Chapter 227: The Deadly Trap, Key Evidence Recorded by Lan Cai’er!

What kind of evidence did Lan Cai’er possess?

It was this evidence that brought about such a terrifying death threat, prompting K to make her a target for the organization’s evaluation, determined to push her into complete darkness and force her to never speak again.

With that important evidence, she was to bid farewell to this world, not even allowed to say goodbye.

…

At this moment.

In the corridor of the Jiahe City Yangliu District Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Su Ming and his two companions, who had come all the way from Modu, were walking beside Chen Sheng, who wore a white shirt and walked with a slight limp.

The white shirt alone was enough to confirm that Chen Sheng was the Chief.

And the limp, which could not be healed, was a result of a stab wound to his thigh five years ago when he personally captured a criminal. The criminal had resisted fiercely, stabbing him twice, leaving behind this lingering injury.

Fortunately, at that time, Chen Sheng had already been promoted to the position of Chief.

Otherwise, with such an injury affecting his ability to carry out operations, it would have been difficult for him to become the head of the Yangliu District Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Although he received various privileges and rewards due to the work injury, it also likely jeopardized his future promotion path, especially in criminal investigation, which usually required fieldwork.

Despite his limp, it didn’t significantly slow down his pace. As he briskly walked toward the meeting room, he spoke slowly, reflecting on the situation.

“I’ve already heard about Chief Gao’s incident.”

“Eh, I really didn’t expect something like this to happen, but fortunately, it wasn’t life-threatening. Otherwise, it would have been truly tragic.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Changsheng, who was sitting next to him, expressed his admiration and said with a sigh.

“Chief Chen.”

“Your decision back then was similar to Chief Gao’s. In that dangerous situation, you held back the criminal with a knife, and I heard that your thigh’s artery was even severed.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that a top-tier hospital was nearby, Chief Chen, the danger you faced back then was probably no less than Chief Gao’s.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, didn’t you return to the frontline of criminal investigation even before fully recovering from your injuries?”

Chen Sheng didn’t show much emotion. He merely nodded slightly and said with a faint sigh.

“It’s all in the past.”

“After all, rather than staying in the hospital, hoping for that slim one-in-a-hundred chance of full recovery, it’s better to return to work as soon as possible.”

“Even if I can’t continue running full speed to capture criminals as I did before, I can still use my extensive experience and sharp judgment to help as much as possible.”

“But the one thing I can’t accept is…”

“The hotel water tank corpse case from half a year ago. It’s the only unresolved murder case in the entire Yangliu District Criminal Investigation Brigade’s jurisdiction in the past ten years.”

“And it’s related to… that huge drug trafficking syndicate.”

“I’ve been thinking these past few days, if we could have solved this case earlier, perhaps we could have exposed this massive drug syndicate earlier and avoided the current predicament.”

“A drug syndicate this large, hiding in so many cities in Dragon Country, it’s really…”

Although Chen Sheng didn’t finish his sentence, the meaning behind his words was clear to everyone present. Su Ming, holding a notebook, glanced at the limping Chen Sheng and continued the conversation with a serious tone.

“Chief Chen.”

“Actually, you’ve already done enough.”

“At the very least, after watching the elevator surveillance video of Lan Cai’er, I found that it could actually also be interpreted as a suicide.”

“Although there are signs of homicide, there are also plenty of signs of suicide.”

“At a time when public opinion was so influenced, your Yangliu Criminal Investigation Brigade never publicly labeled the case as a suicide.”

“It’s not like the case of the red-clad boy strangulation incident in Jinling City, where a temporary explanation was provided to alleviate public opinion.”

“This is actually quite difficult, after all, I can’t estimate how much pressure you were under from all directions back then.”

These words of comfort made Chen Sheng purse his lips, as if recalling the pressure he had on his shoulders six months ago, or even just two months ago. Then, with a firm gaze, he shook his head and said:

“I will never, to escape so-called public opinion, media questioning, or pressure from above, randomly find an excuse and temporarily suppress the case.”

“Because I believe that as a criminal investigator, from start to finish, there is only one responsibility on my shoulders.”

“That is… to dig the truth and justice out of the darkness, and to do so, even at the cost of my life, I would not hesitate, nor would I retreat in the slightest.”

At this point, Chen Sheng, whose back was slightly hunched due to his limp, instinctively straightened his posture, as if to express his unwavering belief and soul.

In the entire Dragon Country criminal investigation system, although there were many leaders who had started to slack off, become obsessed with officialdom, or lay flat like salted fish,

there were also exceptional individuals like Chen Sheng, who, even when in high positions, never forgot their original intentions and always worked on the front lines, pursuing inner justice.

And it was precisely because of people like them, who seemed unyielding and as unchangeable as a rock in a cesspit, that the credibility of the Dragon Country criminal investigation system remained strong, and they maintained the dignity of criminal investigators.

…

Arriving at the door of the Yangliu Criminal Investigation Brigade’s meeting room,

Chen Sheng pushed the door open and walked in, signaling Su Ming and the other two to follow him.

As soon as they entered the meeting room,

Su Ming raised an eyebrow in surprise, because it was clear that this meeting room had been remodeled, with numerous case files and various somewhat eerie special items stored inside.

For example, at the back of the room, there was a vacuum glass display case containing a set of women’s clothing.

Having watched the elevator surveillance video several times, Su Ming immediately deduced that… this set of clothing was the one worn by Lan Cai’er when she was murdered half a year ago.

Besides this set of clothing, there were also a third of a fingerprint imprint and 3D printed models scaled down to the size of the hotel’s water tank.

In front, besides the multimedia whiteboard already in the meeting room, which was filled with various speculative clues, there was also a slanted mobile whiteboard covered with photos from the crime scene.

Just one glance,

Su Ming could clearly see… that the photo in the center of the mobile whiteboard was of Lan Cai’er, who had been submerged in the water tank for a long time.

The photo showed a grotesque giant-like appearance, with severe decay, her body completely covered in maggots, and even the water surface was teeming with wriggling maggots.

Besides the victim’s horrifying corpse, the photo also showed the floating women’s clothing, which was the same set now preserved at the back of the meeting room.

According to the case file, Lan Cai’er was found in a special state of nakedness in the water tank, with the clothes she wore floating beside her.

This was also a major point of doubt in the case—what could have happened to cause Lan Cai’er to drown naked in the water tank?

Seeing the clearly modified meeting room,

Xu Changsheng showed an expression of shock, then turned to look at Chen Sheng.

Before he could even ask, Chen Sheng, with a deep gaze, sighed and proactively explained,

“It wasn’t a temporary modification.”

“Or rather… over the past six months, at my request, this meeting room, which is hardly used more than twice a year, has actually been like this.”

“Because I cannot accept that such a brutal and extreme murder case has no details or clues, and I cannot uncover the hidden truth.”

“So, in order not to trouble the officers of the Criminal Investigation Technology Section every time, I had them place everything here.”

“During the past six months, whenever I had free time, I would come here to try to find new clues.”

At this point,

Chen Sheng seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly looked towards Su Ming beside him.

“By the way, Team Leader Su.”

“Based on the clues and inferences you just provided, I now have a bold guess…”

“Lan Cai’er very likely captured or recorded important evidence about K while abroad, which led to her being selected as a target for elimination!”