Memory Lost

Su Mian snatches his sketch and examines it closely.

Xu Si Bai stares at her fair white cheeks with a hint of pink. Her eyes are wide open, making her black pupils look even shinier. She's just as dazzling as he remembers her. He puts the pencil down subconsciously. He can't help but feel attracted to her. He reaches out his arm to put it behind her chair and then leans a bit closer to her.

But just from his subtle movements, an invisible wall seems to rise around her whole body. The wall has another man's name engraved on it, blocking him away easily.

He hears that they're already living together.

He hears that they are very in love and affectionate to each other.

He lets out a breath of air quietly and buries the pain deep down in his heart. He says gently, "Does this help with your inferences?"

Su Mian nods, "Yes, yes. It helps a lot." He holds the mouse and zooms in on a photo. She then says staring at it, "I have a bold speculation. Professor Xu and I have come up with a few conclusions: this killer mocks both the victims and the police, so he must have experienced some sort of betrayal before and felt hurt. Just look at the way he positions the victims: in a crawling position, lying in a muddy puddle of blood, and many had been blown into pieces. Some were still alive after the explosion but could only struggle to wiggle forward.

I think this scene must have a strong meaning to him——a dirty and painful ground where people struggle to move forward but were left helplessly until they die."

Xu Si Bai stares at her attentively without a word.

Su Mian continues, "Therefore, I believe we need to add another point to his profile: someone who had a childhood full of hardships, poverty, embarrassment, being bullied and pain. He must have grown up from a lower class family. If he was in a middle class or a wealthy family, even if he had a certain childhood trauma, he would not have such a heavy and clear yet full of realism in his psychological projection," she pauses before saying, "If he didn't experience some things before, he would not have such strong emotions."

Xu Si Bai is stunned for a second. After a moment, he nods.

_____

Xu Si Bai also discovers a key finding in the second killer.

He moves the mouse, zooms in on the deceased victim's hand in the photo until the color of the palm and the lines can be seen. He then says, "This photo was taken when the victim was just discovered at the scene. The autopsy report did not mention this, but do you notice that the color of their palms is slightly different?"

Su Mian's attention is completely drawn to his findings. She leans over in front of the computer to take a look carefully, "They seem to be……slightly red?"

Xu Si Bai smiles slightly in agreement.

Su Mian also smiles proudly, "See? My eyesight is still very good."

"Mm," he opens a few other photos and zooms in on them, "But look at these photos of the bodies after they've been transferred to the mortuary. The redness from their palms has faded. Since the forensic investigator did not comment on this at the time, it means that the redness is not related to poison or the wounds."

Su Mian blinks, "What does this mean then?"

Xu Si Bai holds out one of his hands with his palm facing up, "Hit me."

Su Mian is a bit stunned. She then realizes what he wants to prove, so she nods and slaps his palm. She's quite an aggressive person, so with a loud slap, she can feel a bit of pain from her palm, while Xu Si Bai frowns for a second.

Su Mian asks, "……Did it hurt?" She's with a bunch of male investigators all day, so she can't control her force well. Xu Si Bai is such a refined and gentle person; she forgot that he can't take much of a hit.

"I'm fine," a helpless smile brushes across his eyes. He pulls her hand over and lines it up beside his, "Look, does the redness from the bodies look the same as when someone gets slapped? Therefore, it disappears quickly and the forensic investigator did not notice it."

Su Mian stares at their palms closely. It is really the case; just like in the photos.

"But what does this mean? The victims were slapped by someone before death?" she frowns and murmurs.

Xu Si Bai retrieves his hand and watches her quietly. As a forensic investigator, he's only responsible for discovering the abnormalities of the victim's body and find the cause of it. As for why the killer would do this and what can be inferred, it's up to her and the other criminal investigators.

Su Mian's mind is working hard, and at the same time, Xu Nan Bai's profile of the second killer floats in her head: high self-control, but extremely twisted; has a respectable and serious job, yet he dresses up the dead bodies like they are glamorous actors/actresses. Self-control and twistedness appearing in the same person……

"If the killer got the victims to slap themselves, it would have left a mark on the autopsy report. But it didn't," she lifts her eyes to look at Xu Si Bai and then a thought immediately flashes across her mind, "Do you think that……the one who was slapped was him? He ordered the victims to slap him before they died?"

Xu Si Bai is stunned for a second.

Su Mian is already getting excited, "Just look, this possibility exists. Professor Xu said that the extreme opposites of self-control and twistedness are shown in his character. This means that he is a bit bipolar to begin with and contradicts himself a lot. Now that I think about it carefully, a person's discipline, the quality of being strict on oneself, is usually nurtured by the family or the school.

But in today's schools, at most, there may be some unique cases of teachers being over the top, but in general, the atmosphere wouldn't be too strict and repressed; definitely not enough to push someone to become twisted. The only other place would be at home.

Therefore, we have to add one more description to his profile: he must be brought up in a family that is very strict, oppressive, respectful, and even over the top. And letting the victims slap him is a way of punishment. It could be because during his childhood or in his teens, he experienced physical punishment a lot. This would make a lot of sense. Nowadays, teachers cannot slap the students, but parents can."

Xu Si Bai listens to the words dancing out of her mouth and smiles gradually.

"What are you smiling about?" she asks.

"I think that you're incredible," he says to her seriously.

Su Mian feels warmth in her heart. She reaches out her hand and pats his shoulder, "Your buddy here is of course incredible! Old Xu, you're not so bad either."

_____

In regards to the third killer, who has the least info, Xu Si Bai's conclusion on him is actually the most straightforward and precise.

"He's a peer," he says, "If he's not a forensic investigator, he has to be a surgeon."

Su Mian's heart shakes, "You can confirm this?"

"I can confirm this," he points to the photo on the screen, "The way he cuts in with the knife is habitual. It's definitely a habit of a surgeon. He knows the human body very well, which is why the cut is made so perfect and his skills are topnotch."

Su Mian is elated. She grabs his arm, "Old Xu, you're such a great support!"

Xu Si Bai smiles politely and doesn't respond. His white lab coat, white shirt, brown long trousers and soft short hair make him look pure and refined like the snow in sunlight.𝐟𝙧ee𝔀e𝐛𝓃𝐨𝚟𝑒𝗹.c𝗼𝚖