Chapter 173: Campus Murder Case (Part 4)

Chapter 173: Campus Murder Case (Part 4)

The news of Wang Mengling's suicide spread, and everyone fell silent, the unease in their hearts turning into reality.

Tang Qingqing had seen Wang Mengling's file, which included a one-inch photograph. Typically, such ID photos make people look stiff, but Wang Mengling's photo showed her smiling, young, beautiful, full of vitality, and radiating energy.

A girl who had just come of age, with a bright future ahead, had passed away so suddenly, causing much sorrow.

Xu Nan was furious: "There must be something wrong here!"

Through interviews with Wang Mengling's classmates, roommates, and teachers, all evaluations of her were positive.

Although she was exceptionally beautiful, she was not a spoiled girl. She was warm and outgoing. Her roommates said that it was Wang Mengling who led them to quickly get to know each other and maintain a good relationship in the dormitory.

Wang Mengling actively participated in school activities and studied diligently, always having good relationships with her classmates.

However, after the winter break of the first semester, she gradually changed, becoming reclusive and no longer enjoying being with others, fearing to be the center of attention.

There must have been something that caused Wang Mengling's personality to change so drastically.

Captain Jiang pushed several photos towards Tang Qingqing: "Is this the person you recognize?"

"This is Tang Zhenzhen."

Tang Qingqing glanced at the photo and confidently confirmed. She continued flipping through the rest of the photos, which were taken from various angles, capturing every side of Tang Zhenzhen.

"However, there are noticeable changes in her features," Tang Qingqing examined a photo closely, "Her eyes are bigger now, and her nose is higher than before."

Even though Tang Zhenzhen wore heavy makeup, which could make her eyes appear larger, Tang Qingqing could still see the changes.

She had noticed something different about Tang Zhenzhen at first glance, and now, seeing the photos, she was even more certain of her thoughts.

Xu Fangran: "Could she have had plastic surgery!?"

These days, plastic surgery was still very unfamiliar to many people, especially men.

The rough-and-tumble guys in Squad Four had heard of plastic surgery but had never seen it in action.

They all picked up the photos curiously, but none of them could spot anything unusual.

Ren Feiyue: "I can't tell she's had plastic surgery at all. If the technology is this advanced, won't fugitives be unrecognizable if they get surgery?"

"Teacher Tang can still recognize her, so it's not that miraculous," Du Jiabao said.

Tang Qingqing: "Because she only made minor adjustments while retaining her original features, she can still be recognized. But if she had major changes, she would be unrecognizable. However, with current technology, close inspection can still reveal if someone has had work done."

Tang Zhenzhen was already very beautiful, and Tang Qingqing couldn't understand why she would undergo plastic surgery. Even with the heavy makeup, she thought she looked less attractive than before.

Now she seemed more refined, but overall, she wasn't as well-coordinated, making her less appealing.

However, Tang Qingqing didn't understand many of Tang Zhenzhen's choices, so she didn't find it particularly surprising.

"People these days are really all over the place. Their appearance is given by their parents; it's not for injury repair, so why go through such trouble? It's too harsh," Ren Feiyue sighed.

Captain Jiang frowned: "In the future, we'll have to consider whether suspects have had plastic surgery when apprehending them."

Hearing this, everyone's casual chatter turned into sighs. Arresting criminals was already difficult enough, and now it was getting even harder.

Tang Qingqing brought everyone's attention back, asking if they had any other discoveries from their investigation of Tang Zhenzhen yesterday.

At this, Ren Feiyue couldn't help but complain:

"This Tang Zhenzhen, oh, I mean Jessica, is so full of herself, always putting on airs. We finally got to meet her, and she spoke to us in a mix of English. She kept saying things like 'your China this and that,' which was really annoying. What a show-off, after just a few years abroad, she doesn't even recognize her own home, acting like a foreign guest!"

Initially, Ren Feiyue didn't know about Tang Zhenzhen's background; he just found her pretentious, always acting like a foreigner and speaking to them with disdain.

He thought people who returned from abroad often forgot their roots, but he didn't expect someone who grew up in China and had only been abroad for a few years to act this way.

It was fashionable these days to think the moon was rounder abroad, and many people admired foreign countries while belittling their own. Tang Zhenzhen surpassed his understanding of such people.

Still relying on the domestic market, yet holding such an attitude, in wartime, she would definitely be the one to kneel and surrender.

Captain Jiang glared at him, and Ren Feiyue sheepishly shut up.

Captain Jiang: "When we asked a few more questions, she started talking about privacy and legal issues."

They were currently just conducting an investigation and couldn't conduct searches.

Tang Zhenzhen was uncooperative, claiming company secrets whenever they delved deeper, insisting on proper documentation before revealing any information.

