Chapter 829: Chapter 438: What Is the Motive for the Crime? (2)
She slightly turned her body and raised her hand, indicating the bedroom at the end of the corridor: "She lives there."
Opening the bedroom door, a faint scent of a long unventilated space drifted in.
Wu Yan stood by the door, her tone dropping: "After she left, I only did the simplest cleaning, most things are still here... I keep thinking, maybe one day she’ll come back."
Wan didn’t say much, simply walked into the bedroom and calmly swept his gaze over every corner of the room.
The items in the room were somewhat disordered, the trash bin was already emptied, the bedding and pillow on the bed still kept the impression of someone having slept, with a few strands of long hair scattered on the pillow.
He turned around, calmly instructing his colleague: "Bring the evidence bag over, these few strands of hair on the pillow need to be collected."
Then, he looked at Wu Yan and asked: "Is her toothbrush still here?"
"Yes, I basically haven’t touched her things,"
Wu Yan quickly nodded and pointed toward the bathroom direction, "It’s on the sink over there."
Wan walked into the bathroom, put on disposable gloves, and quietly confirmed: "Excuse me, which one specifically?"
"This one. She hasn’t come back, so I put it away in the cupboard."
Wu Yan opened the cupboard on the sink, taking out a toothbrush with a matching rinse cup.
Wan took it, examined it carefully for a moment, and nodded: "Alright, we’ll take these items back for further identity comparison."
"Currently, it’s just preliminary suspicion, the final result still needs to wait for the official identification report."
At that moment, her voice trembled, almost speaking to herself: "Is it really her?"
"I’ve always hoped, maybe one day she’ll just come back..."
Wan looked at her as she fought back tears, his heart inevitably sinking as well.
"I understand your feelings, none of us want it to be her."
"But if the result really is as such... I hope you’ll face it strong."
After a brief silence, Wan brought the topic back to the case itself, "When you reported her missing, was there any abnormal behavior or emotional changes before she disappeared?"
Wu Yan replied: "She said she worked at an electronics factory, but later when I went looking, I asked several electronics factories in the industrial area, all said there was no such person."
"After the report, the police station also investigated, but similarly found nothing."
"I don’t understand... why would she hide from me? Not even telling me where she worked."
As she spoke, her voice grew agitated and choked, "Officer, you all say, could she have been lured into a pyramid scheme?"
"Can we investigate that direction? I keep thinking, if she’s in such a place, maybe there’s still a chance..."
Listening to her words, Wan’s mind recalled various speculations from earlier investigations.
But looking at the remaining glimmer of hope in Wu Yan’s eyes, he ultimately didn’t say them out loud.
The deceased have gone, perhaps some truths are better left to give the living a thought.
Moreover, it’s also about the deceased’s image in the family’s hearts before they passed.
Finally, Wan simply replied calmly: "The direction you mentioned is already being followed up and investigated, currently, there’s no definite news."
"Once there’s progress, we will notify the family immediately."
After a brief pause, Wan asked again: "Before she disappeared, was there a male friend she was particularly close to?"
Wu Yan shook her head, her tone certain: "We lived in the same house, if she was dating someone, I wouldn’t fail to notice."
"She never mentioned such things. But she seemed especially busy at work during that time, often working overtime, coming back late at night."
"Though she said she worked at an electronics factory, from what I see, her income seemed quite good, her clothing and food were more refined than mine."
"I work at an advertising company, my salary isn’t low, but her spending level was clearly above mine..."
Wan listened attentively to Wu Yan’s account, nodding slightly from time to time.
He pondered silently, for a young woman from a small place coming to a big city.
If eager to change her circumstances, longing to quickly accumulate wealth, the available choices are quite limited.
Besides the deals of flesh that skirt the law and are despicable, perhaps only selling drugs remains, which is more dangerous but also quicker to make money.
After a while, Wan slowly raised his head and swept his gaze meticulously over the entire room again.
"Thank you very much for providing this information. With the situation we have, we can already support proceeding with the next steps of investigation."
After a brief pause, he continued to add: "If during the investigation we need anything else, we will definitely contact you again."
"Of course, if you think of any valuable clues later on, no matter how small, please actively inform us."
Wu Yan quickly nodded after listening, "Of course."
"I grew up with Li Shan in the hometown, we’ve always been very close."
"She has a strong and determined personality, particularly longing for a glamorous life, and that’s understandable, but I really didn’t expect her to suddenly leave without a word..."
Speaking this, her voice choked somewhat, "If you have any news, please make sure to notify me immediately."
"I really... really want to know exactly where she went now, how she is."
Wan nodded and turned to leave.
On the way back, the young officer in the driver’s seat gripped the steering wheel tightly, his brow slightly furrowed.
"Wan, do you think Mr. Jiang’s speculation about Li Shan’s occupation during the meeting last night is very reasonable?"
Wan said slowly: "Of course it’s reasonable."
"Think about it carefully, they went out to work the same, but Li Shan’s income is clearly higher than ordinary, not only earning fast but also often working late overtime."
"Based on what we know, besides that special occupation, there’s no more plausible explanation."
After a long while, Wan said solemnly: "Once this assumption stands, it can provide a clear entry point for our investigation work."
"However, places like that are often a mix of good and bad people from all walks of life."
"Moreover, if the crime scene is in such a place, for the killer to transport a body to an abandoned well in the demolition area, many conditions need to be met."
"Must avoid surveillance, choose suitable transport modes, and ensure not being discovered during transportation."
"This isn’t something done impulsively."
"In similar cases I’ve helped solve before, the first scene is mostly within the transaction venue itself, bodies are usually not moved far."
"But this case defied convention, really baffling."
After a long time, Wan shook his head, "This case seems more complex than we imagined."
Upon returning to city headquarters, they dared not delay at all, immediately sorted, sealed, and sent all evidence collected from the scene to the city headquarters’ evidence laboratory.
Furthermore, repeatedly emphasized the urgency of the case to the lab head, requesting the examination be completed as quickly as possible.
Also reminded multiple times: "Not only should the results be fast, but 100% accurate — it directly affects the investigation’s direction, so can’t be careless."
Once all evidence transfer procedures were complete, they didn’t have time to rest and immediately rushed to the Eastern district to begin a deep investigation into another key figure — Zhang Bin.
While they were conducting a tight investigation into interpersonal relations here, another group of investigators had comprehensively launched visits to residents with previous records in the demolition area.
They needed to verify each person’s movement over the past year, carefully sorting their movements and life dynamics, capturing any unusual clues from massive information.
At this moment, Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Team.
Jiang An was standing alone, contemplating in front of a whiteboard scribbled with clues.
He earnestly wrote "Motive for Crime" in the center of the board using a marker.
Only by accurately identifying the motive can the case see breakthrough progress.
