Wang Dali and I returned to the room where the murder took place. I glanced up at the ceiling and noticed some faint stains—just as I had suspected.
Since the victim's body was still lying there, I couldn't step on it. I asked Wang Dali to fetch a ladder for me. Then I took a bottle of alcohol and a cotton swab from the forensic toolkit.
Before long, Wang Dali brought the ladder over. I instructed him to set it up properly. Puzzled, he asked, "Yangzi, what are you planning to do?"
"You'll see soon enough," I replied.
I climbed the ladder and gently wiped the stains on the ceiling with the alcohol-soaked cotton swab. The alcohol dissolved the stains, and when it evaporated, the residue stuck to the swab—this is how forensic experts collect evidence.
I brought the swab close to my nose and sniffed it, then handed it to Wang Dali. He shook his head, "I don't smell anything."
"This is eel blood," I said, looking up again. "Someone smeared it on the ceiling to attract bats."
I squinted at the pattern. "Wait… it looks like it was sprayed on with a water gun or something."
"Song Yang, come here!" Huang Xiaotao called from another room.
We went to her. She had made a discovery—she found footage from a security camera in the same room, recorded the day before the incident. It showed a man disguised as a cleaner, wearing a mask, sneaking in. He hammered a nail into the wall and then sprayed something onto the ceiling with a water gun.
...
...
I repeated what I found about the eel blood on the ceiling, then smiled. "Bats are naturally bloodthirsty, especially attracted to the strong smell of eel blood. That explains why they were drawn here!"
"This proves the culprit is human, not some vampire."
Xiao Zhou's face flushed blue then red as he said, "Maybe the vampire attracting bats thing is fake, but the rest is true—there's always a gap between myth and reality."
I saw through him. Xiao Zhou had been convinced from the start it was a vampire case, even betting with me before. Since he was so stubborn, I had to fight fire with fire.
"If it really was a vampire, then we wouldn't have seen anything just now."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Vampires can't be seen in mirrors or captured on camera. You've heard that legend, right? So the camera shouldn't have recorded him either."
Xiao Zhou stammered, "That legend might be fake too!"
Wang Dali couldn't help but say, "This is fake, that is fake—where do you get your books from?"
Xiao Zhou was embarrassed but argued, "Cameras and mirrors work differently. Maybe the camera could capture the vampire's image."
I said, "If he really was a vampire, the bodies he bit wouldn't just lie there quietly for us to examine. They'd have turned into zombies and attacked us already. That's a good enough reason, isn't it?"
Xiao Zhou finally gave in, "Fine, I admit the killer this time isn't a vampire. But vampires do exist in this world!"
I thought to myself, stubborn as a dead duck. If vampires really existed and were immortal, there wouldn't be any humans left at all.
Huang Xiaotao rewound the footage and watched it twice more, frowning. "Can we zoom in on this?"
The waiter timidly said, "This isn't a high-end camera. It doesn't have that function."
Huang Xiaotao asked me, "Song Yang, did you notice anything?"
I stared at the screen. "This cleaner is probably the culprit's accomplice, about 45 to 50 years old, around 80 kg, average build. Judging by his technique spraying eel blood on the ceiling, he likely knew there might be cameras here from the start."
"Finding this kind of detail—he's quite sneaky!" Huang Xiaotao said.
The older man quietly guessed, "Maybe he used to work at a hotel. Small, unlicensed hotels often install hidden cameras behind mirrors or TVs."
"Also, he has had a stroke before," I said.
Everyone was shocked. Huang Xiaotao asked, "How did you figure that out? Can your eyes see through things?"
I smiled, "Of course not. The clue's in the video. Look again."
She rewound the video twice and shook her head. "Song Yang, I don't have your eyesight. Can you point it out?"
The older man frowned, "I noticed he limps a bit—is that it?"
I raised one finger. "That's part of it, but I can't conclude from just that. There's more."
I grabbed the remote and rewound a little. When the cleaner entered, he leaned a broom against the wall. I pointed at his wrist. "See? His left sleeve doesn't cover his wrist."
"And?" Huang Xiaotao asked.
I fast-forwarded a little and paused when he took the water gun from his right pants pocket. "Look at his right hand. The sleeve covers his wrist and even part of his hand. That means his left and right arms aren't the same length. It's a stroke aftereffect."
Xiao Zhou shook his head, "Not necessarily. Maybe the clothes don't fit well and the sleeves are different lengths."
I said, "That's possible, but combined with his limp, the stroke theory is more likely."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Huang Xiaotao praised, "That makes sense. I'm starting to doubt you're just an ordinary college student."
Wang Dali waved his hand in front of my eyes. "Yangzi, how do you have eyes like that? We didn't notice any of this, but you did."
I smiled modestly. Knowing medical and pathological traits is basic knowledge for a forensic examiner.
Knowing these traits makes tracking down the accomplice easier. Soon, Huang Xiaotao pulled up the hotel's guest register.
The cleaner's name was Zhao Tieniu, a 50-year-old farmer from a small village near the city.
From our clues, Zhao used his own ID to check in for two days, then disguised himself as a cleaner to prepare the scene. The next day, the killer brought the victim to the room and killed him without leaving any trace.
Also, the corridor camera was tampered with—the angle was changed slightly. The careless hotel staff didn't notice, so the killer's face wasn't caught on camera. Huang Xiaotao suspected Zhao did this.
But I noticed something odd and told Huang Xiaotao, "It's strange. If the accomplice disguised as a cleaner didn't want to be seen, why did he use his own ID to check in?"
"You mean…"
"The ID must be fake."
"Still, it's a lead," Huang Xiaotao told an officer. "Xiao Xu, check Zhao Tieniu's background with the household registry office."
Then she said to me, "I'll ask Wang Yuanchao to take you and Dali back to school."
"Wang Yuanchao?" I was puzzled.
It turned out she meant the silent older man. Huang Xiaotao smiled, "Officer Wang used to be the chief trainer for the Armed Police. After an injury, he transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department. Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you—he's got serious skills! I'll send him to assist you on-site from now on. You're a valuable asset to the task force; we can't afford mistakes."
"Thanks for your kindness," I said to the older man. "Officer Wang, I appreciate it."
Wang Yuanchao just nodded coldly.
Wang Dali patted him on the shoulder. "I thought you were just a regular guy. Didn't expect the chief trainer to be so badass. Like Lin Chong, the Panther Head in Water Margin, who trained the 800,000 Forbidden Army!"
Xiao Zhou said, "Captain Huang, aren't you mistaken? Wang was demoted to officer because he disobeyed orders and killed sixteen drug traffickers, right?"
Wang Dali slowly pulled his hand away, and Huang Xiaotao gave Xiao Zhou a sharp look, as if to say, You really picked the wrong topic.
Wang Yuanchao waved his hand lightly, "That's all in the past."
Looking at Wang Yuanchao, I couldn't help but feel a newfound respect. He was like an iceberg, cold on the outside but a raging fire inside. Judging by his gloomy look, he might even have a violent streak.
Back at the crime scene, before the officers moved the examined body, I burned some paper offerings and chanted a prayer for the departed as usual.
Huang Xiaotao clapped her hands, "Alright, it's already 3 AM. Everyone go home and rest. We'll have a case briefing at 8 AM tomorrow. Anyone late loses bonus!"
I asked, "Do I have to come too?"
"Of course!"
"Does the late penalty apply to me?"
Huang Xiaotao squeezed her soft fists and said, "Try me!"