Chapter 7: Criminal Investigation, Route Analysis

The garden of the Public Security Bureau's residential compound. "Your eyes are so swollen, you must have been crying all day, huh?"

"Who's crying?!"

Zhou Lepeng snatched the hamburger from Lin Che's hand, took a bite, and as soon as a tear fell, he immediately wiped it away. "Tell me, why do you like her comics?"

Zhou Lepeng looked down at the hamburger in his hand, silent for a few seconds, "Because her comics make people believe in beauty. I believe only someone with a beautiful heart can draw such heartwarming stories."

Zhou Lepeng turned his head, looked at Lin Che with determined eyes, "Cousin, I still think Little Feather wouldn't commit suicide."

"Why do you say that?"

Zhou Lepeng took out his phone, opened his Weibo, and handed it to Lin Che—the private message chats had started a year ago. Initially, they discussed issues in the comics, and gradually they talked more. Although this cousin of ours almost never mentioned his father, whom he had never met, in front of his mother and himself, Lin Che knew that his feelings towards his father were complex. The fact that he could talk about his father with Little Feather proved that he truly regarded her as a trustworthy friend. Lin Che pointed at the private messages on the phone, "Have you met her?"

Zhou Lepeng nodded, "She would go to the bookstore near our school, and we met once. I know she has suffered from depression, but she is really the most optimistic person I have ever met. She said that people should live for themselves, the beauty of life lies in feeling the beauty, this is something she realized after several close calls with death. Cousin, how could someone who says such things possibly commit suicide?!"

Lin Che saw the last private message—it was Little Feather telling Zhou Lepeng that she was going to travel to New Zealand, Zhou Lepeng said he was envious, and she replied—[Study hard, I'll scout the way for you first.] followed by a very cute emoji. "When you chatted with her recently, did you notice anything unusual?"

Zhou Lepeng shook his head unhappily, "It's because everything was normal that I don't believe she would commit suicide!"

Zhou Lepeng took a bite of the hamburger, suddenly thought of something, and stood up in a flash—"Right!"

Zhou Lepeng grabbed Lin Che's arm, the hamburger in his hand directly fell onto Lin Che's jacket, "I remember, last month when I was with her at the bookstore, she received a call but hung up immediately, her face didn't look good, and then she didn't log into Weibo for almost a week."

"Which day exactly?"

"Let me see."

Zhou Lepeng took the phone, flipped through the records, "October 6th!"

"Okay, I know, I'll check it out."

"Cousin, are you investigating Little Feather's case?! She didn't commit suicide, did she! I forgot, you have confidentiality regulations..." Lin Che stood up, rubbed Zhou Lepeng's head, "Lele, you have to understand, people's psychological emotions are very complex, Little Feather might have committed suicide."

Zhou Lepeng nodded, "Yeah, I know...""But also believe that the net of justice has wide meshes, but it lets nothing through, the truth won't sleep in the night."

Zhou Lepeng was stunned for two seconds, excitedly shouted at Lin Che who had already walked a few steps away, "Cousin, I believe in you!"

Lin Che waved his hand as he walked forward, he had already got the answer from this trip. Song Ying also learned about Little Feather's death from the internet, worried that her son was not in a good mood, so she cooked a big table of dishes. "Mom, I'm back!"

Song Ying came out of the kitchen wearing an apron, looking at her spirited son, somewhat puzzled, "Lele, are you okay?"

"Don't worry mom, cousin and I have talked, I won't let this affect my studies."

Song Ying's face lit up with joy, "That's good, that's good, go wash your hands, there's one more dish and we'll eat."

Song Ying turned back into the kitchen, Zhou Lepeng walked into Song Ying's room, took out a black and white photo from the bottom drawer of the bedside table. "Dad, cousin is right, the truth won't sleep in the night."

—Director's office. After listening to Lin Che's report, Director Wang's frown deepened, "The points you mentioned are indeed suspicious."

"Director Wang, although these suspicious points cannot serve as evidence, I believe that since they are suspicious, they must be thoroughly investigated. I know the public opinion pressure is great now, which is why we should be even more cautious. Once the case report is issued, there's no chance to change it."

"Do I need you to tell me this?"

Director Wang glared at Lin Che, "The province requires a case report within 24 hours, now to apply for a criminal investigation of the case, relying solely on the suspicious points you mentioned, how am I supposed to report to the leaders?"

As soon as Director Wang finished speaking, the fax machine behind him rang. "Director Wang, your report materials have arrived."

Just as the fax came in, the office phone rang, it was from the criminal psychological consultant of the bureau, Professor Xie Datong from the Criminal Justice College of Jiangzhou University. Lin Che knew that changing the investigation direction of the case from suicide to homicide, relying solely on a few suspicious points was not enough, so when he returned to the police station from the residential building, he contacted Professor Xie, and had Xu Yang transmit the relevant materials. Xie Datong is a specially appointed expert consultant of the bureau, in recent years many troublesome cases were solved by his psychological profiling to identify suspects, his opinions can be used as reference materials. Through Professor Xie's analysis, he believes that, based on the current information, Zhou Xinyu had no psychological reason to commit suicide. After hanging up the phone, glancing at Lin Che, "Don't you know how urgent this case is? Still standing here? Hurry up and investigate!"

"Director Wang, what about the public opinion office?"

"I'll handle it."

Director Wang took the police uniform jacket hanging, dialed the internal line, ready to go to the provincial department to report to the leaders. Before leaving, pointing at Lin Che's nose, "Kid, I'll take the pressure from above for you, at most give you three days, find the reason for suicide, find the murderer for homicide, otherwise I'll transfer you to the public opinion office to answer phones!"

Lin Che saluted, "Yes! Guaranteed to complete the task!"

"Good answer, hurry up and get lost, work hard, later I'll have someone bring you supper."

These days, the 12th floor is again brightly lit. "Captain Lin, the person has been brought back."

Lin Che closed the information in his hand, stood up, "Let's go, to the interrogation room."

"Is there any problem with this convenience store owner?"

Li Li followed behind Lin Che shaking his head, "Xiyangyang checked, no problem, Old Du and I went around to investigate, didn't find anything either. Just one thing, I think it's quite strange."

"What?"

"This convenience store is in the old residential area behind Zhou Xinyu's home. We saw that on the way from Zhou Xinyu's home to this convenience store, there is a supermarket, and two 24-hour chain convenience stores, you can buy milk anywhere, why would Zhou Xinyu go out of her way, through an alley with no surveillance and very dim streetlights, to this convenience store to buy milk?"

Lin Che nodded, "Indeed doesn't make sense, let's ask carefully later."