The crime scene was already cordoned off with police tape, and onlookers were chattering excitedly about the murder.
Meng Zhao parked by the roadside and walked toward the scene, observing the surrounding surveillance cameras.
This residential area was built too early, back when the concept of property management wasn't popular. Since its completion, it seemed to have been left to fend for itself, let alone any security or cleaning services. Whenever a house had quality issues, no one knew who to complain to. So in recent years, any household with some savings tried every means to move elsewhere. The buildings were mostly empty, and the few remaining residents eagerly awaited the government's demolition order to get one or two new homes.
Meng Zhao glanced around and saw only two surveillance cameras installed on a low wall in front. But judging by their weathered and worn appearance, they probably only served as a token deterrent.
Meng Zhao approached the police tape and was about to show his ID to the assisting police officers when Cheng Yun, who had been eagerly waiting nearby, ran over. "This is our Captain Meng. Let him in quickly." She handed Meng Zhao a pair of plastic gloves. "The road was blocked, I thought you might be late."
Meng Zhao crossed the police line, putting on gloves as he walked toward the victim's location. Cheng Yun followed, briefing him on the scene: "The body was discovered this morning by two middle school students on their way to school. One tried to scare the other by hiding, but unexpectedly found the corpse. She screamed loudly, attracting nearby joggers and walkers, including a streamer who had come out early to gather material. So by the time we got the report and arrived, the scene was already mostly disturbed…"
In front of the community, a peeling protective low wall had a round arch gate. The gate wasn't very tall. Meng Zhao slightly bent forward to enter, then turned right. The far west corner of this building was the crime scene.
Several discarded cabinets were piled in the corner, and the body was hidden in the dead space formed between the cabinets and the wall.
Meng Zhao approached the victim and squatted down to examine the scene.
Up close, the victim's face, heavily and messily made up, was even more shocking. The face was bruised purple and swollen, with several overlapping ligature marks on the neck. The marks showed extensive bleeding, indicating a violent struggle before death.
"Li Jin is still stuck in traffic, rushing over," Cheng Yun said. Li Jin is the top forensic expert who usually accompanies such cases. Unfortunately, she got the case notification on her way to work and was probably stuck in traffic now.
"Mm." Meng Zhao pinched the price tag on the dress—699 yuan, not cheap.
He gently moved the victim's ankle. The heel and pant leg showed severe wear, with abrasion marks extending up to the waist and back.
Meng Zhao put the leg back and picked up a grayish-white hair about five centimeters long from the pant leg. Cheng Yun leaned in to look. "That doesn't look like human hair, right? Dog hair?"
Meng Zhao took a tissue from Cheng Yun, wrapped the hair, and put it in an evidence bag. "See if that streamer is still around. I need to ask her something."
"Okay, got it!"
Cheng Yun hurried away. Meng Zhao stared at the victim, noting the malicious makeup and the dress. This symbolic method suggested the killer's act was either a targeted vendetta or indiscriminate social revenge.
After finishing his observations, Meng Zhao stood up.
His phone rang. The colleague he had asked for help had news. Meng Zhao answered.
"Hey Captain Meng, we found the blogger's identity. His name is Zhou Yan, 28 years old, a freelancer, probably a full-time music blogger. His parents died many years ago; we could only contact his step-parents. His stepfather heard the news and is rushing to the city bureau. Any clues at the scene?"
"There are quite a few clues, but no leads yet." Meng Zhao looked up and saw Cheng Yun waving him over a few meters away. He walked toward her while continuing the call. "Did you find Zhou Yan's residence address?"
"Yes, just sent it to you. He seems to be renting with others."
After hanging up, Meng Zhao approached Cheng Yun.
"This is the streamer from this morning's live broadcast," Cheng Yun said, pulling the girl's arm. "This is Captain Meng. Just answer his questions, don't be nervous."
The female streamer looked barely in her twenties, clutching a selfie stick, shrinking her neck timidly, not daring to look up at Meng Zhao.
From Meng Zhao's angle, he could only see the crown of her head. He frowned slightly. "Spreading the victim's information recklessly—was that you?"
"It's not illegal," the streamer quietly defended.
"But helping the murderer destroy the crime scene and evidence," Meng Zhao said coldly, "that is illegal."
"I don't even know the killer. How could I be helping him!" The streamer looked up, her face showing some impatience. Her voice lowered again due to emotion. Tentatively, she asked, "…Can I start my live broadcast now?"
Cheng Yun…
"…" What kind of big trouble are you trying to get into, girl? Meng Zhao, wrapped in a temper that could explode at any moment, still managed to retain a small group of admirers among the few women at the city bureau. This was entirely because a female colleague in the administrative department had summarized it well: Meng Captain looked better when he was fierce than when he was not.
Meng Zhao's previous sentence was originally meant to bluff her, but now he was too lazy to waste time on her question. Ignoring it, he went straight to the point and asked, "How many people were gathered here when you arrived this morning?"
