The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 615 - 533 Coming Soon

Chen’s team had been notified in advance about Jian Chuan’s arrival,

After exchanging pleasantries, Jian Chuan went to the autopsy room, while Chen’s team and Nan Zhan directly dove into the main matter.

He pointed at a photo on the memo board and said, "This is the owner of the body found on top of the apartment elevator. Her name is Teng Huafang, 27 years old, from City B. She came to Aus City three years ago and worked as a dance hostess in a cheap nightclub. It only costs fifty yuan to take her out of the club. According to the nightclub’s foreman, she disappeared suddenly three months ago after leaving with a customer. We confirmed her identity by DNA comparison, the key clue being the rose tattoo behind her ear."

Nan Zhan asked, "Did anyone see who the victim left with before she disappeared?"

"I asked a few dancers who worked with her, and they said she was called away by a phone call."

"Go to the telecom company and check the victim’s call records to see how many numbers had called her during that period."

"Alright, I’ll have someone look it up right away."

Nan Zhan continued, "Have your people investigate all cheap nightclubs in Aus City. As soon as you find any missing persons, match them with the two unidentified bodies we found. Don’t overlook the beauty salons and foot massage places in the Red Light District either."

Chen didn’t ask why and simply nodded, "Alright, Lawyer Nan."

"This is called generalization," Nan Zhan said swaying his car keys, "When it seems impossible to start somewhere, you have to look for similarities in related events."

Jian Si blinked her eyes.

"To put it simply, suppose you place three pieces of bread in the park and they suddenly all disappear. You find out one was taken and eaten by a dog. What would you do to find the other two pieces?" Nan Zhan wasn’t in a hurry to drive but leaned against the car, patiently explaining to her.

Jian Si responded impulsively, "They were probably eaten by dogs too. I would look around the place where the first piece was found."

"Exactly." Nan Zhan opened the car door, "You’re not that dim-witted after all."

How such complex issues simplified with his analogy, "So what kind of person do you think the killer is?"

"Probably over forty years old, medium build, no stable income, harbors a grudge against women in entertainment, or might have been emotionally hurt before,"

Jian Si’s face suddenly flushed, "How did you deduce that?"

"Have you seen someone whose relationship with his wife or girlfriend is very good going frequently to little women?"

"How do you know he frequents it? Maybe he approached the dancer just occasionally."

Nan Zhan pulled out a cigarette and lit it slowly, taking a drag, "That dancer’s colleague mentioned she left after receiving a call. If he wasn’t a regular, how would he know her number and just leave with a call? Although their jobs are particular, they still possess basic alertness."

Jian Si realized, so that’s how it is.

"How much more information do you need to be able to sketch his portrait?"

"I need descriptions from eyewitnesses."

"Eyewitnesses, huh? Maybe there really is one." The speaker was a head suddenly popping in through the car window, which quite startled Jian Si.

"Brother, you nearly scared me to death."

Nan Zhan looked at him, "Did you find any clues from the body?"

"A little," Jian Chuan said. "I found some food residue in the victim’s stomach, which must be from her last meal before her death, and it was only half digested. This indicates that she was killed shortly after eating."

Nan Zhan nodded in understanding, "We should go ask her colleagues some more questions." He glanced back, "Get in the car."

After Jian Chuan got into the car, he introduced himself, "Hello Lawyer Nan, I am Jian Chuan. I just returned to the country recently, and Jian Si is my sister."

"Hello." Nan Zhan nodded politely, his eyes briefly surveying Jian Si’s face. Since both had the surname Jian, she probably wasn’t lying, but he was still somewhat displeased that she hadn’t told him about having a brother.

The three of them arrived at the nightclub where Teng Huafang used to work. It was daytime so the nightclub was closed, but the manager opened the doors upon learning their identities and summoned two dancers who used to work with Teng Huafang.

"Ah, Fong used to have a lot of clients, but they were always old men in their forties and fifties. She had her pride, so she never brought those men into the club. They’d call her and she would go out. Those old men are quite stingy, but with her looks, earning a bit of money was good enough," one of the women, appearing in her early twenties with bright red lips, couldn’t help glancing at Nan Zhan and Jian Chuan.

