Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 80

Chapter 80: Entering the Scene

The visual impact was too strong. Liu Jia was so scared she was beside herself.

Qin Luo, holding a wine glass, had a calm expression and said unhurriedly, “People these days will do anything to sell things. It’s just a prank. Why are you taking it so seriously?”

“But the person’s eyes were bleeding!! And his nose and the corners of his mouth… that… is different from blood plasma.”

Seeing is believing.

The live stream room used a high-fill light and a DSLR camera. The details of the skin pores could be magnified. Liu Jia really couldn’t convince herself that it was a deliberate prank. “When he looked up, his pupils were dilated. They weren’t black, they were red.”

His pupils were red?

Qin Luo burst out laughing. She had never heard of a person’s pupils changing color before they died. “Alright, his live stream room has been banned. Isn’t that a good thing? Our competitor has killed himself.”

This was beyond the scope of what a normal person could understand.

Liu Jia was unwilling to believe it. She was operating her phone, checking.

But she unexpectedly found that the platform had not only banned the live stream room that was selling things, but also the blogger’s social media account.

She opened Weibo again.

But Weibo was still calm. Perhaps the live stream accident had happened too suddenly. It had only been banned for a few minutes, and the heat had not yet caught up.

“Ranmei should have some movement.”

Liu Jia switched her hunting ground in the small screen. She was frantically @-ing her employees in the public relations group chat, telling everyone to pay close attention to the public opinion trend tonight, and to inform their own live stream room not to discuss or participate in related topics, and to be cautious in their words and actions.

Qin Luo was also in this public relations group chat. Her phone’s messages were also popping up frantically with Liu Jia’s finger movements.

Qin Luo looked up. It was already ten at night.

The autumn rain outside had not yet stopped. The river was calm, but the air was still restless. The speed of the information flow seemed to have extended the unit of time, which made Qin Luo feel annoyed.

Qin Luo reminded her, “Don’t look at your phone. Eat first. Go home and rest early after you’ve eaten.”

“Do you think I can eat?” Liu Jia pointed to Qin Luo’s bedroom. “I’m sleeping here tonight. I’m sleeping in the same bed with you.”

Qin Luo put down her wine glass. “Huh?”

Liu Jia was typing furiously in the group chat. “I’m not going home. I’m scared. I don’t dare. I’m sleeping here!”

Qin Luo compromised. “Then you can sleep in the guest room.”

Liu Jia looked up abruptly. “It’s not like we haven’t slept together before!”

Qin Luo refused. “The guest room!”

That night, Liu Jia only had one bite of the takeout. Ever since she had witnessed the man in the live stream room bleeding from his seven orifices, her attention had been taken away by the live stream accident.

Although she said she was scared, her spirit was excited. Qin Luo watched her shake her leg all night, her fingers clicking and scrolling on the screen without a break.

The sense of curiosity was like a giant beast. With just a few splashes in the wave of information, a person would be quickly swallowed up.

Four in the morning.

“I can’t believe it!!!”

Lin Puping had only slept for three hours in his dorm when he was called to the scene by the director.

Before he came, he had complained: what kind of murder case would require an incompetent intern assistant like him to be called in the middle of the night? It wasn’t until he was at the scene and saw more than forty police officers surrounding the scene that he understood that this murder case was no small matter.

He had heard that the victim this time had died in a live stream. At that time, there were more than 30,000 people watching the live stream, so after the accident, it had spread very quickly and had a wide impact.

He had also heard that the internet security had been doing their best to control the fermentation of public opinion, but they couldn’t stop the netizens’ curiosity. Now, at four in the morning, the internet was still not quiet.

He couldn’t imagine how explosive the news would be at eight in the morning tomorrow.

“Delete the photos you just took.”

A colleague from the criminal tech team was holding an iron box and warned Lin Puping, who was looking at the news on his phone. “After you’ve deleted them, hand over your phone, and then you can enter the scene.”

Lin Puping had never encountered a scene where he had to hand over his phone to enter. He looked up at Director Shen to confirm.

“Delete the photos.”

Shen Yiyi instructed, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She turned to the criminal police officer in charge of the case and said, “This is a high-end residential complex with strict property management. We probably won’t find anything downstairs.”

“Even if we can’t find anything, we can’t let it go. After all, this person’s death is too bizarre, and the attention is too great.” The one who had taken the case was an old criminal police officer. He sighed.

“I watched the live stream replay on the way. The possibility of poisoning is high. We’ll confirm it further when we go up in a bit.”

The criminal tech investigation team had already been at the scene for thirty minutes. It took time to measure and draw. Shen Yiyi had to quickly study the investigation direction with the person in charge of the case. There was no rush.

“Have the family members been notified?”

“Yes, his girlfriend has been taken to the police station for a statement.”

Shen Yiyi frowned. “Girlfriend?”

The old criminal police officer nodded. “His girlfriend is also a small internet celebrity. Because their relationship was not public, she specially requested to be questioned alone at the police station.”

Shen Yiyi did not continue to ask. She had seen too many strange relatives at the police station.

It was not a new thing for a cross-dresser to have a girlfriend, but from this, it could be confirmed that the deceased’s interpersonal relationships were definitely not simple.

Director Hong was talking to his superior. And Lin Puping had already put on his shoe covers and was pulling the toolbox, preparing to go up the elevator with Director Shen. Before he left, he only heard Director Hong say comfortingly, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Lin Puping smiled. It wasn’t until the elevator doors closed that he rolled his eyes and turned to look at Shen Yiyi. “It’s already light. Are you up for it?”

