Chapter 30

In the grass of Central Park, hundreds of thousands of people gathered, all eyes fixed on the temporary stage in the center. At the moment the conductor raised his hand, silence fell over the crowd.

On stage, the students lost themselves in playing their beloved instruments—cellos, violins, trombones, pianos... Waves of music flowed like water, swirling through the night air, reaching the hearts of the audience.

Zhen Ai stood among the crowd, filled with reverence and awe.

In such breathtaking, pure music, all distracting thoughts were completely banished, leaving only pure intoxication.

The rising and falling melodies uplifted her spirit, and she turned to look at Yan Su. He still had his hands in his pockets, but this time, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, making him appear quite satisfied.

Zhen Ai let out a silent sigh of relief.

As the concert ended and the crowd dispersed, Yan Su's pace had slowed considerably, his expression still calm and silent. Zhen Ai walked slowly beside him, hesitating to glance at him several times.

The rich atmosphere of music gradually faded, and her curiosity about the underage case resurfaced. But now was not the right time to ask him.

Though he always appeared distant yet polite, she knew that if she truly irritated him, he could easily blow up.

She recalled the comments he made before the concert started, which seemed to imply he was already on edge.

Zhen Ai lowered her head in disappointment, feeling regretful for her earlier impulsiveness.

Meanwhile, Yan Su shared the same sense of melancholy and mild frustration.

After he had said those ominous words, over an hour of the concert passed in silence between them. He couldn't help but wonder if he had said something too harsh.

Otherwise, according to their usual interactions, she should have spoken up by now.

Yan Su felt a sinking feeling—why did he always have to wait for her to say something first? He glanced at her; she had her head down, her eyelashes hanging low, looking lost in thought and somewhat resentful.

Ah, it must have been his expression that had embarrassed her.

She wouldn't stop asking him questions or speaking to him, would she?

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Su abruptly said, "Since you're so curious about the case from two years ago, I'll take you to meet the witnesses!"

"Really?" Zhen Ai had thought he was angry and was trying to figure out how to break the silence. She hadn't expected him to say that, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

Yan Su's previously anxious mood lifted instantly, feeling invigorated by the night breeze. Yet he still maintained a bland tone: "Well, today is your holiday, right? I should give you a gift."

Zhen Ai's smile immediately drooped—today was April Fool's Day.

As he walked, he muttered, "You're such a lucky fool; the whole world celebrates for you."

Zhen Ai: ...

#

Zhen Ai rested her chin on her hand, staring at the two cardboard boxes in front of her. "This is what you meant by familiarizing me with the witnesses?"

Yan Su removed his trench coat, rolled up his sleeves neatly, and began to unpack one of the boxes. "This is how I got to know them."

Zhen Ai raised her eyebrows. "You solved the case just by looking at the evidence, testimonies, and clues?"

Yan Su shot her a glance, a hint of arrogance in his demeanor. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"What I meant was, the process seems a bit strange." Zhen Ai quickly corrected herself.

After all, he was taking her to the archive room in the middle of the night, which was quite considerate of him, so she should show some gratitude.

Someone was easily swayed, explaining matter-of-factly, "Oh, I was assisting the Virginia police with a serial killer case that also involved threats and pentagram codes. The New York police saw the testimonies from these students and thought there might be a connection, so they sent me the materials."

Zhen Ai didn't pay attention; her gaze unintentionally lifted to his neatly rolled-up shirt sleeves. His forearms had smooth, tight lines, like a work of art carved from stone.

Her heart raced uncontrollably, and she looked up further. The white overhead light cast down upon him, his rigid bangs shielding his forehead, his dark eyes appearing deep like a serene pool.

She quickly diverted her gaze, trying to calm her racing heart. "So, since they were minors, lawyers were present during the testimonies, right?"

"Yeah." Yan Su had already sorted the transcripts and photos into piles—Kerry, Tony, Qi Mo, Anna, Daisy, Harry Parker.

Zhen Ai scanned through them. "Oh, why is Parker's testimony here?"

"He died three days after Lola," Yan Su replied, tapping the empty box beside him, his gaze intensely focused on her as if dissatisfied. "Pay attention!"

She noticed the box was labeled "Lola Roberts," and her heart sank.

"All high-ranking officials' children!" Zhen Ai glanced at the case statement, feeling an inexplicable chill. "How could she be hanged in the woods and stripped of her clothes? This is too bizarre."

Before she could finish, Yan Su's expression turned cold, his voice instructive. "I didn't bring you here to watch a horror movie."

