The room fell silent for a moment before everyone turned their gaze toward Mu Mian.
Feeling the weight of so many eyes upon her, Mu Mian's scalp tingled with discomfort, and she longed to flee from the room.
Fang Rui came to her rescue. "Medical Examiner Mu, why do you believe this?"
His voice seemed to possess a certain magic, calming her and dulling the edge of her agitation.
"Theoretically, it is possible," Mu Mian replied, though she did not address his question directly. Instead, she spoke on her own, "By creating an artificial placenta, supplying sufficient oxygen, placing an anesthetized kitten inside, and replacing the deceased's placenta, while administering ample oxytocin to the pregnant woman and ensuring the victim retains enough physical strength, it would be possible for her to give birth to the kitten."
She lifted a drawing to shield her face, "Just like this. In fact, this is exactly what he tried, but his design was too crude, and he failed. So, he is likely to attempt it again until he succeeds."
Mu Mian's drawing was simple, but the stark lines outlined a shocking image: a pregnant woman, her abdomen slashed open, with a kitten wrapped in a circular object inside, the scene both surreal and unnerving.
Forensic Investigator Qin interrupted her, "But the toxicology report did not show any signs of oxytocin in the deceased."
"That means he failed!" Mu Mian exclaimed.
The room fell into a brief silence.
Mu Mian's hypothesis was absurd, baseless. How could anyone fathom a killer attempting to make a woman give birth to a cat? It was entirely illogical.
Unless, of course, the perpetrator was a psychopath!
Everyone's gaze turned back to Mu Mian, uncertain whether this was the killer's idea or her own.
"Captain Chen, Mu Mian is a suspect in this case. Why is she allowed to attend the case analysis meeting?" one officer suddenly asked. "Many residents from the building have reported strange behavior from Mu Mian. She had arguments with the deceased, and she's a forensic pathologist, skilled in dissection. She's now one of the suspects."
Forensic Investigator Qin seemed irritated. "She is the one who reported the case, and there is no evidence at this point to suggest she is the killer."
"But there's no evidence proving her innocence either. By procedure, she should not be involved in this case," the officer pressed.
Fang Rui intervened, "I can vouch for her; Mu Mian is not the killer!"
"Fang Rui, all current evidence points to Mu Mian as the primary suspect. How can you claim she's not the perpetrator?" another officer challenged.
"This is Mu Mian's blood test report," Fang Rui said, presenting a document on the screen. "The sample was taken at 9:35 AM yesterday. The report shows significant traces of sleeping pills in her bloodstream."
Xiao Zhang suddenly realized why Fang Rui had insisted Mu Mian undergo a physical exam the previous day—it was to check for this.
"This proves she's not the killer?" someone asked skeptically.
Fang Rui explained, "Based on her body's metabolism of the sleeping pills, we can infer that during the time of the crime, she was in a deep coma and therefore incapable of committing the murder."
"Ah, that's why she looked so drowsy that day! The drug hadn't worn off!" Xiao Zhang chimed in. "I can confirm, when we arrived at the crime scene, she appeared as if she hadn't fully woken up."
Xiao Zhang believed Mu Mian's strange behavior now had a reasonable explanation: her stiff mannerisms and speech were due to autism; her fatigue was because of the sleeping pills she had taken the night before.
Xiao Zhang, however, wondered aloud, "But what if the killer drugged her? That would mean the killer knows her quite well."
"No, the dosage was far too high for that to be the case," Forensic Investigator Qin replied, furrowing his brow. "And she's a forensic pathologist—she would have noticed something was off."
The dosage would have been near lethal for a normal person, yet Mu Mian was fine. It was likely that her long-term use of the medication had built up a significant tolerance.
Mu Mian stared at the wood grain on the table, her mind drifting as though the conversation had nothing to do with her.
The social guidebook suggested that when faced with questions one couldn't answer, lying was an option. But Mu Mian hadn't yet mastered that skill, so she remained silent.
"You must have been nervous about the new job, which kept you up, so you took sleeping pills to help you sleep," Fang Rui said, offering a plausible explanation. "I'm sure this happens to most people, doesn't it?"
