Chapter 345: Chapter 213: He Is the Prime Suspect (2)

Everyone held their breath, as if they could only hear each other’s breathing.

After a long while, Jiang An spoke, “At the moment, Liu Tie has a motive for the crime.”

“That confession incident on campus must have dealt a significant blow to his self-esteem.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “Just now, in the interrogation room, I noticed that Liu Tie controlled his emotions very well throughout.”

“Although there was a hint of worry in his eyes, he didn’t show the irritation and fear that Li Yong did.”

“I think Liou Tie is a person with a very strong sense of self-esteem, and he is very meticulous.”

Li Jian nodded, “I think you have a point.”

Jiang An continued, “For the next direction of the investigation, I think we need to apply for a search warrant to conduct a detailed search of Liu Tie’s residence to see if we can find any clues.”

Soon, Li Jian applied to Mr. Ma for a search warrant.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the community where Liu Tie rented an apartment — Jinjiang Garden.

With Liu Tie’s room key in hand, Wan opened the door.

The two-bedroom apartment looked very cozy, with everything inside neat and orderly, without any sign of disarray.

Standing at the entrance of the living room, Wan curiously asked, “Jiang brother, where do you think they’d place the charcoal?”

Jiang An looked around and said, “Things like that would either be in the storeroom or on the balcony.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped right and headed to the kitchen’s utility balcony.

Sure enough, on the utility balcony, he saw a barbecue grill and two boxes of charcoal.

“Here it is!”

Upon hearing Jiang An’s voice, Li Jian and Wan quickly walked over.

Wan said, “Look, the charcoal is still here, indicating he hasn’t used it.”

“If it was for a barbecue, the charcoal would’ve run out long ago.”

Li Jian nodded, “That’s right, these barbecue tools are very complete, and the charcoal seems untouched.”

Jiang An didn’t speak and just quietly pondered.

Two minutes later, Jiang An slowly walked over and squatted in front of the two boxes of charcoal.

The top box of charcoal showed no signs of being tampered with.

The box of charcoal at the bottom, as seen from both sides, also showed no obvious signs of use.

Just as he felt a bit disappointed and was about to get up and leave, he suddenly thought of checking the second layer of charcoal for issues.

He reached out and opened the box of charcoal on the second level.

In an instant, he was stunned.

It turned out that the charcoal on the second level had already been opened.

Li Jian and Wan quickly came over too.

Seeing the opened mark in the middle of the second layer charcoal box, Wan’s eyes widened.

“Oh my! The charcoal has been used?”

At the center of the second box, the seal was clearly torn open.

However, the torn area was very small, and the opening still had traces of black charcoal.

After staring at it for a while, Li Jian looked around the room.

He didn’t see any charcoal on the floor nor any device that could be used to burn it.

Jiang An squatted on the ground, spreading apart the closed parts of the charcoal box, revealing everything inside the box.

The charcoal in the second box was only one-third left.

Jiang An fixed his eyes on the remaining charcoal, his gaze filled with determination and confidence, becoming more convinced of Liu Tie’s suspicion.

He quickly connected all the clues in his mind, like piecing together a puzzle, with this charcoal being the key piece.

He was convinced that it must be closely connected to the case.

Now, Jiang An’s mind was even more certain that Liu Tie was highly suspicious.

At this moment, Li Jian also squatted down to observe.

Then, he raised his hand and patted Jiang An’s shoulder, “So far, our previous investigation direction is consistent.”

Jiang An nodded, stood up, and walked straight to the living room and study room; the room was kept very clean.

He opened each cupboard in the living room, study, and bedroom, but apart from some items and books, nothing meaningful was discovered.

Finally, the three of them went to the bedroom together.

The curtains were drawn, making the entire room quite dim.

Jiang An walked over to the curtains, opened them, and switched on the bedside lamp.

Then, the three of them began examining the bedroom, hoping to find some clues.

After some searching, the three of them had no results.

Suddenly, Jiang An’s eyes swept across the bedside table and noticed that on its drawer lay a photo album.

He picked up the album and opened the first page, it seemed to be Liu Tie’s middle school photo, with the shooting date printed at the bottom right.

Turning the pages, there were photos from high school, university…

Suddenly, a large photo caught his eye, with Liang Yan as its subject rather than Liu Tie.

In the photo, Liang Yan smiled brilliantly, but it was evident that the photo was cut from a group picture rather than taken individually.

Jiang An stood there stunned, his eyes widened, and he stared intently at the photo, feeling a strong sense of puzzlement.

Why would Liu Tie have cherished photos of Liang Yan, especially ones that were cut out?

What kind of undisclosed feelings or secrets could be hidden within?

Wan came over, “Jiang brother, what’s so interesting about a photo album?”

“And it’s photos of a man, do you have a problem with your orientation?”

Jiang An turned to look at him, “It’s not just Liu Tie’s photos here, there are also pictures of Liang Yan.”

“Liang Yan?”

Wan, surprised, asked with eyes wide open, “That’s not right!”

“They aren’t a couple, so why would he keep photos of Liang Yan?”

At this moment, Li Jian also came over.

He knew Jiang An must have discovered something.

Then, the three of them placed the album on the bed and continued turning the pages.

Five minutes later, the three of them exchanged looks.

To their amazement, many of the subsequent photos were solo shots of Liang Yan.

Wan frowned and said, “That doesn’t seem right!”

“Since Liang Yan is the subject, why is the angle so odd?”

“It’s like they weren’t specifically taken for her!”

Li Jian was also surprised, “Indeed, both the framing and the angles of these photos are quite odd.”

After they looked for a while, Jiang An spoke, “Captain Li, Brother Wan, in my opinion, these photos were all secretly taken.”

“Secretly taken?” Wan and Li Jian asked in unison, their faces surprised.

Jiang An nodded, “In these photos, Liang Yan isn’t looking at the camera.”

Wan looked down and carefully examined them, “Ah, it really is!”

“The main subject in these photos indeed isn’t looking towards the camera.”

Li Jian suddenly realized, “These shooting angles really are strange.”

Jiang An added, “Apart from being secretly taken, some photos were clearly cropped from others.”

While speaking, Jiang An raised his hand to point at the photo in front of them.

“Look at this one; it’s practically close-up shot.”

“The woman’s body takes up the entire photo, with nothing else surrounding her.”

Wan gave a thumbs up, “Jiang brother, your keen eye is impressive.”

“You’ve picked up on such tiny details.”

Li Jian slightly smiled, clearly satisfied.

He said with a smile, “Jiang An’s ability to become a great detective is innate due to his observational prowess.”

“In the face of the talent for criminal investigation, our hard work is simply overshadowed.”

Jiang An smiled, glanced around, and connected all the information in his mind like a film playing.

Now, Liu Tie’s suspicion has risen dramatically; he felt the truth was within reach, just like a layer of rice paper separating him from the solution to the mystery.

At this moment, Li Jian was feeling both expectant and slightly nervous.

He hoped to pry the truth out of Liu Tie’s mouth, finally resolving this complex case.

But he was also worried that Liu Tie would be as cunning as before, relying on exceptional mental resilience and thorough thinking, refusing to reveal anything, rendering their efforts futile.

Finally, Li Jian said in a deep voice, “Let’s go, back to the interrogation room to meet Liu Tie.”

“Hopefully, this time we’ll achieve victory.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep