150: Discovery

"Whether it was closed or not, can't we just look at the traces?"

Ye Tian spoke up.

"And what if it was just left ajar? Would there be traces then? Besides, after a major fire, many traces disappear. Mr. Ye, I know you care about your employees, but when it comes to investigating a case, I think we are a bit more professional."

Ye Tian frowned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the officer's words.

"Then, Officer, may I go to the scene to take a look?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible. We have specialists to collect evidence. Before the evidence collection is complete, outsiders are not allowed in to prevent the scene from being disturbed."

"Officer, those people are employees of our company. If something happens to them, it's our company's responsibility. As the person in charge, I believe I have the right to know the truth."

"There's really no way; it's the regulation. Besides, even if you went, it wouldn't be of any use."

The police officer shook his head firmly.

Just as he finished speaking...

Ye Tian's phone rang.

Ye Tian picked it up, saw who it was, and quickly answered.

"Sister Bing!"

"Xiao Tian, I just heard the news. An explosion caused by a gas leak happened in our Copper City, and employees from your Tianxia Housekeeping are involved. Do you know about this?"

"Sister, I just found out too. I'm at the hospital ward right now. The police are also here questioning the employees about the situation."

"So, do we know where the problem lies?"

"It's still uncertain at the moment, so I want to go to the crime scene to take a look, but the officer in charge says I can't go. Sister, do you have any way to help?"

"Xiao Tian, will it be useful if you go?"

"Sister, this involves my employees and my company. I need to see it for myself to feel at ease. Don't worry, I definitely won't cause any trouble."

"Then wait a moment."

Zhao Rubing pondered for a moment and then hung up the phone.

The several police officers nearby slightly curled their lips, having clearly heard the voice on Ye Tian's phone.

However, they didn't take it seriously. For a case like this, it wasn't as if an outsider could just go to the scene because they said so, especially since Ye Tian wasn't directly involved.

But three minutes later...

The police captain's phone rang.

He picked it up suspiciously.

"Hello, Bureau Chief Hu. Yes, we are at the hospital questioning the injured. Yes, their boss is named Ye Tian. Hmm? Take him to the scene? Bureau Chief Hu, this isn't quite... I see. Okay, Bureau Chief Hu."

After hanging up the phone, the police captain's gaze toward Ye Tian was clearly different.

"Mr. Ye, we have finished our questioning here and are about to head to the crime scene. Are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes. Officer, don't worry, I'll just take a look and definitely won't disturb a single thing at the scene."

"Alright then, come along with us."

The police captain nodded and, under the puzzled gazes of his colleagues, led Ye Tian out the door.

Ye Tian instructed Wang Jia and the others to stay in the ward and take good care of the three employees.

Soon, Ye Tian followed the police to the site of the explosion.

The entrance to the entire building unit had already been cordoned off.

Quite a few people were gathered below, pointing up at the building and gossiping.

Ye Tian could still smell a distinct burnt odor in the air.

Crossing the police line, Ye Tian and the group made their way up to the fourth floor.

The door to unit 4-1 was guarded by police.

After the police captain explained the situation, the evidence collection officer on duty handed over shoe covers, gloves, and masks.

The police captain handed a set to Ye Tian.

The group put them on together.

Before entering, Ye Tian specifically glanced at the shoe rack but didn't see anything unusual.

Then he entered the room.

His brow furrowed slightly.

Just as the police had described, the house was a complete mess.

Even the walls were blackened by the smoke.

In places where flammable materials had been kept, everything had been reduced to charcoal.

As if knowing what Ye Tian wanted to see, the police captain led him to the vicinity of various doors and windows.

Ye Tian's frown deepened.

Just as the police said, because of the fire's intensity, the bedroom door—which was made of wood—was completely burned away, let alone being able to check the lock.

"Mr. Ye, you see? We actually checked these things immediately, but it's hard to draw a conclusion. We can confirm the windows were closed, but generally speaking, if a homeowner is preparing to go out, it's perfectly reasonable for them to close the windows."

"What about fingerprints? Have they been checked?"

"After the fire, fingerprints at key locations cannot be extracted."

