"Generally, when a murderer chooses to mutilate a corpse, it almost always carries a special meaning. Intense hatred, lost justice, or perhaps displaced anger and venting." The Vault spoke slowly. "The word 'lie' was written at the scenes of the first three cases, which clearly refers to Nancy Dawson's situation. This makes sense, because Nancy Dawson has already served ten years in prison, and his injustice can no longer be redressed. However, the death of Michael Wood points to an act of stabbing, taking the perspective of the victim from back then to seek retribution."

The Vault picked up the paper cup on the table, her fingers squeezing it out of shape. "The victim back then didn't know Michael Wood was a robber. If he had known, he could have called the police directly and might have had a chance for revenge. So why would the murderer harbor such intense hatred for someone unrelated, over an incident that still had room for maneuver? The process is right, but the focus and reasoning are off."

Everyone's expressions were unpleasant. There was an uncomfortable implication in all this, one they didn't dare to think about too deeply.

A colleague clapped his hands and said, "So now we can be sure that this case really is a copycat crime! The only people who could know Michael Wood's secret are those closest to him! Either a private detective following him like a shadow, or his wife."

The group erupted into another round of noisy debate.

The Vault asked, "Where is Julia Campbell's medical report?"

"Oh, here it is." The colleague handed over the second file and said, "Julia Campbell had an injury assessment done at the hospital. She has multiple bruises on her body, and there are marks on the back of her head from being struck with a blunt object. The doctor removed two pieces of broken glass from her wounds. But all her injuries are relatively recent, so it probably isn't long-term domestic violence. During this hospital stay, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer."

A colleague who heard this sighed, "Isn't that just too tragic?"

The one who brought the report added, "The stomach cancer was caught fairly early, but the bigger problem is, she also has HIV."

Everyone was shocked. "HIV?"

The colleague nodded. "According to the registration time at the CDC, she was diagnosed with HIV last year and has been taking her medication regularly. But she hasn't picked up her meds for this month or last month."

"Could it be that Michael Wood found out about her HIV? So Julia Campbell had to take drastic action?"

"Julia Campbell is indeed very suspicious. At the moment, she has the strongest motive. Even though she doesn't have an alibi for the time of the crime, I can't rule her out as a suspect. I suspect she hired someone to kill."

"Boss, who do you think is the murderer, Ethan Ford or Julia Campbell?"

The debate stopped, and everyone turned their gaze in unison to the captain, who had been silent for a while.

The Vault looked at the person who asked, a faint smile appearing on her face.

That colleague shivered instinctively, feeling a bit creeped out. "Boss, with that smile, does it mean you already know what's going on?"

"Are you sure?"

The Vault put down the cup in her hand, traced a curve on the table with her finger, and analyzed in a matter-of-fact tone, "Ethan Ford left the community less than half an hour after entering. Judging by his pace, he stood at the door of Michael Wood's villa for at most about five minutes. He really didn't have time to commit the murder."

A man muttered, "But besides him, no one else had the opportunity."

Another quickly retorted, "Not necessarily. Maybe there's an entrance to the community that avoids the cameras? If someone is familiar with the place, they might know."

The Vault said, "The injury on the back of Michael Wood's head has nothing to do with Ethan Ford; it was caused by Julia Campbell. When Michael Wood walked out of the bedroom, he was pressing the wound with his hand. All the external injuries on his body were inflicted postmortem, so there wasn't much blood at the scene."

"The autopsy report isn't out yet," a police officer said in surprise. "If there were no fatal wounds, then how did Michael Wood die?"

The Vault paused and said, "I think it might have been an accident. There was no direct murderer."

This statement was like a thunderbolt, leaving everyone at the scene stunned.

"An accident?! But the scene doesn't look like an accident at all! How could it be accidental?"

"So what the boss means is, Michael Wood died by accident, and the murderer just staged the crime scene to frame Nancy Dawson?"

"But why? The staging wasn't even clever. Do they really think the police are that incompetent?"

"Public opinion is an even sharper weapon. Maybe the murderer never intended to successfully frame anyone, but as long as the police can't solve the case, they can use public opinion to drive Nancy Dawson to despair."

