Born with Luck

That night, the investigation teams gradually regrouped for another case analysis session.

Following the usual routine, the medical examiner began by presenting the autopsy results. Initially, it seemed like another "doesn't appear to be the work of a normal person" conclusion, similar to last time. However, this time there was a new discovery.

"Based on my autopsy analysis combined with the timing of Lu Yibo's phone being turned off, he died on the evening three days ago—nearly four days or one hundred hours by now. The condition of the body is very similar to Ye Jian's. Both were hit by a car and stabbed multiple times. The difference is that Ye Jian jumped into the river and swam away after being injured, while Lu Yibo died on the spot before being dragged and thrown into the river. Through dissection and comparing the wounds from both cases, I found something very strange. Apart from the number of stab wounds differing between Lu Yibo and Ye Jian's bodies, the direction, size, and spacing of multiple wounds were exactly the same. This puzzled me—how could someone inflict identical stab wounds in two separate attacks? So I researched, searched and searched, but unfortunately, there's no record of such cases. I then considered other possibilities—how these identical injuries could have been inflicted. Having worked as a medical examiner for over twenty years..."

Forensic Doctor Chen seemed particularly excited about Lu Yibo's body this time, rambling on for fifteen minutes about how he overcame the challenges of the autopsy. Just as he was about to share an anecdote from 1995 when he first became a medical examiner, Zhang Yi'ang finally stepped in, heroically raising a hand. "Dr. Chen, time is of the essence. Please just tell us the conclusion."

"The murder weapon is an SUV with a high front end!"

"The murder weapon is an SUV?" The group gasped.

"Yes, the murder weapon is a vehicle!" Forensic Doctor Chen straightened up, brimming with confidence and pride. "This vehicle had a plate mounted on its front, with several sharp knives fixed to it. The assailant suddenly drove toward the victim, and the knives on the front pierced the victim's body. That's why both Ye Jian and Lu Yibo's bodies showed signs of being hit by a car, with some stab wounds identical in direction and size."

Everyone slightly closed their eyes, picturing the spiked boards used in ancient battlefields—a vertical wooden plank covered in thick nails, pushed by soldiers charging at the enemy. Now, the cart had been replaced by a car, but the principle was the same.

"Are you sure?" No one had ever heard of such a murder method, and they all voiced their doubts.

"Of course I'm sure! I've been a medical examiner for over twenty years—"

"Good, good, we've always trusted your judgment," Zhang Yi'ang quickly cut him off, and the others nodded in agreement. Turning to the rest, he said, "Then let's check the surrounding surveillance footage for SUVs with knife plates mounted on the front."

"Um..." Song Xing hesitated. "I don't think we'll find such a vehicle. If a car had a plate full of knives on its front, it would be so dangerous that anyone who saw it on the road would report it."

"That's a fair point," Zhang Yi'ang turned back to Forensic Doctor Chen. "How was the plate attached?""It was probably fixed on before the killing and removed afterward. But it wouldn't be easy to secure such a board to a normal car's front. I think this board was specially designed to fit the vehicle's shape."

After some discussion, the team decided to first check the surrounding surveillance footage to identify and screen SUVs matching the vehicle's height.

Then, Zhang Yi'ang raised another puzzling point: "There's something very strange about this case. Think about it—why did Lu Yibo die by the river? What was he doing alone by the river at night? I think the most likely reason is—"

"A date! He was meeting a woman!" Song Xing blurted out.

Zhang Yi'ang, about to explain his reasoning, was interrupted and shot him an annoyed glance. "Oh, so you already know the answer?"

"I was just guessing."

Wang Ruijun glared at him and scolded, "Always guessing, guessing! What's the use of just knowing the answer? Don't you need the reasoning steps?—Chief, please continue your analysis."

Zhang Yi'ang nodded in satisfaction and went on, "Back then, Ye Jian was killed after meeting someone by the river at night, and Lu Yibo knew about it. Although the locations were different, it was still by the river. Why would Lu Yibo go alone to the river at night? Didn't he have any sense of caution? Wasn't he afraid of meeting the same fate as Ye Jian? Think about it—if an ordinary person had asked Lu Yibo to meet by the river at night, would he have gone? Of course he'd be wary! So, whoever arranged to meet him must have been someone familiar—not just familiar, but someone he trusted completely, someone he didn't think would pose any danger. Who could make him let his guard down like that? A woman. A woman he was dating."

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Wang Ruijun exclaimed. "I've been puzzling over this too—why would Lu Yibo repeat Ye Jian's mistake, knowing full well what happened to him? The moment the chief mentioned a woman, everything clicked. Based on the current evidence, the killer is male, but the person who arranged to meet Lu Yibo was likely a woman. We need to first identify the women close to him and then trace the killer from there."

Section Chief Xu from forensics frowned. He didn't want to disrupt the discussion, but to prevent the investigation from going off track, he cautiously interjected, "Well... that might not necessarily be the case."

Wang Ruijun's eyes widened. "Section Chief Xu, what's your brilliant insight now?"

Xu thought to himself, I haven't even spoken tonight—what do you mean 'now'? But seeing Zhang Yi'ang's gaze turn toward him, he had no choice but to say, "Uh... today at the scene, we confirmed that the death location was the primary crime scene. We asked around and found out Lu Yibo's home is nearby. Recently, he's been coming to this riverside to jog every night around nine or ten. The body was dressed in jogging clothes, so... I don't think someone arranged to meet him. Rather, the killer knew about his jogging habit and ambushed him there."

Wang Ruijun retorted, "Then what about Ye Jian's case?"

"Before Ye Jian was killed, he was photographed looking at a note—clearly, someone had arranged to meet him. In Lu Yibo's case, someone probably knew about his jogging routine and lay in wait."

"Then tell me, who arranged to meet Ye Jian?" Wang Ruijun deliberately challenged him."Well... if we knew who arranged to meet Ye Jian, the case would be solved. Our forensics team has very limited capabilities. Identifying the actual killer still depends on your investigation team's work."

Wang Ruijun snorted and raised his eyebrows: "So what clues has your team uncovered today? It can't be like the Ye Jian case again, coming up empty-handed. Finding the killer is our job as investigators, but even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice."

His words implied that the blame for the unsolved Ye Jian case fell entirely on Section Chief Xu. Xu hung his head and said: "It's been three days since the incident. The outdoor conditions were complex, so we... we couldn't retrieve any tire marks from suspect vehicles, nor did we find any suspicious footprints or fingerprints."

"So after all that investigation, you've got no leads at all." Wang Ruijun sighed. He was sitting too far away, otherwise he would have patted the man on the shoulder by now - Old Xu, you can't keep turning in blank papers every time.

Section Chief Xu was fundamentally an honest, good-natured man. His face flushed red with shame, and in his urgency, he came up with one lead: "Today we suspected the killer entered Lu Yibo's office to secretly install surveillance. We removed the device and consulted with electronic technology police superiors. This type of temporary surveillance can't trace the data recipient. We thoroughly examined the door lock and confirmed there were no signs of forced entry - it was opened with a key. After checking with the hotel, we learned there were originally three keys total: one was with Lu Yibo (already found at his home), and the hotel security department had two spare keys. Lu Yibo took one of the spares several months ago. We've searched the entire office and his home but couldn't find this third key."

Zhang Yi'ang pondered this - three keys total, with Lu Yibo and hotel security's accounted for, meaning the killer naturally used this third key to enter. He asked: "After Lu Yibo took the spare key, who did he give it to?"

"We don't know, but whoever could get his office key must have been someone relatively close to him."