It was clear that after that phone call, the police captain's attitude toward Ye Tian had improved significantly; at least he was patiently explaining the relevant details.

Ye Tian nodded and followed them into the kitchen.

This was the core of the disaster. Absolutely nothing could be distinguished.

The more he looked, the more Ye Tian's heart sank.

He had originally expected that with his current perception and observation skills, he might be able to find something useful. But after a full walkthrough, everything had been destroyed by the flames. No matter how carefully he observed, it was to no avail.

Because the surface traces on many objects had been completely covered by soot.

Was it really an accident?

If that were the case, the responsibility on the employees' part would be huge.

Causing death through negligence was no laughing matter.

Frowning, Ye Tian was unwilling to give up and began to carefully observe every corner.

Suddenly, Ye Tian's eyes flickered.

He looked at the floor of the bathroom ahead.

Because there weren't as many flammable materials here, the burning wasn't as severe.

"Officer, has this area been checked?"

"It has, but nothing unusual was found."

"I remember the information you mentioned earlier said this female homeowner lived alone, right?"

"Correct."

"Then what is this?"

Ye Tian pointed at the drain cover in the bathroom.

"What?"

The police officer looked closely but didn't find anything.

"There is hair in the gaps of that cover."

The several police officers looked at each other and then gave a bitter smile.

"Mr. Ye, it's normal to have hair in a bathroom."

"It is normal, but is it normal for a man's hair to be in the bathroom of a woman living alone?"

"A man's hair? Where? Why don't I see it?"

The police captain was stunned for a moment. He took a few steps forward and looked closely, but still found nothing.

After a moment of hesitation, he called over a colleague from the forensics department who was still collecting evidence in the house.

The latter was undoubtedly much more professional.

After observing with equipment, the forensic officer carefully opened the drain cover and used tweezers to pull out a clump of hair.

After identifying it carefully, his eyes lit up.

"Captain, there really are traces of male hair, and in no small amount."

As he spoke, the investigator used the tweezers to pick out short hairs mixed in with the woman's long hair.

These hairs were only about the length of a finger and had a relatively stiff texture.

"Captain, based on the length and stiffness, this should be male hair, but the specifics will require laboratory testing."

"Alright, take it for testing immediately."

The captain nodded and gave the order. Afterward, his expression became much more serious.

He turned to the colleague behind him and asked,

"Are you sure that when checking the surveillance, no one else entered this place?"

"No. When the colleagues from the technical department were checking the keys, they fast-forwarded through a month's worth of hallway surveillance and confirmed that no other male has entered this house. To go further back, we would need to retrieve more footage."

"Retrieve it. Keep looking further back."

"Okay, I'll notify them right away."

The captain nodded and then looked at Ye Tian with an even more peculiar expression.

"Mr. Ye, your eyesight is truly impressive to be able to spot such a minute detail."

Ye Tian smiled slightly. "Officer, does this discovery suggest that there might be other possibilities for what happened here?"

"It's possible, but it's not of much use yet. We have to wait for the test results. Hair found in such a location can only prove that another male entered this place more than a month ago."

"But that hair looked very fresh to me. If it had been a month, wouldn't it have been washed away long ago?"

Ye Tian raised his doubt.

"That's not necessarily true. We've encountered this situation in previous cases. If a woman has long hair, it easily accumulates and clogs the drain. Just like at my house, every time I finish a shower, there's a lot of hair tangled in the drain."

A female officer nearby couldn't help but chime in with her own experience.

"What if I can be certain that the hair is very fresh?"

Ye Tian continued to speak.

"Fresh? I'm afraid there's no way to be certain of that. After all, whether hair is 'fresh' or not isn't something you can tell just by looking."

Ye Tian frowned.

He also felt that saying it like that seemed somewhat unreasonable.

But since an anomaly had been found, it provided a direction.

After thinking for a moment, he looked around.

The look of doubt in his eyes grew even stronger.

"Officer, have you taken anything from this room?"

"Not yet. Evidence is usually taken away all at once after the collection is complete."

"Does evidence also include toothpaste and toothbrushes?"

"Toothpaste? Why do you ask, Mr. Ye?"

"As the room with the least damage, even if the toothpaste and toothbrush were burned, there should be traces left behind, right? Would a woman be so unhygienic as to not even have toothpaste or a toothbrush?"

Hmm?

The police looked where Ye Tian was indicating, and confusion also rose in their eyes.

"Also, this sink was barely burned. Why is it so clean that there isn't even a single fingerprint?"

Ye Tian continued to ask.

"Fingerprints? Mr. Ye, how do you know there are no fingerprints?"

"I can see it. Officer, if you don't believe me, you can have someone check."

Ye Tian said with certainty.

Previously, he had relied on his Cockroach-like perception to keep his housekeeping work spotless.

Now, with Blade upgraded to the Ten-Gold Level, it was even sharper.

The police officers were full of doubt, but having witnessed Ye Tian's incredible eyesight just now, they didn't refuse this time.

Soon, they called over an evidence collection officer again.

The officer took out professional equipment, sprinkled a thin layer of powder all around the sink, and then observed through an instrument.

After a long time, he also began to frown.

"Captain, there really are no fingerprints found."

"None? How is that possible? Was it because they were burned off by the fire earlier?"

"In other places, it's possible, but in this bathroom, the impact wasn't that severe. Logically, there should be traces left behind. And I just confirmed with them again; there were no items like toothpaste or toothbrushes among the evidence we collected. This is very suspicious."

"You mean this place was manually cleaned by someone?"

"It's a possibility!"

The evidence officer nodded.

The police officers immediately became alert.

At this point, what was originally a fairly simple case seemed to have become unusual.

"Mr. Ye, can you tell me how you can even see fingerprints?"

"Is it that hard? Usually, if you press on a mirror or something, you can see them yourself. My eyesight is just a bit better than yours, and since I do housekeeping, I'm more sensitive to these traces that you might not pay much attention to."

The police nodded. They didn't doubt Ye Tian's explanation.

"If someone entered this place before the incident, why wasn't anyone seen on the surveillance?"

"Captain, could they have come in from somewhere else? For example, a window or the balcony?"

Another officer spoke up.

The police captain nodded.

"Immediately re-examine all points of entry in the house."

As he spoke, he led the way out.

Soon, the group finished observing several windows and finally stopped at the balcony.

"Captain, if someone could enter without being noticed, this balcony should be the best spot. But we observed earlier that there are security bars on both the balcony and the windows."

"Check the security bars."

The captain ordered without hesitation.

Several officers cautiously went onto the balcony to check them one by one.

"Officer, try those iron bars above your head."

While they were busy, Ye Tian suddenly spoke up.

The officer Ye Tian addressed was stunned for a moment, then looked up and reached out to feel that row of security bars.

But he didn't feel anything unusual.

"Use some force."

Ye Tian spoke again.

"It's no use; these things are very solid."

The officer did as told and pushed up hard, but there was still no movement.

"Mr. Ye, did you see something again?"

"Captain, look closely. These few window bars should have been broken before. It's just that they are completely blackened by the smoke now, so you can't tell."

"Are they?"

The police captain looked up doubtfully for a long time, but he still couldn't see anything wrong.

Ye Tian hesitated for a moment.

"Captain, how about I go up and try?"

"This... alright."

After weighing the pros and cons, the captain didn't feel it was too inappropriate and chose to trust Ye Tian.

After stepping onto the balcony, Ye Tian reached up with his gloved hand and firmly gripped those few bars.

He tried with a bit of force, but the bars didn't budge.

"Mr. Ye, I told you, these bars should be fine..."

Before the officer could finish speaking...

There was a clanging sound.

The bars above Ye Tian's head snapped and broke.

He pushed them upward.

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, he removed a section of the bars shaped like the character 'Feng' ( rich).

Looking at it closely, Ye Tian showed a smile that said 'as expected' and handed the bars to the police officers below.

When the crowd gathered to look, their eyes all shook with shock.

Because once removed, they could clearly see that the edges of this section of bars had neat cuts; it didn't look at all like it had been violently torn off by Ye Tian.

"Captain, there is a bit of rust at the cuts. They shouldn't have been broken just now."