CHAPTER 174: 96, I WANT EVERYONE TO WITNESS MY FEELINGS FOR YOU (10,000 WORDS)_6

Shi Nian nodded at Tang Yanqing, then helped Spicy Girl upstairs.

Tang Yanqing stayed behind.

Once the students had all left, he slowly walked to the school security office.

The police’s yellow tape was stretched at the entrance of the school security office, yet Tang Yanqing started scanning the area from the entrance of the apartment building, not leaving any corner of the long corridor unchecked.

Finally, he entered the school security office, and the CSI staff had already withdrawn. He silently signaled to Jia Tianzi and Guan Liang with his eyes.

He looked around, but his gaze was drawn to an elongated bloodstain on the window, so he slowly walked over.

Standing in front of the window, he moved his feet left and right, adjusting his angle to look outside the window. Then he reached out and measured the width and length of the bloodstain.

It was that Blood Handprint that Shi Nian hadn’t had the chance to see. But now, it was no longer a clear and complete handprint because the bloody hand had slid down, dragging the entire stain into an elongated line.

Tang Yanqing, however, thought of a hand through the width and shape of that elongated line.

Seeing this, Jia Tianzi came over and said in a low voice, "It’s a pity we didn’t collect any fingerprints here."

Tang Yanqing nodded: "Such a downward slide would destroy any fingerprints." He said, turning on his pocket flashlight and shining it on the bloodstain: "Moreover, all the textures left behind are merely the traces of the slide itself, without any physiological structures."

The flashlight’s beam fell on the window glass and reflected back onto Tang Yanqing’s face.

He looked sideways at Jia Tianzi: "In other words, that person deliberately avoided leaving any physiological marks. The most likely explanation is that the person was wearing gloves."

Jia Tianzi was slightly taken aback, and checked the CSI records: "But Sean wasn’t wearing gloves on either hand."

Tang Yanqing shook his head, his eyes squinting: "Not the victim. The person who left this Blood Handprint is the killer."

"Ah!" Even Jia Tianzi was startled: "If he’s so cautious about not leaving his physiological traces at the scene, why would he leave such a large bloodstain on the window glass? Could it be that he accidentally brushed against it and didn’t have time to wipe it away?"

"No."

Tang Yanqing turned and pointed to the floor.

By now, Sean’s body had already been removed by CSI, and aside from the trace line marking the body’s position, the floor was astonishingly clean.

Not only was there no disorder from a struggle, but even the blood Sean had shed was cleaned up.

"The entire office wasn’t left messy at all by a person’s death," Tang Yanqing looked up at Jia Tianzi, "proving the killer highly values cleanliness or rather cares greatly about order. If he could so meticulously clean the blood off the floor, how could he neglect such a huge flaw on the window glass?"

"Then why?" Jia Tianzi squinted his eyes.

Tang Yanqing turned back around, standing again by the window, and once more reached out, sliding his hand in the air along that bloodstain. He repeated this motion a few times, then suddenly paused, retracted his hand, and stuffed it into his pocket, not speaking for a long moment.

"Young master, what’s wrong?" Jia Tianzi quickly stepped forward to ask.

Tang Yanqing tilted his head to look at him: "Why do you think there is such a sliding mark?"

Jia Tianzi said, "I originally thought it was Sean’s handprint. I thought that maybe after sustaining a fatal injury, he couldn’t support his weight and his hand slid down the window glass. But you said the killer left it on purpose..."

Tang Yanqing lowered his head, "Didn’t my previous actions remind you of anything?"

"What?" Jia Tianzi didn’t understand at first, so he also reached out, sliding his hand downward in the air against that bloodstain.

Tang Yanqing stared at him, "Speak your intuition. The first thought that jumps into your mind."

Even Jia Tianzi felt a bit nervous, taking a deep breath: "...Like caressing something. For example, a woman’s long hair."

A glint of cold light flashed in Tang Yanqing’s eyes, and he nodded: "Inform CSI over there to determine the time that this bloodstain was left based on the coagulation stage."

.

Tang Yanqing went upstairs.

The lights in Shi Nian and Spicy Girl’s room were still on, casting a glow from under the door.

He hesitated slightly but didn’t go up to knock on the door, instead, he returned straight to his own room.

He sat down and texted Shi Nian: "Did you come back to the school before joining us?"

As he expected, Shi Nian later replied: "Yes, I did."

He quickly followed up: "Where did you go, did you go near the school security office? What time did you arrive? Please be as precise as possible, preferably specifying location and minutes."

.

In Shi Nian’s room, Spicy Girl was still crying.

Shi Nian held the phone, feeling the urgent mood of Tang Yanqing transmitted through it.

She didn’t know the specifics below, so she couldn’t speculate why Tang Yanqing was so eager to know her earlier whereabouts. Moreover, at that time, she didn’t pay specific attention to the exact hour or minute she returned and could only provide an approximate time.

But her vague intuition told her—Tang Yanqing wouldn’t unreasonably question her about this. Unless it had something to do with her.

She was stunned.

But what could Sean’s death have to do with her? She couldn’t understand at all.

So she bowed her head and responded: "Actually, I didn’t enter the dorm building. I turned back when I reached outside the door, and as for the location of the school security office—I just stood outside the window at most, then turned back and left."

"The time was about between 7:30 and 8:00 in the evening."

After reading the text, Tang Yanqing’s complexion changed, and he hastily threw on his coat and rushed out.

Only sending her a message on the way: "I’m going to the bureau tonight, don’t worry."

.

Upon returning to the bureau, the CSI had already provided a preliminary report: the killer used a very professional technique to snap the victim’s neck.

The report also noted that the killer didn’t do it in a brutal manner but had an expert understanding of human muscle and nerve structures. He skilfully found the most fragile point of the neck with adept fingers, using the right amount of force to render the victim’s voice silent, then "without wasting extra effort, snapped the victim’s neck."

Forensic expert Neil even made a descriptive analogy: "This method reminds me of your ancient Eastern martial arts."

Tang Yanqing and Jia Tianzi exchanged glances.

Neil thought the two Chinese detectives didn’t believe him, so he brought over a model, pointing to the vertebra structure: "It uses instantaneous force to cause ’atlanto-axial dislocation’, leading to high cervical spinal cord injury, which is fatal."

"Because the center that controls the respiratory muscles is near the fourth cervical vertebra; if this area is injured, it leads to respiratory muscle weakness and causes respiratory failure. Death occurs within minutes."

"Ladies and gentlemen, see, whether it’s the atlanto-axial location or the fourth cervical vertebra...without professional knowledge and precise technique, who can locate it so accurately and act so decisively?"

Tang Yanqing nodded and then asked, "Has a conclusion been reached about the time the bloodstain on the window glass was left?"

Neil checked the report and nodded: "Around 7:30 to 8:00 in the evening."

The morgue suddenly fell silent—well, it was supposed to be quiet anyway, but at that moment it was so still that it made one’s skin crawl.

Tang Yanqing’s eyes flashed with a cold light.

Neil quickly shrank his neck, protectively using his hands to cover the area near his fourth cervical vertebra.

Who could say the legendary Chinese detective in front of him wouldn’t use such a method for killing?