SFTD -Chapter 364 White Spots Reappear (Part 5)

Xu Biao smiled in a syrupy way and quickly said:

“Still, you’re the one who understands me best, Hai Zi. I found quite a few blueprints. Let’s take them back to the office and study them. As for these things, let’s send them for inspection together with your autopsy samples. Otherwise I’m afraid Sister Zeng will scold me.”

Xiao Liang quickly walked over to Xu Biao, grabbed the box along with the tray holding the previously collected samples, and hurried outside. This kind of work suited him best for now.

Fengzi finished arranging the personnel to collect the body, then followed Zhou Hai and Xu Biao upstairs. He had very high expectations for this case.

After all, he had watched Zhou Hai grow step by step. If they could really find the murderer, it would be a form of comfort for him. Although he never said it, everyone knew he blamed himself—he had placed Xi Xi’s death on his own shoulders. That kind of guilt could destroy a person.

Nearly half a year had passed. They had only obtained a tiny piece of information related to the Lu Xi case, yet Zhou Hai was already this tense. It was clear he had never truly let it go—he had simply buried it deep in his heart, or occasionally pulled it out to examine. For the living, that kind of torment was unbearable.

As soon as Xu Biao entered the second-floor large office, he connected the camera to the computer. Zhou Hai and Luo Yunfeng stood in front of the screen as the photos began to appear one by one.

The rapidly flickering images soon stopped. The last photo automatically enlarged. Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes as he looked at it.

It was clearly not taken intentionally—the image was slightly blurred, and the angle was tilted.

But in one corner of the photo, there was a chair placed against the wall. On the back of the chair hung a gray casual suit jacket with blue stripes. The size seemed quite small. Zhou Hai zoomed in and could clearly see the label.

Two large letters appeared: ROMON. Next to it was the size marking: M.

M size?

Zhou Hai instantly tightened his grip on the mouse.

Given the deceased Dong Bin’s height and weight, even L size clothing would have been too small. Could this jacket not belong to the victim?

Xu Biao crawled out from under the desk. Seeing Zhou Hai’s reaction, he immediately leaned in to look at the screen.

“Hai Zi, what did you find?”

“This jacket—did you bring it back?”

Xu Biao looked at the photo, seemed to recall something, then shook his head.

“No. It was just casually thrown over the chair. I didn’t bring it back.”

Zhou Hai turned to Fengzi.

“Tell Huang Zhongsheng to send someone to retrieve that jacket. Make sure it’s sealed in an evidence bag.”

Fengzi understood Zhou Hai’s intention and immediately went to make the call. Xu Biao still looked confused and hadn’t caught up at all.

“What’s wrong? What’s the issue with the jacket?”

Zhou Hai knew he hadn’t been involved in the autopsy, so his reasoning hadn’t caught up. It wasn’t his fault.

“The size is M. It doesn’t match the victim Dong Bin’s body type. So this isn’t his jacket. And according to Fang Jianguo, no one ever goes to that workshop. So whose jacket is it?”

Xu Biao immediately fell silent, his face full of frustration.

“I missed that detail.”

Zhou Hai waved it off.

“Tell me what you found.”

Knowing this was not the time to dwell on embarrassment, Xu Biao quickly opened a large bag in his hands and dumped everything out.

There were four cylindrical document tubes, and a small box with a password lock.

Zhou Hai opened one of the tubes. Inside were design drawings.

Xu Biao explained from the side:

“I briefly looked through them. They’re mostly design drafts for blades and similar tools. The signatures are quite flashy, but I also found more than a dozen pages that match the handwriting of the drawings found in Dong Bin’s pocket. Since I couldn’t fully confirm, I brought them all back.”

Zhou Hai pulled out a sheet and unfolded it. As expected, it was an extremely detailed technical drawing, showing precise dimensions, curves of each part, and even material requirements.

What stood out was that most of these were hand-drawn.

In an era where CAD was dominant, such drawings were rare. The dates on them ranged from 2010 to 2015.

“Alright, let’s go through them together and see if there’s anything unusual.”

They opened the remaining tubes. The contents were largely the same—some CAD printouts, others hand-drawn sheets.

The three of them carefully examined each page, trying to find common patterns.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Hai suddenly noticed that on the edges of many hand-drawn diagrams there was a hexagram symbol, and beneath it a few small letters:

“Denker.”

Zhou Hai froze.

This… was English?

Xu Biao looked at him in confusion.

“What does that mean?”

“I remember it might be the name of a Hong Kong automobile sales group—the Junjia Group.

Or it could be a personal name, something like ‘Denker’ used by Americans.

Wait… if it’s not English, then maybe it’s German.

‘Denker’… thinker, or philosopher. But that doesn’t seem to make much sense.”

Xu Biao fell silent. This was beyond his knowledge. His education wasn’t strong—he only knew a few ABCs, enough to pick multiple-choice answers. He nudged Luo Yunfeng.

“Fengzi, give us your opinion. You’re a local guy from East South City, born and raised here. You know the customs and history better than I do. I’m uneducated—say something.”

Fengzi didn’t hesitate. He straightened up and stroked his chin.

“What Chief Zhou just mentioned about German actually reminds me—East South City was once under German control for 21 years. There are still German traces everywhere, from drainage systems to ancient wells, even church bells.

If there’s no better English explanation, I’d lean toward the German meaning—‘thinker.’”

Zhou Hai nodded. What he said matched the local historical context very well.

But what did “thinker” mean here?

And the hexagram symbol?

Was it just decoration? Or something else entirely?

Zhou Hai closed his eyes and began to think deeply.

After an unknown time, he suddenly opened them, took out his phone, and photographed the symbol. He uploaded it to the task group app.

“Who knows what the hexagram symbol, together with the German word ‘Denker (thinker),’ might mean?”

Just as he was about to put the phone down, a notification sounded.

He picked it up—and saw a reply. Unexpectedly, it was from Hu Nan. A warm feeling rose in his chest.

Province City Hu: “I once watched a documentary. It said Germans made Jewish people wear hexagram armbands or badges to distinguish them from Germans.”

“As for the word you mentioned, I’ve never seen it. If we interpret it in Chinese, could it mean ‘wise person’?”

“Someone who believes their intellect is above average. You know, Jews are often considered highly intelligent, with strong genetics and many smart individuals.”

“What’s going on, Forensic Zhou? Are you handling international cases now?”