Criminal Investigation Notes

Listening to Lu Junchi’s words, Su Hui felt a surge of strength within himself.

He continued, “At that time, Moonlight left the Bureau, and I was severely injured. Many people wanted to blame the Behavioral Analysis Team for the failure of the Fine Sand case. Under such circumstances, the team was forced to disband. Director Tan gave me a long recovery period and transferred me to Huadu Police. Now, everything is in the past.”

Su Hui lowered his head for a moment and said, “I lost some of my memories before, and I can’t recall many related things. But today, I suddenly remembered some things.”

He organized his thoughts and recounted those strange occurrences one by one, “I encountered a man in Yang Yuqing’s clinic elevator, and that man might have been present at the Fine Sand explosion site. Jie Qiu died in the explosion, but his partner never appeared. In the case of Qin Yongchen, he spoke to me in the end. He called me by my code name, ‘Poet,’ because my identity was still classified at the time, and I didn’t even tell you. Later, when I was in the sealed room talking to An Yuci, he also mentioned that he knew my identity.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Junchi couldn’t help but sit up, “Do you have any solid evidence regarding these matters?”

Su Hui shook his head, “It’s difficult to handle without evidence. What’s even more strange is Fu Yunchu’s previous escape and today’s accident… Within the past six months, Huadu City suddenly had so many serial killers. I feel that this is beyond normal, and perhaps there is a connection between these incidents, but I haven’t found the underlying link yet.”

Su Hui paused as he thought of Fu Yunchu’s relationship with Chen Xuexian. He still couldn’t explain whether Chen Xuexian was also being manipulated to commit those acts.

He wasn’t even sure if the guidance given to the serial killers could truly drive them to commit such brutal killings.

But if the truth wasn’t that someone was guiding those killers, then how could it be explained?

What was the commonality among those people, among the numerous killers?

Lu Junchi asked, “Are you planning to talk to Director Tan about this?”

After contemplating for a moment, Su Hui nodded, “I’ll give him a call and explain the situation after I’m discharged.”

Lu Junchi fell silent, realizing the seriousness of these matters as well.

When he went to sleep at night, Su Hui felt a bit restless, drifting in and out of sleep without fully dozing off.

In that half-awake state, a thought suddenly entered his mind.

What if what they saw in the Fine Sand case was what someone wanted them to see…

All the evidence and signs they had on hand could be meticulously arranged, with numerous details meant to mislead them.

Otherwise, how could the crimes committed by the killer exhibit such chaotic characteristics?

Is it possible that someone was orchestrating those explosions behind the scenes?

So, back then, he and Moonlight were disturbed by those signs…

They stubbornly clung to their own beliefs, thinking that their deductions were correct, but instead, they provided an opportunity for the killer to take advantage?

If that’s really the case, it means that the other party might be targeting these profilers.

Someone is using the answers that psychological profilers might deduce to deliberately distract the police’s attention?

Their deductions may have been built upon a crumbling mirage…

In those crime scenes, the inferences may be unreliable, and the outcomes may be unreliable…

How did the other party manage to do this?

At night, Su Hui lay on his hospital bed, and his mind seemed to have a constantly changing puzzle.

For a moment, Su Hui felt as if he no longer had a jumbled puzzle in front of him, but a complete solid-colored sheet. He had a knife in his hand and could separate that intact pattern…

He had to transition from being a puzzle solver to the one making the puzzle in order to take the initiative.

The two of them had been confined in the hospital for two days and were finally discharged.

The bed at home was much more comfortable than the one in the hospital.

Lu Junchi hadn’t slept well a few nights ago due to the pain in his head wound. Today, he had the rare opportunity to sleep until past ten o’clock, but he was awakened by Su Hui’s coughing from the kitchen.

He could tell that Su Hui was deliberately trying to suppress it, exerting great effort to keep the coughing sound low, but the more he tried, the more it sounded heartbreaking.

Lu Junchi got up and saw Su Hui bustling in the kitchen, looking a bit flustered.

A pot of soup on the stove was boiling vigorously, splattering hot water.

Lu Junchi hurried over and turned down the heat.

Su Hui looked slightly apologetic, “Did I wake you up?”

Lu Junchi asked, “Do you want to have some soup? You could have just told me…”

Su Hui looked up at him, “I thought your previous injury hadn’t healed completely, so I wanted to make some soup to nourish you…”

Lu Junchi’s head wound hadn’t healed yet, but fortunately, he had used dissolvable stitches that didn’t need to be removed.

