I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 72: Chapter 70: Killer’s Sketch

Kang Ting listened to Su Miaoyi, momentarily at a loss for words.

It was one thing for the Jinghai City Bureau to have a rich thug like Zhuang Yanzheng. But now they had someone who took one look at a corpse, seemed to be possessed, and then rattled off the entire sequence of the crime.

"Captain Kang?" Su Miaoyi called out when he remained silent.

Kang Ting stared at her, then paused before finally speaking. "Is this how you solve cases in Jinghai? This is completely absurd."

Su Miaoyi just looked at him. "..."

Kang Ting continued, "I’ve been a detective for over twenty years, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard anything so ridiculous. You people in Jinghai really will do anything. I can’t believe they actually recommended you."

Su Miaoyi could understand. It was the kind of thing no one would believe at first.

Especially not a twenty-year veteran detective like Kang Ting.

For him, everything had to start with evidence.

She thought for a moment before asking, "Well, do you have any investigative leads right now?"

Kang Ting didn’t answer.

"I saw the killer’s face," Su Miaoyi said.

Kang Ting looked at her.

Su Miaoyi met his uncomprehending gaze. "I know I’m still a suspect in your eyes, but we should be able to contact Lu Zhishen, right? He’s the bureau’s sketch artist."

Kang Ting didn’t move, just continued to watch her.

Su Miaoyi pressed on, "Since you have no leads, and no news yet on the origins of the Jade Token and the gold chain... what’s the harm in contacting Lu Zhishen for a sketch? It won’t conflict with the investigation. What if we actually find the killer this way?"

Kang Ting was silent for a moment, then took out his phone.

Su Miaoyi was about to give him Lu Zhishen’s number, but Kang Ting had already found the contact and was dialing.

Then Su Miaoyi heard him say, "Zhishen."

’Looks like they’re pretty familiar with each other.’

"Are you in Jiangcheng?" Kang Ting asked.

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

’Why would he ask that?’

’Lu Zhishen should be in Jinghai.’

"Yeah, I need you to do a sketch. Since you’re in Jiangcheng, come to the station. It’ll be less trouble than doing it over the phone. Not very efficient that way," Kang Ting said.

"Do you have drawing paper handy? Let’s just do it over the phone. Going to the station is a waste of time," Su Miaoyi interjected.

Kang Ting glanced at her. "Over the phone means a video call. You won’t be able to describe it properly. By the time you’re done waving your hands around and we’ve made a bunch of corrections, he could’ve already been here."

Suddenly, Lu Zhishen’s voice came from the phone, "Su Miaoyi?"

Kang Ting replied, "It’s her."

"She’ll be fine," Lu Zhishen said. "I have paper here. Just let her talk."

Kang Ting’s lips moved, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. He just turned on the speakerphone.

"Lu Zhishen," Su Miaoyi said his name.

"Yeah," Lu Zhishen replied. "Hold on, let me find a pencil. You’re in Jiangcheng?"

"I’m here for my brother’s art school entrance exam," Su Miaoyi explained. "What about you? You’re here too?"

Kang Ting held the phone, watching Su Miaoyi.

"The anniversary of my parents’ death is coming up, so I came back to visit," Lu Zhishen said. "Okay, I’m ready. Go ahead."

Su Miaoyi glanced at Kang Ting, then began immediately. "Male, around thirty-five years old, between 175 and 180 centimeters tall. He’s very stout. His muscles aren’t exaggerated, but he looks powerful. He has a large, long face with a pointed chin."

She paused, giving Lu Zhishen time to draw.

After a moment, she continued, "His lips are thin, with a mole below the left corner of his mouth. His philtrum is on the longer side, and his cheeks are somewhat sunken. He has a high-bridged, aquiline nose. His eyes are a bit small and downturned at the corners, with average distance between them. His eyebrows are thick and coarse, but a little short and slightly downturned. The forehead is wide, with a standard height."

By "standard," she meant it aligned with the classical ideals of facial proportion.

"His hair is a bit long, slicked back," Su Miaoyi said. "His ears are large. He wears three black hoop earrings on the cartilage of his left ear."

"Mhm," Lu Zhishen acknowledged.

The sound of a pencil scratching on paper came from the phone.

