Cherish You as My Life - Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9.1
Ji Yao came out of Director Cai’s office, and Director Cai’s somewhat hoarse curses were still echoing in his ears.
He scratched his ears, but the scolding stopped as soon as he went out.
At five o’clock in the afternoon, Ji Yao received a report call from Zhao Jingjing. They found the suspect’s “home” under a bridge-tunnel. There was a knife inside, which was suspected to be the one that cut open the abdomen of the deceased Zhou Tong.
Zhao Jingjing had already led people to monitor the scene and waited there to arrest the homeless man when he returned.
Ji Yao rushed to the scene and met Zhao Jingjing.
It was getting dark. Around seven o’clock in the evening, a man with long, messy hair and about 1.6 metres tall came down from the edge of the bridge. He was carrying a plastic bag containing empty mineral water and beverage bottles.
As he got closer, the homeless man seemed to notice something and started to run away.
Ji Yao rushed to catch up. “Police, stop!”
When the homeless man heard the word “police,” he turned his head and glanced, then turned back and continued running. The plastic bag in his hand swung against his leg, but he didn’t stop and didn’t even throw it.
When Ji Yao was in the police academy, he always got close to full marks for the physical fitness tests. He was very good at running in particular, and every time he arrested a suspect, he was always the one at the front.
Ji Yao quickly caught up with the homeless man, ran to the front, and stopped him, panting heavily. “Stop running.”
The homeless man was even more tired. He put his hands on his knees and panted, almost falling from exhaustion. Seeing that he couldn’t run away, he took out a brick from the plastic bag in his hand, raised his hand, and threw it at Ji Yao.
Ji Yao raised his arm to block the blow, grabbed the homeless man’s wrist with his backhand, and at the same time raised his foot to attack his knee. The bricks fell to the ground, and the homeless man was restrained and could no longer move.
Zhao Jingjing ran over and took a look at Ji Yao’s arm. “Are you okay?”
Ji Yao took out the handcuffs and cuffed the homeless man. He glanced under his elbow and said, “Such a small thing can’t be a big deal.” After saying that, he handed the homeless man over to the criminal police, who arrived later.
“Have the forensics and physical evidence departments arrived?”
Zhao Jingjing glanced at the time and said, “They should be here soon.”
Ten minutes later, Han Xi and Zhu Han got out of the car, each holding a silver-white toolbox.
From the top and down to the bridge opening, there was a slope made of cement. Ji Yao jumped down and stretched out a hand. Han Xi looked at it and said, “No need.” Saying that, she jumped down with the toolbox weighing more than ten kilograms and landed firmly on the ground.
Zhu Han had not been working for long and was not as stable as Han Xi. When she saw the slippery area below, she did not dare to jump directly.
Han Xi gave her a hand.
Zhu Han jumped down and stood still, adjusting her glasses. “Thank you, Sister Xi.”
Han Xi led her forward and said, “When encountering a slope like this, don’t tip your toes forward; lean inward for three seconds. Ten degrees will be much more stable.”
Ji Yao looked at her from one side. He liked to see the way she worked and spoke seriously. She was very professional and charming; she was simply shining.
They found a half-torn straw mat, a blanket that was too old to see the pattern, surrounded by half-drunk beverage bottles, two pairs of worn-out shoes, and a few pieces of clothes stuffed haphazardly at the place where the homeless man lived.
There was a half-cut apple placed on a table made of several bricks. The apple had oxidised, and the cut surface was grey-brown. The fruit knife that seemed to have cut Zhou Tong’s abdomen was nearby.
Han Xi carefully put the knife into the evidence bag and handed it to Zhu Han.
Ji Yao noticed that there was a shopping bag from RT-Mart supermarket hidden under the pile of tattered clothes. He took it out to examine it and found canned fish, ham sausage skins, chocolate wrappers, etc.
These were most likely the food from Zhou Tong’s refrigerator.
Zhu Han said, “Even if this homeless man is not the murderer, he must have been to Zhou Tong’s house on the day of the crime. Why are there no fingerprints of his on the scene? Does a homeless person have such strong anti-detection awareness?
Since he knows how to erase fingerprints, why not also erase the footprints he climbed on the wall?”
Han Xi collected the scattered food packaging bags. “Because there are no fingerprints on his hands at all.”
The homeless man’s fingerprints were worn out because of the harsh living environment, and his hands were often stained with dirt, so no fingerprint traces were left behind.
Hearing that, Ji Yao nodded. Her guess was the same as his, and he was convinced that the woman he fell in love with was very smart, just like him.
Ji Yao hadn’t finished letting go of the rainbow fart in his heart when he heard Han Xi say to Zhu Han, “During the training at the police academy, the forensic teacher taught similar cases.”
After finishing the work at the scene, he was about to return to the City Bureau to work overtime for interrogation.
At that moment, Zhang Xiang stretched out and said, “This time there is significant progress. As long as the homeless man reveals his 1.8-metre-tall accomplice who strangled Zhou Tong to death, the case will be solved. Or maybe the murderer is the homeless man.”
Ji Yao slapped him on the back of the head and said, “It can’t be that simple.”
Five years of criminal police experience and intuition told him that this case was far worse than they imagined. ‘It seems so complicated, and what’s been solved now is just a small part of the whole case.’
He hoped this was his misunderstanding. The case would be closed as soon as possible, and justice would be done to the deceased so that he could free up his energy to focus on personal emotional issues.
Ji Yao looked back at the forensic car and saw Han Xi standing by the car door, talking to someone from the Evidence Department. She squeezed out the hand sanitiser and rubbed it on her hands over and over again.
When she talked to people, she always looked them in the eye, showing simplicity and sincerity in her seriousness.
End of chapter 9.1