The incident had occurred by the river once again. From a distance, police had already set up a cordon. Song Xing, Section Chief Xu from forensics, Forensic Doctor Chen, and even Li Qian were all bustling around the scene.
As soon as Wang Ruijun parked the police car, Zhang Yi'ang eagerly opened the door and stepped out, hobbling toward the scene on his own with the help of two crutches.
The moment he crossed the cordon, an officer shouted inside, "Director Zhang is here!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over. After a few seconds of silence, all the officers on the scene suddenly burst into applause, leaving the onlookers outside the cordon utterly confused. They wondered who this disabled man with bandages on his backside was, and why all the officers seemed to light up at the sight of him.
The officers on duty collectively gathered around him. Even the usually aloof Forensic Doctor Chen straightened his herniated-disc-plagued back and quietly remarked to his apprentice, "Truly, the younger generation is formidable. As deputy director, he risked his life alone, facing a group of armed criminals unarmed and unflinching, ultimately capturing them all. Hmm... remarkable!" He gave a thumbs-up.
"Director, how are your injuries?"
"You should rest properly. Leave this case to us—we’ll get to the bottom of it!"
"Director, you’re my idol!"
Everyone expressed their admiration. In the past, their respect had been due to his leadership position, but now he had become a true hero in the eyes of the detectives—a man who risked everything and achieved a miracle in solving the case.
In the crowd, Li Qian smiled at him, her lips curling upward. Not only had Zhang Yi'ang risked his life to save hers, but she had also been fully involved in the final breakthrough of the case. Over the past two days, the entire Criminal Investigation Division had looked at her with newfound respect.
"I’m fine, thank you, everyone! Where’s Lu Yibo’s body? I’ll take a look."
Everyone marveled at how Director Zhang was so devoted to his work. The crowd automatically parted, as if welcoming a visiting foreign dignitary, forming a path for him to approach the bloated corpse that had been submerged in water.
The body lay sprawled on its back, dressed in casual running attire, the clothes soaked in blood. An officer nearby explained, "This morning, someone made an anonymous call reporting a body by the river here."
"Have you found the caller yet?"
"Not yet. They used a virtual mobile number, and the voice was computer-generated. We suspect the caller is the killer. We searched the area and found a rope tied to a tree nearby, with one end submerged in the water. When we pulled it up, we found a large burlap sack containing Lu Yibo’s body. The technical investigators just discovered bloodstains on the grass nearby, suggesting this is the primary crime scene. The killer murdered Lu Yibo here, stuffed him into the sack, and threw him into the river. Based on the body’s condition, Forensic Doctor Chen preliminarily estimates the time of death to be around three days ago."
Forensic Doctor Chen crouched beside the body, gesturing. "Director Zhang, look—he has multiple stab wounds, very similar to Ye Jian’s. I’m certain it’s the same killer.""Hmm... the wound does look very similar to Ye Jian's! Ouch—" Zhang Yi'ang pointed at the corpse's abdomen with his crutch, then suddenly lost his balance. The crutch plunged straight into the wound, piercing the belly and squeezing out entrails and foul fluids. Everyone quickly turned away, fighting the urge to vomit. Forensic Doctor Chen was about to curse—how could he perform an autopsy with the wound ruined like this?—but then realized it was an honest mistake by Director Zhang. Considering he was injured yet still came to the scene, Chen swallowed his anger and instead gave a thumbs-up. "Good stab! This actually helps me determine how long the body's been submerged. Earlier, I could only estimate the time of death roughly, but now I can confirm Lu Yibo was killed exactly three days ago."
Everyone looked at Forensic Doctor Chen with newfound respect. Who knew this old-timer could still redeem himself?
Zhang Yi'ang pulled out his crutch, held his breath as he wiped it clean on the grass, then walked aside and scanned the surroundings. He turned back to the other officers and asked, "Do you remember what I said last time?"
The group blinked in confusion, racking their brains but drawing a blank. Song Xing asked, "When do you mean by 'last time'?"
Zhang Yi'ang sighed and shook his head at him.
Wang Ruijun snorted at Song Xing and lifted his chin. "The director said last time that Lu Yibo wasn’t telling the whole truth—he must have known something about Ye Jian. See? Now he’s died the exact same way as Ye Jian. Clearly, he was silenced. The director was spot-on!"
"Last time, I wasn’t entirely sure either. I had no evidence, or I would’ve arrested and interrogated Lu Yibo—might’ve even saved his life. I’m afraid our questioning tipped off the wrong people. Ah, 'I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me.'"
Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement, though some whispered, "Who’s Boren?" "Probably Lu Yibo’s nickname."
After some discussion, the team agreed there were no concrete leads yet, so they’d proceed step by step. The forensics team would stay at the scene, one squad would check nearby surveillance, another would search Lu Yibo’s residence, and Zhang Yi'ang would lead a group to the Maple Forest Late Hotel for inquiries.
The team arrived at the hotel lobby in full force. Wang Ruijun flashed his badge and announced they were there to search Lu Yibo’s office. The lobby manager stopped them, asking what had happened. Wang Ruijun gave the standard "no comment." The manager said she needed to report to her superiors first and stepped away to make a call. When she returned, she apologized, "Officers, the office contains Mr. Lu’s personal belongings. He’s currently on a business trip. Could you schedule another time?"
