In terms of the process, in the absence of any substantial evidence, he identified Li Jingtian as a suspect based on his personality alone and then tried to find clues to prove Li Jingtian’s guilt. Lin Chen was well aware of the potential problems, but people had opinions. In this case, he felt he had no choice.

Work started quickly.

He asked Wang Chao for all the files in the rape case against Li Jingtian. In fact, these things required some cumbersome documents to be obtained from the Fengchun police.

However, since Wang Chao was here, it took less than a minute from when he asked to see the files to when he actually saw them.

There were printers and shredders in the police lounge. Wang Chao printed hundreds of pages of files at once. Lin Chen sat by the desk lamp and finished sorting out the papers without rushing through them.

“Judging from Li Jingtian’s pathological personality, it’s impossible that he didn’t commit such a similar rape case for the first time, since that would be going against one’s innate desire for someone like him. If so, there must be clues in his files.” Lin Chen looked at the teenager who was motivated in front of the computer and said, “Wang Chao, I need you to thoroughly investigate all files related to Li Jingtian, including his files in Xinni and those in our country. Records, ranging from smoking fines to traffic accidents, including any criminal records that haven’t been officially filed, need to be thoroughly checked to see if there are any cases that have been ignored. Those records may be able to help us crucify Li Jingtian.”

“Understood!” The teenager nodded and turned around to search. He had just typed a few words in when he suddenly turned to ask, “What is the Captain doing?”

Lin Chen looked at the man sitting next to him. Thinking Xing Conglian was his immediate superior, there was no reason for his subordinates to arrange work for his superior.

“Xing Conglian..” But, after some thought, he still said to Xing Conglian.

“Consultant Lin?”

“When is it convenient for us to go to Fengchun?” He asked tentatively.

“Anytime.”

....

As a result, his file-reading work and Wang Chao’s research were quickly moved from the police lounge to Xing Conglian’s car. Within a quarter of an hour, they had already started to drive towards Fengchun, which was hundreds of kilometers away.

Lin Chen always felt that whenever they encountered a case, they probably spent more time in Xing Conglian’s run-down Jeep than their beds at home.

Because there were too many files at hand, he sat in the back seat and switched with Wang Chao, who was sitting in the front passenger seat next to Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian drove so steadily that he could put a glass of water on the dashboard, and it wouldn’t spill a drop of water.

By 8 in the evening, the flow of people on the road had gradually decreased. Naturally, a city like Hongjing was completely different from Fengchun.

The surrounding lights were silent. The hustle and bustle during the day and the scolding and cursing online didn’t play much of a role in this city. The road was dark, and the more one walked outside the city, the darker it became. At this time, Lin Chen started to believe that, just as day would always come, night would as well. No one in this world could really turn black and white.

“Is it okay for us to go to Fengchun so suddenly?”

Although he proposed to go to Fengchun, and Xing Conglian firmly supported it, Lin Chen suddenly remembered that their sudden actions might still cause trouble for Xing Conglian.

Again, what they were supposed to investigate was the assault case at Ansheng International Mall, but now they uncharacteristically went to investigate a suspected sexual assault case of Li Jingtian’s victim that was already closed. If this matter was exposed online, and he believed it would, let alone Li Jingtian’s fans, even ordinary netizens would criticize the Hongjing police for this.

Xing Conglian glanced at him through the rearview mirror of the car and said, “Since Consultant Lin said we’re going, then we’ll go. That’s all.”

“Is there any problem with the Ansheng International Mall’s case?” he asked.

“Someone is doing the trace test, and there are others checking on the artificial blood used by the assailant, including the source—the nightingale and the rose. There are people following orders. Don’t worry.” Xing Conglian seemed to see through what he was thinking. He said lightly, “Besides, when we go to Fengchun, we’re also investigating the social relations of Xu Ran. Wang Chao also gave me the phone records of her two closest friends. This is serious work.”

Lin Chen was a little speechless. This person was more shameless than he thought.

