The two walked inside.
"Officers, please take a seat!"
Li Jian sat on the sofa, took out his notebook, and asked, "Do you know the resident upstairs?"
The man shook his head, "No, I don't."
"Were you living here last October?"
"Officer, I was on a business trip abroad for projects in the second half of last year."
Li Jian looked around, "Is there anyone else in your household?"
"I'm a bachelor, living alone."
Not being at home during the time of the crime, there was no need to continue asking. Li Jian closed his notebook and said, "Thank you. Sorry for disturbing you so late."
"It's fine! Cooperation between police and citizens is essential."
"Did something happen upstairs?"
Li Jian replied solemnly, "Sorry, we have confidentiality regulations."
The man smiled, "Understood, I asked too much."
Then, Li Jian and Wan stood up and left.
As they reached the hallway, Li Jian glanced again at the room under renovation.
"Do renovation vehicles need the owner to meet them at the gate to enter the compound?"
The man replied, "No need for that!"
"Visitors register at the gate; there's an entry and exit logbook with the security."
Upon hearing this, Li Jian suddenly became alert.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the security's desk at the entrance.
"Hello! We are from the Jiangcheng Criminal Investigation Team."
Li Jian showed his ID and asked, "We'd like to check the logbook for external personnel from last October."
The security guard said, "Please wait a moment, I'll find it for you."
He then bent down and opened the desk cabinet.
After searching for two minutes, the security guard said, "Found it!"
According to the elderly man's report next door, on October 20th, he saw someone leaving with a black garbage bag.
Li Jian quickly flipped through the record book and found the external personnel log for October 20th.
"On that day, there were 18 entries, including 14 delivery workers, 3 visiting relatives, and 1 renovation worker."
Li Jian then asked, "How many entrances and exits does this compound have?"
"There are three entrances and exits."
"Do all of them require registration?"
The security guard nodded.
Li Jian thought for a while and asked, "If renovation or moving vehicles enter, can they use all three entrances?"
"For external vehicles, they can only use this entrance."
"The other two entrances are very small, only for pedestrian access."
Li Jian listened and nodded slightly.
He then said, "Wan, quickly check this person through our internal network."
"Yes!"
Wan swiftly took out his police phone and entered the person's name and ID number.
Ten seconds later, he turned around and said, "Captain, no such person found."
"Try using the mobile number?"
Wan immediately entered the phone number again.
He shook his head again, "Still, no record of this number."
"This person is really cunning."
Li Jian said, "That's not surprising."
He looked up at the security camera and asked, "How long are the surveillance recordings kept?"
The security guard replied, "No more than three months."
Li Jian nodded and said, "Thank you!"
Then, the two set off towards the crime scene.
Ten minutes later, Li Jian walked into the foyer of Unit 2, 6th Floor, Apartment 1, where Jiang An and Zhang Yean were cataloging and organizing the collected evidence.
Li Jian walked in and asked, "Jiang An, is the investigation here complete?"
Jiang An replied, "The preliminary investigation is complete."
"Is it possible to fully reconstruct the crime?"
Jiang An nodded.
He said, "The windows in this room were all closed, and the security windows weren't damaged; the only entry point for the killer was the foyer."
"Moreover, I carefully observed the door structure and, other than the marks from our battering ram, there was no sign of any other tool being used to force entry."
"I deduce that the victim must have opened the door for the killer."
Jiang An continued, "Inside, there are no signs of being ransacked, whether in wardrobes or drawers. There's some cash in their handbags, but no phones were found."
"Notably, we discovered 20,000 in cash in a wardrobe in the master bedroom."
Upon hearing this, Li Jian's lips twitched.
Wan asked, "Nowadays, do people keep such large sums of cash at home?"
Jiang An nodded, "Indeed, that's quite strange."
"However, this strongly indicates that nothing was stolen, ruling out burglary as a motive for murder."
Jiang An further analyzed, "We've traced the source of the sleeping pills in the victims' bodies."
"Earlier, my senior and I found Qin Xiao's medical records in the bedside drawer, dated October 15th last year."
"The doctor prescribed two bottles of sleeping pills at the time."
"But we only found one bottle; I suspect the killer used the other."
"There was still some porridge visible in the pressure cooker in the kitchen."
"I've sampled it for toxicological testing; this might be how both victims were poisoned simultaneously."
"In the master bedroom, both women's shoes were by the bed, lingerie on the bedside table, and no clothes were torn or damaged."
"I deduce that both victims voluntarily disrobed before their deaths."
Wan asked, "Could they have taken hallucinogens?"
Li Jian turned to him, "The toxicology report only showed sedatives."
"That's really bizarre!"
Jiang An continued, "We also found an unopened box of condoms in the bedside drawer, bought at 1 PM on October 20th last year."
Li Jian muttered to himself, "October 20th again!"
"Earlier, our perimeter investigation indicated that there was indeed suspicious activity in the area on October 20th."
Jiang An nodded and continued, "I deduce that after the two women were poisoned and unconscious, the killer moved their bodies from the bed to the living room floor."
"After stepping on the chest area, he proceeded to cut their lower limbs, the high-speed rotating saw blade creating many spatters on the floor and walls."
"The front of the killer's body would have also been covered in blood."
"Judging by the swelling on Qin Xiao's neck and skin, I suspect there was a time difference between the two victims' deaths; Zhang Rui died first, followed by Qin Xiao."
"After dismembering the bodies, the killer fetched black garbage bags from the balcony to contain the remains."
"He carved words on Qin Xiao's face and placed her head in the refrigerator."
"Finally, he showered to wash off the blood, moved the bodies, turned off the lights, and left."
Li Jian listened and nodded slightly.
He looked around and said, "Jiang An has made very valid points! The analysis is thorough."
"However, there are still some unsolved mysteries in my mind."
"Why was there such a large sum of money in Qin Xiao's bedroom?"
"Did Zhang Rui give a lot of money to her ex-husband on their divorce day too?"
"Moreover, their attire before death was extremely peculiar."
"What was the killer's motive?"
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