Chapter 11: Simulating a Criminal Mind

In a past life, Xiao Yu excelled at solving cases.

But he was even better at… impersonating criminals!

He could simulate a criminal’s thought processes, their methods, everything about them!

Guo Qiang, standing nearby, jumped when he sensed the fierce aura radiating from Xiao Yu.

The veteran detective’s eyes were razor sharp.

He could notice even the subtlest changes in others.

He sensed things that ordinary people couldn’t.

Xiao Yu’s transformation truly caught him off guard.

“Don’t worry—I’m just mimicking a criminal’s mindset,” he explained.

After a brief explanation, Xiao Yu walked into the staff dormitory.

It was time to demonstrate his real talent…

Trailing behind, Guo Qiang wore a puzzled expression.

Without asking, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his protégé was acting oddly.

He understood simulated crime scenes.

But simulating a criminal’s mind? What on earth was that?

Could one person really imitate someone else’s mental processes?

Little did Guo Qiang know that the young man before him was a time traveler.

In his former life as a bona fide policeman, Xiao Yu’s specialty was simulating a criminal’s mindset.

Using this very technique, he had cracked countless major cases!

“Suppose I were the murderer…”

Xiao Yu stood at the doorway of the victim’s former dorm room and pushed it open.

Inside was an eight-person dormitory.

In a staff dormitory—not a college—housing so many people was normal.

He strode to the bed once occupied by the victim.

“It was nighttime. Based on the victim’s mobile game records, he should have been in bed playing games at that hour.”

Muttering to himself, Xiao Yu said, “In winter at night, an ordinary person wouldn’t get out of bed. Even if someone called, they wouldn’t bother to dress unless forced to follow a murderer…”

What could compel someone to follow another person in the dead of night, even up to the rooftop to catch a cold breeze?

Lure? Threat? Hatred?

As for profit or greed… a regular employee wouldn’t be involved at that level.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be working overtime at a small factory during the New Year.

Moreover, the victim had been resting in the dorm due to a cold.

Lure?

That didn’t seem likely—with only two female employees in the dorm, and both of average looks.

Besides, in freezing winter, heading up to the rooftop would require drinking a lot of cheap liquor.

This left only threat or hatred as possibilities.

Threatening someone first requires having leverage, then using overwhelming force or daily oppression.

Hatred would be simpler… or perhaps it wasn’t even hatred at all.

If the victim had any enemies, the police’s investigative skills should have uncovered them.

The victim had worked at this small factory for over half a year, was a decent guy with many friends and good looks—so much so that several female employees were interested in him.

These were the facts the police had uncovered.

“Threat?”

Squinting slightly, Xiao Yu mused, “If I were the murderer, how would I threaten someone into following me out onto the rooftop?”

“Wait… that’s not right. Why would I threaten an ordinary employee? And what reason would I have to kill him?”

“After all, every murder needs a motive—a trigger that makes one so angry as to want to take another life. The victim must have infringed upon some personal interest of mine.”

“For the victim, money was unlikely, and he had no criminal record. Could it be a romantic dispute? A feud of the heart?”

Can a love affair truly spark a murder?

Heh!

Not only that—in past homicide cases,

at least fifteen percent were driven by romantic disputes.

The most common scenario being when a partner was cuckolded, leading to murder!

“The murderer was cuckolded?”

Xiao Yu’s expression grew strangely intense.

If the murderer were male, sporting a messy patch of hair, then it would be the victim who had been cuckolded.

In that case, the murderer would confront the victim and use that as leverage to lure him out.

Could it be possible?

Yes!

For now, he adopted this hypothesis and continued piecing together the clues.

If I were the murderer, I’d take the victim up onto the rooftop…

Up on the rooftop.

Xiao Yu stood where the victim’s body had once lay sprawled.

“If I were the murderer, choosing that moment to lure the victim to the rooftop would be obvious.”

A flash of murderous intent sparked in Xiao Yu’s eyes. “I’m here to kill!”

He had meticulously planned every detail before the act.

So… I must have prepared the murder weapon in advance?

The weapon was probably left on the rooftop before he met the victim.

Otherwise, if the victim saw it, he wouldn’t have followed me.

Xiao Yu looked upward, scanning the area.

The police had combed through the crime scene countless times without finding the weapon.

Yet, after the murder, when the killer moved the corpse—carrying that heavy blunt instrument capable of killing with one blow—it wouldn’t have been easy to manage, would it?

That meant the murder weapon was most likely still hidden at the scene.

If I were the murderer, where would I hide it before the act?

And where would I conceal it afterwards?

Xiao Yu’s eyes meticulously scanned every inch of the rooftop.

He considered the small signal tower, the little storage room, piles of debris, the ventilation shaft, and even the drainage pipes…

Xiao Yu began a thorough search, leaving no stone unturned.

Until finally, he stopped in front of a drainage pipe.

Every building has drainage pipes—installed to prevent water from accumulating on the roof.

This dormitory building had drainage pipes at each of the four corners of the rooftop.

Such spots were rarely inspected, deemed useless for hiding anything.

But…

Xiao Yu checked the first drainage pipe, then the second, and finally the third.

In a sudden moment, his eyes lit up.

As his hand slowly extended from the spot where the drain connected to the pipe,

he noticed a faint black-purple stain beneath his fingernails.

Dried blood.

He had found it!