Chapter 57: The Two People in the Photograph

Initially, Wen Ke felt a twinge of disappointment.

She was not disappointed that Lu Yuan had nothing to do with Zhuang Dong's death, nor was she disappointed that Lu Yuan might be suspected of lying, but rather because she had failed to find any clues.

Yet, a single sentence from Lu Yuan reignited her hope.

"Lu Yuan, why do you say that?"

Wen Ke leaned forward slightly, a small habit of hers when she was being exceptionally serious and earnest.

Lu Yuan pulled out his phone, randomly searched for a breaking news story online, tapped into it, and zoomed in on a pixelated photo of Zhuang Dong's death scene. "Don't you think Zhuang Dong's body was too shattered?"

"Captain Wen, even if you haven't handled many suicide-by-jumping cases, the police department's database surely stores plenty of similar records. Considering the height of the fall, what do you think a person's body should look like?"

Lu Yuan tapped the phone screen.

Wen Ke frowned slightly.

Indeed, she had never handled a suicide-by-jumping case herself, primarily because City S had been free of homicide cases for many years, leaving her lacking in practical experience with such deaths.

However, as the captain of the police precinct, Wen Ke had browsed through a vast amount of case files, which naturally included suicide-by-jumping incidents. Coupled with the height of the amusement park's Ferris wheel, Zhuang Dong's body truly should not have been fragmented to that extent.

A flicker of realization crossed Wen Ke's eyes. "Based on my deduction, when Zhuang Dong fell from the Ferris wheel and hit the ground, the most likely outcome would be fractures throughout his entire body, massive internal organ hemorrhage, and skin ruptures resulting from uncontrolled bleeding."

Precisely!

That was exactly what Lu Yuan thought as well.

For a person falling from a high altitude to have their body burst apart upon impact, scattering into fragments of flesh and blood, the height of the fall must meet extremely demanding criteria.

Clearly, the amusement park's Ferris wheel fell short of that requirement.

Yet the reality was that Zhuang Dong had indeed fallen from the Ferris wheel's gondola, and the moment he made contact with the ground, his body exploded, leaving behind only his head.

How bizarre!

Wen Ke knew that Lu Yuan possessed an exceptionally meticulous mind, far surpassing that of an ordinary person. "Do you have any ideas?"

Lu Yuan had no intention of hiding anything and stated his conjecture directly. "If a person falls under conditions where the height is insufficient, yet their body still explodes into pools of flesh and blood, I can only think of one possible explanation."

"His body was filled with water."

"Just like a balloon stuffed with water, or perhaps a watermelon."

"You catch my drift, right?"

Lu Yuan offered an analogy.

It might not have been entirely appropriate, but he believed Wen Ke would understand his meaning.

Lu Yuan owed this hypothesis to An Shi. In the eerie dream world, An Shi's body had been bloated from being soaked in water, which had provided Lu Yuan with the inspiration.

Wen Ke tapped the table. "Are you saying that before Zhuang Dong fell, he drank a massive amount of water?"

That was actually not what Lu Yuan meant.

What he really wanted to convey was that Zhuang Dong was already dead by the time he was on the Ferris wheel, and his entire body, much like An Shi's, had become bloated from water immersion.

However, since his hypothesis sounded far too absurd, he simply went along with Wen Ke's words and said, "As long as you understand my point."

Wen Ke immediately felt this was utterly ridiculous.

The forensic pathologist had discovered a large amount of sweat inside the gondola, indicating that Zhuang Dong had been sweating continuously before his death, and profusely at that. Now, Lu Yuan was claiming that Zhuang Dong's body contained an enormous amount of moisture prior to his death.

Yet the question remained: where was the water container?

The amusement park staff had also stated quite clearly that when Zhuang Dong boarded the Ferris wheel, he appeared completely normal, with a normal build, and was not carrying any container for water.

Was this not a blatant contradiction?

And yet, Wen Ke had to admit that Lu Yuan's conjecture carried a certain logic to it.

Zhuang Dong's corpse had shattered too completely; it strongly resembled a watermelon smashing into the ground, with the pulp inside splashing and scattering everywhere.

Wen Ke scratched her head.

Her brain felt unbearably itchy.

Suddenly, Wen Ke murmured, "Lu Yuan, do you believe ghosts exist in this world?"

Lu Yuan was startled for a moment, a fleeting, unreadable look flashing in his eyes before he offered comfort, saying, "Captain Wen, there are no ghosts in this world; we are staunch materialists."

Were there truly no ghosts?

Then how was one to explain all of this?

Wen Ke felt a throbbing headache.

When people encounter phenomena that defy rational explanation, they tend to project them onto entities that equally defy rational explanation—such as gods, or ghosts.

Wen Ke stood up and began pacing back and forth.

Lu Yuan glanced at the time.

Not bad.

It wasn't very late.

A moment later, Wen Ke calmed her mind. Zhuang Dong's death indeed warranted a more thorough investigation. "Lu Yuan, study hard. I look forward to the day you become my colleague."

Someone like Lu Yuan was either a criminal who inspired awe and dread, or a born police officer.

Lu Yuan could never be an ordinary person.

As their interactions increased, Wen Ke felt more and more strongly that Lu Yuan was destined for anything but mediocrity. His future would likely tilt toward one of two extremes: a blood-soaked butcher or a justice-upholding angel.

Wen Ke hoped for the latter.

Wen Ke hurried away.

Lu Yuan watched as Wen Ke's figure completely vanished from sight before closing the door to his psychological clinic.

"Finally, I can get some sleep."

Lu Yuan stretched lazily.

Just as he was about to head to bed, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

Lu Yuan walked over to a storage shelf, took down a suitcase from the very top. Having remained untouched for years, the surface of the suitcase was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Lu Yuan wiped away the dust with his hand and popped it open.

There were very few items inside.

A graduation gown, a diploma, and a graduation group photo.

Lu Yuan picked up the graduation group photo and examined it closely.

His college days flooded back into his mind.

Before he knew it, several years had passed since Lu Yuan's graduation.

He retained very few distinct impressions of his classmates in the group photo. During his university years, Lu Yuan had been reticent, with few friends, and he rarely participated in collective activities. By graduation day, he couldn't even name everyone in his class.

Lu Yuan's gaze drifted downward.

Back then, they had taken several graduation photos.

Yet, in the photo Lu Yuan held in his hand, Wen Ke's figure was nowhere to be seen.

As Lu Yuan looked at Tang Wen's smiling face, memories washed over him. After a long while, he let out a long breath and prepared to put the photo away again.

At that exact moment, Lu Yuan's hand paused.

A flash had just crossed his eyes; he seemed to spot two familiar figures in the group photo.

Frowning slightly, Lu Yuan directed his gaze back to the photo, inspecting every single detail until he finally spotted something amiss.

The background of the group photo was the teaching building.

Everyone in the photo was arranged in a trapezoidal formation.

Tang Wen stood at the very edge of the front row, and right above her head was a window on the second floor of the teaching building.

Standing by that window were two people.

The resolution of the group photo was not particularly sharp.

Lu Yuan only felt that these two figures looked terribly familiar, though he couldn't immediately place who they were.

"These two... I definitely know them..."