Upon hearing Su Hui’s words, Lu Junchi felt a warm sensation in his chest, “My injury has long been fine. With your words, I don’t feel any pain at all.”

Then he looked at the pot where pork ribs were cooking, and on the cutting board, white radish and corn were neatly chopped.

There was a layer of blood foam floating on top of the ribs in the pot.

He looked at the situation and asked Su Hui, “Did you blanch the meat?”

Su Hui was a bit perplexed, “The water has just boiled. What does… blanching mean?”

Su Hui had hardly cooked before, only reaching the level of being able to boil eggs. He was completely clueless about cooking and had only watched Lu Junchi do it before.

From his observations, he thought that all you needed to do was put the meat in the pot and boil it. But in actual practice, it turned out to be much more complicated than he had imagined.

Seeing Su Hui’s reaction, Lu Junchi knew they hadn’t reached this step yet.

“When you boil the meat, impurities such as blood and bone fragments will float up. They need to be removed. So, when making soup, you need to blanch the meat in water to remove the impurities… You can also add a bit of cooking wine and ginger slices to the soup to remove any unpleasant smell,” Lu Junchi explained, taking out a soup pot, pouring in hot water, cutting ginger slices, and using a strainer to scoop out the pork ribs from the pot and put them in the soup.

Su Hui said, “I’ve learned it now. I’ll pay attention next time. If I had known, I would have searched online before doing it.” Then he urged Lu Junchi, “You go freshen up and have some bread or something. I’ll take care of the pot.”

Only then did Lu Junchi wash his face, brush his teeth, and also went to pick up a package that had arrived. Su Hui had lost his cane in the accident, so Lu Junchi bought a new one for him, intending to give it to him.

When he returned, Su Hui was still obediently standing in the kitchen, looking at the pot in front of him.

The pot with hot water had started boiling again. There wasn’t much foam left, but a small amount still floated on the surface.

Lu Junchi said, “Look, blanching the pork ribs reduces the amount of foam. At this point, you just need to use a spoon to skim off the remaining foam.”

Su Hui held the ladle in his hand but hesitated for a moment. He didn’t make a move. His body leaned forward as he observed the situation in the pot.

In that moment, Lu Junchi suddenly realized that Su Hui couldn’t see clearly. These ordinary tasks that anyone could do easily were difficult for Su Hui.

Before Su Hui could see the location of the foam, his hand suddenly felt warmth as Lu Junchi grabbed it.

Lu Junchi held his hand and skillfully skimmed around the edge of the soup pot, bypassing a circle, instantly removing all the foam.

The soup suddenly became clear and bright, with a few droplets of oil floating on top of the pork ribs.

Su Hui could sense that Lu Junchi was standing right behind him. He looked up at the person behind him and caught a faint scent of medicine on him.

Lu Junchi felt that Su Hui was close to him, so close that he could hear his breathing.

Longing that had persisted for a long time, overflowing with love, Lu Junchi couldn’t contain himself any longer. He lowered his head and gently kissed Su Hui’s forehead—a gentle and restrained kiss, full of courtesy.

The kitchen was quiet, and even the two cats were not causing any trouble. Only the sound of bubbling could be heard from the pot.

Their right hands were still intertwined. When Su Hui relaxed his fingers, the spoon slid along the edge of the pot and entered it.

His fingers trembled slightly as he held Lu Junchi’s hand.

Feeling Su Hui’s response, Lu Junchi’s other hand rested on Su Hui’s waist, and

he kissed his forehead, following the path down to his lips.

Before this moment, they had been busy. The hospital had been crowded with many visitors.

It was only now that they could temporarily pause.

Having experienced life and death, their passionate love turned into tenderness.

In the morning, when Lu Junchi saw Su Hui in the kitchen, he felt surprised and moved. But there was also lingering fear in his heart. He was afraid Su Hui might cut his finger or get scalded…

When Lu Junchi kissed Su Hui’s cheek and opened his eyes to look at him, there was a momentary realization in Su Hui’s usually calm and composed eyes. But soon, a hint of redness appeared at the corners of his eyes, as if he felt a bit bullied.

Lu Junchi felt even more distressed. He kissed him carefully, as if afraid that the person in his arms would break with a little force. After enduring so many years of scars, he only wanted to love and protect him better, not wanting him to suffer even the slightest harm…

Su Hui felt a bit breathless from the kiss and reached out to hold Lu Junchi’s hand. His fingers trembled, as if he wanted to hold him tightly, yet also wanted to struggle free.

Feeling a sense of helplessness, he felt that things were escalating and about to get out of hand. With the last remaining bit of his sanity, he resisted and said, “Wait… your injury hasn’t healed yet.” His voice became even hoarser.

