I Sent You to Take the College Entrance Exam, and You Ended Up Solving a Murder Case?! - Chapter 69

Chen Mo pushed through the crowd and strode inside.

Wu Che and a forensic doctor stood beside a corpse covered with a white sheet, their faces solemn.

Chen Mo walked over and squatted down.

He didn’t immediately lift the white cloth, but his gaze fell on the edge of the cloth, on that glaring red spot.

“What’s going on?”

Wu Che immediately reported: “The deceased, Liu Qingqing, jumped from the rooftop of the dormitory building at around 4:50 a.m. and died on the spot.”

“The preliminary forensic examination indicates that the injury was caused by a fall from a height, and no other suspicious external injuries were found on the body.”

“She was dressed like this when we arrived.”

Wu Che paused, his voice a little dry.

“A red dress and red shoes.”

Chen Mo’s pupils suddenly contracted.

He slowly reached out and lifted a corner of the white cloth.

A young, pale face came into view; it was Liu Qingqing.

Her eyes were closed, and her expression was relatively peaceful, except for the bright red dress she was wearing.

In the dim light of dawn, it appeared eerie and unsettling.

Chen Mo silently covered the white cloth back up.

Where is the person who reported the crime?

“He’s in that car over there, and he’s not feeling well.” Wu Che pointed to a police car not far away.

Chen Mo stood up and walked towards the police car.

In the back seat of the car, two girls hugged each other, crying and trembling.

It was Liu Qingqing’s roommates, Xia Tong and Du Bing.

Chen Mo opened the car door and got in.

“I am Chen Mo from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.” He tried to make his voice sound as gentle as possible.

Xia Tong, who had just reported the incident, looked up, her eyes red and swollen, “Officer… Qingqing, she…”

“Don’t be afraid, tell me everything you know.”

Xia Tong sobbed as she began to recount her story, her words broken and fragmented.

“We were all asleep…when suddenly we received a text message from Qingqing…”

“The text message said… I’m sorry, she can’t hold on any longer…”

“I was so startled that I woke up immediately and quickly woke Du Bing up…”

“We…we ran downstairs…and there we saw her…”

Xia Tong couldn’t continue speaking and covered her face, bursting into tears.

Du Bing, who was standing next to her, was also sobbing uncontrollably.

After they calmed down a bit, Chen Mo continued, “Has she shown any unusual behavior recently?”

“No!” Xia Tong immediately shook her head.

“She was in a pretty good mood a couple of days ago. Didn’t you say the case was solved, officers?”

“She also said that she can finally start a new life.”

“Yes,” Du Bing added, also crying.

“We went shopping together on Saturday, and she picked out this red dress and red shoes herself.”

“She said the color is very bright, and she likes it…”

Did you pick it yourself?

Chen Mo’s heart sank.

Where are her parents?

“My aunt and uncle went back on Friday,” Xia Tong replied, “saying there was an urgent matter to take care of back home.”

Chen Mo nodded and then asked, “Let me see your phones.”

The two girls handed over the phone.

Chen Mo opened the text message interface and saw two identical messages, both sent at 4:45 AM.

I’m sorry, I can’t take it anymore. Goodbye.

Simple, decisive, and without any unnecessary explanation.

Chen Mo returned the phone to them, offered a few words of comfort in a heavy tone, and then spoke to Jiang Xiaomiao who was standing next to him.

“Xiao Miao, take them back to their dorm to rest first, and find a female colleague to keep them company.”

“Yes, Captain.”

As he watched the two girls being helped upstairs, the gentleness on Chen Mo’s face vanished instantly.

He turned around and looked up at the top of the dormitory building.

“Wu Che, come with me to the rooftop.”

The door leading to the rooftop was unlocked.

As soon as I opened the door, a gust of cold wind rushed in.

The rooftop was empty, with nothing but some discarded items.

The colleagues in charge of the survey are busy at the edge.

Chen Mo walked step by step to the edge of the rooftop, where the height of a dozen or so stories was enough to make anyone feel dizzy.

He didn’t look down, but turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire rooftop.

Because of a light rain last night, a thin layer of dust has accumulated on the concrete ground of the rooftop, making the footprints very clear.

A colleague from the technical team walked over and pointed to the ground.

“Captain Chen, look.”

Chen Mo looked in the direction he was pointing.

From the entrance to the rooftop all the way to the edge where they are now standing, there is a clear trail of footprints, the kind made of women’s flat shoes.

The technical team colleague spoke with great certainty.

“On the entire rooftop, there were only the footprints of the deceased.”

“There was no struggle, no dragging.”

“It’s certain that no one else has been on the rooftop.”

Wu Che followed behind Chen Mo, the two of them walking down the stairs in silence, one in front of the other.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze, making it hard to breathe.

It wasn’t until he was back in the car that Wu Che finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse.

“Captain, is it really… suicide?”

The technical team’s conclusion weighed heavily on everyone’s minds like a boulder.

The only footprint.

There were no signs of a struggle.

All the physical evidence points perfectly to that most heartbreaking, yet most “reasonable” ending.

Chen Mo did not answer, but leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

That lonely string of footprints lingered in his mind.

It’s too clear, too “clean”.

But he’s a policeman; he’s seen too many dramas.

The more perfect a play is, the more often its flaws are hidden in the most inconspicuous places.

For example, those red shoes.

Chen Mo opened his eyes and started the car.

“Back to the team.”

…

Fifth Criminal Investigation Team of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The office was brightly lit, but the atmosphere was unusually oppressive.

Guan Yuexing, Yan Guangxu, and several other young team members huddled together, none of them focused on the case at hand.

“What a pity, such a good girl.”

“Yes, I thought she could get through this…”

“What kind of mess is this? In the Hualong Mountain case, she was the only one who survived, and then…”

“Ugh, PTSD is such a terrible thing.”

Chen Mo pushed open the door and entered, and the team members’ discussions came to an abrupt halt.

He walked across the office expressionlessly and went straight into his cubicle.

The team members exchanged glances, not daring to breathe.

Everyone could tell that the captain was in a bad mood.

That’s very wrong.

Instead of letting everyone relax after the case was closed, as he usually does, he immediately turned on his computer and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

Driven by curiosity, Qiao Zhoucheng, who was closest to him, quietly peeked over.

On the screen, a man’s ID photo and personal information are prominently displayed.

Wu Ming, Attending Physician, Department of Psychological Intervention, First People’s Hospital of the City.

Below is his resume: a graduate of a prestigious university, with extensive experience, and a well-known expert in the industry.

And Liu Qingqing’s name was prominently listed among his patients.

“The captain is looking into Liu Qingqing’s psychologist!” Qiao Zhoucheng said to the others in a low voice.

Everyone understood instantly.

“He really doesn’t believe it was suicide!” Yan Guangxiu slapped his thigh, but quickly deflated.

“But she was all alone at the scene, and the rooftop door couldn’t be locked from the inside. Who could have forced her to jump?”

“Yeah, it couldn’t have been done by a ghost, could it?”

In the silence, one of the team members suddenly spoke in a low voice.

“Do you… still remember Wang Xiaokai from Hualong Mountain?”

The moment the name was uttered, the air seemed to grow even colder.