Although he was worried about Xing Conglian’s situation, they really did have to go to Fengchun.

The reason was because of what Li Jingtian said to him when he left.

He left him his number and said he would return home to recuperate.

Obviously, Li Jingtian was provoking him. He was confident that he wouldn’t be caught.

Even though they found a crime that could nail Li Jingtian, with him at the embassy, he could enjoy diplomatic protection. What was even scarier was that if the problem was serious, Li Jingtian could immediately book a plane ticket to return to his country. Once Li Jingtian left China, they could only watch as the other party escaped sanctions.

So now, every minute was important.

Lin Chen rubbed his brows, turned on the reading light above his head, and looked through the files of Li Jingtian’s sexual assault case page by page.

He saw the examination conducted by the Fengchun police on Xu Ran and saw the densely terrible scars that covered her body and the bloody wounds on her chest. Unfortunately, because Xu Ran was a sex worker, considering her background, the scars on her body could easily be interpreted as self-inflicted or the result of a money transaction, which in itself was incredulous.

Lin Chen couldn’t help but take a deep breath and turn to the next page.

When they approached a rest stop, the teenager sitting in the front passenger seat suddenly let out a long “Ah!”

Xing Conglian was so startled that he almost slammed on the brakes and reprimanded the restless co-pilot. “What are you on about?”

“Captain, how can there be a person like Li Jingtian in this world? He’s obviously a pervert, but there’s not a single criminal record at all. This is truly unscientific!”

Wang Chao put his laptop on the driver’s dashboard, stretched out for a while, then turned his head and said to Lin Chen, “A’Chen, let alone any sexual harassment records, Li Jingtian doesn’t even have a parking violation ticket!”

In the dark car, Lin Chen was astounded. “Did you really look through it?”

“Yeah, after checking, Li Jingtian is crystal clear, just like a fully plucked chicken. I suspect his files are even cleaner than ours!”

“If everyone’s like you, their files would be full of stains,” Xing Conglian said coldly.

“Captain, it takes one to know one. Scolding others just reveals the stains you have.” Wang Chao quickly countered.

Lin Chen frowned and interrupted them. “This is unlikely. Antisocial personality disorder like Li Jingtian would manifest during their early childhood. Were there any juvenile criminal files that were sealed?”

Wang Chao started mumbling. As if recalling something, he lowered his head and searched Li Jingtian’s files again, then said, “A’Chen, wait.. If you say that, there might be something wrong with Li Jingtian’s files.”

As he spoke, he put the laptop through the gap between the seats and handed it over. “Look, aren’t these files a little?too?clean? It’s as if they all have the same format.”

Lin Chen looked at the scanned copies of Li Jingtian’s files when he was young. The more he looked at them, the more frightened he became.

Although he didn’t know what kind of standard of records Xinni had, it was clear that the person who wrote Li Jingtian’s 7-year-old primary school admission file was exactly the same person who wrote his 13-year-old junior high school file. After six years, even the handwriting of the person would change, not to mention that Li Jingtian attended different schools. How could the file writer be the same?

Lin Chen’s finger slid on the screen. He flipped through the series of scans and found the records of Li Jingtian between 7 and 16 were probably rewritten.

He also looked at the electronic files that were the standards of Xinni. The electronic file was brief, just stating what significant experiences Li Jingtian had in a certain year and month. The matter fits with the contents of the scanned paper. Apart from the handwriting issue, in fact, this forged file was beautifully made. If it weren’t for careful investigation, the abnormality wouldn’t be found.

Furthermore, if there was no accident involving a “law-abiding citizen” like Li Jingtian, why would Xinni investigate his childhood files?

For a police officer from another country to see this file, they must first submit an application to the ICPO and then spend a lot of effort waiting for the Xinni police to agree to submit it, and even then there was a high probability it would be rejected, so..

Lin Chen looked at the teenager in the front passenger seat. He probably understood where the “stain” in Wang Chao’s file came from.

“It seems that Lao Li has really worked hard for his grandson.” After listening to his narrative, Xing Conglian dropped another cigarette and spoke calmly.

