The Brain Science Case 101

Chapter 101: The Psychologist – 8

The incident occurred in a single-story house in the Xindian district, a traditional detached building.

In addition to that building, a nearby church was also deliberately set on fire, but because the alley next to it was empty, the firefighters quickly brought the fire under control.

Lian Huizhu’s driving was not as fast as Zhou Jinglin’s, which somewhat deepened Tang Yingli’s anxiety. She was silent for the entire journey, only tapping her foot on the floor mat.

Finally arriving at the scene, Fang Zijun and other police officers were on the outermost perimeter, directing traffic. Many onlookers were blocked behind the police cordon, and two fire trucks were already fighting the fire.

“Chief Fang.”

“Teacher.” Fang Zijun recognized the owner of the black dress and quickly notified the police to let her through. “You were in class, weren’t you? I’m so sorry.”

Looking at the still-burning house, Tang Yingli pursed her lips and said, “I heard someone died.”

“Yes, the owner, Mrs. Xin Sumei, an old lady in her sixties, had difficulty walking. She was probably still resting when the fire started… we’ve asked all the neighbors, and no one saw her escape. It’s probably not good.” Fang Zijun noticed Lian Huizhu next to her. “This is…” She looks a little familiar.

“Hello, Chief. I’m Lian Huizhu. I just gave a speech at the Criminal Investigation Bureau the other day.”

“Ah, right, right. Dr. Lian.” He pointed at Tang Yingli and her and asked in confusion, “How did you…”

“I’m Senior Yingli’s…”

“Let’s talk later. Can we go to the scene now?”

“The fire should be under control… I’ll ask.” Fang Zijun used the radio to contact them, and after a while, he nodded. “We can. Teacher, this way, please.”

Without waiting for Fang Zijun to lead the way, Tang Yingli was the first to run to the fire. “Teacher.” Fang Zijun was shocked, glanced at Lian Huizhu, and also ran in.

Tang Yingli had left her coat at the hospital, and in just her dress, she braved the evening chill. But the building still retained some warmth, so it didn’t feel cold.

The firefighters at the door were surprised by her appearance. She held her black skirt and walked into the courtyard like a swift cat.

Before she got close to the house, the owner’s body was carried out in a body bag. She glanced at it. “Where did you find her?”

“Uh, in the living room.” The firefighter pointed to the approximate location. “Near the back door of the inner courtyard. She probably had trouble walking and couldn’t escape in time…”

She ran in that direction and vaguely heard a firefighter shout, “The structure of the whole house has been damaged. Be very, very careful.”

The scene was a mess, with foam and water stains everywhere. Her high heels were a little unsteady on the muddy ground. She circled the house and came to the other side of the living room, where the owner had been found.

“Senior… senior, wait for me.” Lian Huizhu finally managed to get past the police and firefighters, and almost slipped on the wet ground.

Seeing that Tang Yingli was about to get close to the house, Fang Zijun tensed and immediately reminded her, “Teacher, the house’s structure is a little damaged. You must…”

She rested her chin on her hand. “Why did she come here?”

“Huh?”

“The firefighter just said the owner was found here, but the back door is clearly blocked.” She pointed to a cabinet placed at the back door. “Would a person with limited mobility run in a direction where they can’t escape when they encounter a fire?” It was illogical.

“This… could it be that she was looking for something valuable…”

“Let’s go in and see. We can also find the cause of the fire at the same time.” Tang Yingli walked further in, and it seemed she was planning to circle the house once before searching inside.

“T-Teacher.” Fang Zijun touched his forehead. “Why do I feel like the teacher has been infected by Jinglin?” Her actions had become particularly proactive.

“Hasn’t she always been like this?” Lian Huizhu smiled and followed without hesitation.

Under the eaves of the house was a circle of concrete-paved corridor, slightly raised to prevent flooding. At the bottom of the corridor were small drainage openings.

Tang Yingli looked inside through the window and found a particularly charred spot, and the concrete outer wall had also started to crumble from the high heat.

“Miss, don’t get too close. It’s dangerous.”

“Is this where the fire started?” she asked, looking up and meeting the eyes of the firefighter who had warned her.

“Uh… it should be.”

“What caused it?”

“We’re not sure yet. But it might have been an overheating fire caused by an electric heater.” The firefighter speculated, “Sigh, the new year has just passed, and the weather is still cool sometimes. Old people leave their electric heaters on all day, and if they put a towel or a blanket next to it, it can easily catch fire…”

Strange, was it an accident and not arson…?

Her index finger on her glasses, Tang Yingli came to the main entrance and was about to step inside—

“W-a-i-t a m-i-n-u-t-e.” Lian Huizhu rushed to her side, holding two yellow helmets. “Wear this. The roof has already partially collapsed.”

“Where did you get…”

“I borrowed them. Just put it on,” Lian Huizhu said in an irrefutable tone.

Looking at the helmet held before her, Tang Yingli sighed, fastened the strap, and then put on her gloves to search.

“The power is off, right?”

“I don’t know… but there’s so much water on the floor, I think so.”

Her bag was left in Lian Huizhu’s car. Tang Yingli used her phone as a flashlight and walked straight to the spot where the firefighters had found the owner.

Looking around at the charred and messy room, with the lingering heat and the smell of burning, Lian Huizhu couldn’t help but cover her nose. “Do you always… come to the scene to search like this, senior?”

