After bringing the body back, I temporarily handed over the autopsy work to Zhang Keying and Xie Chuchu, while I sat with Dean Gan in the interrogation room.
"He Sheng, I never expected that this case would involve my Qianlu. What do you think is going on?"
"Dean Gan, have you not noticed anything unusual about Gan Qianlu recently?"
"Her, sigh, actually, let me tell you, I have noticed she's been a bit off lately. You know, she used to be a very well-behaved and exceptionally bright girl. In the Forensic Medicine department, Zhang Keying could claim first place, but she would be second. They were always neck and neck. This time Keying got first, partly due to luck, but my daughter isn't bad either."
"So what exactly has been wrong with her lately?"
"This probably happened about four months ago. It was at night, I saw Qianlu suddenly return from outside. She was carrying quite a few shopping bags in both hands. I thought she'd bought something, but when I looked inside, they were all those Lolita dresses. I was quite curious, wondering what was going on with her. Yet, she replied to me somewhat coldly, 'Dad, why are you so old-fashioned? Do you know what Lolita culture is? Our school has a team of hundreds of people now. If I don't join, I'll be left behind. Besides, Zhang Keying is also in it.'
At the time, I thought if such an excellent girl like Zhang Keying joined, it shouldn't be a bad thing, so I didn't pay much attention. However, a few days later, Qianlu started asking me for money. She told me that the Lolita dresses she'd bought before were fake, and she now wanted to buy genuine ones, but the price was much higher than before. I was hesitant at first, but I couldn't stand her persistent pleas and nagging, so I ended up giving her a few thousand yuan. But she spent all that money in just a few hours.
I asked her where the money went. She showed me a dress in her hand and told me she'd bought that pink dress. I was extremely angry at that moment. You know, our family has never been this extravagant. Plus, I'm the dean of the Forensic Medicine department. What would people think if this kind of thing got out? I was furious and argued with her. As a result, she ran out and didn't come back for days. As time went on, I couldn't bear it anymore, so I contacted her myself. She answered the phone then and said she was preparing to return. However, when she came back, she somehow got money from somewhere and bought a lot more of those Lolita dresses.
That time I questioned her, and she told me not to interfere. I didn't give her money, but she naturally found a way. This continued until just before the academy's graduation this year. I had actually sent people to follow her secretly, but she was always very cautious. The people I sent would always lose track of her midway. And then today, she had an accident."
So, Dean Gan had already sensed something was wrong, but before he could find any clues, his daughter had an accident. I wondered if her obsession with Lolita culture before her death had anything to do with it.
I made a phone call and asked Xiahou and Xiao Yuande to start visiting people in Gan Qianlu's social circle. The school was still investigating. Recently, her classmates, friends, and relatives would likely be questioned.
The school was locked down for about two hours, but we searched for a long time inside without finding any suspicious individuals, so we had to lift the lockdown, otherwise, it would cause considerable trouble for the school.
Arriving at the Forensic Medicine lab, the autopsy was halfway done. Zhang Keying saw me and said, "Is Dean Gan doing better now?"
"He's okay, at least he can still rationally tell me some things."
"That's good. Sigh, he's truly pitiful. At his age, to have his most beloved daughter disappear like this."
"Let's finish the autopsy first. I have something to ask you privately later."
"Oh? Alright!"
As Zhang Keying spoke, she handed me the victim's blood report and said, "We're trying to verify a strange substance."
"What's wrong? Can't you verify what it is?"
"You're right. We've tried this situation before, but this time the composition isn't the same?"
"Is it a toxin?" I asked, taking out the bamboo leaf extractor and inserting it into the victim's body.
"It should be, because the victim's nerves seemed to have convulsed when she was attacked. Also, when I examined her alveoli, I found signs of pathological changes. Gan Qianlu had a habit of smoking frequently."
"Uh, the old dean probably doesn't know this. Otherwise, sigh."
"My relationship with her was so-so. Although I had some contact in the Lolita club, she was quite arrogant, especially after joining our club."
"I see. How about the urine analysis?"
"We couldn't analyze anything from it either. But this substance is a bit cloudy, as if someone deliberately added some chloride to confuse our investigation. This shows their anti-reconnaissance awareness on a technical level. This person must be very skilled in chemistry. Could it be someone like Xiao Yuanba?"
"Sigh, don't mention him. Don't let Yuande hear it."
At this moment, Xie Chuchu said, "I'll handle the remaining work."
I said we still needed to examine the victim's lower body. At that time, we were only investigating if she had been sexually assaulted. However, as I carefully examined the area with a white light, I noticed something stuffed into that position. I quickly got tweezers, carefully picked it out, and pulled it out. It was truly shocking; the entire forensic department was startled. Inside was a red scarf, the kind we usually see elementary school students wearing!
We placed the red scarf on a petri dish. Xie Chuchu said with astonishment, "How could this be? What is the killer's intention?"
"This is definitely not a coincidence; it was done intentionally. Choosing that position on the victim is a complete insult. Their intention is to ensure the victim finds no peace even after death. Also, have you observed any other conditions of the body? Although there were no suspicious fingerprints or hair at the scene, there were several finger marks on the victim's face, from two hands. She must have had her mouth and nose covered by something like a handkerchief, causing her to inhale that strange substance. My bamboo leaf extractor also indicated solid poison invasion."
"When I tested earlier, I found traces of this substance in the victim's mouth and nose. But isn't that normal?" Xie Chuchu asked me curiously.
I didn't say much. I took out some seaweed ash and sprinkled it. Soon, two clear handprints appeared on the victim's face, and they were different. I compared them with the victim's palm. Neither of them belonged to her. This means there were likely two people at the scene at that time.