifferent expression. "No need to thank me; what I made can't be compensated with mere words from you."

Zhen Ai's gratitude evaporated in an instant as she took a bite of the sandwich. "Perfect, I wasn't planning to thank you anyway."

Yan Su's expression darkened. "Hurry up and eat."

Zhen Ai pouted at him, with a smudge of butter still on her lips. "What's it to you?"

Yan Su's gaze fixed on the butter at the corner of her mouth, his brow furrowing slightly. That delicate, buttery yellow stuck to her soft, pale skin was just...

Unbearably ugly!!

He pulled a tall stool over and sat down across from her.

Knowing that Yan Su preferred not to talk while eating, Zhen Ai kept the conversation light. They sat beneath the dim light of the decorative lamps, quietly munching away.

At some point, the elevator dinged from the other side of the living room, and to Zhen Ai's surprise, Hai Li walked in.

She paused, quickly setting her sandwich down to wipe her mouth with a napkin, and awkwardly smiled at Hai Li as a greeting. She felt too shy to address her directly like Owen did.

Hai Li returned her smile gracefully, her gaze lingering with a hint of curiosity.

In her view, the dimly lit living room contrasted sharply with the warm glow in this corner, where the two of them were having a late-night snack, giving off an intimate vibe.

Yan Su looked at her quizzically. "What brings you here?"

Hai Li, feeling self-assured, didn't approach them but simply waved her hand as she ascended the stairs. "I just came to grab something." She soon disappeared from sight.

Yan Su shrugged it off as if she hadn't been there at all.

Half a minute later, Hai Li returned from upstairs, greeted them, and left again. Just as she was about to step into the elevator, Yan Su suddenly remembered something and called out, "Wait a minute!"

He didn't say anything directly but stood up, wiped his hands with a napkin, and walked over to her.

Zhen Ai sipped her juice, glancing back out of curiosity.

Yan Su was saying something to Hai Li, who listened quietly, occasionally smiling. Then she even shot a meaningful glance in Zhen Ai's direction. Zhen Ai quickly averted her gaze, feeling quite puzzled. What could Yan Su be telling his mother?

Hai Li took the elevator down, and Yan Su returned to the table, resuming his meal without mentioning the earlier exchange; Zhen Ai didn't pry further either.

After they finished eating, the elevator dinged again, this time revealing Owen, with Eva in tow.

Owen walked over to Zhen Ai with a smile, pulling out a CD from his pocket and handing it to her. Zhen Ai's eyes widened in excitement. "Sanni's piano track! And it's personally signed! Where did you get this?"

Owen shrugged nonchalantly. "I know a friend who's in event planning; it was easy."

Yan Su cast a glance their way, his expression neutral.

Owen habitually patted Zhen Ai on the shoulder before sitting next to Yan Su. "Old Parker brought up the case of little Parker again at the campaign rally for governor. Did you see the news?"

Yan Su responded vaguely, "Yeah."

Eva sat across from Yan Su, tapping the marble tabletop. "S.A., how did you manage it? Why does old Parker always mention his son's case whenever he meets the media?"

Eva Diaz, always composed and calm, sounded unusually worried. "The media has been suspicious about the deaths of those two high-profile kids, and if he keeps talking about it, the focus will shift to you."

"What does it matter?" Yan Su replied lazily, swirling his cup of water. "I don't mind."

Eva sighed in exasperation, "Normally, your indifference is fine, but this time they're saying you—" She trailed off, the unspoken words hanging heavily in the air, but Zhen Ai understood: she meant "made a mistake."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned awkward.

Yan Su continued to drink his water, unbothered. "If I'm not anxious, why are you?"

Eva's expression stiffened, and she shot back coldly, "I was the medical examiner on that juvenile case, and I don't want my reputation ruined because of you." But anyone could tell her words weren't entirely sincere.

After saying this, she stood up and took a few steps, then sighed softly, "S.A., I don't want you to end up like L.J. You're both exceptionally gifted and talented; people like you are the hope for justice. I don't want—no, I'm afraid you'll end up like her, scorned by the world due to a single mistake, with all your past brilliance trampled."

Zhen Ai was slightly taken aback by Eva's mention of "she." So L.J., the professional prodigy like Yan Su, was a woman?

Yan Su set his glass down firmly on the marble table with a sharp sound. His gaze sharpened. "Eva, I can assure you that I didn't make a mistake in that case."

Eva's back stiffened momentarily, her tone forced but still smiling. "I believe in you!"

Zhen Ai felt a wave of confusion wash over her. She had gone upstairs early to search online.

To her surprise, she discovered a commentary piece written by Ryan's journalist boyfriend, Allen, criticizing wrongful convictions, specifically mentioning little Parker's case. In the article, Allen argued that various indications suggested the high school murder case was a serial killing, with little Parker's case being particularly suspicious.

The bizarre circumstances of the death, the unknown codes, and the fake suicide note—all were clever schemes by the murderer.

Yet the renowned forensic expert Yan Su brazenly claimed little Parker had committed suicide. There had to be political intrigue entangled in this!

Allen's scathing remarks about Yan Su left Zhen Ai feeling displeased, but it was the assertion that "Yan Su insisted little Parker committed suicide" that truly shocked her. Why?