the suspicion of the police station

Because the wooden building had already aged, as soon as Qin Siyang left, the entire building caught fire.

The raging fire was simply 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 arrival of the apocalypse, was reduced to ashes.

The fire brigade searched through the ashes and finally found a charred corpse with a knife, which had turned black from the fire, still stuck in it. They immediately contacted the police station.

Upon receiving the alarm, the police station immediately dispatched personnel to the scene.

The team leader was still Detective Inspector Orlov.

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

Looking at this area, he shook his head:

"Fires like this seem to be quite common recently."

Royelena said, "Yes. As my [Scent Sniffer] sequence ability is known to more and 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 committing crimes."

"Criminals? Was this fire not an accident? Have you already led a team to investigate the scene?"

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

"Take me to have a look."

"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 body of Liu Dazhi, which was unrecognizable.

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 wooden plank that was still burning.

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 beside him 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 body.

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

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

"This area is rather poor, and things like baseball bats are rare. Even if there were 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 surrounding neighbors know anything?"

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

"According to 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 condition the best in this building?"

"No. There are two female workers in a cosmetics factory in this building, and their incomes are both higher than Liu Dazhi's. Both of these two people have mobile phones, and it was they who dialed the number of the fire department and called 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 the 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 to make 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. Whoever went out alone, he would have tied that person up, taken their keys, and then broken into the house to rob."

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

"I'm just saying that it's very likely. As for the specific details, we 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 is probably not 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, why have you come to my small Internet café? Is there anything I can do to cooperate with you?"

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

He had run the Internet café here and had done a lot of things in the gray areas. If any of them were revealed, it would be enough to make him spend a few hard 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 ask 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 may have to come back tomorrow."

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

"Killed?" Wang Defa widened his eyes: "He's just a fat slob. Why would anyone kill him?"

Seeing that Wang Defa's surprise didn't seem to be faked, Orlov 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?"

Even if Wang Defa thought his head off, he couldn't guess that the person who killed Liu Dazhi was Qin Siyang, who had just met him today.

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

"Sir, a burglary is all about seeking wealth and taking lives. You're asking me, but I don't have any clues!"

Orlov thought that Wang Defa probably wasn't a suspect, 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 that someone seemed to have come to find you this morning and you left for a while?"

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

Wang Defa frowned and realized that this young man was probably the one who had been scolded by him for owe the Internet fee before.

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

Wang Defa squinted his eyes at the man and was thinking about how to teach him a lesson.

Hearing what the pockmarked young man said, Orlov 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 find you, when did they come to find you, 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 more clearly 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 him about his personal affairs. Didn't he know what it meant for him to run an Internet café in a slum area? Any of his private matters, if revealed casually, couldn't be handled even by a detective inspector. How could they be talked about casually?!

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

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

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 away for about an hour! I heard you say just now that Liu Dazhi is dead? Maybe it was him who did it!"

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

The pockmarked young man curled 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 cocky, thinking that he was just an ordinary Internet café owner.

Hearing the explanation from the person next to him, Orlov asked again: "Then, what time did you turn on the computer? Can I take a look?"

The person looked at the login information and said: "7:13."

"Okay, thank you."

The fire started at around 7:20, and 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."

"I won't see you out."

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

Orlov led the police officers and left.

"Detective Inspector Orlov, this Internet café owner must be up to something! Why don't we investigate him?" Royelena suggested beside Orlov.

"He certainly is up to something." Orlov lit another cigar: "But you can't investigate his problems. I can't investigate them either before I return to Sigma District."

"But..."

"There's no but. Royelena, don't be curious about everything. Focus only on the cases that have already occurred. That's my advice to you, and I hope you can remember it."

Royelena looked into Orlov's deep eyes and nodded.

After Orlov and the others left, Wang Defa took out his mobile phone, walked into the warehouse, and made a phone 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 aren't decent people. Even if you kill them all, the police station won't be able to trace it back to you..."