"Not many, just those two elementary school kids. I have a good sense for news, so when I heard them screaming, I ran over. The people around were timid and didn't dare to approach at first. Also," the streamer glanced at Meng Zhao, her tone tinged with a bit of grievance, "I even specifically told them not to get too close, to help you protect the crime scene."
Meng Zhao remained unmoved. "How far is 'not too close'?"
"Two or three meters? Probably about two meters."
Meng Zhao's gaze fell on the area around the victim. When he had just walked over, he had indeed noticed that there were no obvious footprints around the victim. The corners and nooks, usually rarely visited, should have been covered in a thick layer of dust like the old furniture piled nearby, but now it looked very clean. The killer must have deliberately cleaned the surrounding area when leaving.
"Did anyone bring a dog here?"
"No… absolutely not! I'm afraid of dogs; if there had been one, I would have noticed."
Meng Zhao listened and pondered.
Not far away, Sun Youqing from the forensic department walked over and patted Meng Zhao on the shoulder. "Zhao'er, once you're done at the scene, I'll head over."
Sun Youqing was a few years older than Meng Zhao and his senior fellow apprentice. With a rough, husky voice, he often affectionately called Meng Zhao "Zhao'er" back and forth. At first, Meng Zhao found the nickname a bit strange, but over time he got used to it.
Meng Zhao took out his phone and glanced at the address sent by a colleague.
He called over several colleagues and assigned tasks: "Ren Bin, take people to interview nearby residents to see if anyone witnessed anything last night. Wang Yu, lead a search around to find the victim's phone and personal belongings. Zhou Qiyang, check the surrounding surveillance cameras and piece together the victim's movements from yesterday."
After assigning the tasks, Meng Zhao clapped his hands together once. "Alright, get to work. Be back at the bureau by 11 for a short meeting."
Meng Zhao walked toward his car. Tall and long-legged, Cheng Yun had to jog to keep up. "Brother Zhao, where are we going?"
"I'm going to take a look at the victim's home," Meng Zhao opened the car door and glanced at her. "You…"
"I'll go with you," Cheng Yun raised a hand to her ear. "I promise to work hard and not cause trouble!"
"Then you drive." Meng Zhao moved to the passenger seat and lowered himself in.
Cheng Yun responded and quickly ran to the driver's seat, opened the door, and sat down.
Cheng Yun was the only one among the three interns who stayed. Because she had been scolded to tears by Meng Zhao the most times, everyone at the bureau guessed she would be the first to quit, but unexpectedly, she had stayed until now.
As Cheng Yun drove onto the main road, she received a question tossed by Meng Zhao: "Any thoughts on the current clues?"
"Uh…" Cheng Yun shivered instinctively and quickly organized her thoughts. "First, the large abrasions from the lower back to the back of the legs on the victim indicate that after the crime, the killer dragged the victim almost along the ground to this secluded spot. The killer probably isn't very strong." She paused, waiting for Meng Zhao's feedback.
Meng Zhao hummed, "Continue."
"Second, judging from the violent struggle marks on the victim, the killer's method wasn't skilled and likely not an experienced hand. Third, the killer cleaned up traces at the crime scene after the act, showing some anti-detection ability."
"But since the killer has anti-detection skills and didn't damage the victim's face," Cheng Yun saw no expression change on Meng Zhao's face and continued, "it suggests the killer is confident the police won't find them, which probably rules out a familiar perpetrator? If it's an amateur using cross-dressing to attract attention, Brother Zhao, could the killer be trying to enact a serial killing to get revenge on society…"
Before she finished, Meng Zhao chuckled, then said tensely, "Where did I go wrong?"
"The rest is full of holes," Meng Zhao commented. "Not every killer has the psychological strength to damage the victim's face after the act. Maybe he just panicked and ran after killing."
"Ah…" Cheng Yun was speechless. "Then what do you think?"
"There aren't many clues yet, so I have no theories."
"You don't have any theories but still test me?!" Cheng Yun blurted out.
"I'm not testing you. I'm not your teacher, so why would I test you? It's just case discussion among colleagues."
"Not testing me…" Cheng Yun sighed in relief. "You scared me into a cold sweat."
Meng Zhao said no more and lowered his head to continue browsing Zhou Yan's account homepage.
After a few months at the city bureau, Cheng Yun had roughly figured out Meng Zhao's investigative style. Meng Zhao basically didn't believe in criminal psychology theories; he only trusted evidence. Without sufficient evidence, he was very cautious about any speculation.
The colleagues worked efficiently and soon applied for a search warrant, which was delivered to Meng Zhao.
Meng Zhao took the elevator to the 18th floor and rang the doorbell. After a while, slow footsteps and a drawn-out voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
The door was pulled open, and a young man in his twenties, not very tall, peeked out, sleepy-eyed. "Zhou Yan's not here."
"Where did he go?" Meng Zhao asked.
"How would I know?" The young man was disturbed from his sleep and spoke irritably.
