"Big brother, have you made another discovery?" Zhang Yean widened her eyes, looking at Jiang An in disbelief.
Jiang An replied, "Last night, when I was at the forensic autopsy center, I found a small amount of foreign substance adhering inside the victim's uterine wall."
"I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but now that I think about it, it might very well be fertilized egg tissue."
Zhang Yean said, "Are you saying the victim was pregnant?"
Jiang An nodded.
Zhang Yean withdrew her gaze, glancing at the unopened Yuting contraceptive pills in her hand.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, "I understand now!"
"The victim got pregnant after the relationship, without taking contraceptives."
"The murderer might have been driven to kill because the victim was pregnant?"
Jiang An nodded.
"I think there's a high possibility of that."
Meanwhile, Chen He led a group of officers back to the Information Technology College again.
"Mr. Wang, I apologize for bothering you once more."
Compared to their first meeting, Mr. Wang was evidently much more hospitable this time.
She stepped forward and said, "Mr. Chen, you're too kind."
"Your hard work is vital for solving this case."
"What do you wish to learn during this visit?"
Chen He said, "Can you call over Li Yan's best friend at the school? I have some questions I'd like to go over."
"Alright! I'll notify Li Yan's counselor to arrange it immediately."
"As her counselor, she would be more familiar with the student's social life."
Ten minutes later, two girls with ponytails entered the academic office's meeting room.
"Mr. Wang, the counselor asked us to come over."
Mr. Wang asked, "Are you two friends with Li Yan?"
The two girls nodded repeatedly.
"We are her roommates and also her close friends."
Hearing this, Chen He nodded.
Mr. Wang said, "This is the deputy director of the municipal criminal investigation team. He has some questions regarding Li Yan. You should cooperate well."
"Alright."
Chen He continued, "Thank you, Mr. Wang, leave the rest to me."
Subsequently, Mr. Wang turned and left.
In the meeting room, only the two female students and three officers remained.
Chen He asked, "Did you two often communicate with Li Yan?"
One of the girls said, "The three of us live in the same dormitory."
"We sit together in class and have meals together in the cafeteria as well."
Chen He inquired, "Do you know about her romantic life?"
Both girls nodded.
"Due to her epilepsy from a car accident, she felt a bit inferior in matters of boyfriends, and she's always been single."
Upon hearing this, Chen He was a bit shocked, "Never had a boyfriend?"
The other girl responded, "Since we met at the start of university, she hasn't had a boyfriend."
"We've always encouraged her to take this step, but she seems very concerned about her illness."
Chen He looked into the clear, innocent eyes of the two girls, seemingly not lying.
He then asked, "How many people know about her epilepsy?"
"I'd estimate that everyone in our second-year class knows."
"In these two years, her illness has occurred several times at school."
"Sometimes it happened suddenly in the classroom, sometimes elsewhere on campus."
"There was even a serious episode once while getting food in the cafeteria, and we all had to take her to the school clinic."
Chen He stated, "So all your classmates around you know she has epilepsy?"
The two girls nodded again.
Then, Chen He asked, "Does she have any male friends she's particularly close to? Not boyfriends!"
The two girls exchanged a look and shook their heads.
"Did you know she went camping two days ago?"
One of the girls replied, "At that time, she told me that a former high school desk mate came to play, and they planned to camp on Zizhu Mountain."
"A high school desk mate? Have you met her?"
"No! We've been told they haven't met in many years, and it was her first time in Jiangcheng."
"On the day she went out, she deliberately wore makeup and bought snacks like broad beans and popcorn."
The other girl added, "Actually, Li Yan has always lived quite a repressed life. It was rare for her to be so happy that day."
Hearing this, Chen He nodded.
Finally, he asked, "Were you surprised by Li Yan's death?"
One of the girls nodded and said, "It was quite unexpected."
"However, with Li Yan's illness, there was indeed a risk of death."
As they walked out of the Information Technology College's gate, Chen He and the other two officers were in a rather low mood.
They originally thought they could identify a suspect effortlessly.
Unexpectedly, they found nothing.
One of the officers asked, "Mr. Chen, do you think Jiang An's analysis is correct?"
"We've been busy all day and haven't even seen the shadow of the suspect."
The other officer also said, "Mr. Chen, I think what you said makes sense. The hit-and-run driver back then is very suspicious."
Chen He lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, and glanced back at the college gate, saying, "I can't say for certain, but something feels off."
By 8:30 in the evening, the criminal investigation team's meeting room was shrouded in smoke.
The two teams that went out to investigate had returned.
Li Jian said, "Time is tight; let's summarize the investigation findings now."
Chen He led one team, and he stated, "Through investigating the victim's close friends, we found that due to her illness and inferiority complex, the victim Li Yan did not date a boyfriend in school and had no close male friends either."
"As for her epilepsy, it had occurred multiple times in school, and many people knew about it, with one instance even leading to her being sent to the school clinic."
Mr. Yao led the second team, and he said, "I went to the victim's hometown and found the hit-and-run driver from back then. He has long since let go of the past events."
"After getting out of prison, he opened a restaurant, which is now thriving."
"Moreover, during the time of the crime, he was on a family vacation along the coast, not in Jiangcheng, with no opportunity to commit the crime."
"Regarding any boy-girl relationships during her middle school years, I investigated Li Yan's parents, teachers, and classmates. None mentioned anything about having a boyfriend in middle school."
After hearing these reports from the two teams, Captain Li Jian furrowed his brows deeply.
This tempo is not right!
How is it so different from the investigative direction we determined at the last meeting?
Calming himself slightly, Li Jian continued to ask, "How was the trace examination by the third team?"
Zhang Yean replied, "We didn't find any valuable fingerprints on the victim's belongings in the tent."
"A partial fingerprint was detected in the glove under the cliff, but it is difficult to match. It didn't match anyone in the system database."
"The biological evidence in the glove didn't match any suspicious individuals either."
Hearing the results of the evidence comparison, Captain Li Jian's brows immediately formed a deep furrow.
Chen He also had a somber expression. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes bought before the meeting, opened it, and handed them out to the others.
At this moment, perhaps cigarettes were the best companion.
Could it be another dead end?
After taking two puffs of his cigarette, Captain Li Jian gazed around the room and asked, "Have Mr. Wu and Jiang An not arrived for the meeting?"
Zhang Yean answered, "Mr. Wu went to a site; there was a report of someone jumping off a bridge into the Dongjiang River."
"Jiang An went to the forensic autopsy center."
Li Jian asked, "Is there a body that needs examination now?"
Zhang Yean replied, "Jiang An suspects that the deceased Li Yan might have been pregnant, so he went to the forensic examination center to verify."
Just as she finished speaking, Jiang An suddenly rushed in.
"Mr. Li, sorry I'm late!"