Chapter 57: Lu Jiangying's Terrifying Deduction Regarding the Case

Police Station, Major Crimes Unit, Squad Eight, Office.

"Based on the current crime scene investigation, the killer's technique in removing the victim's organs is extremely professional. They likely have a medical background. Moreover, we didn't find any dripping blood at the scene, nor any obvious footprints."

Zuo Ziyu frowned. "No dripping blood? How is that possible! The suspect even dissected the victim; how could there be no blood? Could it be that the room wasn't the primary crime scene?"

Lu Jiangying replied, "There shouldn't be any problem with it being the primary crime scene. Although we didn't find the victim's blood on the floor, we discovered traces of the victim's blood in the U-bend of the bathroom sink and the toilet drain. The suspect must have meticulously cleaned up the blood at the crime scene. We didn't detect any residual chemical agents on the flooring. This means the killer used physical insulation to prevent blood from remaining at the crime scene—for instance, by laying down a layer of plastic sheeting so that the victim's blood wouldn't touch the floor."

Zuo Ziyu rubbed his chin, his expression solemn. "This suspect is unusually calm and ruthless, and works with clean efficiency. It doesn't even look like their first time killing. Could it be a serial killer?"

Lu Jiangying continued her report, "Squad Leader, there's something else. According to DNA testing, the blood left on the bicycle handlebars is indeed the deceased's blood."

A look of disbelief appeared on Zuo Ziyu's face. "What? These two cases are connected?"

Lu Jiangying nodded. "The instruments don't lie."

Zuo Ziyu stood up, continuously running his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth. "Absurd, this is utterly absurd! To stumble upon the victim like this!"

Had they tracked down the victim through various evidentiary clues, Zuo Ziyu wouldn't have found it strange in the least. However, regarding the bicycle bloodstain case, let alone having a lead, the police weren't even certain whether a victim actually existed. Yet Lu Xingzhou directly found the victim's corpse. How could this not be bizarre? Is this criminal investigation? This completely defies logic!

Lu Jiangying flipped through her notebook. "There is another very important matter: the banknotes found inside the victim's stomach are all counterfeit!"

Before the shock of the previous revelation had faded, another followed right on its heels. Zuo Ziyu even thought he had misheard. "What did you say? The money inside the victim's stomach is entirely counterfeit!"

Lu Jiangying confirmed once again, "We have verified this with bank personnel. Those counterfeit bills are manufactured with extreme precision and can even pass through some low-quality banknote validators. However, this batch of Renminbi with these prefix serial numbers has never been issued and has always been kept in the bank's vaults."

Zuo Ziyu raised his head and asked, "What do you mean? What does it mean that this batch of prefix serial numbers has never been issued? Does it mean they printed the wrong prefixes?"

Lu Jiangying explained, "According to the bank staff, because virtual payments are so prevalent, physical cash circulating in the market accounts for only a small fraction of economic activity, and the vast majority of cash just sits in the vaults. This batch of Renminbi serial numbers is precisely like that; ever since they were printed, they have never left the bank vault. Even though they are convincing enough to fool several types of low-grade banknote detectors, they are still counterfeits."

Xu Hui rested her hands on the desk. "If cash isn't going to be used anyway, why does the country still print it?"

The other seven police officers in the office all stiffened their necks and looked at Xu Hui, as if gazing at some miraculous creature.

Xu Hui looked blank. "What? Is there something wrong with my asking a question?"

Zuo Ziyu pondered for a moment and posed a question. "If they didn't print it, what would happen if a massive bank run occurred one day?"

Xu Hui suddenly realized. "In other words, the people might not spend it, but the bank cannot stop printing it."

Changing the subject, Xu Hui asked with puzzlement, "Still, you have to wonder—since the domestic market doesn't use much cash anymore, why would these counterfeiters bother printing physical cash? Can they only use it in bits and pieces to scam old folks and small convenience stores in rural areas? Is it really worth going to all this trouble to print them so realistically?"

