Replacing the Evil Way

own until the autopsy after returning to the bureau.”

“This building was five stories high, about 13 to 15 meters.
The distance between the landing point and the building is about one meter, and he landed on the flower bed, so there should be some external force.” He Wei picked up the corpse’s shirt with his gloved hand, saying, “The tear marks on the clothes don’t look like they were caused by the pressure of the high fall.”

“Yes, to be able to cause damage to this extent, it must be at least the twentieth floor or above.” Du Ruanlan pointed to the roof, saying, “Chongzhen and Hu Songkai are on it, they should be able to find clues.” 

“Were there any witnesses at the scene?” He Wei covered the white cloth again, and Du Ruanlan took off the mask, revealing her beautiful face, and smiled: “Yes, this is the main reason I called you.
You know what she said?”

“Huh?”

“She said…” Du Ruanlan smiled even more, “It was a ghost.”

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became strange as the chilling night wind blew.
He Wei frowned, feeling that this case of falling from a building wouldn’t be simple.

———

“It’s true! There really is a ghost!”

Wang Mei was trembling with a water glass in her hand, sitting on a wooden chair in the lobby on the first floor of the hotel.
Yun Xiaoxiao comforted her while taking the statement: “Repeat the specific situation at the time of the incident.”

He Wei walked into the hotel lobby and saw the witness shaking like a sieve, describing the scene of the crime:

“I was supposed to be on the night shift today, but I ran into a ghost while checking the private room and was too scared that I couldn’t make it through 12 o’clock.
So, I asked for leave with the manager and wanted to go back early.
But as soon as I walked to the back door of the compound, I heard a loud bang behind me.
I turned around and saw a person falling on the flower bed.
I walked over to have a look.
It was the manager… His head was bleeding a lot, a white substance was flowing down the flower bed’s edge, and his eyes rolled a few times…” 

She closed her eyes suddenly, obviously recalling the terrifying image of the brain shattering.
Yun Xiaoxiao caressed her back.
Wang Mei took a sip from the water glass and continued: “Then I looked up, and there was an old man standing on the roof! It was the ghost I met at night.
He must have killed the manager.
This hotel is not clean.
There is really a ghost here! I’m quitting; I want to go home!”

She became agitated and stood up to rush out.
Yun Xiaoxiao and another policewoman hurriedly grabbed her and appeased her softly, and then took her to the private room to rest.
He Wei called Yun Xiaoxiao over: “Are all the statements recorded?”

“Yes, they all said it was a ghost.” Yun Xiaoxiao pointed to two other hotel employees who had panicked expressions in the lobby: “According to them, most of the staff in the hotel have seen the old man with their own eyes, and just now the security guard was out of his mind, saying that it was raining and the gate of hell was not closed properly, so the old man took the manager on the way.”

 “On the way?” Xia Liang opened her eyes wide, feeling speechless, “It was a human life; and on the way? Is it grocery shopping?” 

“How can there be so many supernatural events, and didn’t you study science?” He Wei ordered, “Xiaoxiao, record all the features of the ‘ghost,” as they said, and ask for more details.”

Yun Xiaoxiao agreed, and He Wei and Xia Liang found the stairs.
There was no elevator in this building.
The floor structure was simple, with only one staircase leading to the upper floor.
He Wei raised his head, noticed the camera, and turned his head, saying, “Xiao Xia, go to the security guard to check the surveillance and see who has been up there during the time of the incident.”

He climbed up to the fifth floor alone and pushed open the door leading to the rooftop, which was also covered by a rain shelter.
Two of his colleagues were carefully collecting all suspicious traces.
Chong Zhen pressed Hu Songkai and simulated the scene of the deceased falling from the building at the railing.

“Look, we are fighting hand to hand, and I will press you against the railing,” Chong Zhen held Hu Songkai’s collar and let his back stick against the railing, “Look around; move left and right.” 

“Handle the case; why’re you saying words like this? If that scratch came from this way, what about the fingerprints on the railing?” Hu Songkai grabbed the rusty railing behind him with both hands, “The fingerprints of the index finger and middle finger are at the bottom of the railing, and the lines go inward.
It is a pronated grip.
Even if it is held with the backhand, the position of the fingerprints will be different.”

Hu Songkai pushed Chong Zhen, and the two changed their positions so that Chong Zhen was facing the railing and Hu Songkai’s hands were pushing him on his back: “He should be facing the railing like this.
The deceased was looking down, leaving fingerprints in his pronated grip, and then someone pushed him from behind.
Don’t you think it makes sense.” 

“It seems, since there is still a half-shoe print on the step, and with your inference, this posture should be like jumping over the railing?” Chong Zhen turned his head, saw He Wei, and waved at him, “Old He, come and judge! Erhu suspects that the deceased went down the railing!” 

“…Did I say jump over the railing?! I made a preliminary judgment based on the traces of the landing spot!” 

“Don’t ask me to judge; I don’t want to join the debate between you two.” He Wei took a small flashlight and turned it on, “Have you seen everything on the scene?”

Chong Zhen said: “Look at the roof; there is no obstruction except for the stairwell and the ventilation ducts above.
If you look to the end, you have already seen everything at a glance without missing any corner.” 

He Wei held the flashlight and went to check the jumping spot, which was surrounded by a yellow mark.
He saw a scratch about ten centimeters long on the rusty railing and half a blurry mud shoe print on the steps.
He squatted down and saw a group of fingerprints that had been marked by the technical team.
The roof was a concrete floor, and it was raining again.
There was only a half-shoe print left on the ground, which was from stepping on the dirt accumulated at the base of the wall.

“The door lock was intact, and there were traces of struggle at the jumping spot, but no one was injured, and no blood residue was detected.” Hu Songkai waved, and Xiao Chen from the technical team handed over a ziplock bag, “Looking for half a day, the only valuable thing we found is this button with half a fingerprint on it.”

He Wei took it over and took a look: “The shirt worn by the deceased has white buttons, and the trousers have black buttons; this one is navy blue, and there is a thread on it, which may have been torn off during the fight with the murderer,” he glanced up at the roof, pointing to a hemp rope tied across the roof to two thin bamboo poles, “and it is also possible that it was accidentally dropped while drying clothes.
First take it back to the bureau to compare fingerprints.
“

He stood by the railing and looked down.
There happened to be no obstruction on this side of the wall, and the deceased fell smoothly to the ground.
The rainproof shed hadn’t been removed yet, and only a part of the flower bed could be seen.
He Wei lamented that as long as a person fell a little further and landed on the flower bed, he might be able to save his life.

At this time, Xia Liang’s voice came from the walkie-talkie: “Captain He, come down and have a look; maybe there really is a ghost!”