Chapter 62 An Unbelievable Motive!

Little Zhang let out a cry of surprise.

"This can't be!"

"Could it be that the previous officers made a mistake in their investigation of Wen Lu?"

"Or maybe she uses another pot for cooking on a daily basis."

Thinking this, he rummaged through the cabinets, but they could only be described as completely empty.

None of the items a kitchen should have were there; there was only a single pair of bowls and chopsticks in the cabinet.

"Stop looking. The problem shouldn't be here."

Chen Mo looked thoughtful and slowly recounted his discovery in Xiao Yuqing's bathroom.

"Why force Xiao Yuqing to use up all the bath products? She would have smelled incredibly strong."

Little Zhang recalled the sneeze he let out when he stepped into the bathroom.

"Could the kidnapper themselves just like the smell of artificial fragrances?"

"Hmm, I've also heard of people who like the smell of armpits..."

"..."

Everyone began to speculate, one after another, trying to reconstruct the murderer's purpose in forcing Xiao Yuqing to use up the bath products.

"I thought so at first too—maybe they just like the scent, so they forced Xiao Yuqing to make herself very fragrant. But what then? Rape?"

"If it were rape, there'd be no need to kidnap them, much less kidnap two in a row."

"More importantly, if the kidnapper liked artificial fragrances and forced her to use them all, do they also like light soy sauce and sesame oil?"

After those words were spoken, the scene fell silent.

Hearing it this way, the idea of liking scents indeed didn't hold up.

"Brother Mo, from what you're saying, do you think the killer used up all these kitchen seasonings?"

Little Zhang keenly grasped the key point in Chen Mo's words.

But how would they use those things?

Things like shampoo and perfume can be applied directly to the body.

But would things like light soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic also be smeared on the body?

That was too strange.

"I'm also curious about how the killer used these up."

As he spoke, his gaze swept carefully across the kitchen.

His Trace Investigation ability was pushed to its limit at this moment.

He tried to find some useful clues on the floor and the walls.

But unfortunately, he couldn't find any traces of seasonings having fallen onto the floor.

Just as he was about to give up.

A red trash can next to the kitchen door caught his attention.

To be precise, an abnormality on the floor next to the trash can attracted him.

"Give me the flashlight."

The Trace Technician heard this and immediately handed it over.

He shone the light onto an area about the size of half a napkin.

He looked closely.

The floor was tiled; logically, if someone just walked over it and their soles weren't dirty, they wouldn't leave any marks.

But perhaps because Wen Lu didn't cook, rarely entered the kitchen, and didn't clean often, a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the floor.

If he hadn't leveled up his Trace Investigation ability to LV6 last time, he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual here at all.

Looking at the overall outline, the two irregular squares at the top looked like fingers, while the irregular rectangle below looked like the base of a palm; one could vaguely see that this was a palm print, and that someone had once propped themselves up here.

He reached out his hand and compared it.

It was very small; it should be a woman's hand.

It was likely Wen Lu's.

"Brother Mo, what's this? A handprint?"

Little Zhang looked at the three irregular blocks; it was as if someone had missed a spot while mopping the floor in a pattern like drawing a talisman.

Calling them squares was because he really didn't know how else to describe them—irregular objects?

The Trace Technician also stared for a long time but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Yeah, it should be Wen Lu's handprint."

Hearing his certain answer, Little Zhang and the Trace Technician looked even more closely.

They almost wanted to press their eyes right against it.

They believed Brother Mo's judgment, but they just couldn't understand how those three irregular objects were related to a palm.

If they were to ask how he discovered the traces, he wouldn't be able to explain.

But if they asked how he determined it was a handprint, Chen Mo could explain that.

"We were all wondering how the killer used up these seasonings—did they keep smearing them on Wen Lu? That makes no sense; it's like something a psychopath would do."

"Then there's only one other way! They made Wen Lu drink them!"

Having said this, Chen Mo didn't continue.

And Little Zhang also instantly understood what he meant.

He said in shock, "So, assuming the kidnapper forced her to drink them, anyone would vomit after consuming so much at once. And since the trash bag is coincidentally gone, this mark next to it can only be a handprint."

Little Zhang then mimicked the general action: one hand propped on the ground, the other hand clutching his throat, with his face facing the trash can.

It clicked!

It all made sense now!

"This also explains why Wen Lu doesn't cook yet all these things were used up. The missing bag from the trash can must have also been taken away by the killer."

For a moment, everyone, including himself, looked at Chen Mo with admiration.

This was simply incredible.

So many of them had been searching and hadn't noticed these empty bottles, yet Brother Mo had sensed something was wrong in just a few moves.

Not only that, he even found traces that the Trace Technician hadn't.

They couldn't help but be impressed.

"Brother Mo, why on earth do you think the killer did this?"

"And now forcing someone to eat these things—isn't that just torture?"

Hearing this question, Chen Mo had actually been thinking about it as well.

"Fragrance... is it related to seasonings?"

As soon as he said those words, he froze.

Not just him, but everyone present froze as well.

It was a literal freezing.

Putting those two terms together, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like someone was cooking a dish.

This was outrageous!

"Brother Mo, we're not thinking the same thing, are we?"

"If it's really for the sake of eating... that's too terrifying."

Little Zhang looked distressed, feeling a chill from head to toe.

His hairs stood on end.

Not just him, but the other officers and even Chen Mo himself.

As long as they thought of that scene, they would feel uncomfortable.

"Although it's hard to accept..."

"As it stands, there's a high probability that's the case."

In his previous life, he had watched a short video of a beachcombing blogger eating raw marinated seafood.

And the ingredients were basically the same as the seasonings missing from Wen Lu's home.

"Raw Marinating?"

Little Zhang and the others looked at the nearly empty seasoning bottles, all showing surprised expressions.

Honestly, this term actually fit Wen Lu's situation quite well.

Even if they hadn't seen raw marinated seafood, they had at least seen raw marinated radishes.

"This... is too mind-blowing!"

Seeing them all in a daze, Chen Mo didn't pay them much mind and fell into thought himself.

If it really was for the sake of eating.

With so many artificial fragrances put on Xiao Yuqing...

Wouldn't that mean they were all eaten into the stomach?

Wen Lu could be described as being "raw marinated."

But Xiao Yuqing's case didn't quite make sense.

After all, the scent of perfume is different from the aroma of food ingredients.

It's like if you ordered a dish, and the fragrance it emitted was the scent of your girlfriend's perfume.

Would you still find that dish aromatic?

Under what circumstances would a kidnapper mistake the scent of perfume for the aroma of food ingredients?

A problem with the olfactory nerves? Everything smells fragrant?

As he pondered, the cool sensation in his mind became clearer and clearer.