Perhaps only Xing Conglian would use such a peaceful tone to evaluate a privileged class protected by a family of high status. It seemed that Li Jingtian was more difficult to deal with than they imagined.

“What are we going to do next, A’Chen?!” Wang Chao stretched his waist, but he wasn’t the slightest bit frustrated.

“Li Jingtian is smart. Since his files have been modified, let’s expand the scope of the search. It’s impossible for him to act seamlessly. Check on those around Li Jingtian—former classmates, relatives, and friends. See if any of them have ever reported anything unusual.”

Lin Chen handed the laptop back to Wang Chao.

“Okay!” Wang Chao nodded vigorously.

The car became calm again. Xing Conglian opened the windows slightly to let out the smoke. The smell in the car was filled with his usual mint cigarettes mixed with the smell of the grass and trees at the turn of spring into summer, which made him feel a little sleepy.

At some point, Xing Conglian had turned on the radio.

A soft voice from the male anchor flowed out into the night. “The bloodshed that happened today has filled everyone’s hearts with trauma. Although we don’t know what the truth is, we still hope that music can comfort you. The following song is the most famous single from Mr. Li Jingtian’s group, Illi, called Peaceful. I hope you will like it.”

The voice of the male anchor gradually disappeared, and a soft singing voice flowed out.

On top of the background noise of the rustling radio, the sound of a guitar suddenly resounded. The rhythm was gentle and seemed to pull people’s heartstrings.

Then, Lin Chen heard a clear male voice. It wasn’t Li Jingtian’s voice, because his singing was soft with a terrible explosive power hidden within it, whereas this singer’s voice had a sharp aura that a young person should have. Come to think of it, there should be another person in Illi.

Li Jingtian’s voice appeared later. He hummed the melody softly, blending it with the lead singer’s voice almost perfectly.

Before they knew it, they had all put down their work. Lin Chen was carefully distinguishing the meanings of the lyrics, while Wang Chao listened carefully to the song. Xing Conglian was, of course, still driving.

In a very calm atmosphere, the sound of the song suddenly changed. It was an extremely abrupt climax, like the handover of night and day. Various roaring noises in the background sounded like painful resistance, like people suffering in a war or suffering from ordinary life.

There was almost no libretto in that climax—only screaming, which was so uncomfortable that it was incomprehensible.

Lin Chen put his hand on his chest. He could feel the despair and pain in the scream, as if it were a true scream. From the mirror of the car, he could clearly see Xing Conglian’s frowning brows. Wang Chao reached out to turn down the volume.

But at the moment when Wang Chao was about to touch the knob, the melody gradually softened again. The arrival of that moment was like a mouth blowing on a painful wound, soothing it. The wounds were still clear and painful, but love bloomed, like roses from the muzzle of a gun.

This made Lin Chen suddenly remember what happened in front of Xu Ran’s ward. Xing Conglian was holding him tightly.

He didn’t know when the singing would end.

During the unbearable blank time, Wang Chao looked back at him. The teenager’s eyes were filled with tears at some point. “This song is really hard to listen to, but it is indeed very good.”

Lin Chen put his hand down from his heart.

In the front passenger seat, Xing Conglian didn’t seem affected by such emotions. He suddenly asked, “What happened to Li Jingtian’s former group?”

Wang Chao was startled by him before he began tapping on the keyboard and quickly replied, “It seems they were around nine years ago. Jingtian used to be in an underground band called Illi. At that time, Li Jingtian was still a newcomer. CA Entertainment discovered them at the time, but it seemed they were short-lived. They disbanded eight years ago, and Li Jingtian went solo.”

Wang Chao flipped through the news records, and suddenly, a piece of information seemed to attract his attention.

The sound of the young man tapping the keyboard became much louder. He pressed enter twice and suddenly turned his head and said, in an inconceivable tone, “A’Chen, I seem to have found it. You asked me to look into it. The abnormal reports of people around Li Jingtian were recorded, but..”