Memory Lost (美人为馅): Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Typical Case Part 1

Darkness blankets the sky.

The few men from the Black Shield Team are making their way back to the office from the interrogation room.

Han Chen is walking in the front looking calm.  Chatterbox, who’s behind him, sighs, “Sigh!  We had a bunch of indirect evidence, but now this lie detector test result comes out.  We will definitely not be able to get an arrest order on Situ Yi.  We’ll have to release him after 48 hours.”

“Continue to monitor him,” Cold Face says simply.

Xiao Zhuan, on the other hand, looks around and murmurs, “Where did Xiao Bai go?  I didn’t see her back there either.”

Han Chen raises his head and looks around the hallway.

She’s nowhere to be seen.

The four of them enter the office, and they immediately notice the conference room’s door slightly closed.  Bai Jin Xi’s slender back view is facing towards them as she’s sitting on top of the table.  Her hands are pressed on the table and her head is tilted upwards slightly looking off to the ceiling or out the window.  The lights have not been turned on in the conference room, making it look gloomy.  And on the table behind where she’s sitting are a couple of papers and photos.

This image of her feels depressing and lonely.  Chatterbox and the others exchange glances and then they all look towards Han Chen.

They’re all thinking the same thing: after the results from the lie detector test, Xiao Bai, as the main driver for the criminal psychology profiling, must be heavily affected.  She must need someone to console her.  At a time like this, there’s no way that any of them would go.  This is something that a boyfriend should do, right?

Han Chen isn’t looking at the rest of them.  His eyes are fixed on Jin Xi this whole time.  After a moment, he walks into the conference room and closes the door behind him.

“What are you thinking about?”

Jin Xi raises her head to look at him.

She’s thinking about……

Some of the instances, some of the imageries, and some of the expressions.

In the woods near a major road, the female body is mottled like a flower that has been ravaged and thrown away.  If there are different levels of torture and abuse, these female bodies would undoubtedly be the serial killer’s artwork.  And the temperament coming from these dead bodies “matches” so well with Situ Yi’s aura.

Late night at the clubhouse, he turned his head around sharply and noticed her and Han Chen.  Those eyes of his did not look natural.  They did not carry any hint of a smile.  They were full of alertness.

And throughout the entire interrogation process, a mischievous smile would occasionally flash across his eyes.  And during the lie detector test, his fearlessness and his subtle feeling of excitement……

Jin Xi’s heart shakes.  She hops down from the table suddenly, turns around and starts flipping through the photos.  Han Chen watches her without a word.

She picks out ten or so photos.  They’re all high definition close-ups of the dead bodies; the most ferocious and gruesome.  A few of them have the victims’ faces captured.  She places the photos into her pocket, glances at Han Chen and walks out of the room.

Seeing her determined expression, Han Chen smiles slightly.  He stuffs his hand into his pocket and follows her outside.

The other three people in the office see Jin Xi rush out of the room like the wind and then see Han Chen following behind her expressionlessly.  They don’t know what’s going on.  Xiao Zhuan stands up, “I’ll go take a look.”

In the hallway.

Jin Xi glances at Han Chen beside her and asks, “Is he still in the same interrogation room?”

Han Chen nods.

Xiao Zhuan catches up to them, “Xiao Bai, what are you planning to do?”

“You’ll know in a bit.”

They soon arrive at the interrogation room.  Through the glass window, they can see Situ Yi sitting behind a rectangle table.  After one day and night of questioning, it has finally made him show a bit of tiredness.  His arm is on the armrest and his shirt is a bit ruffled.  But his eyes are still clear and shining.

He looks nothing like a psychopath.

“If we conclude that he’s not the murderer just by basing it off of Professor Xu’s lie detector test,” Jin Xi stares at him before continuing, “I have an even simpler method.  I just need one second to find out whether or not he is responsible for these cases!”

She pushes open the door and walks inside.  Situ Yi looks up from the noise.  And Han Chen and Xiao Zhuan pause their footsteps and stand outside watching them.

Situ is sitting while she is standing.

She looks at him and doesn’t say anything.

After a moment, he smiles suddenly.

But Jin Xi suddenly fetches a stack of photos from her pocket and throws them in front of him!

The ripped open wounds, the glaring blood, and stagnant eyes……these images appear so suddenly.  Situ’s face is still carrying a smile, but his gaze is fixed on the photos as if he cannot control it.

Jin Xi stares at his expression.

At this instant, his eyes show no malice, satisfaction, or anger.  His black pupils contrasting with the white sclera are fully concentrated, and……fascinated?

Jin Xi feels stuffed inside due to the blazing fire in her chest.

How could he possibly not be related to the case?

After a being in a daze for a moment, Situ realizes that Bai Jin Xi is observing him.  He lowers his eyelids and smiles slowly.  Jin Xi sweeps her eyes at him coldly.  She retrieves the stack of photos, places both of her hands on the table and leans towards him.

“I will definitely catch you.”

She says in a voice that only the two of them can hear.

Situ keeps quiet for a second.

“Is that so?  I’ll be waiting.”

She pushes open the door and walks out of the room.  But besides Han Chen and Xiao Zhuan, Xu Nan Bai is also standing outside.  He’s carrying a briefcase and is probably about to leave.

He clearly saw the scene from just now.

Jin Xi looks at him directly, “Senior, it’s good that you’re here.  I still think that Situ Yi is definitely connected to the case, so we can’t let him off so easily.”

Han Chen and Xiao Zhuan don’t say anything.

Xu Nan Bai furrows his eyebrows slightly, lowers his head and adjusts his glasses.

“What you’re saying is that there’s a problem with the results from the polygraph?”

Jin Xi shakes her head, “I cannot confirm that.  But a problem must exist somewhere, or a secret that we don’t know about.”

Xu Nan Bai takes a step forward and lowers his head to look at her, “Why do you think that?”

“His gaze,” Jin Xi answers, “The things in his eyes cannot be covered up.”

As someone who also studies criminal psychology, on top of the fact that Xu Nan Bai has been praising her continuously, Jin Xi feels that he would definitely understand and support her view.

But after a moment, Xu Nan Bai raises his head, takes a look elsewhere and smiles.

“Junior (female) Classmate,” his voice is gentle as always, but it’s also carrying an obvious tone of impatience, “This is just a feeling that you’re not certain about.  But what we can be certain about right now are the results from the polygraph.  The polygraph results tell us that Situ Yi is not connected to the case.  What else do you want?”

Jin Xi is a bit stunned.

“I hope that you can put him through the test again or use a different psychological test so that we can conclude the same findings from different angles.”

“I don’t think there’s a need,” Xu Nan Bai rejects the offer rather quickly.  It’s probably because he’s a bit mad from being doubted.  The expression on his face also seems apathetic.

They end their conversation here in a bit of a heavy mood.

And Xiao Zhuan, who witnesses their conflict, feels a bit anxious.  He takes a peek at Han Chen but sees that Han Chen is very calm while leaning on the railing at the side and watching them.  He doesn’t speak to support Bai Jin Xi or attempt to ease them up.  It’s as if this is just a normal everyday conflict between colleagues, so he doesn’t plan to butt in.

Seeing him like this, Xiao Zhuan also feels calmer.  He thinks in his heart: that’s right.  Xiao Bai is not a softy, so why would she need to rely on others to win a fight?  Yet he’s losing his calm from being too anxious.

But if it were another guy, the guy would have spoken to stand up for his girlfriend.

But Leader is different.

He realizes that Leader knows Xiao Bai really well.

He knows when she needs to be protected;

And he knows when she needs you to just keep quiet and watch her.