CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51: THE SPECIAL CUP ON THE COFFEE TABLE

Hearing Jiang An’s analysis, Zhang Yean was momentarily stunned.

She had participated in the analysis of this case many times, and the discussions previously hadn’t changed much.

However, she didn’t expect such a significant change after Jiang An joined the meeting.

Importantly, many of the conclusions Jiang An proposed were quite well-reasoned.

Zhang Yean turned her head to look at the projector.

The screen was displaying a photo of the living room coffee table.

The photo looked very clear.

Everything on the coffee table could be seen distinctly.

Just like in an ordinary household, there were many things on the coffee table.

There was an air conditioner remote, a TV remote, a water cup, a fruit snack tray, and a nutcracker.

All the items were things commonly seen in daily life.

However.

Looking at these items, Zhang Yean had a blank expression, without any insights.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of information was hidden behind these mundane items.

Five minutes later, Zhang Yean raised her hand to touch her forehead.

She awkwardly smiled and said, "This photo is too layered."

"I might really not be able to grasp it."

Jiang An smiled and said, "Senior sister, the items on the coffee table are indeed placed rather chaotically, without much order."

"But, one item caught my attention."

"Oh? What item?"

In the blink of an eye, Jiang An raised his hand and pointed to the position in the top right corner of the image.

At the position Jiang An pointed, there was a white ceramic cup visible.

After thinking for two minutes, Zhang Yean puzzledly asked, "This white ceramic cup doesn’t seem unusual."

"It’s just like a cup we usually use at home for drinking water, right?"

Jiang An answered, "The ceramic cup doesn’t have many anomalies."

"But, it has obvious differences compared to the other cups."

With this reminder, Zhang Yean filtered out the other items next to the cup and focused her attention on the ceramic cup.

After a while, she speculated and said, "Indeed!"

"This ceramic cup is quite different from the other cups."

"But, in a home, everyone has their own cup."

"The difference itself doesn’t necessarily prove anything, though."

Jiang An said, "A cup being different alone doesn’t prove anything."

"However, the number of cups being different is a problem."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

Jiang An said, "There are a total of four cups on this coffee table."

Zhang Yean responded, "There’s nothing unusual about that."

"After all, there are four people in this household, one cup per person."

"Isn’t that quite normal?"

Jiang An replied, "According to our general life knowledge, everyone would have one water cup."

"But, in this room, there are not just four cups."

"Instead, there are five cups."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yean turned her head to look again at the screen, trying to find the missing cup in some corner.

However.

Unfortunately.

Her eyes scanned every corner of the photo, but she didn’t see any other cups.

Zhang Yean said, "There’s no extra cup."

"I can only see four in my field of vision."

Immediately after, Jiang An moved the mouse, closed the current image, and opened the image of the second bedroom.

He said, "On the bedside table in this bedroom, there’s a stainless steel cup."

Seeing this, Zhang Yean suddenly understood.

He said, "Do you mean the extra ceramic cup is used for a guest?"

Jiang An listened, then gently nodded.

He continued, "Actually, there are five cups in this household."

While speaking, he moved the mouse again, placing the two images on the desktop.

Among these five glasses, there’s a significant difference.

Only one is a ceramic cup.

"And this kind of ceramic cup looks very business-like, specifically used for receiving guests."

"Additionally, I saw similar ceramic cups in the deceased’s kitchen cabinet."

"The key point is that there were some tea leaves in this ceramic cup."

"Though the tea has gone bad and turned yellow, the tea leaves are still vaguely visible."

"So, I believe the person using this cup isn’t from the household."

Hearing this, Zhang Yean fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile.

On the highway, Chen He was gripping the steering wheel, racing along.

At this moment.

He suddenly felt the response of the gas pedal was insufficient.

Even though the car speed had soared to 130, or even 140.

He still felt the speed wasn’t fast enough.

The phrase "eager to return" was vividly embodied in Chen He’s demeanor.

Of course.

Upon capturing this kind of suspect, the sense of anticipation naturally arises.

This is a common trait among criminal police officers.

After all, once the suspect is captured, the case is just one step away from being solved.

All the way, the police car sped ahead.

3:00 AM.

The police car entered the ring highway of Jiangcheng.

Just as they were exiting the highway, Captain Li called.

"Captain Chen, where are you now?"

"Captain Li, are you still up?"

"No! Mr. Ma and I are both waiting for you."

Upon hearing this, Chen He instantly felt a warm sensation inside.

He didn’t expect, in the dead of night, that his direct leaders were still waiting for him.

A surge of warmth flowed rapidly in his heart.

Chen He said, "We’ve just exited the highway."

"In about 15 minutes, we’ll arrive at the city bureau entrance."

Li Jian said, "Be careful!"

"Mr. Ma and I are waiting at the door to welcome you back."

Fifteen minutes later, a police car with flashing sirens arrived at the entrance of the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau.

Mr. Ma and Li Jian were already standing at the door.

As soon as the police car reached the entrance, Chen He got out of the car.

"Mr. Ma! Captain Li!"

Chen He raised his right hand to salute.

Mr. Ma stepped forward and said, "It must have been hard on the road."

Then, he patted Chen He’s shoulder, looking at his exhausted appearance, and said, "You should go rest, leave the rest to Captain Li."

Li Jian gently nodded.

After a moment, Chen He said, "Mr. Ma! I would like to request to join the interrogation."

Mr. Ma softly said, "I know you’re eager to earn merits, but your achievements won’t be overlooked."

"You’ve been traveling tirelessly, you should take care of your body."

"As a leader, I wouldn’t feel right if you didn’t."

Chen He said, "Mr. Ma, I’m really interested in this case."

"On one hand, I want to personally see the arrest of the murderer in this case."

"On the other hand, I want to learn interrogation techniques from Captain Li."

Mr. Ma hesitated for a moment.

Actually, his intention was for his subordinates to have a good rest, and to keep healthy bodies.

But now, if he were to obstruct them further, wouldn’t he be hindering his subordinates’ progress?

Finally, Mr. Ma said in a deep voice, "Then you’ll have to work a bit harder."

"Once this case is solved, you can take a long vacation."

"Yes! Mr. Ma!"