Peng Sijue and Lin Dongxue went over and found that there was indeed a rancid smell coming from the refrigerator. However, the air-conditioning inside was still functioning properly. She said, "It may be that she hadn’t touched it after buying everything. She might have thought that she had AIDS, so she had no mood to eat."

"That’s slightly far-fetched." Chen Shi opened the freezer below to find that some popsicles had also melted and were then refrozen again. The shape turned into a big clump.

"The refrigerator has been cut off for a bit. Old Peng, how long would the electricity have to be off for it to become like this?" Chen Shi asked.

"I don't know; we have to do an experiment."

"Was there a power outage last night? If there was a power outage, the time of death should be re-evaluated."

Lin Dongxue disagreed. "Surely that’s unnecessary? Didn’t Wang Shilun say that she picked up the call at 7 o'clock?”

The police officers went out to find the neighbors to gain a better understanding of the situation. The neighbors mentioned that the girl living in the house didn’t seem to be employed. It seemed like she just played games at home all day and often piled up garbage at the door.

As for last night, they did not hear anything from her at seven o'clock.

A big sister recalled that she came out and found that there was a black shadow squatting by the door of her house. She was unsure what he was rummaging for but it scared her to death. She shouted and asked who it was but the person fled and disappeared. A garbage bag that was opened and rummaged through lay on the ground.

Lin Dongxue came back and told Chen Shi about this development. Chen Shi mumbled, "Is there a stalker involved?"

The scene was temporarily cordoned off as the body and all related exhibits were brought back to the bureau. On the way downstairs, Chen Shi’s eyes were fixed on the construction site not far off from where they were. Lin Dongxue asked, “What are you looking at?”

"Wouldn’t it be really noisy when they are going about the construction?"

After asking that, Chen Shi went to the construction site and questioned the tradespeople. They said that they had a normal construction day yesterday and had to work until 6PM.

When they got back to the bureau, it was already noon. After lunch, the CDC expert arrived. The expert apologized, "I have made a blunder. I have once again asked the two infected people whether they have had any high-risk sexual behavior recently or received any blood from others. Infected person A said that they had recently had a tattoo and the timing seems about right.”

"What about the second person? Surely the two couldn’t have gotten infected around the same time, right?" Lin Qiupu asked.

"Things are like this. In fact, the two men went to open a room together with the girl to play together. You guys understand, right? After the incident, the girl left. The effects from the Viagra that the two men took had not passed yet. As they were still in a state of high arousal and because they were both naked, person A asked if person B wanted to try it out. Person B asked about Person A’s sexual orientation. Person A said he wasn’t gay but was curious and person B agreed to try it out as he hadn’t tried it before…”

"Okay, you don't have to be so detailed." Lin Qiupu interrupted the expert. Many police officers on the scene snickered at the thought of it.

"So, they both had unprotected sex and Person A infected Person B."

"They are gay?"

"Probably not. Strictly speaking, this is MSM[1]. The scope of MSM is much larger than gay. Some men do not like same-sex intercourse, but in some situations, they may have intimate contact with the same sex. According to the statistics by Kinsey[2] ten percent of men have had an MSM experience."

Lin Dongxue reaffirmed her thinking. "Men really don’t have brains."

"Then these two people were infected with the disease and had a relationship with Kong Tingting. Are we able to determine which one came first and which one came after?” Chen Shi asked.

"Obviously, Person A was infected with the disease first and the girl was lucky not to be infected. The chances of transmission through vaginal intercourse is not high, but the chances are much higher between men because the skin in the rectum is extremely delicate."

Lin Qiupu said, "Thank you. It seems to be a false alarm."

“Do you need to inform the other men?”

"No. We will inform them on our end. Ah yes, the murder is temporarily confidential."

"Understood; thank you all."

The experts sighed with relief and said goodbye.

Chen Shi looked at Lin Qiupu. "It seems that men should wear a condom when conducting same-sex intercourse."

"Who are you fucking saying that to? I’m not gay!” Lin Qiupu cursed.

Peng Sijue came in and threw an autopsy report on the table as he reported, "There are signs of rape on the deceased, which were sustained while she was alive. The wounds and her internal injuries were slightly pressed and torn. It is very likely that the murderer wounded her before raping her!"

"And then put on her pants again?" Chen Shi asked in surprise.

"Yes. Although the pants of the deceased were tightly tied-up, they were obviously not put on by themselves. The thermal pants inside were scrunched up."

"We underestimated the murderer’s thinking." Lin Dongxue said.

“Are there any other discoveries?”

"There was hair and fiber found on the deceased that the murderer probably left. The DNA found under her nails is taken from that of a male around forty years old. No matching samples were found. The time of death, according to the air-conditioning on site, is estimated to be around 15 hours ago."

"The time of death may have to be re-judged, as there might have been a power outage." Chen Shi said.

Xu Xiaodong raised his hand. "When I visited the other residents, they didn’t mention a power outage last night."

Lin Dongxue wondered, "Also, why does Kong Tingting think she had AIDS? Why did she madly try to retaliate against society? She should have had unprotected sex a few weeks ago. Is the other party related to the case?”

"Check those leads!" Lin Qiupu stood up. "Work is never over. I will assign the tasks now..."

In the afternoon, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue returned to the crime scene. At this time, the construction site was under construction and it was extremely noisy. They had to speak loudly to the neighbors. Chen Shi asked the neighbors about the potential power outage, but they unanimously said that there wasn’t one.

Chen Shi returned to Kong Tingting's residence and saw the electricity box outside before silently looking at it.

Lin Dongxue asked, "Do you suspect that someone meddled with it?"

"I did think about that, but I’m not too certain. Maybe the ice blocks look like that due to a previous power outage. This is only a dot right now. It’s not even a line yet, so it doesn’t count as reasoning.”

Lin Dongxue’s cell phone rang. The task force created a WeChat group and shared any information they came across. She glanced at the phone. “Xu Xiaodong found the nightclub that Kong Tingting often went to, but there weren't any people there during the day. It seems like we’ll be working overtime again... Is Tao Yueyue going to be alright home alone again?"

"She can take care of herself."

"I always think that although you are very good towards Tao Yueyue, she is lacking maternal love during her growth period. After she grows up, I’m afraid it won’t be good for her mental health.”

"Where am I going to give her maternal love? Should I buy a wig? Or, do you want me to get married and create a family quickly?"

"What do you mean create a family quickly? How can you say something like that? Who are you going to create a family with?!" Lin Dongxue was inexplicably nervous.

Chen Shi deliberately turned a blind eye to it and said, "Let’s go and eat. Working overtime... Haii, my rest days are busier than my normal working ones.”

1. Males who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how their gender or sexual orientation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_who_have_sex_with_men

2. Alfred Charles Kinsey founded the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.