The moment she said this, everyone’s scalps prickled. Mr. Lu? Was the waterlogged corpse not Lu Yibo after all?
Wang Ruijun urgently asked, "The Mr. Lu you’re referring to—is it Lu Yibo?"
"Of course. We only have one Mr. Lu."
They exchanged bewildered glances before turning to Zhang Yi'ang, who frowned deeply, equally puzzled. Despite being submerged for days, the corpse wasn’t disfigured—they’d recognized Lu Yibo at a glance. Yet the manager insisted Lu Yibo was away on business. Had someone killed a lookalike, dressed the victim in Lu Yibo’s clothes, and staged his death? But what would be the point?He walked forward with his cane: "Were you just on the phone with Lu Yibo himself?"
"Uh..." The manager hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes."
"Where is he on business?"
"He didn't say. It's not my place to ask the boss."
Zhang Yi'ang's expression turned serious. "Call Lu Yibo again. Tell him the police need to speak with him personally."
"This..."
"Hurry up," the detectives urged.
"Oh." The manager went to the back again and dialed the number. After a while, he frowned. "That's strange. Mr. Lu's phone is off. Maybe the battery died."
Everyone vaguely sensed something was amiss. Zhang Yi'ang quickly instructed his subordinates, "Check the location of Lu Yibo's phone during the call immediately."
"Wait," the detective was about to turn when the manager hastily said, "No need, no need. I... I didn't actually get through to the boss just now. His phone has been off for several days."
Wang Ruijun was furious. "You just said it was Lu Yibo!"
"I..." The manager paled under his glare. "The boss told us to say that if the police came."
"Damn it!"
The detectives erupted in curses, annoyed that they had thought the case held some hidden mystery, only to be startled for nothing. Amid threats of detaining him for obstructing criminal investigation, the flustered manager scrambled to find the spare key to Lu Yibo's office, then sprinted upstairs to open the door for the police to search.
After entering, following procedure, the police had the manager and two staff members wait outside to supervise and ensure the officers didn't steal anything from the office. In truth, the office was quite bare—nothing of value beyond the sofa, desk, air conditioner, and other furniture and appliances. No one seriously worried the police would haul off the sofa for personal use during the investigation; it was just a formality.
The office was spacious, over sixty square meters, simply furnished. To the left near the entrance was a bookshelf holding some decorative tomes and office files, while the other side had a desk, sofa, and the like. At first glance, nothing seemed unusual.
Zhang Yi'ang pulled open the filing cabinet beside the desk. The first compartment was empty except for a few pens, the second similarly bare. When he opened the last compartment, he found several management books. Picking them up, two familiar photos suddenly caught his eye.
These two photos were identical to the ones found in Ye Jian's home, both labeled with delicate small-print calligraphy on the plastic sleeves, noting the year and month they were taken.
Seeing these photos, Wang Ruijun gasped in astonishment and turned to the other officers. "Last time we searched Ye Jian's place, his home was such a mess we didn’t know what to look for. The chief picked these two photos out of the clutter and solemnly told us they were crucial leads. At the time, I wasn’t convinced—just two old photos, what could they mean? Now seeing them here, I realize—this is what you call expertise!"
The other officers nodded in agreement, taking the photos and placing them in evidence bags.
Zhang Yi'ang stared at the cabinet for a long while before calling the manager over. "Has Lu Yibo's filing cabinet always been this empty?""I haven't seen inside the boss's cabinet, I'm not sure," the manager replied evasively, but under Zhang Yi'ang's piercing gaze that carried the weight of Mount Tai, she quickly corrected herself, "Oh, now that I think of it, I often saw the boss taking documents from the cabinet, so... there should usually be some files stored inside."
Hearing this, everyone turned their attention back to the cabinet, which was now completely empty. Could someone have taken certain files from it?
Soon, an even bigger red flag emerged.
A police officer stared at the ceiling above the desk and remarked, "Huh, did Lu Yibo install surveillance in his own office?"
The manager looked up for a few seconds and immediately said, "That's impossible. There's never been any surveillance here."
Everyone became alert. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a simple battery-operated remote monitoring device. The user could connect to it via a mobile app for real-time viewing, and installation was straightforward—just stick it in place. After repeatedly confirming with the manager, they established that this device had definitely not been there before and was only discovered today.
Zhang Yi'ang quickly asked, "Apart from Lu Yibo, who else has regular access to this office?"
"Only the boss."
"But don't you have a spare key?"
"The spare key isn't usually kept with me. It's stored in the company's security department. I only got it from them today." The manager hurriedly distanced herself from any suspicion.
"How many keys are there in total?"
"Only two—one with Mr. Lu and the other in the security department."
After a moment's thought, Zhang Yi'ang instructed his team to copy all the hotel's surveillance footage from the past few days for detailed investigation. However, Lu Yibo's office was located on the executive floor, which was always kept private, and there were no external surveillance cameras—making it unlikely they could determine who had entered his office.
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