The police conducted a thorough search of Room 541. This house was clearly the primary crime scene.
There were no signs of forced entry, and no suspicious marks were found inside the house. The only fingerprints discovered were those of the victim and Mu Mian.
The victim's name was Li Yan, a twenty-eight-year-old single woman, unemployed, and eight months pregnant.
—
Creak~
A faint sound of a door opening came from behind. Mu Mian, who had been lying on the desk, immediately opened her eyes.
She wasn't sure how long she had been in this quiet interrogation room, but luckily, she had managed to get some good rest.
She decided to remodel her bedroom to match the style of this interrogation room. Maybe, if she did that, she could sleep this soundly every night.
The door opened, and two people walked in.
Mu Mian first noticed the talkative young policeman from earlier this morning. Behind him walked a tall man in a black leather jacket, his sharp features and fierce expression immediately catching her attention.
Mu Mian had seen his photo before—he was Fang Rui, the head of the Special Crimes Unit. Her eyes brightened. This man had a great physique, with well-proportioned muscles, perfectly suited to be a human specimen.
She stared at him, her heated gaze sharp like a scalpel. In her mind, she had already begun to dissect him, peeling away his organs and muscles—he was a perfect skeleton.
Mu Mian loved bones; she had collected many beautiful ones, but this was the first time she had encountered such a perfect human skeleton.
What a pity... He was alive, and most likely would live for many more years.
Officer Zhang was surprised to see the lifeless expression in Mu Mian's eyes suddenly turn so intense.
Why had her hollow gaze become so sharp? Zhang quickly glanced at Fang Rui—could it be that their superior's good looks had mesmerized her?
Fang Rui ignored Mu Mian's heated gaze and sat down opposite her. Mu Mian reluctantly made eye contact.
Though she had practiced for many years, it was still difficult for Mu Mian to maintain eye contact with others.
"Hello."
Mu Mian forced herself to look into his eyes. She believed doing so would make her expression appear more sincere.
"Could you donate your body to me after you die? I'll take good care of it…"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Fang Rui's expression flickered with slight confusion before quickly returning to his usual indifferent, emotionless demeanor.
If it weren't for the fact that they were in an interrogation room, with Officer Zhang sitting beside him, he would have loved to pick Mu Mian up and throw her out.
She looked so small that he could easily lift her with one hand.
"Miss Mu, please get this straight. This is an interrogation room. Be serious!" Officer Zhang slapped the table, hastily interrupting Mu Mian, fearing she might say something even stranger.
Zhang stole a glance at Fang Rui, who remained calm and collected.
As expected of their superior, he was unfazed. Many women pursued Fang Rui, some even for his physique, but this was the first time Zhang had seen someone who seemed to have an interest in his corpse.
Mu Mian corrected Zhang, "I'm asking very seriously."
"..."
"Well, I'll answer you seriously," Fang Rui refused, "I have no intention of donating my body at the moment."
"Alright." Mu Mian slowly shifted her gaze, now focusing on Officer Zhang.
Zhang immediately shot her a fierce glare, about to stop her from thinking about his body, but then heard Mu Mian quietly murmur, "Aren't you supposed to take my statement?"
So… he had been overthinking things?
"Your name?" Zhang opened his notebook.
"Mu Mian."
"Age?"
"I'm 106 days shy of being 25."
"No need to be that detailed. What was your relationship with the victim?"
"Not good."
Zhang paused slightly, "Could you elaborate on that?"
"I don't understand her relationships," Mu Mian thought for a moment before admitting, "Her social connections seemed very complicated, beyond what I could comprehend."
Zhang's eyes brightened, "For example?"
"She was pregnant but unmarried. Her boyfriend was someone else's husband. The child might not even be her boyfriend's…"
Zhang was speechless. That sounded more like a simple case of the victim being a mistress, not something complicated.
Zhang pressed on, "Did you see anyone enter your neighbor's house last night, or hear anything unusual from next door?"
"I didn't before I went to sleep."
Mu Mian lowered her head, staring at the desk. It was old, the surface chipped, and it looked uneven, which made her feel inexplicably irritated.
She emphasized, "I went to bed at 10. I'm used to going to bed early."
"What about after you fell asleep?" Fang Rui suddenly interjected.
Mu Mian looked up at him briefly, then quickly shifted her gaze away, curling her head deeper into her scarf.
Silence. A long silence.
Fang Rui asked, "Was that a difficult question to answer?" His tone was flat, not aggressive.