“It’s fine. I slept for a while during my shift just now.” Shen Yiyi took out two more masks from her pocket and handed them over. “The situation of the case is special today. Wear a mask when you go in.”

The elevator reached the floor.

At five in the morning, the first ray of sunlight had not yet arrived. The lights in the corridor were flickering.

A group of criminal tech police officers were surrounding the door of apartment 1004. Everyone was tiptoeing, passing the evidence signs, afraid of waking up the neighbors on either side.

The elevators on the east and west sides had already been cordoned off. Shen Yiyi bent down and ducked under the cordon, looking left and right. One elevator served two households, and there were four households on one floor. The public area was very large.

She looked up.

The resident opposite the deceased had installed a video doorbell on their door, and the resident in the middle had also installed a real-time surveillance camera above their door.

Lin Puping also noticed that something was wrong. “There’s a media park nearby, so this complex is a gathering place for internet celebrities. Normally, the property management should be very safe. Why does every household have a surveillance camera?”

Shen Yiyi took the case from the assistant’s hand, squatted on the ground, and began to look for protective clothing. “You take the stairs and scan the floors above and below. See if the other floors also have surveillance cameras.”

Lin Puping was quick on his feet. He turned and ran upstairs.

By the time Shen Yiyi had put on her foot covers and corrosion-resistant gloves, Lin Puping had run back, panting.

He shook his head. “There’s one family upstairs with a surveillance camera. There are none downstairs.”

“The residents of high-end residential complexes all value their privacy. One elevator serves two households, but two households have installed surveillance cameras. There must be a security concern.” Shen Yiyi explained to him, “In an environmental profile, security and privacy are also factors to be considered. If they are often harassed, then the perpetrator’s direction will be clearer.”

Lin Puping nodded and also put on his shoe covers.

Shen Yiyi stood up and opened the shoe cabinet outside the door. After a couple of glances, she added, “They’re all luxury brands, and they’re not cheap. There’s no worry of them being stolen, which means this family is not very concerned about security issues.”

“There’s no doormat either.”

Just as Shen Yiyi was about to enter, she ran into a colleague from the criminal tech team. She asked, “Are there any suspicious footprints at the door?”

The one who spoke was the director of the criminal tech department, Old Feng. “There are a few blurry ones outside the door. We’ve collected three inside the door. Besides the deceased, there are two others with smaller shoe sizes. At the primary crime scene, there are only the deceased’s sock prints.”

Lin Puping, who was standing behind the director, secretly peeked into the room and exclaimed, “This isn’t a home. This is clearly a warehouse. Is this 120 square meters? How can anyone live in such a mess?”

Old Feng looked back into the room and sighed. “This person is a live stream host. The house is full of goods, piled up everywhere. The investigation is indeed very difficult.”

Shen Yiyi also frowned.

Looking up, she saw a one-meter-high fill light, a discarded ring light, and a tripod abandoned in the corner. There were also countless cardboard boxes, a dazzling array of makeup boxes, and promotional props piled up randomly.

The living room was like a blocked game of Tetris, not a human living space.

She walked around Old Feng and followed the laid-out path into the room. “Little Lin, you can go and connect with Director Feng about the examination documents.”

While the assistant was handing over the documents, Shen Yiyi quickly looked around the scene.

Although it was messy, there were traces of it having been tidied up.

There were clean wine glasses next to the wine bottles, a wet tissue in the ashtray, and unopened samples and advertising leaflets were listed on the display rack. The boxes were also arranged in order of size.

Shen Yiyi specially walked to the refrigerator and opened the upper level to observe. The first thing that caught her eye was the randomly placed beer.

Then, on the second level, there were neatly arranged eggs and stacked face masks.

She casually took a jar of fermented tofu from the corner, checked the date, and after confirming that it had not expired, she casually closed the refrigerator.

Shen Yiyi walked toward the crime scene, but she couldn’t help but stop when she passed the sofa. Her gaze fell on the cushion, and her furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

For someone with OCD, this kind of symmetrical and harmonious visual effect could indeed relieve anxiety.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Yiyi looked around and walked toward the primary crime scene.

The study door was open, and the deceased was lying flat on the ground.

Clearly, the first police officer to enter the crime scene had touched the body to confirm the victim’s condition. The golden wig was slightly askew, revealing a buzz cut with a net cap.

Half of his face was still covered in foundation. Because it had mixed with the blood and the rapid failure of his organs, the foundation was as smooth as prickly heat powder. The livor mortis had already begun to appear around the foundation.

Looking closer, you could see a large area of blood extravasation, blisters on parts of the face, and slight peeling of the skin.

There were signs of chemical burns.

Before Shen Yiyi could squat down, Lin Puping came in.

But he only looked for a couple of seconds before he felt nauseous. “This wig on this face, ugh, it’s too much of an impact.”

Especially the contrast between the dark purple spots and the foundation, it was very much like an undertaker had already carefully dressed him up.

Shen Yiyi felt that she had seen this scene somewhere before. She squatted down, opened the deceased’s eyelids with both hands, and shone a flashlight on his eyeballs. The dilated pupils were looking back at her.

She closed her eyes, and suddenly, from the gap in her memory, she saw Qin Luo, and her laptop bag… For some reason, a line of dialogue came to her ear:

Shen Yiyi opened her mouth, and her voice overlapped with that strange voice:

“There are traces of a woman having lived in this place.”