SFTD -Chapter 372 White Spot Reappears (Part 13)

The two of them got into the car. Zhou Hai reached out his hand toward Xu Biao.

“Give me an evidence bag.”

With a puzzled look, Xu Biao handed over a small evidence bag.

“What’s going on?”

Zhou Hai didn’t turn around. He simply put something into the bag, then tossed it back to Xu Biao.

“Keep it. Take it back for DNA filing.”

Looking at the hair inside the evidence bag, Xu Biao froze for a moment. He immediately guessed it was Old Yang’s hair and widened his small eyes, leaning toward the back of Zhou Hai’s seat.

“You mean Old Yang is also a suspect? That’s a bit far-fetched, isn’t it? A disabled man…”

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. When we search for clues, we must eliminate personal emotions. His experience and situation are worthy of sympathy, but during an investigation, anyone who has had contact and needs to be screened must be checked one by one. That’s an explanation to him—and to ourselves. Contact Huang Zhongsheng. Have them request Jinzhou to assist in checking these two people. Once we find them, we’ll go there.”

Xu Biao said nothing more. He knew Zhou Hai was right, but he still couldn’t bring himself to agree out loud.

Old Wang drove fast, and the car sped away, gradually disappearing into the night.

At 7:10 the next morning, a phone rang. Xiao Liang, who had fallen asleep on the desk, fumbled around for a long time before grabbing the ringing phone and putting it to his ear.

“Mm… who is it?”

Xu Biao’s voice came through the phone with a laugh.

“Who is it? You’re still half-asleep, huh? Wake up. We’re on our way to Dr. Nan’s place. Do you want breakfast?”

Hearing the word “breakfast,” Xiao Liang finally sat up from the desk. He glanced at the others in the room, all slumped over their desks, and slammed the table hard.

“Everyone wake up! Someone’s bringing us breakfast—what do you want to eat?”

This wake-up call was surprisingly effective. One by one, people sat up yawning, paused their video, and started shouting.

“Egg pancake!”

“Two meat burgers for me!”

“I want oden and beef rice noodles!”

“…”

The chaotic shouting made Xu Biao jump in shock—he almost dropped his phone.

Zhou Hai shook his head from the side. Xu Biao was just reckless. These people had stayed up all night and were starving like wolves. At this point, they could probably swallow an elephant if you gave it to them. Xu Biao’s pocket money definitely couldn’t handle this.

Sure enough, Xu Biao got annoyed.

“Stop, stop, stop! Don’t shout—just tell me how many people there are. I’ll buy the same for everyone, no picking!”

Xiao Liang counted quickly and said, “We have eight people in total!”

“Alright!”

After hanging up, Xu Biao patted his pockets and smacked his lips, glancing at Zhou Hai.

“Zhou Hai, I didn’t bring money. Lend me some.”

Zhou Hai pointed at his phone.

“Isn’t everything paid with WeChat now? Why do you need cash?”

Xu Biao looked aggrieved.

“I’m trying to save face for you! Besides, I don’t have money in WeChat. Really, don’t believe me—check!”

Zhou Hai ignored him and said to the driver, Old Wang: “Wang, stop at the next breakfast shop.”

“Got it.”

Xu Biao grinned as the car stopped. He followed Zhou Hai out and bought a box of beef pies and various porridges, then carried them back into the car. After that, they drove toward Dr. Nan’s public information center.

Ten minutes later, as soon as they parked, several people gathered around. Xu Biao put his hands on his hips and waved them off like swatting flies.

“Don’t crowd me. Hurry up and carry the stuff. You think I’m here to feed you?”

Da Liu stretched out his arm and pulled Xu Biao aside.

“Brothers, move the food! Deputy Director Zhou, let’s go inside!”

Xu Biao stared blankly at Da Liu’s rough behavior, pointing at him but unable to speak.

“You… you…”

Da Liu patted his shoulder.

“Come on, don’t dwell on it. I know you haven’t eaten either. Hurry up, or those little wolves will finish the pancakes.”

That sentence lit up Xu Biao’s eyes. In a flash, he rushed inside while shouting:

“You little punks, don’t steal them! I fought for this for you! Our Zhou Hai paid for it! Save me five—no, six!”

Xiao Liang and Da Liu didn’t rush in. They followed Zhou Hai slowly upstairs. On the way, Xiao Liang quickly reported the situation.

“Since yesterday afternoon, we reviewed six surveillance cameras around the machinery factory. The traffic wasn’t heavy. Only fifteen vehicles stopped or lingered, but all of them went to the textile factory dormitory across the street. Today we plan to continue verifying the identities of these fifteen vehicles.”

They entered the office. Zhou Hai waved his hand.

“Eat first. We’ll talk after. I’ll go see if Dr. Nan has arrived.”

Da Liu swallowed a bite of pancake and said vaguely: “Dr. Nan didn’t leave last night. He’s upstairs in his office, seems to be studying those drawings you sent.”

“Alright, I’ll go take a look.”

Xu Biao tried to follow, but Zhou Hai shook his head, signaling him to finish eating.

“You eat. I’ll go myself.”

Xu Biao didn’t insist. He turned back and started grabbing food with the others.

Zhou Hai went upstairs alone and entered Dr. Nan’s office. The door was open, so he walked straight in.

Dr. Nan was standing at a huge table, carefully examining something with a magnifying glass. Zhou Hai walked over, but Dr. Nan didn’t look up.

“You’re here. I thought you’d come rushing over last night. You’re surprisingly patient.”

Zhou Hai smiled.

“It can’t be rushed. I know you’re even more eager than I am to figure out the meaning behind these things. After all, it’s a challenge.”

Dr. Nan lifted his head and looked at Zhou Hai, laughing until his body shook, his gray hair trembling.

“Can you talk a little less directly? I’m basically being fully exploited by you people now—I can’t even do my own research anymore, you know?”

Zhou Hai looked at his tired face and sighed slightly.

“No choice. Last night I received lab results. After comparison, the powder found in the dagger in this case is identical to the powder on the dagger from Xixi’s case, and also identical to the capsule ingredients found in the poisoning case of Migao Investment. Even the impurities are exactly the same. So this is not an isolated incident. I believe these three cases were all orchestrated by the same person, which is why I care so much about this blueprint.”

Dr. Nan pushed up his glasses, visibly shocked.

“No wonder I felt the dagger on this drawing looked familiar—it’s related to Xixi’s case?”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“There was nothing useful on the victim’s body. The only fingerprint on the dagger was the victim’s own. On the vehicle beside him, at the same height as the wound, there was an impact mark. We also found red paint from that vehicle on the dagger handle. The killer tried to stage it as a suicide, but the stabbing trajectory wasn’t straight—it had a curve. That’s not something consistent with suicide or a direct stab.”

Dr. Nan took a sharp breath, frowning deeply.

“So the killer is trying to mislead your investigation direction?”