Genius Detective

That piece of pudding cake was decorated very beautifully and the price tag indicated that it cost about 40 yuan per box.

Chen Shi said, "This doesn’t prove that it was bought that day. Look at the popsicles in the freezer below."

He opened the freezer and looked at them. These popsicles had long since expired. It was thrown in there from the summer of last year. This couldn’t be used as evidence either.

Peng Sijue said, "You are just as stubborn as Old Lin, but you’re just luckier."

"I'm not only lucky, but my instincts have always been accurate." Chen Shi closed the freezer door and picked up the cake again. "It hasn’t rotted yet. How can we judge when it was bought?”

“Buy a few more and then do a controlled observational experiment.”

"Let's go. There is a commercial street nearby; maybe it was bought there."

"Just leave the cake here for now. I didn’t bring the ice box, so I’ll have to pick it up later.”

As the two left, the construction site opposite them was really noisy. They had to speak very loudly to hear what each other were saying. Peng Sijue frowned. "It’s so noisy. Why doesn’t anyone report this?"

"This was formerly a dormitory for the workers of a textile factory. This place has been rented out for 800 yuan a month out to people who need to work close by during the mornings, so they miss the noise the construction site creates."

After getting downstairs, the two walked towards the commercial street. Chen Shi suddenly noticed that a little boy with tattered clothes was following them. He thought that he might be a child of a nearby homeless person, so he wasn’t too concerned.

There was a cake shop close by on one of the streets. The two went in and found the same kind of cake. The store attendant came over with a smile and introduced the cakes to them. Chen Shi picked up the cake, looked at the label and said, "Is this cake only good for two days? ”

"Yes, this pudding cake is absolutely fresh. If it can't be sold within two days, we will dispose of them."

“Have you seen this girl who bought this kind of cake?” Chen Shi showed a photo of Kong Tingting on his phone. “We are the police and are investigating a case concerning this girl.”

The attendant shook her head. "I don’t have any impression of her. Why don't you ask our store manager?"

The store manager didn’t remember seeing Kong Tingting either. The two bought a bunch of cakes from the store. When they looked up, they saw a surveillance camera across the street. It was installed in a bar, but the bar was not open yet.

At this time, the boy with the tattered clothes stood across the street and stared at the two men while sucking on his fingers.

Chen Shi smiled and waved, "Come here."

The little boy came over and Chen Shi asked, "Why are you following us? Do you want to eat some cake?"

The little boy nodded.

Chen Shi took out a piece of cake for him. The little boy thanked him, then opened the package and ate it. His mouth was full of crumbs and it looked like he had been starving.

Peng Sijue whispered, "These are supposed to be for the experiments!"

"Don’t worry, I bought a lot anyway."

"This is public money... Forget it, I won’t scold you!"

The little boy finished eating and asked, "Uncle, are you a policeman?"

"How did you know?"

"I live in the garbage dump opposite the building. I saw you yesterday."

Chen Shi squatted down and asked tentatively, "Did you see anything?"

The little boy nodded. "But my mother won't let me say anything since she’s scared of the bad guy taking revenge on us. Originally, when I saw you talking to everyone, I wanted to say something.”

Chen Shi patted his head. "Don’t worry, there’s policemen here. You don’t need to be afraid of the bad guys. Can you tell me what you saw?”

"In the afternoon, I saw that there was an uncle in the window who was bullying an aunty!"

Peng Sijue wondered if this child was an eyewitness. 

"Which afternoon was that?" Chen Shi asked.

"The day before yesterday."

"Do you remember what time it was?"

"I just had a meal. Our family usually eats at two o'clock in the afternoon. Dad will pick things up from the restaurant and it’s really delicious.”

"How did the uncle bully the aunty?”

"He hit her. He seemed to have a knife in his hand. I was terrified!”

Peng Sijue didn't quite believe it. He asked the child, "Your eyesight is so good! The garbage dump is 50 meters away from the building!"

"Honest! If I lie to you, then I’m a dog!”[1]

Peng Sijue pointed to a sign in the distance and told the boy to read it. It turned out that his vision was really good.

Chen Shi asked, "What happened after that?"

"Afterwards, the aunty fell down. The window blocked my vision, so I didn't see what happened later... The aunty died later on, right? That’s why you guys came?"

"Child, your discovery is very helpful for us. Come, we’ll give you another piece of cake.”

Chen Shi was just about to take out a piece of cake when Peng Sijue held down his hand and said, "Since he is a witness, as a person who is investigating this case, giving him material benefits will be considered bribery!"

Chen Shi showed a face of disbelief "You’re not serious, right? It’s just a piece of cake.”

"It’s a matter of principle!"

Chen Shi was speechless before saying to the little boy, "Can you take us to meet your family?"

When they went to the garbage dump to visit the homeless family, Peng Sijue covered his face with his handkerchief and frowned. After some patient persuasion, the family finally agreed to let the child testify.

After leaving, Peng Sijue took a breath of fresh air and said, "With their financial situation like that, I can’t believe they had four children. They can’t even guarantee them the minimum amount of education. It’s simply harming them!”

"I feel the same, but I’m not like you. You looked at them with clear contempt.”

"It wasn’t contempt. I just can't stand the smell of the garbage dump... What happened to the cake?"

"I gave it all to the children in that family."

Peng Sijue's eyes widened and emphasized, "Those were bought for the experiment! How could you just give it away like that?"

"I can just buy it again. This time I will pay for it myself... I can’t stand you."

"I find you to be very unprincipled!"

The testimony of the child, although not decisive, at least pointed out a direction. The murder was likely to have happened that afternoon. The murderer forged the room temperature to create errors in the estimation for the time of death. 

However, this created an oddity. What was the voice heard by Wang Shilun at seven o'clock all about?

The two confused men did not go back to the station immediately. Instead, they went to visit Wang Shilun. Wang Shilun just got off work and saw the two men coming towards him. He smiled and said, "Is that beauty not here today?"

"No, but the two handsome guys came though... I need to ask you something. At 7 o'clock that night, was there anything unusual you heard in her voice?"

"Nothing unusual. Just her normal voice.”

“Is there a recording of it?”

"Why would there be a recording? It was a normal call; I didn't know she would be killed."

"Please recall carefully."

Wang Shilun tried desperately to recall, but still shook his head. Peng Sijue suddenly said, "When you were talking to the victim, did anyone else hear your conversation?"

"No!"

Peng Sijue turned to Chen Shi. "That means you listened to him when he said that he had called the deceased. What if he’s lying?"

Wang Shilun was a little annoyed. "This gentleman’s words are very interesting. Why do I need to lie? Do you think I’m the murderer's accomplice? At that time, although you didn't hear the conversation, you saw it. Our call was less than a minute. What can I say in one minute? Right, you can look at my call history."

Chen Shi smiled and mediated. "He’s a forensic doctor. His perspective may seem a bit different to normal people."

"Psycho!" Wang Shilun exclaimed. 

1. Derogatory term in Chinese.