Chapter 171 Progress

Under what circumstances would a piece of clothing be worn on the body, yet have a gap torn open from the outside?

The answer to this question becomes clear with just a little thought.

Rape!

"In other words, the existence of this dress very likely indicates that Yan Lili was once raped, and she was wearing this white dress at the time?"

Long Hao nodded slightly upon hearing this.

He felt that this logic was sound.

As for the others, they all thought the same.

In fact, it wasn't just about this point; there was something even more important.

Yan Lili's part-time job was actually enough to allow her to live a much better life than ordinary people.

This could be seen from the luxury goods she had purchased.

But this white dress, aside from the material being a bit sturdy, looked cheap at a glance.

There was absolutely no reason to keep it after it had been ruined like this.

Clearly, this dress held great significance for Yan Lili.

That was why she hadn't thrown it away, but had instead preserved it carefully in her wardrobe.

"Exactly. I speculate that Yan Lili was wearing this dress when she was raped, and she kept it as a collection afterward."

"This is also why I said this was good news."

"Because this incident likely has some connection to Yan Lili being forced to jump off the building by Xiao Nuannuan."

Xu Qingqing rested her chin on her crossed hands, her face showing deep thought as she voiced her speculation.

And this speculation aligned with the normal logic of most people.

But!

There was no inevitable connection.

This 'inevitable connection' meant that while this tattered dress might have been kept by Yan Lili after being raped...

...it didn't necessarily have a link to whatever leverage Xiao Nuannuan held over her.

"I've actually thought about this issue as well, but the available clues are currently too few."

Xu Qingqing took her hands away from her chin and gave a helpless shrug.

She currently had no particularly good way to prove that the dress was related to the leverage Xiao Nuannuan used to threaten Yan Lili.

But among everything they could investigate, things Yan Lili was unwilling to speak of or the pain in her heart...

...there was only this one thing.

"Although we can't be certain there's a connection, it's at least a good line of thought."

"When the time comes, we can certainly conduct an investigation along these lines."

Chen Mo's calm voice rang out.

At this moment, everyone was feeling quite discouraged.

But he didn't see it that way.

There were two reasons.

One was that based on what the nurses said, they already had a direction for investigation.

Add to that the potential story behind the dress that Xu Qingqing had uncovered.

He believed there was absolutely no need to be so discouraged.

Closing the case was not far off.

"You guys take a rest. I'll take some people to investigate the clues provided by the nurses."

After saying this to Xu Qingqing, Chen Mo stood up and left the meeting room.

There were two clues given by the two nurses.

The first was that yesterday, one of the nurses had seen Xiao Nuannuan multiple times.

So she believed Xiao Nuannuan had never left the hospital yesterday afternoon.

This was the first point where a flaw needed to be found.

The second was that at 2:00 PM that afternoon, as well as before 4:00 PM when it was time to get off work, Xiao Nuannuan was in the hospital, and a second nurse could serve as a witness.

Setting the second point aside for now, the focus had to be on the first one.

One step at a time!

"Xiao Nuannuan appeared in the nurse's sight and met with her multiple times yesterday. Her purpose was very obvious: to reinforce her colleagues' impression of her presence in the hospital."

"This was so she could take the opportunity to leave the hospital during the necessary time period to achieve her goal."

"And based on the nurse's previous answers and reactions, it's clear that Xiao Nuannuan succeeded."

"She calculated against several of her colleagues from the very beginning. Now, these people are all her witnesses."

Chen Mo walked into the fire escape. It was cleaned very well and was currently empty.

His face fell into contemplation.

In the current situation, if he wanted to find where the problem lay...

...he had to find issues within the times the nurse gave for meeting Xiao Nuannuan.

Because right now, he was working backward from the answer to find the process, rather than finding the answer within the process.

Therefore, facing the core of the problem directly was the most urgent matter.

This was also why he had come to the fire escape alone to think.

"According to the first nurse, she saw Xiao Nuannuan multiple times yesterday, greeted her, and even ran into her in the restroom, so the impression was very deep."

"I shouldn't be looking for traces of forgery right now, because Xiao Nuannuan meeting her colleagues yesterday is something that actually happened."

"So, I probably need to change my approach."

Chen Mo murmured in a low voice, arms crossed as he paced back and forth in the fire escape.

He was thinking.

It wasn't easy.

Trying to find a loophole in something that had definitely occurred was very difficult.

At that moment, Clear Mind once again played its part.

A cool, refreshing sensation, like eating a mint, surged into his mind.

