Chapter 715: Searching for the Knife!

The private conversation content between Yuan Keyu and the criminal suspect.

The two engaged in deeper academic discussions.

Previously, from the information found by Dong’an’s technician on the forum, it only appeared that the suspect had posed an academic question to attract Yuan Keyu’s attention.

From the academic question, it could only be seen that the suspect was quite interested in Yuan Keyu’s area of expertise.

But from the private conversation, although Chen Xiao couldn’t understand it, he knew it was definitely a discussion between two experts from different fields.

Information gathered by Chen Xiao on the suspect revealed he was very young, not even twenty.

Indeed, there have been many young prodigies across various industries.

But why are top scholars in these fields generally older?

The reason lies in every discipline requiring a long time to accumulate and delve into.

For Yuan Keyu, being in his thirties or forties and becoming top in his field is already extremely rare.

Thus, upon seeing these private messages now, the notion of a crime of passion completely disappeared from Chen Xiao’s mind.

Perhaps this case has a naturally evil person wanting to commit a shocking illegal act to announce their existence.

But it wasn’t a crime of passion, simply happening upon Yuan Keyu.

This is a premeditated, organized murder!

Moreover, it’s very likely that foreign forces teamed up with that inherently evil person to accomplish this.

Otherwise, unless the suspect is as extraordinarily gifted as Yuan Keyu, it’s hard for Chen Xiao to believe he could have such back-and-forth academic discussions at the age of nineteen or twenty!

Therefore, Chen Xiao increasingly suspects that behind the suspect, there’s another person or an organization.

This is the first time Chen Xiao has come across a case involving espionage.

Seeing Cao Xiuyuan and Sun Zhou also filled with confusion, he asked them:

"Captain, if you have any thoughts, feel free to speak."

Cao Xiuyuan and Sun Zhou exchanged glances, then Cao Xiuyuan spoke:

"If we take Wen’s disappearance as a signal, rather than a blatant neglect, Old Sun and I agree on one thing."

"We now seriously suspect that foreign forces are involved behind Professor Yuan’s murder. The killer we’re trying to capture all this time may merely be a puppet."

"He is probably well aware of being a pawn, yet he’s willing to do all this."

Listening to Cao Xiuyuan’s words, Chen Xiao nodded slightly.

Cao Sun, one who’s the Provincial City Bureau detective chief.

The other is the Jingzhou City Bureau detective chief.

Their personal abilities are remarkable; they can quickly piece together everything.

Yet, since they’ve sorted it out, why the confusion?

Chen Xiao remained silent.

After Cao Xiuyuan looked towards Sun Zhou, the latter continued:

"Our intuitive understanding is what was mentioned earlier; however, we don’t understand why if foreign forces are involved, why has the leadership not mentioned a word about it?"

"And why has Wen, ultimately vanished? Is the dormant cellphone numbers shutting down an indication that his mission is completed? Or, he no longer needs the assistance of us detectives?"

Sun Zhou seems to realize his words have become too complicated and switched directions:

"Simply put, Old Cao and I are most curious about who Wen has captured? Is it the foreign forces’ mastermind at Xiaozhuang South Town in the murder of Professor Yuan, or has he captured the puppet?"

At the mention of this question, both simultaneously looked at Chen Xiao and Qin Fei.

Chen Xiao and Qin Fei exchanged glances, then Qin Fei spoke: "Chen Xiao and I think Wen likely captured the so-called mastermind, while the puppet still needs to be found by us."

"Reason."

"Quite simply, had the puppet been caught, Wen wouldn’t act this way. Moreover, Chen Xiao and I feel Wen captured may not be the mastermind, but rather a member lurking in Xiaozhuang South Town. And the mastermind, still unknown of his whereabouts!"

Qin Fei expressed his and Chen Xiao’s views.

Cao Xiuyuan and Sun Zhou took a deep breath: "Even that means our work remains unchanged, we still need to find the puppet. If we’re lucky, we might even uproot the foreign force lurking in Xiaozhuang South Town!"

"That’s the best outcome, but priority is capturing the puppet." Chen Xiao also spoke.

Cao Xiuyuan stammered: "Then, where do you think the puppet is? Based on the information provided by the opposing website, we still can’t ascertain his identity. Furthermore, each time he logs online, although his IP address is in Xiaozhuang South Town, it’s unfixed."

Chen Xiao nodded: "I’ve seen these; trying to trace him from the IP address is impractical."

"Our idea is if you could ask your technicians to track the online activities of this account?" Cao Xiuyuan added.

Chen Xiao smiled awkwardly: "I’m somewhat aware of their technical capabilities, perhaps they can succeed but not soon. Also, I don’t think the opponent has no countermeasures, so it’s a method worth trying but not our main investigative direction."

"Your concerns are valid, yet Old Cao and I are clueless about the current investigative direction." Sun Zhou said helplessly.

After thinking, Chen Xiao mentioned a name:

"Sang Xiaoming!"

"Sang Yupeng’s son?" Both were puzzled.

Chen Xiao again nodded: "That’s correct, Professor Yuan’s purpose in coming to Xiaozhuang South Town was very strong; even from his travel mode, it seemed intentional to expose himself under surveillance."

"Previously, we had already discussed Sang Xiaoming, but later dropped suspicion against him. However now, with foreign forces involved, the suspicion on Sang Yupeng and Sang Xiaoming should be reconsidered."

Chen Xiao redirected doubt back to the Sang family.

The reason lies in now all information left by Yuan Keyu online has been exposed.

He came to Xiaozhuang South Town to solve an academic problem.

And once at Xiaozhuang South Town, his destination was clear - Sang Yupeng’s house.

Those he met seemed clear as well - the Sang family duo.

However for Chen Xiao to say definitively that Sang family duo’s involvement in the case, seems too imprudent.

For it’s too obvious.

Often in criminal cases, overly apparent suspicion isn’t actually it.

Chen Xiao mentioned revisiting investigation directions around the duo because the Sang family possesses a hidden link directing straight to the puppet!