Memory Lost

It’s already 3 to 4 pm in the afternoon. The sunlight penetrates into the room from all angles, brightening this spacious and quiet area. Su Mian is sitting behind the computer while peeking at the others.

Probably due to being a little tired, Xu Nan Bai, who’s across from her, is leaning against his chair with both arms behind his head and resting with his eyes closed. Not far away, Chatterbox, Xiao Zhuan, and Han Chen……are all busying themselves. A kind of tense yet peaceful atmosphere permeates the entire room.

Seeing that no one is around her, she enters her password on the computer and goes into the backend of their work system. A monitoring program has been installed earlier to record and track everybody’s usage.

First, it’s Chatterbox.

He spent about 30 minutes to skim through all of the documents. And then he logged off. Su Mian raises her head and glances at him who’s at an unlit corner with Xiao Zhuan. He has been sitting beside the microscopes and other equipment and hasn’t budged. It’s clear that he has immersed himself in examining the fingerprint.

And then it’s Xiao Zhuan.

Although Han Chen asked him to support Chatterbox, Su Mian knows very well that restoring a fingerprint requires highly skilled techniques, which is something that he knows nothing about. And throughout the whole afternoon, every time Su Mian looks over, she sees him carrying things around and tidying up. The system records that he logged in and browsed for the longest time. He first spent 2 hours to read through all the items: the police reports, the victims’ documents, the analysis reports on the killers’ murder process, the information on the police officers, and the summaries of how the police chased after the suspect and made

arrests. He spent an equal amount of time with each of them. And then, he read through them from beginning to end two times.

Su Mian smiles slightly seeing his activity record; it sure does match with his top student style of rereading and examining everything repeatedly.

The few members of the Forensic and Criminal Investigation Departments have been working according to Han Chen’s false assumption, which is to research all non-local individuals currently staying in the city. Therefore, their logged in time in the system is the shortest. Even when they are logged in, they spend the majority of their time looking at the police reports and the killers’ murder process.

And then it’s Xu Nan Bai.

His logged in time isn’t very long. He first spent a bit of time to read the police reports and then the summaries on chasing after the suspects. He didn’t spend too much time reading the victims’ reports and the analyses on the killers’ murder process. He only browsed through them once. Lastly, he read through the information on the police officers.

As for Cold Face, since he has been working with Han Chen all this time, both of their activities are completely the same. They first read through the police reports briefly, and then spent most of their time reading the victims’ files and the analyses on the killers’ murder processes. At the same time, Su Mian saw them constantly mark different areas on the map. They also flipped through the summaries of the chase.

……

After reading through everybody’s web activities, Su Mian’s heart begins to race. She turns off the computer, stands up and decides to walk around to take a look.

_____

She makes her way to the key area of focus first: the fingerprint restoration team.

Just as she had expected,

expected, Xiao Zhuan has no means of helping in Chatterbox’s work. She walks over leisurely with her hands behind her. She sees Xiao Zhuan carrying some stuff around and tidying up the office. As for Chatterbox who’s doing work in his area of expertise, looks especially concentrated and authoritative. He has even changed into a lab coat and is wearing gloves. His refined looking face is full of seriousness. He is looking down into the microscope while his slender fingers are moving the fingerprint around slowly and carefully. He doesn’t notice that Su Mian has come near.

“Xiao Zhuan, turn the lights on high,” he orders.

“Okay!” Xiao Zhuan sticks out his tongue at Su Mian and then goes to Chatterbox quickly to help him out.

Su Mian stands by the side watching them quietly until Chatterbox lets out a long sigh of relief and leans back in his chair, “Let’s take a break. Xiao Zhuan, water!” Xiao Zhuan hands him a bottle of water with both hands immediately. 𝗳𝒓𝙚e𝓌e𝚋𝙣𝚘𝐯𝙚𝙡.𝑐૦ｍ

Su Mian smiles and looks at him with her arms crossed, “Chatterbox, you sure know how to order Xiao Zhuan around.”

Chatterbox turns around and sees her. He laughs, “Xiao Bai, just let me enjoy being a Leader for once.”

Xiao Zhuan interrupts, “So full of yourself! I’m not your assistant. I’m just lending you my help. I was born as Xiao Bai’s underling, and I will die as Leader’s subordinate!”

Su Mian chuckles and Chatterbox can’t help but laugh too.

Su Mian asks, “How’s everything?”

Speaking of his profession, Chatterbox reveals a profound expression but also can’t help but feel proud of himself, “What do you think? You have to know that my fingerprint restoration skills are one of the best in the country. I can’t say about other things, but before we get off work

off work today, I’ll at least be able to restore the overall outline of it, hehheh.”

Su Mian’s eyes darken but she shows a smile on her face, “That’s excellent!”

_____

A couple of rooms on the second floor have been cleaned up. Xu Si Bai likes to be in quiet and work alone, so without first advising everybody, he moves into one of the rooms with Xiao Yao.

Su Mian pushes open the door and sees the sunlight shining through from the windows across. The room is very quiet. Xu Si Bai has also changed into his lab coat sitting in front of a desk. His black eyebrows are frowning as he observes the photos of the dead bodies on the computer screen. He doesn’t even hear Su Mian knock on the door.

“Hey,” Su Mian says softly.

Xu Si Bai finally notices her arrival. He lets go of the mouse and turns toward her, “Jin Xi, something the matter?”

“Nothing. I just came to visit,” Su Mian saunters to the front of his desk. Just like she does usually, then stands beside him and asks, “Have you found anything?”

Xu Si Bai smiles slightly.

Similar to Chatterbox, when it comes to his profession, this man will emit a certain kind of calm yet captivating glow. He’s no longer the usual cold and aloof man, and there is no more awkwardness and loneliness when spending time with her and not knowing what to say. He places one hand on the armrest while maneuvering the mouse with the other. His voice is clear and comforting like spring water, “Come and take a look yourself.”

Su Mian can’t be more happy to be able to spend time together without any awkwardness. She leans over quickly; she can smell the light scent coming from his body. It’s the body. It’s the smell of formalin mixed together with the smell of blood. It actually makes her feel relaxed. The feeling of ease that she hasn’t felt for a long time.

“Look at these bodies from the explosion scene first,” he points to a few photos on the screen, “Do you see any patterns or similarities in their poses?”

Su Mian focuses on the photos, but she can’t find anything from them. She answers without much certainty, “Could it be……that they’re all lying down on their stomachs?”

Xu Si Bai smiles, “Yes.”

Su Mian pulls over a chair to sit down in surprise. She leans closer to the screen, almost touching it. It is really the case. In most of the photos of the victims, whether their faces are facing one side or are facing down, they are all lying on their stomachs.

She hears Xu Si Bai explain, “I’ve taken a look at all of the explosion photos. The majority of the victims, even when their upper and lower bodies have been separated, they are all in this position. Whenever an explosion occurs while people are standing, after their body parts are separated, the ratio of them lying on their stomachs and lying on their backs should be 1:1.”

Su Mian’s eyes gleam, “Could this have been done by the criminal on purpose? Was it planned? Did he make sure they died lying on their stomachs?”

Xu Si Bai nods. He grabs a piece of paper and a pencil and then sketches out a diagram, “I’ve done a mock up on the computer. If the explosives were tied on the back of the victim’s waist, and with a small bit of explosive on the chest, it could create enough force to cause the upper body to fly at an angle and land in a crawl-like position.”