"Hmm... huh? It's not him. That guy isn't that handsome. I remember he was really ugly and his skin was very dark. This person has fair skin, a straight nose, and such sharp eyes. It's definitely not him!"
"Are you sure?" Zhang Keying beside me glanced at me, then asked again.
"Of course. It's been a year, but that guy's appearance was so terrible, how could I forget? Plus, he was such a strange person. Everyone who went there would remember him, and I'm no exception."
"Then why did you say you didn't recognize him earlier?" I retorted.
Lin Boda said sheepishly, "Just hearing the name, of course I wouldn't remember. People at my factory are constantly quitting and being hired, hundreds every year. How could I remember one person's name? Unless you mentioned Yuan Xiuxian's personality and behavior back then, I would remember, or if it was a photo."
Lin Boda's explanation was reasonable, and his reaction seemed normal, not like someone hiding something. However, I wouldn't believe him so easily, as it was just Lin Boda's side of the story.
I later got Gao Mingqiang and the others to confirm. Then, Zhang Keying and I went to the provincial department's conference room. Seeing everyone present and that I was alright, Xie Chuchu looked at me excitedly, "Team Leader He, congratulations on rejoining the team!"
As she spoke, she stood up and high-fived me vigorously, and even made an "Ollie Ollie" gesture! I played along and gave her a confident smile.
"Thank you everyone for secretly helping behind the scenes. This time, I can say I narrowly escaped death. Without everyone's help, I might not have been able to clear my name!"
"It wasn't you who did it, you're innocent. How could we let you be wronged and humiliated!" Xiahou snapped his fingers. "Alright, let's get to the main point. He Xin, the projection!"
"Immediately!" He Xin typed rapidly on the keyboard, and soon the video from by the lake was projected, along with footage from the hotel and Ling Xiaotao's home. We analyzed each scene carefully. Gao Mingqiang was the first to speak, "The surveillance footage from the corridor in Ling Xiaotao's home captured a figure identical to Liu Yucheng. That guy really does resemble Yuan Xiuxian's build."
"That's right. This was the misconception we've been overlooking. We always thought only people with the same surname or twins could be body doubles, but in reality, men and women can do it too. It's infuriating that we were deceived by Liu Yucheng for so long!" I said.
"Getting angry now is pointless. We need to find Captain Liu quickly based on the clues. Team Leader He, although your position is different now, I still hope you can lead us as before and complete every mission!"
"Don't worry, Mingqiang. When have I ever put on airs? In fact, if it weren't for the Minister and Director Zhang's last words, I would never have... Ah, well. At the hotel, we saw through the principle of reflection. Later, we found some clues through reflection on B601 upstairs. This is what we discovered during our re-examination of the scene!"
As I spoke, Zhang Keying closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and calmly began to deduce and analyze. "At the time, I didn't understand how a single reflection in the mirror allowed us to see He Sheng 'murder.' It turned out there was another mirror upstairs. Although Yuan Xiuxian and Liu Yucheng cleaned it up well, we still found glass fragments in the crevices of the wall. This is thanks to the help of Dao Zhiyong and Su Yaxin..." As she spoke, Zhang Keying nodded at the two forensic handwriting experts.
Then she continued, "The first beam of light was projected from B601, then it reached the room opposite the crime scene, and finally, of course, the crime scene itself. At that time, Liu Yucheng was likely standing at a high vantage point. We then found traces of a grappling hook on the opposite side. After completing the first step of mirror reflection, that guy quickly moved to the opposite floor, then to the ceiling, and used a silken thread to perform the action of Ma Biao shaking his head. At the time, I thought Ma Biao was shaking his head from extreme pain, little did I know he was probably already dead..."
I continued, "Yes, in fact, that person wasn't Ma Biao. We discovered this through the issue with the grey nails. Those people actually wanted to frame me using an ordinary person. Xie Chuchu, can you now identify that person's true identity?"
"I've used skull reconstruction technology to create a new facial composite! This person had undergone plastic surgery!"
Xie Chuchu handed the facial composite to He Xin. After investigating the facial recognition database, the true identity of the fake Ma Biao was displayed on the screen.
Mai Qiwei, 32 years old, from Binghe Town, Fuming City. A year ago, he underwent plastic surgery to resemble Ma Biao, but did not appear in public. It is unknown where he went during that time.
Seeing this, Xiao Yuande, holding his pen, analyzed, "A year ago? The perpetrator has hidden deep enough and has great patience, with a plan that lasted a year and only fully erupted recently. But we didn't have any interaction with the perpetrator before, did we?"
Gao Mingqiang stared at some documents and took another sip of water before saying, "Not necessarily. Perhaps some cases we mistook as the work of Polaris were actually done by the perpetrator."
"Yes, Mingqiang, your analytical skills and combat prowess have improved considerably. Not bad! It seems the perpetrator has really helped you!"
"Team Leader He, stop teasing me. If it weren't for luck, I'd probably still be inside being brainwashed."
"Heh, your sense of humor has also gone up significantly."
"Haha!" Gao Mingqiang hadn't laughed heartily with me like this in a long time. Since his mother's incident, he has truly matured a lot, becoming much more steady and no longer acting rashly. His courage has completely changed. I used to think he was faking it, but how could there be so much pretense? Gao Mingqiang's situation is entirely due to his growth after experiencing so many things.
We continued our discussion and then took action. From Liu Yucheng's whereabouts and the glass fragments collected from the scene, we eventually uncovered more clues. When Ling Xiaotao rejoined us, she described the person who attacked her as looking exactly like Liu Yucheng. We went to Liu Yucheng's interrogation room and played Ling Xiaotao's recorded accusation in front of him: "Do you want her to identify you again? Liu Yucheng, it's time for you to tell us the whereabouts of the real Ma Biao and Liu Yuning!"
"No, you two, I don't know. These were all handled by Yuan Xiuxian. In the organization, I was just an assassin, or rather, a bodyguard."