Kang Ting watched Su Miaoyi.

He could tell she knew Lu Zhishen well, that she understood how he sketched.

It was the first time he had ever seen someone work so seamlessly with Lu Zhishen, and with such efficiency.

He was used to witnesses who would stammer and gesture vaguely, unable to describe a face clearly.

And he was used to watching Lu Zhishen painstakingly guide them, sentence by sentence, trying different methods to get a description.

As he drew, Lu Zhishen asked, "So, did you get arrested as a suspect?"

Su Miaoyi: "...You could have just not asked that."

"How did you get caught?" Lu Zhishen asked, his curiosity piqued.

Su Miaoyi glanced at Kang Ting, then said, "I thought the woods outside Jiangcheng looked quite scenic, so I decided I wanted to go be an Elf in the forest."

Kang Ting: "..."

"Not feeling like being a Beautiful Mermaid in the river anymore?" Lu Zhishen asked.

Su Miaoyi: "..."

Lu Zhishen said, "Alright, it’s done. I’ll send it over for you to look at."

Kang Ting immediately looked at the sketch, then showed it to Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi took one look. "That’s him."

Kang Ting was surprised all over again. He was already done.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen were becoming more and more familiar with each other, so their coordination was also improving.

Now, when he finished a sketch, it rarely needed any revisions.

"Okay. Is there anything else I can help with?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Not for now," said Kang Ting.

"Okay." Lu Zhishen then added to Su Miaoyi, "Once your name is cleared, I’ll treat you to a meal."

"Deal."

After hanging up, Kang Ting forwarded the sketch to the police station.

Su Miaoyi said, "The swimming pool at the Fengjiang Clubhouse is the primary crime scene. A place like that should be members-only; ordinary people can’t just walk in. Plus, killing someone in the clubhouse and then moving the body out would be a challenge. There must be surveillance cameras inside that you can check."

Kang Ting looked at her but said nothing.

Su Miaoyi sensed his hesitation.

In fact, at that moment, his suspicion of her seemed to deepen.

Su Miaoyi’s eyelashes fluttered.

Kang Ting and Lu Zhishen were clearly familiar with each other. Lu Zhishen’s small talk just now was meant to help reduce Kang Ting’s suspicion and doubts about her.

’A few words shouldn’t have made him even more suspicious.’

’Is it because of... the Fengjiang Clubhouse?’

’Could that clubhouse be on Kang Ting’s blacklist?’

’Does he suspect I’m one of the clubhouse people?’

...

Su Miaoyi was taken back to the police station with them.

She wasn’t put back in the interrogation room, but she couldn’t leave the station yet. She also had no way to contact the outside world or know how the case was progressing.

She was with Cheng Jue, and the two of them just stared blankly at each other.

Cheng Jue had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but he was worried that asking too much in a place like this would just cause more trouble for her, so he kept it all bottled up inside.

Su Miaoyi sat at a table, her chin propped in her hand, thinking about the scene she had witnessed.

’The primary crime scene is the pool inside the Fengjiang Clubhouse.’

’Shen Yanzhou said that Jiang Junrui is the second young master of the Fengjiang Group.’

’This Fengjiang Clubhouse most likely belongs to his family, too.’

’Shen Yanzhou also said that Jiang Junrui’s family business isn’t exactly clean.’

’Looks like this Jiangcheng isn’t a very peaceful place.’

She stared ahead, analyzing everything. After a while, her gaze landed on Cheng Jue’s face.

When Cheng Jue noticed her staring at him, he touched his face. "Did a flower bloom on my face?"

Su Miaoyi watched him.

Cheng Jue scooted back a little, worried she was coming up with a new way to mess with him.

"I just realized you’re getting more and more handsome," Su Miaoyi said.

Cheng Jue: "...It took being locked up in here for you to notice I’m handsome?"

Su Miaoyi nodded. "See? People are better at discovering the beauty around them when things are quiet."

"Am I just a blur to you normally?" Cheng Jue asked.

"Not as clear as you are now," Su Miaoyi replied.

Cheng Jue turned his head to the side, not wanting to talk anymore.

Seeing that she had successfully annoyed him, Su Miaoyi felt a sense of satisfaction.

...

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