Chapter 120 A Skilled Murder Method

They waited for about another twenty minutes.

Only then did Sun Yi return, carrying a thick stack of documents.

"These are all materials I printed out from the backup archives."

"Captain Long, please sign these for me later to finalize the paperwork."

As she spoke, she placed the documents on the table.

"Mm, thanks for your hard work."

Long Hao indicated it was no problem and immediately distributed the four sets of materials, one for each person.

The room quickly fell silent.

Only the sound of fingers rubbing against paper and pages turning could be heard.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Mo looked at Sun Yi and suddenly spoke up to ask.

Ever since she walked in, he felt like she had something to say.

At this moment, the expression on her face was as conflicted as could be.

"It's just that while I was printing these materials, I noticed that someone else had already printed them yesterday."

"I saw it on the printing logs."

"I guess other contestants also guessed that the higher-ups would choose this case."

Once these words were out, Chen Mo understood why she looked so conflicted.

Saying it would dampen everyone's mood, but not saying it felt wrong.

"Gosh, they really are experts. To think they figured it out a day before us!"

Wu Tian's tone was surprised, and a serious look inevitably appeared on his face; he didn't dare underestimate his opponents at all.

"Is there only one record?" Chen Mo looked thoughtful.

If there was only one, then the advantage was actually still on their side.

After all, the 22 teams were divided into four groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.

Whether they were first or second,

they could still advance.

"Yes, only one," Sun Yi nodded with certainty.

She couldn't even describe how surprised she was when she saw that the last printing record was from yesterday.

She had double-checked for quite a while before leaving, so she naturally wouldn't remember it wrong.

"This actually isn't entirely a bad thing; there are pros and cons."

"The fact that someone printed it once before indirectly means that others also think this case is likely to be selected."

"This also invisibly increases our confidence in this case."

After Chen Mo finished speaking, the others, who had been a bit anxious, forced themselves to calm down.

What he said made sense. If they were the only ones who had discovered this case, they would indeed have some concerns—if they were wrong in the end, then everything they were doing now would be a waste of effort.

But if someone else had taken the same action, it smoothed over that sliver of uncertainty in their hearts.

"Let me introduce the specific details of the case."

Sun Yi raised her hand, indicating she would speak.

"The identity of the victim, Cui Shengli, was already mentioned, so I'll skip that."

"The specific time of death was July 15th, 1999, at one o'clock in the morning. The victim's entire family, even the butler, including the nanny, the caregiver, and peripheral staff, were not spared."

"The cause of death for all was the killer using a dagger to sever their carotid arteries, causing instant death. A total of 12 people died in this Family Extermination Case."

"These are photos of the 12 victims. This one in pajamas is Cui Shengli."

Twelve printed black-and-white photos were spread out on the table.

Wu Tian looked particularly closely; Autopsy was his area of expertise.

Since everyone else had shown their professional capabilities, he couldn't fall behind.

"Based on the size of the wounds on the victims' necks, the dagger or blade used by the killer had a thickness between 1.4 mm and 2 mm."

"It wasn't necessarily just a dagger; the kitchen knives commonly used at home are also about this thickness."

"Moreover, without exception, the locations of these wounds are all at the main artery—what's commonly known as a single-stroke throat-slitting!"

"The killer has at least some knowledge of human anatomy."

After Wu Tian blurted out everything he could see so far, he saw everyone nodding.

Only then did his mood brighten considerably.

Everyone sitting here was an expert; he couldn't afford to show no contribution at all.

"Judging from the time of the crime and the state of the victims in the photos,"

"the killer's target was very clear. They went to Cui Shengli's home at one in the morning with a knife and killed his entire family, young and old."

"Therefore, this was a premeditated crime, not a crime of passion."

Chen Mo characterized the case. Generally speaking, premeditated crimes are much harder to solve than crimes of passion.

But it's better than random killings.

In short, these things can't really be compared; once characterized, one shouldn't overthink it.

"I also lean towards it being a premeditated crime."

"If it were a crime of passion, the crime scene wouldn't have been handled so cleanly, let alone leaving no trace behind."

Long Hao nodded in agreement with Chen Mo's thoughts.

He then added, "Chen Mo, have you noticed? The killer's methods in this case are far too efficient!"

"After a single fatal blow, they never strike a second time."

"Looking at it this way, the killer is definitely not an ordinary person, or rather, they've killed many people before."

When a normal person kills, after a light cut to the neck, they basically judge if the person is dead through breathing and heartbeat.

At the very least, they would cut a few more times.

But the killer in this case gives the impression of someone punching a clock.

After slitting Cui Shengli's throat, they immediately went to slit the next person's without the slightest hesitation.

They weren't worried at all about the person not being dead, having immense confidence in their own killing method.

Either this person has deep research into the human neck, or the killer is a habitual murderer who already has a certain amount of experience.

Based on the force of their strike and the amount of blood sprayed, they could judge whether the person was dead.

Regardless of the reason, as long as this person is still roaming in society, they are a bomb that could explode at any time.

An unstable element.

It's no wonder that even after three years, the police in Xinghan Province are still investigating this case.

It's not just the expectations of the public; it's also because the killer is indeed a dangerous individual.

"Are you trying to say this person is a professional hitman?"

Chen Mo temporarily set aside the point about the killer understanding human anatomy.

Instead, he steered the topic toward a point he was interested in.

If it were a hitman, it would actually encompass the point about the killer having knowledge of the human body.

Everything would naturally make sense.

Including why no traces were left; these should all be essential skills for a hitman.

"Ahem, actually, this point of suspicion has been investigated before."

Sun Yi coughed lightly twice, signaling for everyone to continue looking at the materials while she explained.

"Within a month after the case occurred, the Xinghan Province police formed a task force to conduct a thorough investigation into Cui Shengli's death."

"At the time, based on the killer's methods and the crime scene that left no traces, they analyzed that the killer was likely a professional."

"At the very least, they had a deep understanding of police investigative methods."

"Back then, it was speculated to be a contract killing. After screening, they found this forty-five-year-old man named Sun Aiguo. This man was also in the Retail Industry, and in business, he was often beaten so badly by Cui Shengli that he didn't know which way was up, suffering huge losses and reaching the brink of bankruptcy."

"And this person was a very strong suspect."