"How much must they hate Nancy Dawson? Who could it be?"

The Vault remained unaffected by their emotions and continued calmly, "You can't figure out the murderer's thinking because there may be inside information you don't know. There's no need to make such associations. Whether the reasoning holds or not, the logical chain formed by the evidence tells me this is the result."

Everyone listened to her explanation intently.

The Vault said, "If Ethan Ford isn't the murderer, he has no reason to lie. Ethan Ford said that when he arrived, the lights in the house were still on."

The colleague who had interrogated with her earlier nodded, "That's right!"

The Vault smiled at that person.

"Wait, that's not right!" another person exclaimed. "When we went to the scene this morning, the circuit breaker in their house was off. It was Xiao Liu who turned the power back on."

"Huh?" the colleague said. "Committing a crime in the dark? Did they have to turn off the power? Why?"

"Because of the surveillance cameras." The Vault's voice always had a special quality that made people unconsciously follow her train of thought. "That person probably knew there were cameras in Michael Wood's house, so to avoid being caught on tape, they turned off the power first. But what they didn't know was that Michael Wood had already turned off the cameras himself, so their action was actually unnecessary. But they didn't know that."

Everyone nodded.

The Vault continued, "Ethan Ford was called over by Michael Wood. If Michael Wood was still alive at that time, he would have gone to open the door for him. But there was no movement in the house, which means Michael Wood was already incapacitated or dead by then. After Ethan Ford left, someone else came to Michael Wood's house. They cut the power and inflicted injuries on Michael Wood's corpse, staging a brutal murder scene. So all the wounds on Michael Wood were inflicted after death. Because when that person arrived, Michael Wood was already dead."

After hearing her explanation, everyone felt a sudden sense of clarity. But the leap in logic was so big that it was hard for them to fully accept. Intuitively, it made sense, but logically, it seemed like a dead end.

"It's... really sudden. But why? Who was it? What was the motive? Framing someone? Or did they originally intend to kill?"

The Vault said, "Michael Wood's cameras were only installed a couple of days ago, and very few people knew about it. The door lock was examined and showed no signs of being forced; the murderer most likely used a key to enter."

After finishing, The Vault looked at the group encouragingly.

Everyone was cautious, afraid of saying the wrong thing, and under The Vault's gaze, they felt like struggling students facing a teacher's caring scrutiny during a make-up exam.

"Li... Julia Campbell?"

The Vault nodded. "I lean toward her."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A young officer blushed and said in embarrassment, "But why? I still don't get it."

The Vault said, "This is just my guess. Surveillance shows Julia Campbell pushed Michael Wood, then ran away in a panic. Michael Wood only came out of the room a long time later. He might have fainted at the time. When people panic, they often make mistakes in judgment. Especially since Michael Wood was drunk and not in good physical condition. Julia Campbell might have mistakenly thought she had killed Michael Wood."

Everyone frowned in thought.

The Vault continued, "Julia Campbell was too flustered. After she left, she remembered there were cameras at home that might have recorded the incident. So she found someone to help her go back and deal with the scene. After that person finished staging the scene and talked with Julia Campbell, she found out that Michael Wood had actually been lying in the living room and hadn't died from her push. So, the surveillance footage actually became her alibi. She then had the person leave the footage as it was."

With this, many details finally made sense.

A subordinate said excitedly, "So should we go arrest Julia Campbell for questioning now?"

The Vault smiled and said, "Don't rush. We don't have evidence yet. Let's wait for the autopsy report and make sure someone is watching her."

Chapter 34: Accident

There were a lot of question marks in the livestream chat.

"...Huh?"

"Why are you advancing the plot in the middle of the night? I got up at seven in the morning to watch, and the first thing I heard was 'accidental death.' Do you understand how I feel?! This is inhumane!"

"The expert seems so gentle, always guiding us patiently, never showing any disdain for us mere mortals. I'm touched."

"I think I know who she is from the initials in this ID. [laugh-cry] As expected, geniuses are always rare in this world."

"Came here because of her reputation! Our seniors even made a plugin just to grab her class, but it crashed the first year and we couldn't use it. By the second year, she had already resigned. [goodbye]"

"So the expert really is a teacher? [eyes shining]"