Criminal Investigation Notes Chapter 96

Volu 5: Butterfly Specins

Huadu, it was a calm and ordinary night, past 9 oclock, and the whole world had quieted down.

Streetlights by the roadside lit up one by one, accompanied by colorful neon lights, outlining a beautiful cityscape at night.

Autumn in Huadu is short, and it feels like winter will arrive soon.

A bus carrying passengers slowly departed from the bus stop. It was a busy station, and many passengers got off, instantly easing the crowded situation and dissipating any argunts or displeasure.

The bus suddenly beca much emptier, with everyone having a seat, and even several seats remained vacant, leaving only half of the bus filled.

In the nightti bus, the driver turned on the lights, and the entire cabin was bathed in warm orange light. The bus drove quickly and steadily, and the tired individuals who had been busy all day were eager to return ho.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man voiced a question, Hmm? Whose bag is this?

He discovered the bag under the seat next to him. The bag was black, and in the dim evening, it would have gone unnoticed if not carefully observed. The middle-aged man picked up the bag, feeling its weight.

In the empty bus, with only a few people remaining, no one responded upon hearing his question.

Puzzled, the middle-aged man carried the bag and walked towards the front, saying to the driver, Master, soone left their bag on the bus.

The driver was still driving and joined in, shouting, Whose bag is it?

No one answered.

The driver then asked the middle-aged man, Did you see who left the bag there?

The middle-aged man replied, No, I didnt notice. I just got on not long ago.

The driver asked again, Did anyone see who left the bag?

No one responded. Other passengers began discussing the situation, What if it contains sothing valuable? It looks like a brand new bag.

Should we keep it at the final stop for them to pick up later?

How could soone forget such a big bag? Maybe they intentionally left it here!

On this bus, nothing gets lost. The driver has seen all sorts of things.

Oh, there seems to be a sound coming from the bag. Suddenly, a girl sitting close by spoke.

The bus imdiately fell into silence, and everyone remained silent.

Indeed, a strange sound emanated from the bag, a soft dripping sound, like the beep of an electronic alarm clock.

An Auntie said, Lets check just in case its sothing bad

Upon hearing this sentence, the expressions on the faces of the people on the bus changed, and the middle-aged man quickly unzipped the bag.

Inside the bag, there was a square iron box with red flashing numbers on it

It was another dream. Su Hui could clearly distinguish that he was in a dream, but everything in that dream felt so real, as if it had actually happened.

Su Hui couldnt quite explain whether it was a dream or a mory that suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Lately, this kind of situation seed to be happening more frequently.

He would often dream, but upon waking up, he couldnt rember many details of the dreams.

I know, Mom, I will go back ho this weekend. Oh, I told you I already made friends, so you dont have to arrange blind dates for .

What? Bring her ho for you to see? Isnt that too fast? Shouldnt we consider the other persons feelings?

The voice of his mother ca from the phone, and she cautiously asked, Then how does she look? Is she easygoing?

In the dream, Su Hui casually responded and said, Mom, you have to trust your sons judgnt. She looks good, virtuous, and especially gentle. Well, except for not wanting children, she doesnt have any flaws

His mother wasnt quite satisfied with that, but since he didnt mind, she couldnt say much and left a tentative remark, Well you two should discuss it and consider it. It can get lonely without children.

Su Hui tried to persuade her, Actually, if you want to experience the joy of raising soone, wouldnt it be better to get a cat?

His mother snorted, Exactly, if I had gotten a cat back then, it wouldnt have been so quick-witted in arguing with .

Su Hui quickly reassured her, Mom, I recently bought a purple clay tea set for you, planning to bring it back next ti.

Upon hearing this, his own mother imdiately smiled with joy and even asked him to take a picture to see.

Su Hui sarcastically asked, Can a cat do that?

His mother compromised, shaking her hand, Okay, okay, wasnt it your idea to get a cat first? Youll know in the future. As long as our children are safe and happy, everything else cos second. Your father and I are just worried that youre too lazy in your daily life and cant take care of yourself. If you find soone similar and then get a cat, will our whole family starve?

On the other end, his mother continued to nag about sothing, and Su Hui hung up the phone. He walked along the corridor of Building 3 and reached the corner, where he saw a person in work clothes squatting in front of a vending machine that was usually unattended.

Su Hui:

Worker:

Su Hui asked the worker, Did you see anything else inside?

The worker hesitated for a mont and handed over a lunchbox, saying, You an this I was just thinking about it. The vending machine is almost full of drinks, but theres a lunchbox in the dispensing outlet. I was wondering how smart our vending machine has beco.

Su Hui laughed and thought to himself, Its just that you encountered it today, occasionally it also dispenses umbrellas, roses, snacks, and small gifts

He walked upstairs, placed the lunchbox in a drawer, and took out a fluorescent paper from it.

That pack of fluorescent paper was the last one.

Su Hui skillfully and quickly folded it into a star and placed it next to the lunchbox.

His phone beeped, and a ssage appeared: I brought chicken soup for you today, did you receive it?

The corners of Su Huis mouth involuntarily lifted, If I were five minutes later, the maintenance staff would have taken it from the vending machine.