"However, it's confirmed that Wang Mengling and Li Yujiao both worked at the gallery. Not only them, but other female college students also worked part-time there. Some had already graduated and joined the gallery without being assigned jobs elsewhere; all of them had at least a junior college degree."

"According to the investigation, many who worked at the gallery for some time later transferred to Huiguang as public relations staff. Those who stayed at the gallery were mostly part-time college students."

Currently, there was no direct connection between Tang Zhenzhen and Li Yujiao's deaths. She had a solid alibi.

On the night Li Yujiao died, Tang Zhenzhen was working at Huiguang, and the people vouching for her included prominent figures in Dongguan City.

Captain Jiang looked at Tang Qingqing: "Besides Wang Mengling, did Li Yujiao introduce any other female students to work at the gallery?"

"No, Li Yujiao was studying engineering, where there weren't many girls. After what happened to Wang Mengling, she stopped introducing anyone."

Dr. Liu's autopsy report confirmed that the victim had traces of sedatives in her nasal cavity and body, indicating she was drugged and then suffocated.

Since the victim was drugged while sleeping, she didn't struggle, leaving no additional marks.

"The killer acted swiftly and cleanly, leaving no trace behind. This suggests it might not be their first time committing such a crime," Dr. Liu stated.

Tang Qingqing agreed with this assessment: "The killer is extremely calm and very familiar with the girls' dormitory. We found no hair or other traces besides the victim's, and the bed was neatly rearranged by the killer. Such composure doesn't suggest a first-time offender, and it appears to be premeditated."

Just this alone can prove that the murderer was well-prepared; an ordinary person wouldn't be able to obtain it through legitimate channels.

Du Jiabao raised his hand: "This case bears some similarities to the previous rape-murder. In that case, the female student was also drugged with □□ by the murderer before being raped and killed."

□□ is not a common item, and since all the cases occurred at the College of Arts and Sciences, there might be a connection.

"Suspect Chen Bin has not confessed yet, and we can't find out how he obtained the □□."

The □□ was found in Chen Bin's home, but he denies that it belongs to him, saying he doesn't know when it was placed there.

Tang Qingqing had heard about this case, but she was on maternity leave at the time, so she only knew the general situation.

"What kind of person is suspect Chen Bin?"

At the mention of this person, Xu Fangran looked disgusted.

"This guy is a real pervert. He was caught peeping on girls while they were showering before, and after being released, he lost his job and started a food stall near the College of Arts and Sciences. His business was doing pretty well, but he didn't change his ways. He often sneaked into the school to spy on girls using the restroom and showering, and even stole their underwear. When he was caught, many pieces of women's underwear were found in his home."

The College of Arts and Sciences was quite busy for a while after discovering a man was peeping, but they couldn't catch him.

Later, they increased patrols and management, and such incidents stopped occurring.

But soon after, a female student was raped and murdered.

Following the trail, the police arrested Chen Bin, but he only admitted to having sexual relations with the female student, denying any involvement in her murder. Chen Bin claimed that he was wandering around the campus when he found the female student already dead, but still warm. Overcome by lust, he violated the body.

Chen Bin cried out his innocence, saying he didn't kill her, but he couldn't prove his innocence, especially with the □□ found in his home.

"There are several unexplained aspects of this case. Human skin tissue was found under the victim's fingernails, which, according to the scene analysis, was left when the victim scratched the murderer during her struggle. After comparison, the blood type did not match Chen Bin's, and he had no corresponding injuries, indicating that there was another person involved."

However, this does not exonerate Chen Bin from the murder charge, as it could have been a group crime.

Tang Qingqing: "So, the murderer wasn't very skilled at the time. Although they had □□ to drug the victim, they still had to exert a lot of effort to complete the act."

"Exactly, it's clear the murderer was a novice," Captain Jiang said.

Chen Bin has consistently denied killing the victim and claims to have no accomplices. The case remains unresolved due to these inconsistencies.

However, regardless of whether he committed the murder, he desecrated the body and will remain incarcerated.

If both cases were committed by the same person, they should be combined.

However, currently, the only common point is the □□, which is not enough to prove anything.

If it was the same person, the murderer has made significant progress over the year. In the previous case, the murderer was panicked and injured themselves while drugging the victim.

Now, however, they can kill calmly without leaving any traces, making this person extremely dangerous and possibly responsible for other murders in between.

If we don't catch this person, there will likely be more victims.

"Is this case under our squad's jurisdiction?"

"No, it's under Squad Three. They're really struggling with it. The victim's family has caused a lot of trouble, and there's been no resolution. If the two cases are indeed related and can be combined, and we catch the real culprit, Squad Three will be grateful."

Originally, this case was supposed to be handled by Squad Three, but they couldn't spare the manpower, so it was handed over to Squad Four.

Tang Qingqing decided to review the relevant materials of the other case to see if there are any connections and if any clues can be found.