Mu Mian finally snapped back to attention. She looked at Fang Rui in surprise, nodding. "Yes. Most people are nervous in a new environment and can't sleep."
Those who had doubted Mu Mian fell silent, and her suspicion was temporarily lifted.
But thanks to Fang Rui's interruption, the room chose to selectively ignore her earlier speculation and return to focusing on the possibility of a motive for personal revenge.
Captain Chen concluded, "We will approach the investigation from the following angles: First, investigate the victim's social relationships; second, search the dumpsters near the apartment complex for the baby's body; and third, review all the surveillance footage from the time of the incident to identify any suspicious individuals. We'll start immediately."
After the meeting, Mu Mian caught up with Fang Rui, who was walking with Lin Sen, seemingly engaged in a discussion.
Mu Mian recalled Chen Xue mentioning that Lin Sen was a criminal psychology expert who could even read minds—a very impressive skill. Many of the cases Fang Rui had worked on were solved with Lin Sen's assistance.
Mu Mian glanced at Lin Sen, signaling him with her eyes to leave, but Lin Sen, thinking she was greeting him, stood there obliviously, offering her a smile in return.
Mu Mian decided to make it clear: "Consultant Lin, can you read minds?"
Hearing Mu Mian's question, Lin Sen's face showed surprise. "You... are you asking me?"
Seeing that he still hadn't left, Mu Mian felt disappointed. "Fine, you can't," she muttered, convinced he should have heard her thoughts and walked away.
Lin Sen's lips twitched. Though Mu Mian's expression carried no malice, he still felt as though she was openly mocking him.
Who said a psychology expert had to read minds?
Still, Lin Sen realized that Mu Mian clearly wanted to speak with Fang Rui privately, but since he had just been mocked, he stayed put.
Mu Mian, seeing no way around it, tried her best to ignore Lin Sen's presence and turned to Fang Rui. "Captain Fang, your evidence doesn't completely clear me."
Fang Rui seemed disinterested. "It doesn't matter, as long as they believe it."
Mu Mian, explaining to herself, continued, "You overlooked one factor: tolerance."
"Even if I took a large amount of sleeping pills, I would still have the ability to act, because I've developed a high tolerance to that drug."
She spoke earnestly, "If I really wanted to kill my annoying neighbor, I could still do it. But I wouldn't choose this method. I lack the imagination to come up with such a creative way to kill someone."
Fang Rui responded, "So what? Are you trying to prove to me that you lack imagination?"
Mu Mian looked at him with sincerity, "I just want to remind you that there's a significant flaw in your reasoning."
"Are you the killer?" Fang Rui's blood pressure spiked, and he had to fight the urge to grab Mu Mian and throw her out.
He had been trying to help her clear her name, and now she was criticizing his reasoning!
Mu Mian shook her head, "Of course not!"
"Then you should thank me."
"Alright. Thank you," Mu Mian said, then hesitated, glancing once more at Lin Sen. Seeing he still had no intention of leaving, she walked away in resignation.
"I didn't expect you to be so patient with this Medical Examiner Mu," Lin Sen teased. "Looks like you're planning to have her join the Special Crimes Unit."
"Let's wait and see," Fang Rui deflected. "I think Mu Mian's analysis holds some weight. The killer didn't really want the pregnant woman to give birth to a live cat, did they? I did find out that the victim had a history of abusing cats—she killed one. Maybe the killer wanted the victim's child to atone for the cat's death. It seems the killer might believe in the concept of karmic retribution."
Lin Sen disagreed, "But his method of doing this to a cat is still abuse. If the killer was trying to punish someone for abusing cats, why would they resort to such a cruel method?"
Fang Rui pinched the bridge of his nose, "Logically, this should have been an easy case to solve, but the killer is hiding very well."
"I suspect the killer is a serial murderer," Lin Sen's expression turned serious. "Such criminals tend to select targets based on their fantasies, with a certain randomness, making it difficult to catch them using conventional investigative methods."
Lin Sen paused, "Since we only have one victim so far, I can't create a criminal profile yet."