After a while, the other person replied, Sorry, Ill be more careful next ti.

Its not your fault. Have you boarded the high-speed train? Su Hui rembered that he had ntioned earlier that he would be on a business trip today, so he put the lunchbox in early.

Its going well. Luo and I are together. Rember to eat on ti.

This business trip might last for half a month, and Su Hui said again, Ill give you this star and the next lunchbox when you co back.

I already have ninety-nine stars. If I add this one, I can make it an even hundred.

Su Hui hesitated for a mont and typed, Then lets et when you co back. I can personally give you the last star.

Instantly, the other person replied, Okay!

Su Hui opened his computer, entered the password to log into the system, and a file awaiting receipt popped up.

It was another case involving fine sand

He opened the docunt, which described the latest explosion incident. Two people died, and two were injured. This was the eighth victim of the fine sand explosion case.

There had been a series of cris for several months, and this mysterious fine sand seed to linger like a haunting spirit.

Su Hui frowned. He had conducted so many criminal profiles, but this case always surprised him.

Initially, the na fine sand originated from so sand grains found at the scene of the explosion. This type of explosive was homade, with layers of sand isolating its contents. When it exploded, it left behind colorful tiny grains of sand, hence the nickna fine sand.

What Su Hui didnt expect was that this bomb maker, who used homade explosives, was constantly changing. He seed to be using all his tricks to outsmart the police, making it difficult to decipher his behavioral logic.

The only constant was the timing of the crisevery ten days, a bomb would appear in the city.

Except for the successfully defused eighth bomb, the others had all exploded, causing injuries and deaths.

One was in the busy market, the next one in an abandoned area, the following one was placed in a cetery, and later it was left at the school entrance

The police were extrely passive, following the killer everywhere, searching everywhere, but they never managed to capture this mysterious perpetrator.

The criminal pattern of fine sand kept changing; he didnt conform to the norms of criminal psychology. He had no specific targets and no complete logical chain. He seed like an unpredictable variable, a bug appearing in the city.

Where did things go wrong?

Su Hui took a deep breath and began examining the photos in detail.

There must be so patterns; he had to find the underlying logic within these complex materials to prevent the next disaster from happening.

While he was engrossed in his examination, the computer suddenly beeped.

Su Hui looked up and saw an unfamiliar account, sent from an internal source, but he couldnt make out the senders account.

Poet.

The other person addressed him directly by his na.

Su Hui furrowed his brow and replied with a question mark, ?

The other person typed, You cant catch .

In that instant, Su Hui felt as if soone lunged at him. Before he could even make out the persons face, a knife was thrust into his body.

The icy blade seed to freeze his flesh and blood, then slowly slid downward, cutting through his organs with excruciating pain coursing through his nerves.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and shivers engulfed his entire body.

He struggled in agony, trying to sound the alarm, but his throat seed to be constricted, allowing only painful groans to escape.

Su Hui, Su Hui! a familiar voice echoed in his ears. Did you have a nightmare?

Su Hui finally managed to break free from that dream, sitting up and tearing off his eye mask. It was like a suffocating person suddenly being able to breathe freely. He greedily gulped down the air, coughing uncontrollably.

Su Hui instinctively covered his abdon, where there obviously wasnt a lethal weapon. The wounds from two years ago had long since healed. But the feeling he had just experienced was too vivid.

His forehead was already damp with cold sweat. In the midst of confusion, Su Hui seed to catch glimpses of so fragnts, but he couldnt recall the specific details. The dream had shattered into pieces, making it impossible for him to carefully trace the underlying logic.

Then he rembered, it was his last phone call to his mother. Since then, he never had the chance to see her again, and he couldnt deliver that set of purple clay teapot to her.

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his chest, his fingers gripping tightly onto the bedding in front of him.

For a long ti, Su Hui had been numb to everything around him. But as he was gradually pulled back into the world recently, the emotions that had been suppressed started surging out.

He felt overwheld for a mont, as if he was being engulfed by sadness. From his fingertips to his entire body, he couldnt stop trembling.

Lu Junchi sat by his bedside, gently stroking his back. As Su Hui gradually cald down from the panic, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, his gaze regained clarity.

Lu Junchi handed him a glass of warm water. Su Hui took a few sips and sat for a while before feeling slightly better. With a hoarse voice, he asked, What ti is it?

Lu Junchi checked his phone and replied, Seven oclock. It was earlier than Su Huis usual waking ti.

As soon as Su Hui got up, he noticed that Lu Junchi had already prepared breakfast.

Todays breakfast was a bit special, pocket sandwiches bought from the convenience store, filled with plenty of egg yolk and salad dressing.

Lu Junchi had gone for a run in the morning to buy them.

Su Hui imdiately spotted the pocket sandwiches on the table and took a bite.

Lu Junchi asked, Do you like it?

Su Hui narrowed his eyes and said, Mmm, its delicious. I really enjoy eating this kind with egg yolk sauce.

The combination of egg yolk sauce and the freshness of the egg yolk created a delicate texture and brought back mories. Since moving to the police station, the convenience stores nearby were far away, and he hadnt eaten this for a long ti.

