The next day at work, as soon as Mu Mian arrived at the office, she noticed that the gloomy atmosphere that had been lingering in the office was gone. Chen Xue was humming while leisurely drinking coffee.
Mu Mian found it strange, as Chen Xue hadn't had coffee for a long time.
"Mian Mian, I bought you milk tea. It's on your desk."
Mu Mian hadn't had milk tea for a long time either. She happily held the cup and asked curiously, "Chen Xue, you seem very happy today."
Chen Xue took a sip of coffee and replied casually, "Really? Aren't I the same as usual?"
"Before today, you've had a bitter face for a whole week," Mu Mian complained. "When I told you jokes, you didn't even laugh. Even though there are two people in this office, I felt so lonely because you wouldn't talk to me."
"Mian Mian, that's because your jokes were too dry."
"Why are you laughing now? I wasn't even telling a joke."
"Mian Mian, let me tell you something. I've gotten back together with Zhang," Chen Xue said mysteriously. "Remember that fortune teller we met when we were investigating? We paid him to tell Zhang's mother that we were perfect for each other, practically made for each other. After the fortune teller convinced her, her attitude changed, and she stopped opposing our relationship. Aren't we clever?"
"That's wonderful that you've finally reconciled. You have no idea how hard it is to keep everyone happy." Mu Mian believed that the fortune teller's superstitious words couldn't have swayed Zhang's mother's opinion – it must have been what she had said to Zhang's mother yesterday morning that had worked, but she decided not to tell Chen Xue about this, keeping her achievement to herself.
"Mian Mian, what are you secretly smiling about?" Chen Xue caught Mu Mian's subtle expression.
"Chen Xue, I discovered yesterday morning that I'm very good at persuading people," Mu Mian said proudly.
"Are you sure? Do you have specific examples?" Chen Xue saw Mu Mian about to speak and quickly interrupted, "You can't use Fang Rui as an example, that doesn't count."
"Fine." Mu Mian gave up trying to prove her point.
"We have a case, let's hurry!" Zhang walked in, telling them they had received an emergency call and needed to go to the scene.
"Is there a body?" Mu Mian asked.
"Probably!"
"Probably?"
"The caller only reported seeing blood."
The crime scene was in the underground parking lot of the International Trade Mall in the city center.
The International Trade Mall was one of the largest shopping centers in Jiangzhou City, known for its high-end retail. Most of the stores were luxury brands, and the clientele was primarily wealthy.
Its underground parking lot was vast, with four entrances, each equipped with surveillance cameras, and all vehicles had to register at the entry and exit points. There were two internal entrances from the mall to the parking lot, both also equipped with cameras.
The incident involved a red Maserati sports car parked in a corner of the parking lot. The doors were shut tight, but blood had seeped through the door gaps, forming a small pool on the ground.
When the security guard came to inspect that morning, he saw the blood pool and immediately called the police, securing the scene.
"Officers, I didn't go near the car. As soon as I saw the blood, I called the police right away," the security guard said.
Fang Rui first had the technical team check the footprints and fingerprints at the scene.
Mu Mian put on shoe covers and gloves, walked to the car door, and carefully opened it.
Inside sat a middle-aged man slumped over, wearing a business suit, appearing to be a businessman. His head was covered in blood. The blood had flowed down his forehead, and his face was obscured by dark red bloodstains, making his features difficult to distinguish.
The victim's legs were unnaturally curled up.
"He must have had a habit of wearing a watch," Mu Mian held up the victim's hand, raising his wrist. "There's a watch mark on his wrist, but the watch is missing."
Mu Mian continued: "He should have been wearing a tie, but that's missing too."
The victim had no identification on him, and his phone was gone. Everything in the car had been cleaned out, even the car refrigerator had been removed.
"Could this be a robbery-homicide?" Zhang picked up a luxury shopping bag, but it was completely empty.
"If it was a robbery, why kill the victim?" Wang argued.
Mu Mian carefully examined the body's surface. The victim's corneas were slightly cloudy, and rigor mortis had set in throughout the body.
His clothes were disheveled, his shirt buttons weren't properly fastened, and there were bruises on his wrists and neck, likely from struggling and resisting. Apart from the head wound, there were no other external injuries on the victim's body.
Noticing his slightly long fingernails, Mu Mian examined them closely and found tissue fragments under the victim's skin. She took out tweezers and extracted the tissue samples.
Mu Mian also found white, viscous fluid in the car.
"Based on the body temperature, the time of death should be between 10:00 and 10:30 last night."
Zhang looked at the car and muttered, "Something's not right. He looks like an executive-level white-collar worker. Why would he drive a red car? Red is too flashy and doesn't suit someone his age."
Fang Rui agreed: "This probably isn't the car he drove here. Look at the driver's seat position – he would have been sitting too high in it. This seat position is suitable for someone shorter. If he had been driving this car, this seat height would have been very uncomfortable for him."
Zhang analyzed, "Did the killer move the victim here? Why would they do that?"
"No, the reason the victim is here is likely because he was engaging in certain activities with a lady," Chen Xue pointed to the collected white fluid. "So this car probably belongs to that woman."
Fang Rui frowned. The car's owner had just had sexual relations with the victim; she wouldn't have just left her car behind. Even if there was an emergency requiring her to leave, wouldn't it have been faster to take her own car? Unless she was the killer, or more likely, she had also been killed.
"Zhang, take some people and search the entire parking lot for any other bodies."
Everyone at the scene quickly understood and immediately began searching the entire parking lot.
They soon found a commercial vehicle in a nearby parking space. Looking through the windows, they could see a young woman sleeping in the back seat, but no matter how much they knocked on the windows, she showed no response.
Zhang found a fire extinguisher and forcefully broke the window. They opened the door through the broken window, and inside, the woman's clothes were disheveled, her face was pale, and there was a long strangulation mark on her fair neck.
Zhang touched her arm – it was cold and stiff.
He quickly waved to Mu Mian and Chen Xue, "Mu Mian, come quickly, there's another victim here."
