CH 138

While Lin Chen was talking, Lu Xu was in the living room. He was sitting on the armchair in the corner. Because the position was far away, the policemen were talking to themselves, and no one paid attention to him.

This dark corner was like a protective cover that could keep him from touching the bright world over there. Lu Xu felt quite at ease.

After listening to Lin Chen’s analysis of Song Shengsheng and Li Jingtian, Lu Xu didn’t feel touched. He felt the story Lin Chen put together was quite ridiculous. A successful singer was easily overwhelmed by another person? This was too unreasonable. When did God become that unreasonable?

However, when he thought of God, he felt that the story had a semblance of truth. Ah, when did God start talking in the corridor?

There would be good people who would die early in the world, and there would be bad people who wouldn’t. Of course, he hoped to be the latter.

He rubbed his face with both hands and felt the room become quiet again. He raised his head abruptly before realizing that everyone in the living room was staring at him.

“What… What’s wrong?”

“Mr. Lu, tell me. What kind of person is your brother?” Lu Xu heard Lin Chen ask.

Lu Xu was blindsided for a moment. He could only look at the man standing against the light from a distance.

“My brother?”

“Tell us.”

Lin Chen’s eyes looked serene. When listening to what he was saying just now, Lu Xu felt there was a sadness in Lin Chen’s tone, as if he were about to cry, but he didn’t see any redness under Lin Chen’s eyes.

When looking at Lin Chen, Lu Xu had no reason to think of his brother. Of course, his brother wasn’t the same as Lin Chen. They grew up in the slums since he was a child. His parents had died early. In order to eat, his brother taught him how to steal. He didn’t think his brother was evil, and even sometimes felt that he was actually a good person—the kind who would steal ten yuan, give him eight, keep one for himself, and donate the other one to a beggar. But after he gave the beggar uncle the money, they saw him in another place. The uncle was standing at a crayfish stall getting food to go; he was eating and wearing clothes much better than them.

So at that moment, Lu Xu understood it was pointless to be a good person because nice guys always finish last.

“My brother… Well, look at me. He’s not much different, yeah?” Lu Xu stood up from the chair, not wanting to talk about the issue.

But he heard Lin Chen’s voice coming through like water. “You and your brother should have a good relationship. When we first asked you about him, you gave us his nickname, and seemed disdainful towards him, but in actuality, you respect him very much. So tell me, how did your brother die?”

When he first heard Lin Chen ask about his brother, Lu Xu wanted to scold them and say, “It’s none of your business”, but when Lin Chen finished speaking just now, Lu Xu felt a terrible chill go down his spine.

He had no choice but to answer obediently. “Lung cancer. He didn’t have the money to see a doctor and just died like that.”

“Did he like smoking?” Lin Chen asked.

“He did. Such is fate. Even though he likes to smoke, he would never smoke more than two cigarettes a day. He was so afraid of death, yet he still died early.” Lu Xu laughed.

“Recall, how long did it take your brother to go in and out of Song Shengsheng’s house?”

“What?” Lu Xu looked lost for a moment. Why did this question suddenly return to the case and his brother?

“The time when CA Entertainment sent you here to look for something…” Lin Chen added.

“I know… I know…” Lu Xu interrupted. “It’s been too long. How can I remember it?”

He really couldn’t keep up with Lin Chen’s rhythm. This feeling of being stripped naked was too uncomfortable that he didn’t want to continue the topic.

But Lin Chen kept talking. “Lu Xu, did you smoke? You and your brother came to Song Shengsheng’s house under CA’s orders. Your brother sneaked in while you kept watch outside. I think you should be pretty anxious and irritable. When you’re irritable, it’s hard for an old smoker like you not to smoke… so, how many cigarettes did you smoke?”

Lin Chen kept probing.

Lu Xu couldn’t help following his question and recalled the scene at that time.

Indeed, he was annoyed at that time, mainly because sneaking into Song Shengsheng’s house was quite dangerous. After all, Song Shengsheng’s case was on the cusp at that time. If his brother was accidentally seen by the neighbors, it would be over, so he couldn’t help but take out a cigarette and smoke, one after another… It seemed he smoked two. After smoking, he wondered why his brother still hadn’t come out. Then, when he put out his cigarette, his brother came out, which meant he wasn’t in there for that long…

“I… smoked two cigarettes during that time my brother went in, so it should be less than ten minutes,” he replied reluctantly.

“I see.” Lin Chen nodded thoughtfully.

“What do you see?” Lu Xu asked rhetorically.

Lin Chen said, “First, your brother should be a strict and disciplined person. If CA sent him to deal with the scene, then he wouldn’t take away extra things. His purpose was clear. Some people who enter a big star’s home would touch things out of curiosity, but your brother didn’t. You said he only stayed there for less than ten minutes, but at that time you were anxious and tense. When people feel like that, days would seem like years. Therefore, your brother’s exact entry and exit times should be discounted. That is to say, he was probably there for about five minutes.”