Zhen Ai shrugged, just as she was about to look at the file; Yan Su couldn't hold back and spoke up. "Given that I don't trust your quick summarization skills, let me introduce it to you first."

"Seven students went on vacation to the coast. They received threats and drove back to New York overnight. The deceased, Lola, had a fight with her boyfriend Parker and, out of anger, tried to get out of the car. Everyone in the vehicle tried to persuade her, but she seized the wheel, swerving off the road into the woods. She jumped out of the car and ran away. The remaining six split up to search for her, agreeing to come back to discuss it after fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, no one found her. When they got back to the car, they saw her feet... She was hanging from a tree, with the other end of the rope tied to the wheel axle."

Zhen Ai listened quietly, her eyes darting around.

He had actually brought her to the interrogation room to look at the files, in a dimly lit small room with only the light above them.

It was strange; even though the police were familiar with him, they wouldn't just pull out old cases for him to look at. Was there some other reason?

Regardless, she was happy he brought her here to learn about the cases he had handled in the past.

Opposite her, Yan Su casually leaned back in his chair, arms crossed under his chin. The shadows created by the light made his eyes dark, fixed directly on Zhen Ai.

When Zhen Ai raised her head and met his abyss-like gaze, her heart skipped a beat, feeling as if she might be drawn in. She completely forgot what she wanted to say.

Yan Su pressed his lips together, his voice warm and clear. "Do you have something to say?"

Zhen Ai: "… Uh…"

What was she going to say? She forgot! >_<

Yan Su nodded, amused. "You know, if there were a competition for the slowest reaction time at the Summer Olympics, you would definitely win the gold medal, and it would be a ten-time consecutive victory."

Zhen Ai: ...

You're the ten-time champion; your whole family is a ten-time champion!

She thought to herself without voicing it, quickly organizing her thoughts, "Should we start by investigating the person who sent them the threatening letters? Let me see."

She rummaged through the files and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "Hmm, these students mentioned in their testimonies that someone left a threatening message on a fruit knife with ketchup at the hotel. They all come from political families, so they assumed it was an enemy of their parents and immediately got scared and rushed home."

After saying this, Zhen Ai felt something was off.

But before she could speak up, the person opposite her let out a laugh.

"Very clever! This mysterious threatener was able to enter their hotel room. Instead of directly kidnapping someone or stabbing someone, they chose to leave a message with ketchup. 

These political kids didn't think to call the police and instead fled in the middle of the night. And the threatener magically predicted that they would argue, the car would malfunction, and everyone would split up, leaving Laura alone."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ha, this is truly the most extraordinary and perfect crime in history."

Zhen Ai tilted her head, looking at him without restraint, emphasizing flatly, "Mr. Yan Su, are you sure you want to talk to me like this all evening?"

Yan Su didn't expect her to suddenly turn cold, stiffening his back and pausing for a moment, then rubbing his nose. "Uh, I can change my tone if you want."

"Great! Back to the point." Zhen Ai nodded in satisfaction, lifting her chin. "Only someone among them could control the entire sequence of events. So, the murderer must be one of these students."

Yan Su was just about to say "smart," but he held back. Zhen Ai's cold expression had startled him; he didn't want to see that again.

Hmph, this woman even suspected him!

He locked his dark gaze onto Zhen Ai, who was looking around like a little squirrel, making quiet rustling noises.

Yan Su's fingers moved quickly, unable to wait for her pace.

After a while, Zhen Ai, who had been looking down at the materials, slowly lifted her head, staring at his rapidly tapping fingers, which immediately came to a stop.

Zhen Ai squinted slightly. "Do you have an opinion?"

Yan Su obediently shook his head, being insincere. "No."

Only then did Zhen Ai start discussing the case seriously. "According to their testimonies, Laura was a spoiled girl with a bad temper who enjoyed teasing her classmates. Only a few people at school got along with her. Parker was her boyfriend, who always catered to her. Also, Parker was a heartthrob at school, so Laura was envied by many of her peers.

But none of this is sufficient reason to murder her, let alone strip her and hang her from a tree."

"This feels like," Zhen Ai lightly bit her lip, searching for the right word in her mind, "revenge, venting frustration, or perhaps... a ritual!"

Yan Su, who was listening halfway, unexpectedly zoned out, not hearing a single word, only staring at her.

Under the bright lights against a dark background, she had her hair down, her delicate face glimmering, her eyes slightly glazed from deep thought, a rare charm; her pearly white teeth lightly biting her red lips gave off a strangely innocent allure.

