"Did any of you hear any unusual noises or shouts in the alley?" Jiang Cong asked.
"Shouts?" Chen Er looked a bit surprised. She hadn't expected to be asked about this. After pondering for a while, she blinked and said, "No, I didn't hear any strange sounds. But I don't know about the others."
Jiang Cong was about to ask a few more questions when his phone suddenly rang. He had no choice but to answer it and walked aside to take the call.
Chen Er stood alone in the middle of the alley, her back looking rather frail.
However, no one saw her silently heave a sigh of relief after Jiang Cong left. The glints in her eyes lit up again.
The dense footsteps repeatedly trampled on the rotten branches and leaves, making a "crackle" sound.
A few birds that had been perched on the branches of the camphor tree flew away one by one sensibly and soon disappeared into the gloomy sky.
Chen Er silently followed Song Wanwan and Jiang Cong. For a moment, she didn't know what she could do.
Yang Heng looked up at the sky and complained with a worried face, "This damn weather! It was fine this morning, but now it looks like it's going to rain."
Song Wanwan also looked at Jiang Cong beside her, pursing her lips and smiling as she reminded him, "Professor Jiang, you'll have your hands full now. If it rains, we'll lose all the clues."
Chen Er pouted and listened to Jiang Cong's nonchalant replies.
The smell of blood in the air was getting stronger.
Chen Er looked down at the ground and saw that the dead leaves along the way were spattered with blood, like venomous snakes with their tongues flickering, slithering on the ground, which was shocking.
The amount of blood was increasing visibly. After walking a few more steps, Chen Er caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye that a large area of the soil under the fig tree was dyed red.
If one paid a little attention, they would find that the fruits on the tree were also slightly red, perhaps because they had absorbed human blood.
Some of the girls helping at the scene couldn't stand the bloody sight and couldn't help running aside to vomit.
The dead branches and leaves under the tree had already been cleared away, and the position of the deceased when they were found was clearly outlined with white chalk.
Chen Er stood behind the crowd, quietly observing everything.
The depth of the soil depressions marked was uneven, higher on the left and lower on the right, with signs of soil friction and loosening at the edges.
Chen Er's mind was working steadily. Her gaze inadvertently glanced elsewhere, and the answer soon became clear to her.
However, before long, someone said exactly what was on Chen Er's mind.
"First, the deceased landed on their back, with the right side of the body hitting the ground first and then the left."
"Second, the body was carried on the murderer's shoulder during the transfer to the second scene. It is initially estimated that it was transported in a sack."
"Finally, the murderer has an injury on their left shoulder."
Jiang Cong listed his thoughts one by one, his tone natural and calm.
Yang Heng's eyes immediately lit up. He asked in disbelief, "How can you tell?"
Jiang Cong stood due north of the soil marking and calmly explained, "I observed along the way. Although the murderer deliberately erased the tread of their footprints, the soil depression of the left foot was significantly deeper than that of the right foot."
"In the evidence - collecting photos, the deceased's high - heels were very clean and showed no signs of being wiped. I think the murderer, in order to avoid getting stained with blood, probably wrapped the body in a sack for transportation."
"Also, if the murderer was standing where I am now, it would have been very convenient to unload the body from the left shoulder. But the murderer deliberately walked around to the south and used their back to lay the body down, resulting in clear friction marks on the soil edge and uneven force on the body when it landed."
He pursed his lips and concluded, "That's the basis for my speculation."
Yang Heng belatedly pushed his glasses up, his face full of admiration. Song Wanwan beside him nodded with a smile, but her eyes were dull, and her thoughts seemed to have drifted elsewhere.
Jiang Cong walked out of the crowd indifferently. He didn't need to take care of the remaining things as someone else would handle them.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small figure huddled motionless beside the tree trunk.
It was very familiar. It was Chen Er.
Chen Er was squatting on the ground, her back leaning against the tree trunk. From afar, her wide sleeves fluttered in the wind, making her look extremely thin.
Hearing Jiang Cong's approaching footsteps, Chen Er propped herself up and looked up with a smile. Her tone was still as carefree as before. "What can I do for you, Professor Jiang?"
Jiang Cong stopped and quietly sized up Chen Er.
"You're afraid of blood?" he asked.
"No!" Chen Er immediately denied it. She was so excited that she almost jumped up. "I don't have such a bad habit! Don't make wild guesses!"
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky red. The sky and the sea merged into one, shining brightly.
Jiang Cong squatted down, and a faint shadow fell on his face. Chen Er lowered her head but still felt his burning gaze on her.
"Pale face, cold sweats, and weakness in the limbs." he said word by word.
The more Chen Er heard these forceful words, the more guilty she felt.
Strangely enough, Chen Er had never been so competitive as she was now. She still wanted to stubbornly refute. Suddenly, a warm feeling covered her palm.
It was Jiang Cong's hand.
For a moment, she was a bit stunned, and her eyes widened even more.
"Cold limbs." Jiang Cong quickly withdrew his hand. His expression was natural, and apparently, he didn't notice Chen Er's expression just now.
The investigators gathered under the fig tree were bustling, and the noise faded a bit.
Song Wanwan slowly fed Chen Er some hot water. After Chen Er recovered a bit, her face didn't seem so pale.
"You should rest well first. The investigation team will stay for a while. I'll wake you up when it's time to go." Song Wanwan whispered.
"Okay." Chen Er closed her eyes, wrapped her coat tightly, and fell asleep.
Jiang Cong leaned against a tall camphor tree, forming a slender shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun. He lowered his head, his gaze falling on his palm, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Yang Heng rushed over from afar. After seeing the sleeping Chen Er, he walked up to Jiang Cong with relief and whispered in a low voice, "Professor Jiang, the matter you asked me to investigate last time has some results."
Jiang Cong looked up and motioned for him to continue.
"After the information investigation team's search, there have been no similar cases in the city in recent years. Even if there were, they have all been closed. I specifically checked them all, and there are no problems."
Jiang Cong replied with a faint "um", and his gaze shifted slightly, gently falling on Chen Er's back.
"How's Chen Er's situation at school?" Jiang Cong asked.
Yang Heng quickly took out the information file and read it out at a steady pace, "A poor student, idle and good - for - nothing. She repeated a grade due to illness. There are records of public criticism and probation in her academic file. Her interpersonal relationships are unclear."
"Professor Jiang, are you suspecting that Chen Er is an accomplice?" Yang Heng quietly looked up and asked.
"No." Jiang Cong shook his head, his lips pursed into a straight line. "I'm probably overthinking."
However, no one saw that the sleeping Chen Er beside them slightly moved her eyelashes, as if being blown by the wind.