Nan Zhan nonchalantly ignored her gaze, "The night the victim disappeared, did she leave after dinner?"

The red-lipped woman thought for a moment and then confirmed decisively: "She didn’t eat anything because when I asked her if she wanted to order takeout, she said the person she was meeting was treating her to a meal."

"Did she mention what she was going to eat?"

The red-lipped woman shook her head: "She didn’t say that."

"What does she usually like to eat?"

"Spicy hot pot and barbecue," the woman answered almost without hesitation.

As they left the dance hall, the red-lipped woman kept escorting them to the door, flirting and winking at Nan Zhan: "Handsome, if you have more questions, we can talk privately."

When getting into the car, Jian Si kept holding back laughter, finally provoking someone’s dissatisfaction: "If you want to laugh, just laugh. Don’t hold it in and hurt yourself."

Jian Si stopped laughing and said seriously: "That woman is interested in you."

"Really?" Nan Zhan responded with a vaguely teasing smirk, suddenly leaning closer: "So, are you jealous?"

Jian Si recoiled slightly from his sudden closeness, "You really have a thick face."

"If you’re not jealous, why do you care which woman is interested in me?"

His words left Jian Si speechless, all she could do was roll her eyes at him.

Sitting in the backseat, Jian Chuan, who had been reviewing documents, watched the bickering interaction between the two with some curiosity, glancing at Jian Si and then at Nan Zhan.

The two who were just teasing each other were now busying themselves with their individual tasks, completely unrelated to each other.

Jian Chuan’s gaze wandered over them for a while before he returned to his documents.

"Should we go to a spicy hot pot restaurant or a barbecue place first?" Jian Si asked.

Whether it’s a spicy hot pot or barbecue, there are numerous restaurants in this area, checking each one would be a colossal task.

"No need to check the barbecue places," Nan Zhan confidently said, "Just focus on the spicy hot pot."

"Why? Didn’t that woman say she also likes eating barbecue?"

"The victim was lured out by the killer’s phone call; obviously, they were meeting for a planned dinner together. Shortly after the dinner, the killer murdered the victim. For a man of average financial status, if he came with the intention of killing her, would he still spend money to treat her to expensive barbecue?"

Jian Si looked at him with admiring eyes: "Your analysis makes a lot of sense."

"This is just simple reasoning, even Zhengzheng could do it," Nan Zhan scoffed lightly.

Jian Si stuck out her tongue at him; her specialty was painting, not reasoning, so there was nothing strange about that.

The three of them went from one spicy hotpot restaurant to another in the area, asking questions until, at a seemingly insignificant small shop, a waiter, after hearing their description and looking at the photo of the victim, Teng Huafang, seemed to recall something.

"This woman, she indeed came to our shop, but it was a long time ago. I remember clearly because it was very cold that day, yet she wore a miniskirt, exposing her thighs. Her figure was quite good. Once she walked in, several of us were staring at her."

"Do you remember what the person who came in with her looked like?"

The waiter thought hard: "I was only paying attention to that woman; as for the man, I don’t have a deep impression. He was not as tall as her and seemed older than her. We all thought he was her father, but when they left, they were arm in arm."

"Think carefully, does that man have any distinguishing features?"

"Distinguishing features?" The waiter strained his memory, it had been such a long time ago, "Oh, right, he seemed to be left-handed, because when I served them tea, his elbow bumped into my pot and got scalded, I looked down and saw him eating with his left hand."

The waiter provided all the clues he could, but the image of the killer was still very vague.

However, two points matched Nan Zhan’s conjectures—age and height.

The image now emerging in Jian Si’s mind was this—a man around fifty years old, with an ordinary appearance, about 165 centimeters tall, left-handed.

She still needed more precise information to draw the killer’s likeness. Despite this, investigating the case with Nan Zhan gave her a feeling that she was getting closer and closer to the truth, and clearing her suspicions seemed within reach.**