“You mean my clothes?” Seeing Lian Huizhu nod, she answered nonchalantly, “Yes, unless it’s a special occasion, I always wear this.”

This occasion is not special to her? “But wearing high heels here…”

“It’s very convenient.”

As if she had noticed something suspicious, Tang Yingli squinted and walked closer.

Actually, Lian Huizhu had wanted to say “it’s a shame.” Her satin high heels must have been expensive, and they were ruined by the dirty water and foam on the floor.

But to her surprise, her answer was even more shocking. Convenient? What did she just hear?

The silver-white light circled over her head and then to the spot where the owner was suspected to have fallen. The windows were almost all closed, and it was more likely that she had been knocked out by the high heat and had died of smoke inhalation than that she had been burned to death.

This space behind the living room was filled with a lot of cabinets, and it looked like a warehouse… but what really caught Tang Yingli’s eye was something hanging by the window, like a cage.

Walking closer, she saw that there really was a bird inside. But it was already dead, its feathers were all blackened, and it was lying at the bottom of the cage.

But what really puzzled her was that its neck was broken at an unnatural angle.

She took out her flashlight to examine it carefully and reached for the ring. This was at a low point of the eaves, so the ring was also very low, about 160 centimeters, which also showed the owner’s actual height.

“Is that… a birdcage?”

“Yes.” Seeing that Lian Huizhu, who was a head shorter than her, had come over, she let out a small “Ah.” “You’re just in time. Try to get this.”

“Me?” Lian Huizhu was confused and reached for the ring as she was told. “Like this?”

She could just reach it. “Yes, that’s fine. How tall are you?”

“I… I’m only 152.”

“About right.” The test was complete. She pushed Lian Huizhu away and tried to open the birdcage to get the charred bird.

“Hey… senior, you… is this all I’m good for?” As a measuring stick. Lian Huizhu suddenly felt like crying.

“You’ve been a great help.” But her tone was very perfunctory. Tang Yingli carefully examined the bird in her hand with the light. “Its neck was broken?” And it was done very decisively and brutally.

“Huh?”

She squinted. “This case… may not have been an accidental fire.” She put the bird back in the cage, looked down at the spot where the owner had died, and then quickly went to the bedroom, the suspected point of origin of the fire, to investigate.

The bedroom was very dark and messy, and the charred corner reached the highest point of the wall, and had even broken through the roof tiles, which showed the intensity of the fire at that time.

Bending down to look for possible clues, in the pile of charred waste, Tang Yingli found what looked like the point of origin of the fire.

An electric heater. It was an old-fashioned heater with a heating tube, and besides the basic switch and a timer, there was nothing else.

“It’s so badly burned… is this where the owner was burned to death?”

“No, it was just now.” After carefully checking the timer, Tang Yingli pushed up her glasses. “Huizhu, come and take a picture of this for me.”

“What is it?”

“Take a picture of the style and model of the electric heater… and most importantly, the scale of the timer.”

Lian Huizhu was not wearing gloves, so she could easily operate her phone. Just as she was taking the picture, Fang Zijun had already entered the scene with the detectives.

“Teacher, we’re here to collect evidence… did you find any suspicious points?” he asked, noticing that they were gathered around the small electric heater.

“The reason the owner went to the back door, I guess, was to save her beloved pet.”

“Huh?” Fang Zijun and Lian Huizhu exclaimed at the same time.

“That bird, you can see a birdcage by the window in the back of the living room, but unfortunately, it was already dead before the fire started.”

She stood up, and the lenses of her glasses flashed with the white light of the flashlight. “It was killed by an intruder.”

“So, you mean, Teacher…”

“This was a deliberate arson, and the tool the killer used was this.” She pointed to the charred old electric heater. “Using a timer, combined with the messy clutter here, as long as it was properly covered, and they waited for the flammable material covering it to catch fire, they could kill someone.”

“But… I received a report that a witness saw someone throw a flammable object at the house…”

“A flammable object?” New information.

“Yes, something like a homemade Molotov cocktail. You might not have noticed when you were busy looking at the house just now.”

“But the traces left at the scene show that this was the real culprit. But there’s still one suspicious point…” she pointed to the electric heater and rested her chin on the back of her hand, “I didn’t find a walker.” She had heard that Xin Sumei had difficulty walking.

“A walker?”

“To put it bluntly, a cane. I didn’t see one in the room or at the scene of death. That thing should have been inseparable from her. If she didn’t have it…”

“Senior.” Lian Huizhu was almost on the ground, her pale yellow sleeve deep in the muddy water. She looked up at Tang Yingli, her eyes shining. “I think I found what you were talking about.”

“Oh?”

She pointed to the inside of the raised bed. Tang Yingli bent down and saw a single-handed walker buried deep underneath. The part that touched the ground had four points, which was very common. She reached out and pulled the cane out.

“It’s almost certain.” This cane was in a place it shouldn’t have been. “This was a deliberate arson and murder…”

“Chief.” Chen Huomu’s intervention interrupted her conclusion. “He’s back.”

“Who?”

“The owner’s son.” He pointed a thumb at the main door behind him. “The one who works in banking.”

Taking off her gloves, Tang Yingli squinted. “Where is he?”

“He’s at the main door, crying his eyes out…”

Pushing up her glasses, her rose-colored lips lifted slightly. “I’ll go and see him.”