"Of course, don't you see the long-term, strip-shaped marks on my palms from holding a fishing rod, the blisters on my skin from long periods of docking by the lake, and the deep dark circles under my eyes? These are all signs of my habit of fishing late into the night!"
This suspect, Shan Chengzai, was quite interesting, actually deducing things for us. I asked, "So, was it the same for you on the 28th?"
"Yes. Perhaps you think I don't usually fish there, but why would I go there that day? If you investigate my whereabouts carefully, you'll find that I've fished at many well-known fishing spots in Guangming City, but I'd never been to Wangyue Lake. So, that day, I was curious and wanted to check it out!"
"Do you think we'll believe such an explanation? You know, something happened that day... You might say it was a coincidence, but isn't this too much of a coincidence?" Zhang Keying, sitting beside me, brought up the case that occurred on the 28th.
"I don't know about that. I just went fishing there out of interest. What bad luck it is to be implicated in a murder case. I'm speechless!"
Shan Chengzai spread his hands, resting his elbows on the table, looking utterly helpless.
At this moment, Zhang Keying also looked in my direction. I shook my head, thinking that Shan Chengzai might indeed be a coincidence. However, we would need to observe the situation for a while longer. I decided to send someone to reconfirm his story.
Next was the third suspect. Like Dai Bai'an before him, this fellow wasn't a fisherman. I asked him sternly, "You don't usually fish, so why were you at Wangyue Lake on the 28th?"
"Fishing? Who told you you can only go to the lake to fish? Can't I go there to enjoy the scenery, take photos, or just wander around?" the other person said angrily.
Seeing his reaction, I probed, "But a murder happened that day, don't you know? Or did you see any strange people approaching the area, or anything happen?"
"No, I didn't stay there for more than a few minutes that day. I just took a look and left. Didn't you identify me from the surveillance footage? Don't you know how long I was there?"
"What did you do by the lake then?" Zhang Keying asked.
"Nothing much, just relieved myself and left. I was just wandering around boredly. I'm curious, why am I even at the station? Oh no, this is the provincial department. This is too much..."
This guy put on a rogue expression and deliberately raised his eyebrows to look at Zhang Keying. But I knew he wasn't lying.
I sighed, realizing that perhaps these suspects were all innocent and we had made a mistake.
What a waste of time, how could we have made such a blunder?
However, they had appeared around the time of the incident. Even if it were another detective, they would have suspected them immediately.
Perhaps this was truly a coincidence. There was nothing we could do. When the time came, we had to let them go.
With no leads, I returned to Wangyue Lake. This time, I didn't bring anyone with me. I stood alone by the lake, seemingly observing the environment, but in reality, I wanted to feel the atmosphere.
Suddenly, I noticed a scratch mark in a corner by the lake. I took out the shadowless reflection tube and observed it. I noticed that the scratch seemed to have been made by someone using their feet to jump into the water.
This meant someone had jumped into the lake here before. I immediately put myself in the criminal's shoes and leaped into the water, swimming vigorously. Suddenly, I seemed to understand something. Could it be that the person didn't leave by land?
Fortunately, my swimming skills were quite good, and I could hold my breath underwater for a period of time. When I reached the lakebed, I discovered a crack on the wall not far away!
I swam towards the crack, moving very quickly, my hands almost ignoring the resistance of the water as I propelled myself forward. I clung to the crack and, with a slight sideways movement, passed through.
I thought that if someone a bit sturdier than me tried this, they probably wouldn't be able to get through. Fortunately, I managed. After passing through this area, I slowly noticed the water level starting to recede. Then, I emerged from a crevice into the interior of a cave beneath the road.
There was no surveillance in this area. If the killer had not been captured by surveillance before, then came to the lake, and then escaped from this place, they could have done so without leaving any trace.
So that's it!!
So that's how it was!!
It was the escape route! Now I finally understood. After I came up, I took photos from behind. At the same time, I noticed that the soil in the cave was quite soft. If that person had walked through here, there would definitely be footprints.
As expected, I found a set of footprints in the cave. I followed the tracks and took photos. As I came out of the cave, I noticed tire marks. Judging by the distance...
I returned to the provincial department and handed over the collected evidence to He Xin. She immediately pinpointed a road near the cave: Huanshan Road.
No matter how cunning the killer was, once they left the blind spot of surveillance, they would always be exposed on the road, unless they hid in the wilderness forever. But as long as they dared to show themselves, the police could track them down.
This time, during the road inspection, the traffic management bureau fully cooperated. Around the time of the incident, we found a woman acting suspiciously. She seemed to dislike sunlit areas and kept weaving around before suddenly entering a back alley of a noodle shop.
Xia Hou and I went to the noodle shop and took their surveillance footage. We then continued along that road. After exiting the back alley, we came to a fork in the road. There was no surveillance here. Xia Hou and I exchanged glances. I chose the left path, while Xia Hou took the right.
I continued to advance into the unknown. In fact, we had brought quite a few criminal investigators with us. Now, in a wasteland, we found footprints identical to the ones I had found in the cave. It seemed we had identified the right person.
Now, all that was left was to apprehend her. I called Director Zhang for advice, but he told me that a search warrant could not yet be applied for in this situation, as we didn't even know the criminal's identity.
There was nothing I could do but press on. I didn't know if it was an illusion, but when we reached a certain point, we found ourselves blocked by a huge iron net. We were forced to stop. I thought Xia Hou had found another path, but soon they joined us here.
"What's going on? Where is the other side? I've been here so long, I've never been to this place!" a local police officer told us.