Due to that anonymous message, the technicians in the police station's technology department strengthened the firewall once again.
The identification result of the white powder from last time was also handed to Yang Heng at 3 p.m.
Yang Heng flipped through the identification report in his hand and immediately headed towards Jiang Cong's office.
The door was not closed. Yang Heng knocked on the door frame three times to alert Jiang Cong.
Hearing the sound, Jiang Cong's gaze fell on the document in Yang Heng's hand. "Is the result out?"
Yang Heng nodded and stepped forward to report. "After identification, the main component of the white powder you asked me to test last time is calcium carbonate, which is also the main component of limestone and marble."
Jiang Cong motioned for Yang Heng to hand over the report and read the relevant content.
"Professor Jiang, is this white powder related to the case?" Yang Heng knew that Jiang Cong would not do anything without a purpose. Every decision he made was meticulous and goal - oriented.
Jiang Cong didn't look up and focused on analyzing the key points behind the report.
Seeing this, Yang Heng silently exited the office and kindly closed the door for Jiang Cong.
Inside the room, Jiang Cong's brain was working at full speed.
This packet of white powder was obtained from Chen Er.
According to her confession at that time, she was drunk and thus lying in the alley.
And the place where Chen Er got the white powder was also in the alley.
He had just been to that alley yesterday. It looked very old, at least a hundred years old. The thick moss on the corner of the wall also showed that the alley had not been renovated or redecorated in the past few decades.
Excluding artificial introduction, calcium carbonate could not appear out of thin air in the alley.
It was the main component of marble and limestone, both of which were building materials.
Jiang Cong put the report on the table, stood up, walked to the window, and looked into the distance.
The speculation continued.
If building materials appeared in an alley, there was only one possibility.
Was this the so - called "far away in the sky, but close at hand"?
A strange light flashed in Jiang Cong's eyes. He turned around and called Yang Heng on the internal phone.
Since coming out of Jiang Cong's office, Yang Heng had been waiting anxiously.
He had an intuition that the white powder was unusual, and Jiang Cong would surely make a different discovery.
The phone rang. Yang Heng was startled. His hands trembled a little as he picked up the phone, and his heart was pounding.
"Yang Heng, immediately assemble all the members of the case - solving team and have a meeting in the conference room in ten minutes." Jiang Cong's determined voice came through the phone and into Yang Heng's ears.
Yang Heng replied excitedly, "Yes!" He hung up the phone and clumsily informed all the members to attend the meeting.
Qin An looked at Yang Heng's appearance and didn't even have time to tease him. She also really wanted to know what new discovery Jiang Cong had made.
Everyone was filled with curiosity and waited in silence for Jiang Cong's arrival.
Ten minutes later.
Jiang Cong pushed the door open on time.
He wiped off all the character diagrams on the blackboard.
"Professor Jiang, what's this?" Xiao Lin was puzzled. Had they given up on the case?
All the members present cast puzzled and inquiring looks at Jiang Cong.
Jiang Cong picked up a pen and drew a sketch of the alley on the blackboard.
"Is this... the alley where Chen Er was found?" Yang Heng asked tentatively.
"Correct." Jiang Cong used various lines and shadows to fictionalize another space behind the alley.
Seeing the other space that suddenly appeared on the blackboard, everyone had different expressions.
They all speculated what Jiang Cong was up to.
Qin An had learned a lot from Jiang Cong. She broke away from her original stereotyped thinking and shifted to Jiang Cong's perspective.
This picture seemed to imply that there was a place in the alley that they hadn't discovered.
"Could it be... are you saying that there is a second enclosed space in that alley?" Qin An's words were three - tenths certain and seven - tenths doubtful.
This conclusion was a bit incredible, so she wasn't sure.
Could that dilapidated and neglected alley have such a hidden wonder?
Jiang Cong propped his elbows on the table and affirmed Qin An's speculation.
"Yes. The report Yang Heng gave me today clearly states that the main component of the white powder is calcium carbonate. The reason it appeared in the alley as a building material is that there is a secret room in the alley."
Inspired by Jiang Cong, the thinking of the others also became active. They followed Jiang Cong's guidance and gradually entered the world he had outlined.
The sketch on the blackboard became three - dimensional.
"The murderer lured or threatened Zhang Lu to come to the alley. While he was distracted, the murderer knocked him out and dragged him into the secret room in the alley." Jiang Cong pointed to a certain part of the image and made some markings.
"What was the murderer's purpose for kidnapping Zhang Lu? To frame someone?" A young police officer with a cute baby face raised his hand and asked.
Jiang Cong patiently explained, "Before, we thought Zhang Lu was the murderer, but in fact, he wasn't. He was a smoke - screen deliberately set by the murderer. The murderer originally intended for Zhang Lu to take the blame for him, creating the illusion that Zhang Lu had fled out of fear of punishment."
"Then... is Zhang Lu still alive?" Yang Heng asked the most crucial question.
Jiang Cong shook his head. His side profile was as sharp as if carved by a knife. "I'm not sure either, but the owner of the anonymous message we received today may have also left a message for the murderer, reminding him not to act."
Whether this anonymous person was helping them or standing on the murderer's side was still unknown.
This person not only knew about them as investigators but also understood the characteristics of the murderer.
If this person was an opponent, Jiang Cong wasn't sure if he could win in this game.
"Then I'll go and report to the higher - ups now and request a search and rescue team!" Yang Heng put on his police cap and immediately stood up from his chair.
Every second of delay now meant one more point of danger for the kidnapped Zhang Lu.
"Go ahead." Jiang Cong agreed to Yang Heng's action. He looked around the conference room. "Qin An, go and retrieve the transcripts of the people in the alley on that day. I'll take another look."
"Yes!" Qin An turned around and walked to the archives to search for the relevant transcripts.
"Everyone else, do your own jobs and be on standby at any time. Tonight will be a sleepless night. As long as we get through tonight, I believe everything will become clear." For the first time, there was a fluctuation in Jiang Cong's usually calm eyes.
The determination radiating from Jiang Cong infected everyone present.
Rescuing the key figure Zhang Lu would also bring the truth to light.
All they had to do now was wait for the dawn and welcome the new light.