Duan Lin's father also went in to have a look. When he saw the bright blue blood stain on the floor, he was shocked and asked, "Why is the color of this blood like this?"

Lin Dongxue explained to him that this was luminol reagent, and that it turns fluorescent blue when it reacts with blood stains. The uncle nodded in understanding.

Chen Shi walked over and said "Excuse me" to the uncle. The bathroom was very narrow, with large areas of bloody drag marks on the uneven tiles. The bathroom was very clean when he came in previously. It seemed that the blood stains had been cleaned up.

"Brother Chen, the tiles weren’t laid very professionally. Traces of blood can be extracted from the gaps." The forensic police officer said to him.

"This seems to be left behind from the dismemberment." Chen Shi knelt down and looked back to see that the uncle had already gone out. He whispered to Lin Dongxue, "Is there something wrong with Duan Lin's father?"

"Is there a problem? I didn't notice anything."

"Didn’t he ask you just now why the blood is this color? This large area of blue looks like spilled toilet cleaner, so how did he know that it’s blood?"

Lin Dongxue raised her eyebrows suddenly when she noticed this suspicious point.

The forensic police expanded the scope of investigation. When they sprayed luminol on the walls, they accidentally discovered that there were some splattered blood stains on the wall, but their location was very low, under the shower head.

"Little Zhou, unscrew this and check it." Chen Shi pointed at the drain.

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue went out for the time being, and Chen Shi asked the uncle, "Have you used the bathroom these past two days?"

"Of course I used it."

"Have you showered in it?"

"I... I'm not very used to this thing. I usually just boil a pot of water on the stove and wipe my body with a towel."

"You never used the water heater?"

"Yes, I never used it."

"When you arrived, was the water heater on or off?"

"On or off?" The uncle furrowed his brows and pondered.

"Was it lighted up?"

"It didn’t seem to have been lit up." The uncle took out a pack of cigarettes and handed Chen Shi one. Chen Shi thanked him but declined. The uncle said, "I'm going outside to smoke a cigarette."

"Okay."

Lin Dongxue opened a closet and sighed with emotion. This girl had very fashionable tastes when it came to buying clothes. She recognized several new spring season articles of clothing that had only been released that year.

"What is the monthly income of a female cotton mill worker?"

"I also saw a pile of cosmetics on the table. I’m not very familiar with the prices."

"Let me see."

Lin Dongxue went to the table, picked up the cosmetics and looked at each of them, saying, "They’re not very valuable, but they’re not cheap either... The last time I chatted with a young girl born after 2000, she said that she spends over 1,000 yuan on makeup a month. She also said that nowadays, girls can't go out without makeup. It made me feel old."

"She had only been in Long'an for three years, and she wouldn’t be making more than five thousand yuan at a cotton mill. I feel that her expenses aren’t low."

Chen Shi had seen an article on the Internet complaining that girls and boys in the city nowadays have the same salary, but their living standards aren’t at the same level at all. Boys have to save what little money they earn in order to buy a house and for betrothal gifts, making plans for the future while the girls use all of their income on dressing themselves up. Those gorgeously dressed girls on the street are like young maidens who have walked out of a mansion’s rose garden. When you delve deeper, you will find that they’re all ordinary working women who wear clothes worth thousands of yuan, before going home to eat instant noodles that are worth a few yuan. Then they would show off how they are living well on their WeChat Moments.

Of course, these words were somewhat disrespectful to the deceased, so he resisted saying it.

The forensic police found some hair and blood traces, as well as some human tissues in the drain. From the amount, it couldn’t have been left behind by the wrist-cutting. No one would cut their wrist so much that pieces of flesh would fly off. It could only have been left from when the body was dismembered.

Chen Shi speculated that Duan Lin had committed suicide by slashing her wrist while sitting under the shower head with the water running. Since her body would feel cold when she was slashing her wrist, it would be a little more comfortable to have hot water showering on her body. It would also speed up blood circulation and cause a faster death.

If this was the case, Duan Lin shouldn’t have had the ability to turn off the shower head by herself. If they checked the water consumption in this apartment, they could predict the time of her death.

Then the dismemberer came here, divided the body into nine pieces in the bathroom and then cleaned the scene. The forensic police mentioned that there was a heavy smell of disinfectant in the cracks of the tiles.

He specially checked the door lock. The lock cylinder was intact and there was no traces of it having been picked.

In that case, did the corpse divider have keys to the place?!

When they bid the uncle farewell, he took out his smartphone and asked for Chen Shi’s phone number. Chen Shi couldn't help but ask, "Is this phone your daughter's?"

"She had replaced her phone and gave me the old one to use. I don't really know how to use it. I just use it to make calls."

"In that case, when you came, was her cell phone in the house?"

"No." The uncle was sure.

"What about her ID, wallet, and other everyday carry items?"

"They weren’t here either, or I wouldn't think she was out."

"I noticed a hanger behind the door. Were there clothes hanging there before?"

"No."

"Okay, thank you, we will let you know if we find any clues."

Taking their leave of the uncle, the forensic police went directly back to the bureau. Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue went to the property management to check the water and electricity consumption of the household.

On March 23rd, Duan Lin's water consumption had reached one cubic metre.

As for the electricity usage, it hadn’t been interrupted since March 23rd, which meant that there were always electrical appliances turned on in the house. Duan Lin didn’t buy a refrigerator, so someone must have turned on the lights or TV.

However, on March 24th, the water consumption was very normal.

Leaving the property management office, Lin Dongxue said, "Didn't her father say that he had arrived on March 25th? Why has the electricity consumption been continuous the entire time?"

"It could only be the dismemberer. Someone came in on March 24th, turned off the shower head that had been left running, and turned on the lights. Based on the electricity consumption, they stayed for quite a while."

"It takes a lot of time to divide up a body."

"It seems that this person who came on March 24th is the dismemberer."

"Let’s look for witnesses!"

"I'm wondering if it’s necessary to find the dismemberer? He has been successful in getting the police to open the case for investigation. If we find out who killed Duan Lin, I think this person who has taken great pains will also surface by themselves."

"Aiya, don't be lazy. Let’s investigate!"

Chen Shi was dragged away by Lin Dongxue to look for surveillance footage and witnesses while he complained non-stop. The neighbors had no recollection of what had happened a week ago since it had been such a long time. In fact, the neighbors didn't even know who lived in the house.

They copied a lot of surveillance footage from the security department, and took them back for slow examination. This rather technical work was left to Xu Xiaodong again.

It was getting late, and the day's work was over. Lin Dongxue hadn’t eaten much for lunch, so she was famished. Chen Shi heard that a newly opened restaurant was holding a promotion. As long as people finished eating an extra-large portion of beef rice, they would be exempt from paying.

"Oh~?" Lin Dongxue raised her fist excitedly. "I wouldn’t even have any problems eating a whole cow in the state I’m in!"

The two went ambitiously and paid over one hundred yuan afterwards. Holding on to the walls for support as they came out, they went to the drugstore to buy digestive tablets...