The sky darkened gradually with misty rain. Ken walked across the street to Chen. He didn’t seem to be well.
“Chen, what did the cop ask you?”
“Ken, tell me. Did you kill that person?”
“No, no…” Ken paled even more from fear. “It really wasn’t me. Believe me, it really wasn’t me. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Then where were you three hours ago?”
“I…I…” Ken’s lips trembled. He was scared sh*tless. “I was in Deppler’s house.”
“You were in his house? Doing what?” Now, even Chen Zhao suspected that Ken had killed the guy.
“I…I…” Ken buried his face in his hands. “Chen, I really didn’t kill him. You’ve got to trust me.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“I…I’ve been stealing stuff from the wine factory to give to Deppler,” Ken said, pained. “Today, he asked me for money. He said that if I don’t give him money, he’ll tell everyone about this. He has evidence, so I snuck into his house to look for that.”
Chen Zhao couldn’t help but imagine a story. Did Ken run into Deppler and, being so tall and big, kill Deppler to hide the secret? But if Ken really did that, he wouldn’t say all this.
“Tell me the truth. You really didn’t kill the man, right?”
“Yes, it was not me. I was looking for evidence on the second floor and heard a noise below, so I went downstairs. I saw Deppler’s body. I didn’t know how it appeared in the room. When I first got in, there wasn’t anything there.”
“How did you get in?”
“I know that he hides his key above the door frame.”
“Did you see the killer?”
“No… I didn’t see anything. It was probably just a minute from me hearing the noise to going downstairs. I only saw Deppler in a pool of blood.”
Chen Zhao furrowed his brows. “Do you think it’s possible that Deppler and the killer came back together and someone killed Deppler as soon as they entered? And when you went downstairs, the killer was still inside the house?”
Ken paled even more. “I…I don’t know.”
He was very freaked out. After all, he’d just escaped from a crime scene. He may become the biggest suspect too. Chen Zhao was sure that Ken had left behind a lot that would work against him, such as fingerprints, hair or skin cells.
Ken wasn’t a professional criminal. He didn’t consider this at all.
“I didn’t tell the police anything,” Chen Zhao said. “But I’ll go to the crime scene to check later. You go home first. Don’t think too much.”
“Okay…”
Returning to his house, Chen Zhao called for Fali. “Fali, drive me to town.”
He didn’t believe that Ken was the killer, but he didn’t feel it was safe for Fali to be alone at home, so he called her along.
“What did you and Ken talk about?”
“He might be in trouble. Big trouble.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Ken said that he was in that gangster’s home when the killer committed the crime.”
Fali drove to the crime scene. It was already sectioned off by caution tape. Chen Zhao stood outside.
When Leonardo saw him, he walked over. “Chen, Fali, how come you’re here?”
“I wanted to see if there’s any way we can help.”
“Come in.”
Deppler’s home was a slightly old-fashioned house. It probably hadn’t been repaired in a decade. There was a moldy smell as soon as they entered. The room was dim and there was only a flickering light in the hall.
There were many cops walking around, looking for the tiniest clue.
His corpse was still in the hallway before the door. There was a big puddle of blood on the ground and stains all around the hall. It seemed like blood was splattered everywhere.
Chen Zhao put Fali behind him. “Do you want to get some fresh air?”
“No need. I’m not as weak as you think.”
Chen Zhao looked up. “Leonardo, is the forensic scientist here?”
“Not yet.”
“Can I check the body?”
“Please try to keep it as it was.”
“I understand. Get me a pair of gloves.”
After putting on the gloves, Chen Zhao squatted before the corpse. He opened Deppler’s shirt and saw two holes in the chest.
One passed through the back and the other was where the heart was. He must’ve been pierced through the back and was immobilized.
“Leonardo, when the forensic comes, they better test his blood.”
“Why?”
“The victim’s injury should be an attack from the back, but it wasn’t enough to make him unable to move or breathe. The weapon must have a highly effective anesthetic that can produce a numbing effect in a short time.”
Chen Zhao continued, “Also, the victim hasn’t lost enough blood. Either the criminal took away the blood, or this isn’t the first crime scene.”
Melson walked over now. “Chen, you should come work for us as a forensic scientist.”
“I can consider it if you give me better benefits,” Chen Zhao said, smiling.
Melson smiled wryly and shook his head. Forensic scientists had very low wages. Chen Zhao wasn’t willing to sacrifice himself to work for the American people.
Of course, forensic scientists could be a part-time job. Most of them were part-timers in America.
“How do you explain the surrounding bloodstains?” Leonardo asked.
“The killer might’ve purposely spattered blood all over to stop the first crime scene from getting discovered. There seems to be a lot of bloodstains all over, but it doesn’t actually need a lot of blood to do this. I think you guys can investigate where the victim went and who he saw before dying.”
“The victim is clutching his heart in his hands. What motive can the killer have?”
“I don’t know. It should be your responsibility for finding that out, right?”
Mid-sentence, Deppler’s bloody heart slipped. Chen Zhao saw an imprint. He remembered this. He seemed to have seen it in the magic book, but he couldn’t remember what it represented.
“What does this mark mean?” Leonardo saw it too.
“The previous victim had a similar one,” Melson said.
“Previous victim?”
“The wanted criminal that killed himself by hanging,” Melson said.
Fali looked at Chen Zhao. Now, she suspected whether the gangster’s death had something to do with Chen Zhao.
He’d mainly come to the crime scene to confirm if Ken was the killer or not. Now, he was mostly sure that Ken wasn’t the killer, but this couldn’t prove his innocence.
The imprint that Chen Zhao discovered also reminded him of the Gates of Hell. Chen Zhao suspected that Deppler’s death had something to do with the Gates of Hell.
On the way back
“Chen, tell me that the *sshole’s death has nothing to do with you.”
“Please, do you think I would hide it from you if I did it?”
“What’s with the imprint on the guy’s hand?”
“I’m not sure yet. I need to read the book,” Chen Zhao said. “Oh, I feel like the town isn’t too safe. You should go live with Sienna for a few days.”
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