"When did he leave yesterday?"
"Don't know!" The young man answered impatiently and was about to close the door. Meng Zhao stepped aside, using his shoulder to block the closing door, and showed the search warrant. "Police. I'm coming in to take a look."
The young man was speechless.
Inside, Meng Zhao roughly inspected Zhou Yan's living area.
It was a nearly 200-square-meter flat. Zhou Yan shared the apartment with someone else, living in the master bedroom, while Qin Xiaobai occupied a side room. Neither kept dogs. Although Zhou Yan's bedroom was large, the walls were lined with thick soundproofing cotton, and various professional instruments, sound equipment, and recording devices were piled up, making the room not very bright at first glance. The computer was off and required a password to enter, so they had to wait for the tech investigation colleagues.
Meng Zhao stood by the window, which had an excellent view directly facing the city bureau nearby. For some inexplicable reason, he recalled the gaze that had been following him for nearly half a year, seemingly coming from this direction. But now was not the time to think about that, and he quickly cleared the thought from his mind.
Meng Zhao left the bedroom. Qin Xiaobai was still in shock and hadn't recovered. "Zhou Yan was killed? Is that true?"
"Does Zhou Yan often not come home at night?"
"No, he usually livestreams singing at night. These days he went to some online awards ceremony and hasn't been back for a week."
"He didn't come back yesterday either?"
"I don't know about that. I left for work at 4 p.m., and he hadn't come back before then."
"Has Zhou Yan recently had conflicts with anyone or acted abnormally?"
"That… I don't really know," Qin Xiaobai scratched the back of his head. "I work night shifts and sleep during the day, so I rarely see him. Even when we meet, it's just a greeting."
"When did you start living here?" Meng Zhao asked again.
"I've lived here for about a year; he's been here for three months, I think."
"Captain Meng, Chao Ge is here," Cheng Yun ran in. "I brought the property manager too," she lowered her voice as she approached. "Many people downstairs are discussing this, saying Zhou Yan was killed because of noise complaints."
"Noise complaints?" Meng Zhao glanced at Qin Xiaobai. It was just a subconscious glance in his direction, but his deep eye sockets and darker-than-usual pupils gave his gaze a special meaning. Qin Xiaobai felt a chill and quickly distanced himself. "Don't look at me. I work night shifts, so my schedule doesn't overlap with his livestreams. Even if there was noise, it wouldn't bother me. But once when I was off, I did hear it, and it was quite loud…"
"There were indeed neighbor complaints before. The building's soundproofing isn't great," the property manager was quite honest. "The downstairs resident even called the police. Hey, why would neighbors call the police… I heard he's someone who returned from abroad and thinks differently from us."
"Were the complaints and police calls recent?"
"Not recently, maybe two or three months ago. Maybe they installed soundproofing later, because we haven't received complaints since."
It seemed the complaints were when Zhou Yan first moved in. Meng Zhao thought of the thick soundproofing cotton in Zhou Yan's room and estimated the timing. Perhaps after that, Zhou Yan began lining his room with soundproofing cotton.
"By the way, does this building allow dogs?"
"Are there many residents?" Meng Zhao asked.
"Not too many. I need to have my colleagues check the specifics. The city had regulations on dog ownership before, and we've registered dogs here," the property manager said, pulling out his phone to call a colleague.
After a moment, the property manager showed Meng Zhao some pictures received on his phone. Meng Zhao took them and zoomed in. In the building where Zhou Yan lived, three households kept dogs, one of which was directly below Zhou Yan's unit.
"Is that the household that reported to the police?" Meng Zhao returned the phone to the property manager, intending to go downstairs to take a look.
After seeing the property manager off, Zhang Chao put his arm around Meng Zhao's shoulder. "We were just talking this morning about you getting promoted to squad leader, and now the opportunity's here. I heard Old Xu specifically wants you to handle this case, probably as an excuse to promote you. Show them what you got, brother."
"Come on, that's just wishful thinking," Meng Zhao said, pointing toward Zhou Yan's bedroom. "Try to see if you can unlock the computer password. I'll go check downstairs."
"Got it," Zhang Chao replied, heading inside while winking at Cheng Yun. "Little Cheng, you coming with me?"
Cheng Yun was overwhelmed by the greasy wink and quickly followed Meng Zhao, tossing out, "I'm going with our Meng team leader!"
But Zhang Chao grabbed her without asking, "Come help your brother!"
Exiting the elevator, Meng Zhao walked toward the unit below Zhou Yan's. Just a few steps from the door, he heard a faint bark from inside.
Meng Zhao stopped at the door and knocked with his fingers curled.
Knock knock knock.
Woof. This time the dog's bark came closer; the dog was probably right behind the door.
Still no one opened. Meng Zhao lowered his head slightly, listening carefully to the sounds inside, and knocked again.
This time the door opened. Meng Zhao looked up and was momentarily stunned.
—That hurried glance this morning hadn’t mistaken the person after all.
