“Old Sang, did you spot something again? That kid was acting suspicious, wasn’t he?”

“What do you mean ‘spot something’?” Sang Ning frowned. “I’m not even sure I saw it right, but just now… I think he smiled.”

Lu Lin’s eyes lit up instantly. “Easy enough to verify. We’ve got surveillance cameras everywhere in here. We can just check the footage.”

As he spoke, he returned to his station and pulled up the recordings.

Sang Ning sighed helplessly. “Even if he did smile, at most that proves Yao Xiuying raised an ungrateful son. The homeless man threw her off the building. The traces under the victim’s nails already confirm he’s the killer.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m just curious about your landlady’s gossip.” Lu Lin clicked his tongue. “Seriously, your luck sucks. Renting a place caused this much trouble. I told you ages ago to split rent with me, but you wouldn’t.”

“Split rent?”

Gu Yao shot to her feet so suddenly her chair screeched.

Lu Lin looked at her strangely. “Kid, why are you reacting so strongly?”

Gu Yao stared at Sang Ning.

This morning, she had personally seen Sang Ning walk out of her brother’s room and even use the bathroom to wash up. That meant Sang Ning should obviously be living with her brother now.

How could she possibly move in with another man?!

No.

This sister-in-law candidate—

She approved.

“Who would want to live with some rough old caveman like you?” Gu Yao crossed her arms protectively. “Our Sister Ning is gorgeous. What if she lived with you and you started having dirty thoughts?”

Lu Lin pointed at himself, then at Sang Ning, who was currently walking toward the autopsy room. He laughed in disbelief.

“Me? You think I’d fall for someone like Sang Ning? She acts proper on the outside, but deep down she’s basically one of the guys.”

“Watch your mouth.”

Sang Ning lifted her eyes toward the surveillance camera.

It wasn’t as if only the forensic department could access the footage.

If that young man really did become a suspect later, plenty of people would end up reviewing these recordings.

“Fine, I’ll give you some face while we’re at the station.” Lu Lin pouted, then turned toward Gu Yao. “Listen, kid. Even if every woman in the world died, I still wouldn’t like Old Sang. So relax.”

Gu Yao didn’t know what to think anymore.

The way those two interacted on a daily basis—and what she’d just seen—

All the casual touching and closeness.

Lu Lin kept saying he wasn’t interested in Sang Ning, but who knew what he was really thinking behind the scenes?

“You’d better mean that!”

Gu Yao huffed and turned away, only for her gaze to land on the neatly arranged skeleton on the autopsy table. Instantly, guilt crept onto her face.

“Wait… why didn’t you call me earlier?”

Only now did she realize how long they’d already been back at the station.

There was so much work to do.

Looking over at Sang Ning’s desk, even Yao Xiuying’s autopsy report had already been completed.

So what exactly had she been doing all day?

“It’s fine. Just help me deliver the autopsy report to Captain Gu.”

As Sang Ning spoke, she pulled on protective gear.

Gu Yao immediately grabbed the report and hurried out.

Lu Lin watched her leave. Once the door shut, he lowered his voice.

“Old Sang, that kid’s not suited for this department. Why are you keeping her around?”

She couldn’t even hand over the right tools half the time.

“Her parents aren’t here, and anyone who gets into the station usually has some kind of specialty. I want to see what hers is,” Sang Ning replied casually.

Lu Lin kept reviewing the surveillance footage.

“You’ve known her for over half a year now. Figure out what her specialty is yet?”

Sang Ning ignored him, her attention focused on the skull and torso as she continued examining the skeletal remains removed from the cement wall.

“The hyoid bone is missing. So are several finger bones. All the teeth are gone from the oral cavity.”

Lu Lin said, “Maybe the teeth got lost at the scene? Or they’re still inside the wall? After that long, they could’ve fallen deeper into the cement.”

Sang Ning’s expression turned grave.

“The teeth were forcibly removed. There are no signs of healing around the sockets. They were pulled out after death.”

“Found it!”

Lu Lin’s eyes gleamed.

“Old Sang, is it because I’m nearsighted? How did you even notice that? The change in his mouth was microscopic, and you still caught it. That’s insane.”

Sang Ning didn’t answer.

She was busy inspecting the skull and inside the mouth cavity.

“There seems to be something in here…”

She picked up a tool and carefully extracted a tiny metallic fragment no larger than a grain of sand.

Gently placing it aside, she immediately began testing it with specialized equipment.

Even her breathing became cautious, afraid the tiny object might be blown away.

Seeing her so serious, Lu Lin didn’t dare interrupt.

Only after she finished did he finally ask,

“What did you find?”

He leaned closer, squinting into the evidence bag. At first he thought it was empty. After staring for a long while, he finally noticed a minuscule reflective speck.

“Do you secretly have a magnifying glass installed in your eyeballs? Lend it to me.”

Lu Lin sounded genuinely jealous.

Sang Ning ignored him.

“It looks like a tungsten steel bur fragment.”

When it came to the oral cavity, it seemed she’d have to consult her senior from dental medicine.

The fragment was too tiny to analyze completely on her own.

She decided she’d bring the sample to him after work.

Next on the list was the missing hyoid bone.

Sang Ning was the type who immediately paused an autopsy the second she discovered a new clue and focused entirely on analyzing it first.

For the Criminal Investigation Unit, those details were often the key to solving a case.

By the time she finally finished, Gu Yao had already been waiting outside for ages.

She’d even started planning dinner and mentally prepared herself for overtime.

Lu Lin had also been waiting.

But he was waiting for more gossip about the landlady’s family.

During that time, he’d wandered over to the technical department and spent half the afternoon chatting with Shen Chen.

The new recruit Shen Chen clicked with him instantly.

The two practically felt like long-lost soulmates and talked nonstop for hours.

Sang Ning glanced at the clock.

“It’s this late already?”

Seven in the evening.

She removed her protective suit and noticed the two people in the forensic room staring at her with glowing eyes.

After washing her hands, she lightly patted her cheeks and asked in confusion,

“Is there something on my face?”

“Old Sang, if this station didn’t have you, our case-solving efficiency would drop by at least half,” Lu Lin sighed dramatically.

Beside him, Gu Yao nodded furiously, staring at Sang Ning with open admiration.

She’d watched the surveillance footage herself.

She hadn’t noticed even the slightest change in that young man’s expression.

“Sister Ning, I’ve always wondered… did you study psychology or something? Like microexpression analysis?”

Sang Ning twitched at the corner of her mouth.

“I know a little psychology, but I never formally studied it. So no, I wasn’t mistaken. That man definitely smiled.”

Lu Lin gave a thumbs-up.

“Not just that. We checked into him. Turns out he’s not even her biological son. No wonder he’ll inherit everything after the old woman dies.”

Even as an adopted son, Yao Xiuying had cut ties with her relatives years ago.

That meant her first-in-line heir was basically him.

Though whether she’d written a will before dying was another matter entirely.

“I wonder if that middle-aged man ever officially registered their marriage,” Sang Ning mused while typing rapidly on the keyboard. “If they were legally married, then he’d inherit her estate instead.”

“Still, the guy’s got dedication.” Lu Lin clicked his tongue. “Doing all that just for money… Honestly, I’d rather sleep on the streets than become some rich older woman’s toy. Some of those rich ladies have weird tastes.”