His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately averted his gaze, taking a deep breath and then holding it again.

Hormones! Hormones! The air around him was filled with hormones! He could barely breathe!

What was he thinking, bringing her into such a closed, dark space at night?

Zhen Ai noticed his odd behavior. "What are you doing?"

Yan Su looked around, changing the subject. "You can tell who the murderer is just from the testimonies."

Zhen Ai didn't realize that Yan Su was deeply shaken inside and soon returned to the files.

Kerry's testimony—

"Laura found the threatening message in her room and called us to see it. She was making a big deal out of nothing. Qi Mo, that coward, immediately yelled that he wanted to leave. Laura was going crazy. I saw there was alcohol and marijuana in the car, so I made everyone use a little. It just got more chaotic...

After the car drove into the woods, Laura jumped out and disappeared. Whenever she drank, she would go crazy. I didn't want to look for her, but Tony insisted we had to. Qi Mo was scared and said, what if everyone got lost? Parker said we should regroup in 15 minutes. When we got back, I didn't want to look for her anymore, I started the car to leave, and after moving a few meters, I found the mailbox was leaking oil..."

Tony's testimony—

"We hadn't planned to return that day, but Laura was on drugs and kept getting agitated. In the car, Anna said Laura was willful, and they started arguing. Of course, I had been drinking, and I may have been a bit harsh and criticized Laura. After the car crashed into the tree, Laura was gone, and Anna refused to go look for her, saying it was her fault for making Laura leave. Anna had also been drinking, and in a fit of anger, she was the first to dash into the woods. Qi Mo and Kerry wouldn't go look either. Since I was the oldest, I scolded them a bit, and then they went."

Qi Mo's testimony—

"Aren't there always cases of political children being targeted for revenge? I was really scared, so when Laura said she wanted to go back, I completely supported her. The car was Parker's, so he should be the one driving. But Laura was causing a scene, and since he had to take care of her, he let Kerry drive. I was really afraid Kerry would drive; he's hot-tempered and drives fast. I had already anticipated something bad would happen, but nobody listened to me.

Actually, when we went to look for Laura, I didn't search separately. It wasn't because I was scared, but I was feeling dizzy and had to secretly follow Tony. Staying behind was terrifying, and going into the woods alone was even scarier. But after following Tony for a while, I lost him. I was so scared."

Daisy's testimony—

"Maybe everyone thinks this was all Laura's fault. She was too stubborn and spoiled; when we went out, if she was unhappy, she would grab the steering wheel. But we also share some responsibility; our moods were all bad on the way back. Other than Kerry, who was driving, we had been drinking and smoking a bit of weed, which made our emotions run high, and that's how we ended up arguing.

Out of guilt, I also went into the woods to look for her, but I was really scared and wasn't very clear-headed. Halfway back, I ran into Kerry moving the car. I was afraid he would yell at me for not looking for her, so I ran back into the woods..."

Anna's testimony—

"Laura was always very arrogant and willful. When she said she wanted to go back, everyone followed her. It wasn't about being afraid of the threat; it was because she saw beautiful women on the beach talking to Parker. Her jealousy was worse than a ghost, and she argued with Parker all the way, doing drugs and smoking in the car. Parker kept trying to placate her; I couldn't stand it. Well, actually, it was because I was also on drugs, and my temper was flaring. Even Tony, who usually had the best temper, said a few words to her.

She relied on having everyone's favorite boyfriend, Parker, protect her and got even more outrageous. She even tried to jump out of the car; fortunately, Parker stopped her. In the end, she tried to grab the steering wheel again, and Parker went to stop her once more, but Laura was acting like a madwoman, and she unlocked the car door. I almost rolled out of the car. Hmph, she just loved to make a scene, always disappearing. She wanted others to find her; it was really annoying."

Parker's testimony—

"When Laura said she wanted to go back, as her boyfriend, I of course supported her. Everyone was in a bad mood and had complaints, so I was trying to lighten the atmosphere all the way. But Laura's mood kept getting worse, and in the end, I couldn't control it. She almost jumped out of the car, but I managed to stop her.

After the incident, everyone was irritable and didn't want to go look for her. Only Daisy and Tony agreed to search. Fortunately, Tony convinced the others. I was worried that if everyone split up, there would be accidents, so I suggested we regroup in 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't find her, and no one else did either. In the end..."

Zhen Ai propped her face on her hand, frowning in thought. The first time she saw it, she felt this case was too simple; the murderer was that person!

But then she reconsidered—how could that be?