The preliminary questioning concluded temporarily as Zhou Zhen and his team moved on to other rooms. Lu Yoyo, however, stayed behind. She looked at Shen Mian, hesitation written all over her face.
"Mianmian, are you... are you really okay?" she finally couldn't hold back, leaning in to ask in a low voice, her eyes filled with concern and confusion. "And... Little Uncle... you two... what exactly is going on?"
Shen Mian's heart clenched. She felt on the verge of crumbling under this genuine concern.
Just then, a colleague from the forensics team hurried over, interrupting the dangerous conversation. "Officer Lu, Captain Zhou wants you over there now! There's a finding at the scene! About the murder weapon!"
Lu Yoyo's expression snapped into professional focus. "I'm coming!" She glanced once more at Shen Mian. "We'll talk later!" she said hastily before leaving.
Watching her friend's retreating back, Shen Mian breathed a sigh of relief, yet a cold sweat broke out on her skin.
In the living room, the forensics team was busy with their work. Zhou Zhen and Lu Yoyo, now wearing shoe covers and gloves, stood near the body, their expressions grave.
"Captain, initial sweep is complete. No weapon matching the fatal blow has been found," an officer reported. "The blunt force trauma to the back of the head is unusual. The wound pattern is irregular, not typical of a conventional club or hammer."
Lu Yoyo crouched down, carefully examining the bloodstains on the carpet and the immediate area, her brow furrowed. "The scene is too clean. Aside from the victim's traces and a few common fibers consistent with Dr. Shen's clothing, there are almost no clear signs of an outside presence. The murder weapon seems to have vanished into thin air."
Her murmured thoughts carried clearly to Shen Mian standing just inside the bedroom, sending a chill through her fingers. Everything was unfolding exactly as Qin Jiu had predicted.
"Not a complete blank," another technician chimed in, pointing to the trash bin in the corner of the foyer. "Found a used shoe cloth wadded up at the very bottom. It has traces of dust not from this room. It's been sent for analysis."
Lu Yoyo's eyes lit up. "Also, over in the shadows of that short hallway, I noticed the carpet fibers have a very slight, unnatural flattening. Like someone stood there for a while."
These "carefully" placed clues were gradually steering the police's focus towards the non-existent "ghost."
Inside the room, Qin Jiu observed the activity outside through the slightly ajar door, his demeanor cool. He leaned close to Shen Mian's ear, his voice a whisper meant only for her.
"See? The bait has been taken. They've started chasing the 'ghost.'" His breath brushed against her ear, carrying a hint of icy mockery. "A missing murder weapon is, in itself, the perfect weapon. Because it exists only in the police's deductions and imaginations."
Shen Mian watched her best friend's busy, earnest figure in the living room, a wave of immense guilt threatening to overwhelm her. She was deceiving her best friend's professional judgment and trust.
As for Lu Yoyo, after meticulously recording all the "anomalous" clues, she couldn't help but glance back towards the bedroom. The doubts in her mind hadn't cleared; instead, they had grown larger. Her little uncle's excessively calm eyes, Mianmian's poorly concealed slight tremors... and this overly "cooperative" scene...
She shook her head, telling herself to focus on the puzzle at hand first. But a seed named "suspicion" had been quietly planted.