At exactly 10 o'clock, we all gathered in the conference room. Besides the usual officers we often cooperated with, I noticed a fresh face. Xiaotao started with a brief account of the case before we each stated the clues we had obtained so far.

First of all, the victim’s identity had been determined! A detailed investigation showed that the victim wasn’t involved in any enmity with anyone. Neighbors described him as an eccentric man who seldom had contact with others. His only interests were smoking and drinking.

The incident had taken place in an old area of the city so there weren't any surveillance videos. However, according to residents, a short man wearing a tank top and a face mask was seen wandering the nearby area at about 11 that night. But because of his face mask, they weren’t sure what he looked like.

Then, an officer whom I had never seen before shared his findings. It turned out that he was a bomb disposal technician from the bureau....