Mu Mian's lips moved slightly, her expression one of trying to conceal something but failing miserably. Speaking slowly, she explained, "Once a person falls asleep, it's difficult to pay attention to outside noises. It's common sense."
"You slept very deeply, yet the faint sound of the door opening still woke you up. That proves you're sensitive to noise. You don't like noise, do you?"
Mu Mian subconsciously nodded when she heard the word "noise." She really did hate noise.
"The soundproofing in your building isn't very good. Many residents reported hearing sounds coming from the victim's house last night."
Fang Rui's fingers gently tapped the table, almost as if tapping on Mu Mian's psychological defenses. "So, last night, as a neighbor of the victim, and being sensitive to noise, why didn't you hear those sounds?"
The building had poor soundproofing, and even if the murderer moved quietly, they couldn't have made no noise while dissecting the victim inside.
Officer Zhang had visited the neighbors on the floors above and below the victim's. They all mentioned hearing dragging sounds from Room 541 at around 2 AM. But since the victim often made noise at night and had a short temper, they didn't think it was worth complaining.
Yet, Mu Mian claimed she hadn't heard anything. Clearly, she might be lying.
"Miss Mu, what were you doing last night? Was there something inconvenient for you to share?"
Mu Mian's fingers brushed against the scratches on the table. She tried to hide them, but doing so only made them more pronounced.
Just when Fang Rui thought Mu Mian wouldn't speak, she suddenly looked at him. "I'm not the murderer."
"I believe you."
Mu Mian smiled at him. "Thank you for trusting me."
Officer Zhang stared in confusion at their exchange. Had he missed something? Why couldn't he understand what was happening?
"But how can you prove you're not the murderer?"
Mu Mian quickly wiped the smile from her face. She wasn't going to say anything further. She could prove it, but that would expose her secret. So, she decided to remain silent.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door, interrupting their conversation.
It was Officer Chen, in charge of personnel, who looked at Zhang. "Fang, sorry to interrupt."
"Chen, what's the matter?"
"The director held a welcome meeting for the new recruits today. The new forensic doctor, Mu, said she was stuck here, so I'm here to rescue her. I'm not sure what she meant, but I think she got lost. I wanted to ask if you've seen her here."
"There's no forensic doctor Mu here."
"Strange, she said she was here and asked me to come find her around 9 AM."
Fang Rui pointed at Mu Mian, who was sitting quietly across from them. "I think she's the Mu you're looking for."
Officer Zhang's eyes widened. "She's a forensic doctor?" If she were to kill someone, wouldn't she be perfectly qualified?
"I," Mu Mian raised her hand, "I'm here."
Officer Chen frowned. Hadn't the director said he had recruited an excellent graduate? Why was it just a young girl? She couldn't have even graduated from college yet, could she?
Fang Rui spoke up, "Officer Chen, new recruits need to undergo a medical checkup, right? Please take her for one."
"Alright." Officer Chen agreed casually, but then thought about it—didn't they already do a physical before hiring? Still, this young girl seemed ill, so maybe another checkup wouldn't hurt.
Fang Rui insisted, "Take her now."
Officer Chen glanced at Mu Mian, who seemed drowsy. "Alright, since the hospital is right next door."
Mu Mian's smile stiffened. She gave Fang Rui a serious look before nonchalantly shifting her gaze away.
After Mu Mian left, Officer Zhang asked curiously, "Boss, why did you keep pressing that question? Maybe she just slept through everything last night?"
Zhang thought the question wasn't really relevant to solving the case.
"I just wanted to confirm my theory," Fang Rui's eyes followed Mu Mian's departing figure, his gaze unreadable.
Zhang frowned. Their boss rarely focused so intently on anyone—except for the most vicious criminals in prison.
So…
"Boss, you're not suspecting she has dissociative identity disorder, are you?"
Zhang suddenly realized. "Is that it? Maybe after Mu Mian fell asleep last night, her alternate personality took over and killed the victim. And now, her current personality has no memory of the events."
No wonder she was so tired today—she probably exhausted herself from killing last night. Plus, as a forensic doctor, killing and dissecting would be second nature to her.
Zhang thought his reasoning was brilliant, logical, and reasonable. He was sure his police academy training had paid off.
But then he noticed Fang Rui looking at him with a bemused expression.
Zhang grew uncertain. "Boss, did I say something wrong?"
Fang Rui smiled slightly. "Quite imaginative." His tone shifted. "Why don't you quit and start writing novels instead?"
Zhang: "…" That was definitely out of the question. After all, he had just secured his civil service job!