Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In order to solve this extraordinarily cold-blooded murder case, the Tongjiang Provincial Office sent a naval police vessel with advanced equipment to the dock as a command vessel. It was almost midnight, and the police were still busy at work on the vessel.
After they had completed the crime scene investigation, Zhao Yu and the others returned to the command vessel. In the past, when they were investigating and dealing with major cases, the Special Investigation Group that was led by Zhao Yu usually cooperated with the local police.
But this time, at Quliang, the local police gave up the command role directly to Zhao Yu’s team. They did this because they wanted to give all of the power and authority to Zhao Yu.
Although Zhao Yu was good at solving cases, he was too swamped with his important work and case details to arrange so many departments’ tasks with ease. And, as this case was so urgent, he had no time to take on so many extra responsibilities, which would really spread him too thin.
So, he explained this to the local officials, while also requesting that they prepare a small office for them onboard the vessel. That way, it would be easier for them to concentrate on the case.
The local officials obliged readily, as they had never encountered such a ferocious case. Although they had thought that the Special Investigation Group, which was sent by the Criminal Division, would take full responsibility for the case, after hearing Zhao Yu’s explanation of why this just wasn’t possible, they understood.
Besides, they would not dare refuse him, as no matter what, the Special Investigation Group was the highest rank of them all. With that in mind, not only did they arrange the best accomodations for them, but they also deliberately arranged for several of their smartest policemen to assist them.
Zhao Yu knew that the first 24 hours after the incident occurred was the key period to solve the case. As such, even a single minute lost meant a great deal to them. So, as soon as they entered the office, they immediately started to analyze the relevant clues of the case.
At that point, Dou Zili left to investigate the speedboat of the crew. He believed that the man who drove the speedboat back to land from Yongjin Island was the biggest suspect in this case.
In his mind, as long as they could find this person, the case was going to become much clearer. Therefore, he had applied for a closure of the island as he began to investigate the whereabouts of the suspect in Quliang.
Originally, the two survivors were detained on the command vessel. Zhao Yu and the others planned to interrogate them first.
However, an unexpected incident disrupted their plan, and they had to turn their attention to another matter. It turned out that, after the forensics team found the USB in the cameraman’s mouth, they also found a symbol on the makeup artist’s neck, as well as a big cross on Cai Jinda’s belly.
After hearing about these important new discoveries, Zhao Yu had an instinct that this isolated island murder case was more complicated than he had first imagined! Obviously, these symbols were deliberately left by the murderer, so their deciphering the meanings of these symbols was the current top priority.
“The cross was also drawn with an oil brush,” Zeng Ke said, while pointing to the picture on the screen.
He then explained, “The drawing hadn’t dried before it was touched by the clothes, so the cross became a little blurred. If the deceased was still alive after the murderer drew the cross on him, it might have been even more blurred. So, it is highly possible that the murderer drew this symbol after committing the murder!”
“It’s quite strange…” Wu Xiumin frowned and said. “Cefuroxime… And a big cross… Why did the murderer draw such things?”
“The person had already killed these people. If these things were really left by the murderer, then…” Zhao Yu wondered aloud as he looked at the cross on the screen, “The murderer is probably trying to tell us something!”
“Yes, but what?” Wu Xiumin asked. “Cefuroxime is only a kind of cephalosporin anti-inflammatory drug, and it’s also widely used. What could the killer mean by leaving this clue?”
“I… Um…” Zeng Ke pointed to the computer as he offered a hypothesis. “How about this? The makeup artist’s name is Qin Hao. Since the formula was written on her neck, I’ll do a background check and see if this person has anything to do with cefuroxime.”
After that, Zeng Ke began to type on the keyboard.
Zhao Yu suddenly remembered something, and he turned to a policeman who was sent by the Quliang police and said, “Please take these two pictures to the interrogation room and see if the two survivors know anything about cefuroxime and the cross!”
“Okay…” A young policeman hurried off with the computer.
“Team leader…” At that moment, another policeman approached. “The president and directors of Champion Pictures are all here. Would you like to meet them?”
“No!” Zhao Yu said simply. “Send someone to receive them first, and get a closer look at the details of their crew!”
“Alright…” Wu Xiumin left to carry out his order.
Zhao Yu saw that there was no white board in the command room, so he asked another policeman to get one. Meanwhile, in order to not delay the analysis of the case, he took out a large sheet of white paper and began to add the case information on it.
Later, someone brought him a map of Yongjin Island, as well as the details and photos of the various crime scenes, including the photographs in the USB and the images of the cefuroxime and the mysterious cross. Thinking about this case over and over, Zhao Yu felt that something extremely weird!
This case seemed to be totally different from any of the murders that he had ever handled before. If it was only a murder, the murderer should not leave so many clues and make such an effort to be so detailed. As such, Zhao Yu had to wonder…
Who is the mysterious murderer? What on earth is he trying to do?
All of a sudden, Zeng Ke reported to Zhao Yu, while looking at the computer. “I can’t find anything related to cefuroxime, but regarding that cross, I think I have found a clue!”
“Oh?” Hearing this, Zhao Yu quickly came over to the computer. Wu Xiumin also came over out of curiosity.
“You see…” Zeng Ke pointed to the computer and said, “The cross appeared on the scriptwriter’s body. So, I searched the scriptwriter and the cross together, then found this picture!”
“What is this?” Zhao Yu and Wu Xiumin were gazing at a manuscript that was full of words. In a blank place on the manuscript, there was an arrow that pointed to a plus sign, and more words were added after the plus sign.
“What does that mean?” Wu Xiumin was puzzled. “The characters are too small to see them clearly. What’s on it?”
“What this picture shows is actually a script that is commonly used in filming! Actors, directors, scriptwriters and assistants all have such scripts,” Zeng Ke explained. “So, I feel that the mysterious cross should have something to do with the script! And…”
Before he was able to finish, Zhao Yu’s mobile phone rang suddenly, and at the same time, the young policeman who had been dispatched before returned.
“Leader,” the policeman said excitedly, while holding a computer. “I just asked the two people. The actress said that the cross might actually be a plus sign! Apparently, whenever a scriptwriter or director adds to the plot, a plus sign is marked on the script. She also said that Cai was famous for adding extra plotlines, which often annoyed the actors!”
Extra plotlines? When Zhao Yu heard this surprising news, his mobile phone was still ringing. He took it out and saw that it was the forensic pathologist again.
“Hello! Group leader Zhao. If it’s convenient for you, let’s do a video call!” he said before barreling into his explanation, “I’m ready to start! Although the corpse has not yet been examined, we have found a lot of things! I’m afraid they’re very important to the case, so we’d better have a video call! Then, I’ll explain them to you, one by one!”
“Alright. I’m on the command vessel!” Zhao Yu said as he motioned to Zeng Ke to set up the video call.
He then said, “Pathologist Gao, tell me what you’ve found…”
