Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Nan Mu obtained all the video footage from March and April from An Zi.
He wanted to pull up the footage from April 19.
Xiao Fu had been at Lion Mountain that day. Dogs are naturally defensive against strangers intruding on their territory, so a total of four strangers had been captured on camera that day.
Additionally, there were twelve other people who appeared in the frame. A few were from this village, and some were from the neighboring village.
Since most of the people living in the village were elderly, Nan Mu crossed off those who were aged or physically frail-people clearly incapable of overpowering Gu Zhishu. Surprisingly, only two candidates remained.
Including the strangers, that made six people in total. Nan Mu planned to start his investigation with these six to see if any of them was the “murderer who killed Gu Zhishu.”
“An Zi knows these two from the neighboring village, so they should be easy enough to check. But these four are complete strangers. How do we investigate them?” Wen Miao asked, troubled.
“The reason I included the ones from the neighboring village is that they’re familiar with the terrain. The killer chose Lion Mountain as the crime scene, which proves he must know the area very well. He knew there usually aren’t any tourists here, and he knew how to get up and down the mountain to ensure he wouldn’t run into anyone while taking Gu Zhishu up there.”
“So, I suspect the killer likely lives nearby. But if he doesn’t, he would have had to scout the location multiple times to achieve that level of certainty.”
Wen Miao had a sudden realization. “So that’s why you didn’t just take the April footage, but also asked An Zi for the March videos.”
“Exactly.” Nan Mu nodded.
He took screenshots of the six suspects’ faces. “What we need to do now is go through those two months of footage to see if these four strangers frequently appeared at Lion Mountain.”
“Okay.” Wen Miao nodded. “Copy all of this for me. I’ll take it to Wen Xin. When it comes to facial recognition… he might be able to check it faster.”
===
When Nan Mu returned to the hospital, he happened to run into the Short-haired Nurse coming in for rounds.
“I haven’t seen Nurse Xiao Ai lately?”
Nurse Xiao Ai had been in charge of Nan Mu’s ward before, but the Short-haired Nurse had been the one coming by for the past two days, which prompted his question.
“Nurse Xiao Ai is sick,” the Short-haired Nurse said with a smile as she performed her check-up. “If you need anything, you can ask me for help.”
Only then did Nan Mu notice the Short-haired Nurse’s name tag. “Alright, thank you, Nurse Lin.”
“You’re welcome.” Nurse Lin finished noting the results of the rounds in her logbook. “By the way, how is your friend’s brain condition? Have you found Doctor Zhang and Doctor Jia yet?”
“No news on the two doctors yet. I’m still asking friends to look into it.” The smile in Nan Mu’s eyes faded slightly. His dark eyes were calm as he shifted the topic. “Do you not have any news on them either? I thought it would be easier for you to get in touch since you’re all within the hospital system.”
Nurse Lin looked embarrassed upon hearing this. She explained that she had a bit of social anxiety and didn’t like interacting with people much, so she didn’t know many people.
“It’s just that I borrowed something from Doctor Zhang back when he was still here. I was thinking that if I could get in touch, I should return it to him… If you hear anything about him, please let me know so I can give it back.”
Nan Mu agreed. Once Nurse Lin left, he picked up his phone and scrolled to his chat interface with Yu Jingtong.
Their conversation was still stuck on Yu Jingtong saying her mother might have a surgery to perform in the next couple of days and might not be reachable immediately.
He wanted to send a text to ask, but he was afraid of being too pushy. After all, he had just asked this morning; there probably wouldn’t be news this quickly. Besides, Yu Jingtong had mentioned her mother’s situation was special these few days…
He suppressed his restless impulse.
He would wait a bit longer. He’d wait until the day after tomorrow; if there was still no word from Yu Jingtong, he would remind her then.
===
On the other side, Wen Miao and Wen Xin were going through the GoPro footage late into the night.
Unlike last time, they quickly locked onto a suspicious individual. Not only had he appeared at Lion Mountain, but he had also been at Guiziyuan Square that day.
Wen Miao sent the man’s photo to An Zi.
Wen Miao: [Do you know this person?]
A moment later, An Zi replied.
An Zi: [I know him. His surname is Lin, but I forgot his first name. We aren’t close. Everyone calls him Second Uncle Lin. He’s from the neighboring village.]
Wen Miao: [Then you should know where he lives, right? Can you take us to his house?]
An Zi: [No problem. But why are you looking for him?]
Wen Miao: [It’s nothing major. Just don’t tell him we’re coming for now.]
An Zi: [Why? Did he hit your friend?]
Wen Miao’s heart skipped a beat when she saw An Zi’s message. For a moment, she regretted being too hasty. She should have gone to An Zi’s house to ask in person. What if An Zi secretly tipped off this Second Uncle Lin about them looking for him?
Wen Miao braced herself and replied: [Nothing like that. We just want to ask him about something. It’s really not a big deal.]
She didn’t know if An Zi believed her.
Just as Wen Miao was hesitating over whether to add a few more words, she received a reply.
An Zi: [Alright, don’t worry, I won’t tip him off. I’m not that close with him anyway. He’s a well-known local thug around here; getting into fights is a regular thing for him.]
Wen Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, she was still worried that something unexpected might happen, so she immediately sent a message to Nan Mu, arranging to meet him at the foot of Lion Mountain.