Chapter 24: A Suspicious School fall Case, Su Ming’s Exceptional Ability to Capture Clues!

The police car’s siren wailed as it sped down the road.

Xu Changsheng was driving, with Su Ming still sitting in the passenger seat.

This time, Wang Hu did not accompany them; instead, he remained in the Criminal Investigation Technology Department of the squad, providing technical support using advanced equipment as needed.

In the back seat sat a young woman in a white lab coat, wearing gold-rimmed half-frame glasses, a delicate tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye, exuding an air of femininity. The forensic toolkit beside her clearly indicated her identity.

She was Shen Lin, the only forensic doctor in the Huaihai Criminal Investigation Squad.

Though only thirty years old, Shen Lin had twelve years of work experience, and her grandfather, Shen Xu, was one of the earliest forensic doctors in Magic City.

Since coming of age, Shen Lin had not followed the usual path of romance, makeup, and nightlife like most girls. Instead, she chose to follow her grandfather, learning various autopsy techniques.

Perhaps due to influence or innate talent, within just five years, Shen Lin had mastered all of her grandfather’s forensic skills, even surpassing him in some areas.

As a result, the elderly forensic doctor Shen Xu had retired, passing the torch to his prodigy granddaughter, Shen Lin, who was now working in the Huaihai Criminal Investigation Squad’s Technical Department.

Due to her special identity, not only did Shen Lin have the halo of a genius forensic doctor, but her grandfather’s influential status also gave her considerable standing. As such, except for Lin Tian, no one dared to give her orders in the department.

As for her personal life, that was even more unfortunate—after all, the identity of a forensic doctor, dealing with corpses daily, was enough to make most men turn away.

…

Ten minutes from Shude Middle School, Xu Changsheng glanced at Su Ming, then checked the rearview mirror to look at Shen Lin. He tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel and spoke softly.

“The case at Shude Middle School…”

“It wasn’t the police who received the initial report, but the principal of Shude Middle School, Qu Wenbiao, who personally called Chief Lin to report it.”

“The general information we have so far is…”

“The deceased was a fifteen-year-old junior high student named Zhang Wan.”

“Because Shude Middle School implements a military-style management system, all students are required to stay in the dormitory. So, last night, when lights out occurred, her roommates saw her still in bed.”

“But by the morning, she was missing from her dorm. Her roommates thought she had already gone to class, so they didn’t think much of it.”

“During the morning break, a few boys who looked like delinquents snuck off to the abandoned teaching building to smoke. That’s when they accidentally discovered Zhang Wan’s body.”

“The boys were startled and immediately informed the school authorities right away, although the school followed procedure and called an ambulance, by the time they arrived, the victim had already lost all vital signs. They merely conducted an ECG to confirm the death.”

“Currently, as per Chief Lin’s instructions…”

“The scene has been cordoned off by the school’s security, and the body has been temporarily placed in a body bag but hasn’t been sent to the mortuary yet. This is so we can gather more specific evidence.”

“Since the discoverers were students, the entire school is in an uproar, and many media outlets have also gotten wind of the news.”

“Because the case involves a minor and the media is involved, if we don’t find the truth quickly…”

“It could cause major problems!”

Xu Changsheng’s last remark was understood by both Su Ming and Shen Lin. They knew that any case involving minors would be blown out of proportion by the media, and there would be a lot of public pressure.

Even if the truth was found, if it didn’t align with public expectations, it would cause chaos and damage the police’s credibility.

Therefore, not only did they need to find the truth, but they also needed to expose it to the public before the media or others could distort it.

Shen Lin fiddled with the locks on her forensic kit, her brow furrowing slightly as she asked.

“Has the body already been moved?”

“That will definitely interfere with the autopsy. If we want to find the truth quickly, the body should not have been touched before we arrive.”

Xu Changsheng sighed helplessly, shrugged, and said meaningfully.

“There was no choice.”

“The fact that the body was kept at the school at all was the best effort Chief Lin could manage.”

“Though leaving the body untouched would be most beneficial for us to find clues and determine the actual cause of death…”

“The school couldn’t just do nothing.”

“Even if it was obvious the person had already passed away, to avoid public outcry from parents and media, they had to immediately call an ambulance for resuscitation.”

“Calling an ambulance wasn’t enough—they had to handle the body properly and get it into a coffin as soon as possible.”

“If they had done nothing and left the body waiting for us, the media, parents, and even the online public would have made sure the school understood the power of public opinion and internet violence.”

“Anyway…”

“No matter the circumstances, if something happens to a student in school, the school can’t avoid blame!”

“A middle school is not a kindergarten, it’s impossible for the teachers to monitor every student all the time. The key is that parents should pay more attention to their children’s mental health.”

“From past experience…”

“80% of school-related cases are connected to the students’ family environment.”

“If parents paid more attention to their kids, these tragedies could be reduced, and that would be more effective than anything!”

“Anyway, discussing this is pointless. Let’s hope this case isn’t too difficult to solve.”

“Otherwise…”

“The media and parents will really make us pay a heavy price.”

Xu Changsheng’s words were met with a nod of agreement from Shen Lin.

Indeed, reducing campus crime and cases wasn’t something that could be accomplished by teachers or the school alone. The key factor was the parents.

Meanwhile, sitting in the passenger seat, Su Ming had sharply picked up on an important detail from Xu Changsheng’s words, and inquired with suspicion.

“Brother Sheng.”

“Are the other students in the dormitory not in the same class as the deceased?”

“Because from what you said earlier…”

“The other students in the dorm didn’t find the deceased missing until after waking up, thinking she had already gone to class.”

“But during class time, none of them wondered why she wasn’t in class and told the teacher?”

“You know…”

“According to the timeline, the deceased should have already fallen and lost all vital signs by then. She couldn’t have gone to class.”

“So why…”

“After two classes, it wasn’t until the break that the delinquent boys found the body?”

“These inferences…”

“Seem to suggest that the deceased and the other students in the dorm weren’t in the same class, right?”

“If they weren’t in the same class, could that have led to her being excluded by the other students? Did that contribute to her tragic end?”

After Su Ming made this deduction, Xu Changsheng, who was driving, was visibly stunned, turning his head to look at Su Ming in disbelief.

He couldn’t understand how someone could deduce such a detailed conclusion based on just a few pieces of information about the case, without even seeing the crime scene.

And this conclusion was so logical, there was no way to refute it!

It wasn’t just Xu Changsheng—Shen Lin in the back seat also widened her eyes slightly, adjusting her gold-rimmed glasses and seeming to ponder the situation.