The delicious food eased the lingering effects of the nightmare, and Su Hui gradually felt much better.

Lu Junchi still rembered that this was the breakfast the poet used to enjoy.

He intentionally bought it today to confirm his suspicion.

Peoples behaviors can easily change, but these small habits and preferences in life are difficult to alter.

Lu Junchi looked at Su Hui, hoping to find sothing in his expression.

Su Huis face was as pale as a fine piece of jade. He lowered his head, eating the salad egg pocket sandwich, and his long eyelashes drooped. There was a fragility in his appearance, as if he were a delicate porcelain that would break with a touch, but there was also a hidden resilience in his deanor.

For a mont, Lu Junchi felt as if Su Huis soul and abilities were sealed within this seemingly frail body, burdened by the mundane world.

He had seen him give his all, effortlessly solving all difficulties before him, shining brightly and captivating everyone.

Seeing that Lu Junchi was watching him, Su Hui thought there might be sothing on his mouth and grabbed a tissue to wipe it off. Finding nothing, he picked up the second one.

Lu Junchi casually asked, When you were with Dr. Huang before, he asked about your old injury. When did that happen?

Su Hui paused for a mont, seemingly unwilling to bring it up. He casually replied, It happened about two years ago, just an accident.

Lu Junchi asked, Can you tell the specifics?

Su Huis movents halted, indicating that he didnt want to talk about it. He brushed it off lightly, saying, Its all in the past.

After finishing the second egg yolk pocket sandwich, Su Hui licked the corner of his mouth with his tongue, then picked up the third one

Hemingway seed to have slled the food and boldly jumped onto the table, owing.

Su Hui evaded it and earnestly reasoned with the cat, Kitties cant eat this.

He stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth, then reached out with his other hand and gently rubbed the cats head.

Hemingway felt a bit resentful that his food was taken away by his owner and let out a owing sound.

The topic quickly shifted, and the first cautious probe didnt yield any clear clues.

As they were getting ready to leave, Su Hui noticed a small box on the table and picked it up. Looks like a new jigsaw puzzle has arrived.

There wasnt enough ti to open it now, so they would have to do it later.

Lu Junchi casually asked, This box doesnt look big. Recently, he had gotten used to Su Hui occasionally buying complex puzzles through overseas shopping, but this puzzle box seed too small.

Su Hui replied, This is Jigsaw Puzzle 29, it only has 29 pieces, and its rated as a level ten difficulty.

Lu Junchi asked, How many levels of difficulty are there for puzzles?

Ten levels, Su Hui replied as he put on his shoes. But I dont think it lives up to its na. Larger puzzles require pattern recognition, precision, and patience, while smaller puzzles mainly test problem-solving skills.

Today was the beginning of the month, and Director Tan and several captains from the Criminal Investigation Division held a regular eting.

The forr director sipped his goji berry tea from a thermos and listened to the reports from each team.

Lu Junchi wasnt sure if it was his imagination, but he felt a shadow pass over Chief Tans brow.

Sure enough, after the eting, Director Tan spoke up. Yesterday, the Fourth District received a report of a tid bomb being placed on a bus. Fortunately, it was discovered in ti, and the SWAT team was involved in defusing it. Based on the yield calculation, if the bomb had detonated, many people on the bus would have been in danger.

The Criminal Investigation Division hadnt received a detailed report on this matter yet, so everyone looked at each other in surprise upon hearing it.

It had been nearly two years since there was a bomb incident in Huadu, and they wondered whose responsibility it would fall on this ti.

Explosions in the city were rare but occurred every few years.

Most of the bombs were simple and ordinary, so made from materials obtained from fireworks displays, and others from leaked chemicals.

These types of cases were relatively routine and easier to handle.

However, tid bombs the sophisticated ones ant the perpetrator had a certain level of professional skills and was consciously evading and concealing their identity.

Cases like these werent like ordinary criminal cases with multiple leads to investigate. Bombings left few fingerprints and traces behind, and the scene would be chaotic after the explosion.

These cases were uncontrollable, and the casualties would be more severe than in ordinary cases.

Sotis they even posed a threat to the lives of police officers.

Not to ntion the Fine Sand Case from two years ago, which was a nightmare for the police in Huadu.

Now, this thing had erged again, and everyone was sweating. So people kept their heads down, seemingly afraid of being assigned to this case.

When Lu Junchi heard this, he looked up at Director Tan.

If this case was related to the Fine Sand Case, he felt sowhat inclined to take it on voluntarily.

But Director Tan avoided his gaze and looked up, saying, Xing Yunhai, based on the Fifth Team, form a task force. Be sure to prioritize safety and cooperate with the SWAT bomb disposal team.

Xing Yunhai lowered his head and said, Alright.

TN:

It just hit that I havent been indicating the Volu Divisions or putting in the chapter summaries. Im too lazy to do the summaries for all the previous chapters and starting midway just feels wrong, so yeah deal with it*respectfully*. I will put the Volu divisions though coz those are kinda important to signal new cases.

AnywhooYay new case!