SFTD -Chapter 324 Missing Memories (Part 16)

What had once sounded like Xu Biao’s greasy, annoying voice now felt like heavenly music to Wang Xuchao. He grabbed Zhou Hai from where he was crouching on the ground and half-supporting, half-dragging him, quickly rushing toward Xu Biao’s position.

The two young police officers who had been searching also became excited when the item was found. After all, no one wanted their own people implicated—this kind of suspicion was infuriating. They tossed the ladder aside and rushed over, holding up their flashlights to illuminate what was in Xu Biao’s hands.

Sure enough, a piece of blue rubber about the size of a fingernail was clamped in Xu Biao’s tweezers. Zhou Hai found a magnifying glass and leaned in to examine it. On the edge, there was a faint, almost imperceptible reflective point.

Zhou Hai nodded firmly. “Pack it up quickly. Send it for testing later—it should be left by the killer.”

“It’s too late today. Tomorrow, bring Zhang Wenqi, Da Liu, and Xiao Liu here and thoroughly search this wall. Since this piece of rubber was scraped off, there must be some protruding structure here. If we’re lucky, we might find something else.”

Xu Biao nodded hard and patted the shoulders of the two officers.

“From now on, your focus isn’t just the interior of the villa. Don’t let anyone approach here—no adults, no children. Strictly protect the scene!”

The two officers looked very young, probably newly assigned. Hearing Xu Biao’s serious tone, they immediately tensed up and nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that his point had landed, Xu Biao waved his hand. “Leave one person outside to guard, the other come inside with us. We’ve got something else to find.”

Zhou Hai and Wang Xuchao followed Xu Biao into the villa.

Standing in the living room, Zhou Hai looked at the layout. Xu Biao and the others had already searched it carefully before, while Zhou Hai had only checked the first floor briefly last time. Xu Biao pointed upstairs.

“There’s a study on the second floor. It’s fully equipped with office devices. When I was investigating, I said this victim’s fiancé looked like a workaholic—he probably treats home like an office.”

The four of them went upstairs.

The spacious staircase led to a second floor where a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, luxurious yet cold, making the atmosphere feel even more lifeless. Zhou Hai pushed aside his thoughts and followed Xu Biao into the large study.

There were no floor-to-ceiling bookshelves meant to show off status—only scattered drawings and discs everywhere. The desk was fully equipped with printers, copiers, and various office machines.

Zhou Hai patted Xu Biao on the shoulder. “Go check over there. We won’t go with you.”

Xu Biao nodded and immediately called Xiao Hu.

When the call connected, Xiao Hu sounded groggy, clearly woken from sleep.

Xu Biao grinned mischievously. “Hey, you were asleep? Sorry to disturb you, Xiao Hu.”

Xiao Hu didn’t mind. “It’s fine. What’s up?”

Xu Biao asked, “Last time I asked you—modern high-end printers usually have memory functions that store what they’ve printed, right?”

“Yeah, most new high-end models do. Why?”

Xu Biao rolled his eyes and walked over to the printers.

“Can you stop being so blunt? Do you want to eat people? Always saying ‘why, why’… Anyway, I’ve got a few models here. I don’t know which one printed the files. Can you tell me how to operate them?”

“We’re still busy with Brother Chao’s case. We’re trying to find evidence. I’ll send you photos of each model.”

Hearing it was related to Wang Xuchao’s case, Xiao Hu instantly sobered up and got out of bed.

“Send them over.”

After hanging up, Xu Biao took photos of each printer and sent them to Xiao Hu.

One of the young officers stood very close, eyes full of curiosity. Xu Biao turned and noticed his eager expression.

Xu Biao raised his chin. “Kid, are you interested in forensic trace evidence, or just these devices?”

The officer didn’t hide it. “Trace evidence! Honestly, I love reading forensic books and detective novels. They’re thrilling, but I’m a bit afraid of bloody scenes, so I had to settle for second best. If I had a chance, I’d really like to learn it. I think watching Senior Xu Biao do scene investigation is really cool.”

Xu Biao widened his small eyes and looked him up and down.

“If you’d dropped that first part, I might’ve taken you as a disciple. But with all that ‘settle for second best’ nonsense, I really don’t know what to say.”

Zhou Hai stopped Xu Biao and patted the young officer on the shoulder.

“If you like it, go apply through your team leader Huang.”

“By the end of the year, our center will organize training classes for criminal investigation personnel across the eastern districts and counties. It covers basic forensic and autopsy knowledge. It’s all foundational, but very practical.”

The young officer’s eyes widened. “I can apply too?”

Zhou Hai nodded. “There’s no experience restriction. As long as you’re interested and your department can arrange the workload, you can apply. All expenses are covered by the city bureau.”

The young officer quickly took out his phone to make a note. Zhou Hai nodded slightly—he seemed like someone with potential. Many people are interested but lack attention to detail, and even if they learn, it doesn’t help much in real work.

Just then, Xu Biao’s phone rang again. Xiao Hu called back via video.

Xu Biao looked displeased, glancing at Wang Xuchao. “There goes my data bill…”

Complaining aside, he still answered the video.

“Alright, let’s test them one by one, starting with this black Canon…”

Under Xiao Hu’s guidance, Xu Biao located each printer’s memory function and printed out the most recent documents.

When they reached the third color printer, something unusual appeared—printed photos with timestamps.

These were different from ordinary documents. The clarity was poor, like screenshots from surveillance or recording equipment.

In the first image, only a car and a human figure standing in front of it could be seen. The person was illuminated by the headlights, raising a hand to block their face. Still, it was possible to see they were holding a reflective object resembling a stick, and if one looked closely, there seemed to be traces of blood along its edge.

Xu Biao didn’t hesitate and immediately handed the photo to Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai saw Xu Biao’s suddenly serious expression and understood he had found something.

Xu Biao continued checking the printer for anything else, while also calling Xiao Hu again.

“You need to come here in person. We missed these photos before, so we need to re-examine the computer thoroughly. The victim’s phone still hasn’t been found—we only retrieved call logs from the telecom company, nothing unusual.”

“These photos look like screenshots from a video. The victim was investigating her brother-in-law’s death before she died. Could she have been threatened?”

Zhou Hai looked through the photos one by one and interrupted Xu Biao’s speculation.

“Not like a threat.”

“The angles and directions are exactly the same, even the height doesn’t change. Look at the timestamp—April 14, 2014, 00:57. I think someone replied to Yu Xiuhong’s earlier email requesting evidence.”

“Have Xiao Hu check Yu Xiuhong’s email account. I think there’ll definitely be results. Even if deleted, there should still be traces.”

“As for the killer of Yu Xiuhong, I think we already have a direction.”

Xu Biao and Wang Xuchao both widened their eyes.

“Who?”