It helped him analyze the difficult problem he was currently facing.

Given: Xiao Nuannuan's purpose for meeting the nurse multiple times was to increase her subconscious impression in her colleague's mind.

Find: How to determine the exact time she left, and there must be evidence!

In summary, this was the problem he was currently pondering.

"The nurse has said all she can. She met Xiao Nuannuan multiple times in the hospital, so there are no more clues to be found from the nurse herself."

"But let me analyze this—was the act of meeting the nurse intentional?"

Chen Mo murmured softly.

The logic was actually very simple.

Although he couldn't find the exact time Xiao Nuannuan left the hospital...

...he could make an issue out of the fact that she intentionally approached her colleagues and repeatedly met them on purpose.

Why would you go to an area managed by others when you aren't in your own assigned area?

Or for instance, why did you go to this patient's room when you shouldn't have?

If this could be proven, it would indirectly uncover some of Xiao Nuannuan's abnormal suspicions.

And relying on this, he could take the person in for interrogation.

Allowing someone known to be a murderer to remain active outside...

...was inherently worrying for him as a police officer.

Furthermore, taking the person away temporarily had another benefit.

That was the change in status; the interrogation would naturally be different.

The emotional approach toward an ordinary person is naturally different from that toward a murderer.

His plan was...

...to find Xiao Nuannuan's irrational movements yesterday and then take her away first.

As for the evidence part, that would come later.

Once he had thought it through, he walked out of the fire escape.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Xu Qingqing and Long Hao waiting for him at the door with their team.

"The case is about to be closed; what's the point of resting?"

"Right now, every second I sit down, I feel restless."

As Xu Qingqing spoke, she made a gesture of rubbing her temples.

After investigating outside for so long, her subordinates were indeed feeling exhausted.

Under normal circumstances, it was only right to take a break.

After all, field work was physically demanding.

But they couldn't resist how effective Chen Mo was being.

He had raised the level of suspicion against Xiao Nuannuan again and again.

Solving the case was just one final push away; there was no need to rest at this time.

A little more effort and it would be over.

"Alright then."

Chen Mo also understood her meaning.

This was a minor matter, and he didn't want to waste too much breath on it.

Instead, his gaze swept across the faces of Xu Qingqing and Long Hao respectively.

"I just re-categorized the investigation directions."

Immediately after, he stated the clear results of his thoughts in the fire escape.

"In short, to investigate the issues mentioned by the nurses, what we need to do is find Xiao Nuannuan's irrational behavior."

"Irrational behavior in the hospital yesterday."

"Including appearing in other nurses' work areas."

"These will be the key points of the next stage of the investigation."

Chen Mo's voice was calm and forceful.

This was what he believed to be the only breakthrough.

Other methods were basically dead ends.

Trying to determine the time Xiao Nuannuan left the hospital and obtain evidence from that was essentially a pipe dream.

Xiao Nuannuan had simply met with the nurses a few times.

There were no extra actions at all.

It was like being given the problem '1*1' and being asked to get the answer '66'.

The premise was wrong; no matter how you calculated, you wouldn't get the desired answer.

And now, this '1*1' problem was like the clues obtained from the nurses.

While the result '66' couldn't be derived from it...

...since he didn't want to waste the clue, he could first find a way to get '1', and then look for a new opportunity to reach '66'.

This was the compromise Chen Mo had chosen.

It wasn't necessarily great, but it was the only choice at the moment.

"Impressive!"

After listening to Chen Mo's account, Long Hao immediately gave a high evaluation.

In fact, when the nurses left...

...he was wondering how to investigate next.

But clearly, the clues obtained couldn't connect to the answer on their own.

Naturally, he couldn't think of any good way.

So when he heard Chen Mo was going out to investigate the clues given by the nurses...

...he was very surprised.

He thought Chen Mo had a good plan, but he didn't expect the man to just walk straight into the fire escape.

At that moment, he knew Chen Mo didn't have a good solution.

He had planned to call everyone together to brainstorm.

Although Chen Mo's thinking ability was strong, as the old saying goes, 'three simple-minded people are better than one Zhuge Liang'.

Taking it slowly would eventually yield a result.

But he didn't expect Chen Mo to really give him a surprise now.

He had proposed a practical and feasible method.

Although it couldn't catch the person directly, it could push the investigation progress forward significantly.

"This investigation direction is indeed feasible."

Xu Qingqing thought for a moment and also understood that Chen Mo just wanted to find a bit of evidence to get the person under control first.

"Then let's take action. I'll wait for everyone's good news."