An older investigator with thinning hair explained, "Actually, the largest volume of counterfeit money in the country isn't held by ordinary folks, but by corrupt officials."

Xu Hui looked bewildered. "Corrupt officials? Why?"

"Have you watched *In the Name of the People*? There's a character named Zhao Dehan. He took bribes, but he didn't dare spend the money, nor did he dare deposit it in a bank; he could only hide it secretly... If someone bribed him and slipped some counterfeit bills in among the real money..."

The expressions of Lu Jiangying and Xu Hui froze completely on their faces. It was as if they were saying—I have truly never seen this scene before!

The older investigator smiled. "There is no shortage of people like Zhao Dehan among corrupt officials. A few years ago, there was a real fool—when the discipline inspection officers dug cash out of his walls and took it to the bank to verify, guess what? Seventy percent of it was counterfeit."

Lu Jiangying: ...
Xu Hui: ...

Zuo Ziyu pulled the topic back from corrupt officials. "Alright, let's drop that subject. What we need to discuss now is the case before us. Xiao Lu, what are your thoughts on the killer?"

Lu Jiangying flipped through her notebook again. "Based on the evidence collected so far: The criminal suspect is female, around thirty-five years old, with a medical background, highly educated, part of a high-income bracket, and has studied abroad. Judging from stuffing money into the deceased's stomach and placing the internal organs beside the victim, this is likely a case involving organ trafficking. Based on the current evidence, it appears the suspect discovered the victim was paying with counterfeit money during an organ transaction. That's why she stuffed the fake bills into the victim's stomach and cut out the victim's organs in retaliation."

As Lu Jiangying's voice trailed off, Squad Eight fell dead silent. It wasn't that the members of Squad Eight didn't want to speak; the case was simply too massive. If Lu Jiangying's conjecture was correct, hidden behind this already horrifying murder was an organ trafficking ring, a counterfeiting case, and the drug trafficking case tied to the bicycle.

This reminded Lu Jiangying of the top-voted comment in Lu Xingzhou's livestream room:
*[Any case Lu Xingzhou meddles in starts with a three-year sentence with no upper limit. What you see in the livestream is merely the tip of the iceberg of the entire criminal chain.]*

Zuo Ziyu's hands were actually trembling slightly. If the plot continued to unfold according to Lu Jiangying's predictions: Today you capture a criminal and toss them in a cell, tomorrow you clink glasses with the bureau director, all the officers praise you in unison, and you twist your waist up on the podium to receive an award!

Ahem.

Of course, attention still needed to be focused on the case itself for now.

Zuo Ziyu asked, "Has the victim's identity been confirmed?"

An investigator replied, "Not yet. The victim didn't have any identification documents on them. We are currently conducting door-to-door inquiries."

"What about surveillance? Jinxi Tianhu is such a luxury residential compound; the surveillance cameras couldn't possibly be broken."

"The cameras aren't broken, but the developer has been handing over management to the property company over the past week, so the surveillance system wasn't turned on!"

Zuo Ziyu: ...

***

Meanwhile.

Online shopping?
It was definitely too late for that.

Lu Xingzhou had no choice but to find the largest Xinhua Bookstore in the city and ask if they had it in stock. Fortunately, the bookstore's warehouse happened to have this single, hell-difficulty paint-by-numbers canvas titled *In the Sierra Nevada, California*.

However, its dimensions exceeded three meters, forcing Lu Xingzhou to hire a cargo van to transport it back to the residential complex. Yet, because the canvas was too large, getting it up into his apartment was impossible. Lu Xingzhou could only have the workers carry it to an open area with a sunshade canopy in the courtyard, where he set up his livestream.

"Starting the livestream now. No nonsense today; we have a heavy workload.

The challenge given to me by Big Brother yesterday is to paint this hell-difficulty paint-by-numbers canvas behind me, *In the Sierra Nevada, California*.

The top contributor who proposed this challenge, please leave your address. Once I finish painting it, I'll call a courier and have it packed and shipped straight to you! My place simply doesn't have the room for it!

With that said, let's start painting!"