“Su Hui…” Lu Junchi stopped the kiss and leaned close to Su Hui’s ear from behind. He bit his earlobe gently with his teeth and whispered, “I’m healed. If you don’t believe me, you can check on the bed.”

His lowered voice was like hot, tiny particles, pressing against the only remaining intact eardrum of Su Hui, pressing against his auditory nerves, leaving a tingling sensation in his cerebral cortex, making it almost impossible for him to think.

After saying those words, Lu Junchi noticed that Su Hui’s ears turned red, a blush staining his porcelain-like ear bones.

Just the thought that he was the one who caused that blush made Lu Junchi feel an uncontrollable urge. He couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss Su Hui’s neck.

Su Hui was instantly disarmed. A place that had never been touched by anyone before suddenly received a kiss, giving him a strange sensation. It was a bit itchy, but more tingly, like electric currents running through his entire body, making him feel weak, and finally, a hint of expression appeared on his cold and frosty face.

Lu Junchi’s hand tightened, wanting to carry Su Hui to the bed.

But Su Hui instantly tensed his body and whispered softly, “No… not now… it’s still morning, what if someone comes in?” He turned his head and coughed a few times, a faint blush appearing on his pale face.

Lu Junchi said, “Then is it okay if we wait until tonight?”

Su Hui’s fingers curled slightly. “At least let me finish taking a shower…”

Then he changed the subject, “I just called Director Tan earlier. Also, let’s talk about business. I found something and wanted to let you hear it.”

He went to the computer, opened his laptop, and launched a software.

“In the past, my data used to be regularly uploaded to the cloud. While searching, I found a recording. This incident is not in my memory. The recording was made exactly two years before the accident happened.” Su Hui said, pressing the play button.

The speakers emitted a rustling sound.

Su Hui’s voice came through, “Can you remember the specific appearance of any of those people?”

A woman’s voice replied, “I can’t remember. The memories of each person are particularly vague. I can only recognize some people I saw there…”

“Why didn’t you report it to the police?”

“Reporting to the police is useless. Some of them are even police officers. I can really only trust you.”

“Can you write down a list of the people you know?”

“I… I’ll try… If I can come up with a list, I’ll contact you.”

The recording was only a few short sentences.

Lu Junchi listened to the woman’s voice and felt a sense of familiarity. He asked, “This woman is…”

Su Hui looked up and answered, “She should be Chen XueXian.”

Lu Junchi furrowed his brow even tighter.

Su Hui pressed his temples and said, “As for the content of their conversation, why she came to me, where that place is, who those people are, and what the list is about. I haven’t remembered yet. This is all I could find. I think we should carefully consider this matter.”

It was another scattered fragment, like a puzzle piece, with incomplete information.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Lu Junchi went to open the door, and Lu Haochu rushed in with a large bag of fruits. When he saw Lu Junchi, he immediately hugged him and said, “Brother! Why didn’t you tell me anything? I only found out you were discharged from the hospital through Mom and Dad.”

“Seriously injured patient,” Lu Junchi patted Lu Haochu’s back. “I’m really fine. I’ll be discharged soon.”

Lu Haochu handed several bags of things to Lu Junchi. “Is Professor Su alright? These are gifts from me and my classmates at school for Professor Su. Oh, my classmates insisted on coming with me, but I told them not to disturb Professor Su’s rest, so I didn’t let them come along.”

Su Hui thanked him and said, “I’m fine. Your brother took care of me.”

Lu Junchi took the gifts and placed them on the table. Knowing his younger brother well, he asked, “Lu Haochu, why did you come at this hour?” It was almost 11 o’clock, most likely mealtime.

Su Hui also sensed something and asked Lu Haochu, “By the way, haven’t you had lunch?”

He coughed a few times and closed his laptop.

At 11 o’clock, it was impossible for it to be mealtime. Lu Haochu replied, “No, I came straight from school.”

Su Hui suggested, “Then let’s have lunch together.”

Lu Junchi watched them chat and voluntarily entered the kitchen. He put radishes and corn into a pot to cook soup. The soup was ready, and the rice would be done soon. He also cooked two dishes.

The meal was quickly served, and Lu Haochu enjoyed it to his heart’s content. Finally, he poured some soup and drank it while sighing, “Ah, this pork rib soup is so delicious. It tastes like home.”

Lu Junchi glanced at Su Hui and said, “Professor Su woke up early to make it.”

Su Hui lowered his head and silently drank the soup. After personally making it, he felt that the taste was slightly different from usual.