Chapter 17 Suspicions of the Police Station

Because the wooden building was already old and dilapidated, as soon as Qin Siyang left, the entire building caught fire.

The raging fire was impossible to put out.

When the fire brigade arrived, they could only watch helplessly as the fire burned everything to the ground.

In half an hour, this wooden building with a history of thirty or forty years, a witness to the period before and after the end of the world, was reduced to ashes.

The fire brigade inspected the ashes and finally found a charred corpse with a knife, blackened by the fire, still stuck in it. They immediately contacted the police station.

Upon receiving the alarm, the police station dispatched officers to the scene right away.

The leader was still Detective Inspector Orlov.

Orlov kicked a standing black wooden plank, and the wood cracked and broke into many pieces with a thud.

Looking at the area, he shook his head and said, "This kind of big fire seems to be quite common recently."

Royeliana said, "Yes. As my 'Scent Smeller' sequence is known by more people, they all know that only by using fire can they completely eliminate the scent they leave behind. So, criminals especially like to use fire when they commit crimes."

"Criminals? Wasn't this fire an accident? Have you already led a team to investigate the scene?"

"Yes, Detective Inspector Orlov. Among the ashes, there is a charred corpse. There is a knife in its chest, and it was in a position with its hands tied behind its back. It should have been killed by someone."

"Show me."

"Okay."

Both of them were sequence ability users, and their physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary people. They kicked aside some charred wooden planks along the way and came to the horribly disfigured corpse of Liu Dazhi.

Orlov squatted down, took out a cigar, cut a slit in it with a small pair of scissors, and then lit it on a nearby burning wooden plank.

He took a puff of the cigar and then carefully examined the corpse.

"On the surface, it does seem that he was tied up and then directly stabbed to death in the chest. Hand me a pair of gloves."

A police officer nearby handed Orlov a pair of white gloves.

With the cigar in his mouth, he put on the white gloves and began to handle Liu Dazhi's corpse.

"This person's chin is broken. It seems to be the result of being hit by a heavy object. Any clues?"

The police officer beside him shook his head. "No. The big fire destroyed a lot of evidence. Judging from the deformed state of his bones, it seems to be the result of being hit by a baseball bat."

"This area is quite poor, and things like baseball bats are rare. Even if there are any, they should be made of wood. So, we can't find this murder weapon at all."

Orlov nodded, thinking that the police officer's analysis made a lot of sense.

"Do any of the neighbors around here know anything?"

"Yes. The deceased is named Liu Dazhi, and he worked as a network administrator in a nearby internet café. The time of the incident was probably between 7:20 and 7:25. Before the big fire, his neighbors all heard someone knocking on his door, asking him to throw away the garbage at the door. There seemed to be some kind of argument."

"Based on the timeline, the person who broke into the house, killed Liu Dazhi, and robbed his house should be that person." "Do we know what that person looks like?"

The police officer shook his head. "No one saw him. Because it was too early, many people hadn't woken up yet. The people who heard Liu Dazhi arguing with someone were all those who got up early to go to work."

After hearing this, Orlov didn't respond. He frowned and thought for a while, and then asked, "Was Liu Dazhi's family the best off in this building?"

"No. There are two female workers in a cosmetics factory living in this building. Their incomes are both higher than Liu Dazhi's. Both of them have mobile phones, and it was they who called the fire department and summoned the fire engine."

"Are they married?"

"One is married, and the other lives alone."

After hearing this, Orlov shook his head. "Let's not classify this case as a burglary for now."

"Why?"

Orlov didn't give an immediate answer. He squinted his eyes and took two puffs of his cigar. "If it was a burglary, why didn't the criminal rob that single female worker in the cosmetics factory, but instead robbed Liu Dazhi, an ordinary network administrator of an internet café?"

"Well... Maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment decision?"

"A spur-of-the-moment decision? This person doesn't seem to be like that. First, there was an argument, making Liu Dazhi open the door, and then he entered the house to kill, rob, and set the fire. His methods were skillful and targeted."

"If it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, he should have been waiting here. As soon as someone went out alone, he would have tied that person up, and then robbed him of the keys to break into the house."

Royeliana asked, "Detective Inspector Orlov, do you mean that someone wanted to kill Liu Dazhi?"

"I'm just saying that it's very likely. For the specific details, we still need to investigate further to find out. By the way, you said he was a network administrator of an internet café?"

"That's right."

Orlov looked around. "The person who can open an internet café on the edge of this safe zone probably isn't an ordinary resident with a simple background. Let's go and ask him. Maybe we can get some useful information."

Wang Defa was sitting idly in the internet café when Orlov and the others arrived.

"Yo, officers, what brings you to my little internet café? Is there anything I can do to cooperate?"

Wang Defa looked respectful on the surface, but in his heart, he was wondering which of his deeds had been exposed and attracted these policemen.

He had run this internet café here and had done quite a few things in the gray areas. Any one of them being revealed would be enough to make him spend a few miserable years in the police station.

"We're here, and it has nothing to do with you. We just want to ask you about someone."

"Who do you officers want to know about?"

"Liu Dazhi, you know him, right?"