Lu Xu was stunned, not knowing how to respond.

Soon, Lin Chen asked again, “Tell me, how big was the bag your brother was carrying at that time.”

“It’s the size of an ordinary backpack.”

After he said this, Lin Chen nodded. He opened the door on the left and said, “Then, let’s get started.”

“Start what?” Lu Xu asked blankly.

“Start looking for what your brother took from the house, stupid!” Wang Chao patted Lu Xu on the shoulder and smiled triumphantly.

“I don’t know what it is. No one knows, so how could you!” Lu Xu couldn’t help but raise his voice.

Lin Chen’s tone was still calm as he patiently explained to him, “Of course I don’t know. In fact, according to the formal process, we have to find someone from the forensic department to test for fingerprints and footprints and then roughly establish that your brother was here. Then, we could build a model of your brother’s actions and infer what your brother did and what he took, but we don’t have that much time right now, so we’ll have to guess.”

Lin Chen stood at the door of the room as he spoke. Wang Chao rushed in first and drew the curtains and opened the window.

The bright sunlight penetrated the room. Its light was so bright on the furnishings that every detail could be seen. There was still a lot of dust floating in the air. Lin Chen stretched out his hand and waved off the oncoming dust, then he looked into the room.

This should be the master bedroom.

There was an iron bed in the middle of the bedroom and a messy blanket on it. Because of the rape case, the comforter and the bed sheets had been removed by the police. There were no photos or picture frames on the bedside table. It seemed that Song Shengsheng was a simple person.

There was a straw mat next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a guitar at the other end. Apart from that, there was nothing else in the room.

After Lin Chen looked around, he walked towards the closet that connected to the bedroom.

“Isn’t it here?” Lu Xu asked.

“No.”

“How do you know it wasn’t something in this room that was taken away by my brother?”

“Because the room looked harmonious. It doesn’t look like something is missing.”

“What harmony?”

Lin Chen glanced at Lu Xu. “Because I have seen the photos of the scene. This room is exactly the same as the photos taken by the police at the time. Nothing is missing here.”

“Oh…” Lu Xu said, “Then why did you ask me so many questions? Don’t you already know if you have a picture comparison?”

Lin Chen ignored him and instead turned on the light in the closet.

Song Shengsheng’s closet was more complicated than his bedroom. There were various punk and rock outfits hanging in two rows. There were colors everywhere that didn’t seem to match any pattern at all.

What was more frightening was that the closet must have been the focus of the police search, so all the clothes and accessories were scattered about, looking like a disaster scene.

Wang Chao patted Lu Xu on the back heavily and shouted, “Fatty, don’t question others casually if you don’t understand, especially my A’Chen Gege!”

This feeling of being touted was bizarre. As Lin Chen continued to observe the closet, Xing Conglian stood beside him and turned to the two of them and said, “Okay, shut up.”

“Have you found any important clues?” Wang Chao ran to them in a flash. “A’Chen Gege, do you need me to show you the photos of the scene?”

Lin Chen nodded.

Wang Chao dashed to the living room, then rushed back to the laptop. He was always reliable in this regard and had also sent a copy to Xing Conglian’s phone.

Lin Chen looked at the photo once again.

In fact, although the police had taken live photos of the scene, they couldn’t possibly capture all the details, and even fewer of those photos would actually be included in the file.

Fortunately, the closet had a simple structure that was similar to a hotel’s.

He looked at Xing Conglian and asked, “Captain Xing?”

“One person takes each side,” Xing Conglian replied with a smile.

Lin Chen nodded. Without delay, he and Xing Conglian turned their backs to each other and began to compare the photos with the current closet. They slowly walked from one end of the closet to the other, and finally, they met at the end.

Xing Conglian shook his head and put his phone in his pocket. Lin Chen sighed. He looked at the time in the upper right corner of the laptop. It was now 11:05. They really didn’t have much time.

“Did you find anything?” Wang Chao craned his neck as he asked anxiously when he saw the two of them exiting the closet.

Lin Chen handed the laptop back and said, “Don’t worry. It’s actually not very likely that Lu Xu’s brother took any clothing items. We’re doing this as a just in case.”

“What could it be?” Wang Chao asked.

Lin Chen walked out of the bedroom, glanced at the layout of the house, and walked to the room at the end of the corridor.

He gently put his hand on the door and turned the doorknob gently.

The room was pitch black.

Probably because he felt he had been standing at the door for too long, Wang Chao rushed in and wanted to open the window, but suddenly slammed into something. The teenager screamed in pain as a chain of clanging noises sounded in the room.

Lin Chen raised his hand and pressed the light switch.

With a soft click, warm yellow light covered the room like water, as gentle as music.

When looking at the photos of Song Shengsheng’s house just now, Lin Chen suddenly saw a small room in the photos at the scene, so he walked over.

It was a simple recording studio, and this room was that.