2 Investigation

A siren resounded as a police car gradually came to a stop outside the apartment building. A middle aged man wearing sunglasses got out of the car followed by a young man in his twenties who was carrying a folder. The two police officers walked towards the cordoned off apartment where multiple police officers were guarding. A police officer guarding the scene saluted to the leading middle aged man as he lifted the yellow tape.

The middle aged man nodded as he stated, "Keep up the good work."

"Yes sir!" the police man stated with a bit of admiration in his eyes.

The middle aged man continued to stroll into the apartment building with the young man. They then took the elevator to the fourth floor as the middle aged man commanded, "Read the report to me Xiao Pan."

"Yes, leader!" the young man responded as he took out a small stack of paper from his folder.

"The victim is named Pro Ye. Age 23. Single. Orphan. There is no criminal record on file. He rarely contacts anymore, and hasn't been holding a job for more than one year. He seems to make his living from writing novels online, but fails for the most part, and has been living off his savings ..." Xiao Pan read out.

"Skip to the important part ..." the leader commanded as the elevator door opened to the fourth floor where a couple of police officers were guarding.

Xiao Pan nodded as he flipped to the next page and continued to read, "The victim lived alone in apartment 444 for about a year. A couple hours ago, we got a call from the land owner of the building. He stated that he found the victim in the bathroom when he came to discuss the contract. The time of death was determined to be 4 days ago at around midnight. The autopsy results says that the victim's cause of death was unknown, but it was most likely due to suffocation during constipation ..."

The leader glanced over at the report with a frown as if he couldn't believe what he heard. The young man awkwardly looked back at his leader as they walked towards room 444.

A police officer guarding the open door to the room saluted as the leader walked over, "Sir!"

"How is it?" the leader asked after pausing in his steps and swept his eyes over surroundings near the door.

The police officer reported, "There does not seem to be a break in of any sort as the door was intact."

"Anything else?" the leader questioned as he walked in followed by the young man and the police officer.

"There doesn't seem to be a struggle either as there was no overturned objects in the scene, but it can't be ruled out. There were no tools of murder found in the room, but some old blood stains were discovered on some of the furnishing, but it seemed to have been there from more than a year ago," the police officer reported.

The leader stopped near the bathroom doorway and peered inside. A normal, old bathroom came into his sights, but he frowned as he glanced at the wet ground, "Is there a leak in the bathroom?"

The police officer glanced at the ground with a frown as he reported, "No, sir. We have checked thoroughly, but there was no leaks. The faucets were not on either, and we couldn't determine how the water got there and how it stayed there even though a week has passed."

The leader frowned as he took a couple steps into the bathroom. Soft splashes resounded as he stepped onto the water as he walked towards the toilet. He glanced inside to see it empty before asking, "Did you collect the samples in the toilet for investigation?"

The police responded, "No sir. The toilet was empty and we can assure you that we did not flush it."

Xiao Pan then mentioned as if he connected the dots, "Maybe that's why they said the victim's cause of death was constipation ..."

The leader glanced around the bathroom as he frowned even more. He felt weird and his eyebrows furrowed as if he thought of something before asking, "Were there any blood stains on the scene?"

"No sir. Even if it was washed away, there will be residue, but we have checked and there was nothing," the police officer reported.

"Did you see the scene personally before they moved the body?" the leader asked as he looked over at the police officer.

"Yes sir."

"Please elaborate and describe the cause of death," the leader commanded as he tried to find the source of the water.

"Although no stool was found, the victim was found on the toilet so it was believed he was doing his business at the time of death. As for the cause of death, it seemed to be suffocation. The victim seemed to be have been strangled by something ..." the police officer reported.

"Strangled?" the leader stopped in his steps as he glanced over.

"Yes, we noticed that the victim's neck had deep purple bruises hence our conclusion ..." the police officer reported.

The leader glanced over at Xiao Pan who panicked and hurriedly look through the report before stating, "Leader, there is nothing in the report about that. The normal pictures that come with the report are also missing. There is only a confidential stamp on the page!"

The leader stiffened as his eyes shook as if his conjecture was confirmed. A drip of sweat rolled down his face as he swiftly walked out of the bathroom, "Follow me."

The two police officers glanced at each other before swiftly followed their leader out of the apartment room. They watched as their leader breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out while glancing back with a bit of fear. With confusion, Xiao Pan asked, "Leader ... what is going on?"

The leader stepped away from the doorway and leaned against the opposite wall. He took out a cigarette, lit it up slowly as his hands trembled a little. He then took a sip, breathing out the smoke. He then told the two policeman, "There are some things that you do not have the right to know about at your level ... perhaps, it's best to never know about it."

The two policeman glanced at each other in confusion. After smoking for a bit in silence, the leader commanded, "Get a couple more officers to cordon off the area. Remember that all patrols must be done in pairs, and under no circumstance must you come near this apartment room."

"But sir, what if someone sneaks in to tamper with the evidence?" the police officer guarding the doorway asked in confusion.

The leader sighed as he stated, "There is no worry about that because there won't be any evidence for anyone to tamper with, at least not at our level. Get someone to patrol this floor with you immediately. Xiao Pan, let's go back to the station."

"Eh? Leader, we are not going to close the case?" Xiao Pan asked he he followed his leader to the elevator with the police officer.

"We do not have to worry about that. Someone from the relevant department will come to settle the case and close it. We just need to do our part and keep our hands off of what we can't handle," the leader responded.

Xiao Pan muttered with confusion, "Relevant department? For what?"

The leader grimly stated as he watched the elevator door close, "You don't need to know. All we need to do now is track down the cause."

"The cause?" Xiao Pan asked even more confused, "Leader, could you have figured out who the murderer is?"

"No, but I know who has a problem," the leader stated with a frown.

Xiao Pan pondered for a while and as the elevator doors opened, he exclaimed, "The contractor?!"

Xiao Pan then hurriedly look through the report and found the part about the contractor, "The contractor claims to have came to the apartment to fix a contract clause that he doesn't remember promising at all. He also claimed that he doesn't remember renting out the room to the victim even though there were documents proving it ... what? How is this possible?!"

After strolling out of the building, the leader sigh before commanding the other police officer with a serious face, "Get someone to patrol with you. It's best to not even go to the fourth floor at night. There may be personnel from the relevant department coming later to resolve the issue. After letting them in, do not follow them. Clear the area, and no matter what you hear, do not respond, do not ask, and do not interfere. Understand?"

The police officer blankly looked at his completely different leader before nodding solemnly, "Yes sir."

Then, the leader walked towards the car with the confused Xiao Pan. Xiao Pan started the engine and the police car began its journey back to the station. The leader glanced back at the building getting further and further away as he muttered, "What is going on with this world?"