"Oh, he's the network administrator of our internet café. He's resting at home today. Do you officers have something to ask him? He doesn't have a mobile phone or a computer, and I can't get in touch with him. You officers might have to come back tomorrow."

Orlov shook his head. "No, we're not looking for Liu Dazhi. We're looking for you. Because this morning, Liu Dazhi was killed."

"Killed?" Wang Defa's eyes widened. "He's just a fat and lazy guy. Why would anyone kill him?"

Orlov saw that Wang Defa's surprise didn't seem to be faked, and he asked again, "Do you know if he has offended anyone recently?"

Wang Defa was at a loss. "He's just a network administrator. He only takes care of collecting fees and turning on the computers. Who could he have offended? Even if he did offend someone, who would want to kill him?"

He had talked to Qin Siyang about Wang Defa this morning, but he subconsciously ruled out the possibility that a sequence ability user would go to the trouble of killing a fat and lazy network administrator.

Orlov said again, "According to the on-site investigation, he seemed to be the victim of a burglary. Do you have any clues about this?"

"Sir, for a burglary, it's all about seeking wealth and taking lives. If you ask me, how would I have any clues?"

Orlov thought that Wang Defa might not be very suspicious, but he still asked, "Have you been in the internet café all day today?"

"Yeah, I've been here all the time. You can ask the people surfing the internet here. They can all testify for me."

"That's right, Boss Wang has been here all the time."

"Yes, I can also testify. If Liu Dazhi is dead, it definitely has nothing to do with Boss Wang."

"Boss Wang, I remember you seemed to be visited by someone this morning and left for a while?"

A young man with a pockmarked face said with a smile.

Wang Defa frowned. He realized that this young man seemed to be the one he had scolded before for owing the internet fee.

He didn't expect that this guy would try to trip him up in front of the police today!

Wang Defa squinted his eyes and looked at the man, thinking in his mind how he could teach him a lesson.

When Orlov heard what the pockmarked young man said, he asked, "Wang Defa, is what he said true?"

"It's true." Wang Defa didn't care. Because in his opinion, Liu Dazhi's death definitely had nothing to do with Qin Siyang.

"Who was the person who came to see you, when did he come, and how long were you away?"

"My memory is a bit hazy. Oh, I don't know why, but my head hurts so much that I can't remember at all. You can just ask that pockmarked young man. He probably remembers better than I do."

This time, in response to Orlov's questions, Wang Defa was no longer so enthusiastic. Instead, he pretended to have a headache and avoided the topic.

It was a certainty that Liu Dazhi's death had nothing to do with him. It was enough for him to cooperate a little bit.

This detective inspector with white hair actually asked about his personal affairs. Didn't he know what it meant for him to open an internet café in a slum area? Any one of his private matters, if revealed, would be something that even this detective inspector couldn't handle. How could he just talk about it casually?!

Orlov looked at Wang Defa's face and showed an unhappy expression.

Wang Defa also pretended to cover his head, and peeked out one eye from between his hands, staring coldly at Orlov, full of a warning meaning.

Orlov knew that Wang Defa had a complicated background and couldn't make things too difficult for him without evidence.

More importantly, no matter how he looked at it, Wang Defa had nothing to do with Liu Dazhi's death.

So, he walked up to the pockmarked young man. "Excuse me, do you remember when the boss left and how long he was away?"

The pockmarked young man rolled his eyes and said, "He probably left at seven o'clock and was gone for about an hour! I heard you say just now that Liu Dazhi is dead? Maybe he did it!"

"Bullshit!" A person next to the pockmarked young man said, "Boss Wang turned on the computer for me a little after seven. He was here all the time when I was here. How could he have been away for an hour?!"

The pockmarked young man pursed his lips. "Then I must have remembered it wrong."

Wang Defa clenched his fists at the bar counter. This pockmarked young man seemed to be getting a bit too bold, thinking that he was just an ordinary internet café owner. Hearing the person beside him coming to his rescue, Orlov asked again, "Well, what time did you turn on the computer? Can I take a look?"

The person looked at the login information and said, "Seven thirteen."

"Okay, thank you."

The fire started around seven twenty. Wang Defa didn't have the time to commit the crime.

Orlov glanced at Wang Defa, who no longer intended to cooperate with the investigation, and said, "Boss Wang, if you have any clues, you're welcome to contact us."

"Don't bother seeing you out."

Wang Defa was too lazy to talk to Orlov and the others anymore.

Orlov left with the police officers.

"Detective Inspector Orlov, there's something wrong with this internet café owner." Royeliana suggested beside Orlov.

"Of course there's something wrong with him." Orlov lit another cigar. "But you can't investigate his problems. And I can't investigate them either before I go back to Sigma District."

"But..."

"There's no 'but'. Royeliana, don't be curious about everything. Just focus on the cases that have already happened. That's my warning to you. I hope you can remember it."

Royeliana looked at Orlov's deep eyes and nodded.

After Orlov and the others left, Wang Defa took out his mobile phone and walked into the warehouse to make a call.

"Hello, Old Snake, it's me. Are you free now? Help me take care of someone."

"Yeah, the price is still the same as before. Don't worry. The people who come to my internet café are not decent people. Even if you kill them all, the police station won't be able to pin it on you..."