Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 369: Background Investigation

"The incident happened at the girls’ dormitory building. Our university is strictly managed. To give everyone more time for studying, all the interns live on the first and second floors, saving the time needed for climbing stairs."

"Aren’t there teachers overseeing the dormitory?"

"Yes, the male and female dormitories are separate, and there are teachers on duty every night."

"The lights go out at midnight, and yes, the dormitory is locked."

"So, what you’re saying is that after the dormitory is locked at midnight, outsiders can’t enter?"

"They shouldn’t be able to get in."

"Who has the keys?"

"The keys are in the duty room. The dormitory is locked from the inside. Every night, the student council and teachers check the dorms to ensure everyone is inside before leaving."

The management of Old Factory Street Vocational University is quite strict.

The school operates a boarding system. Students have a day off every Sunday, but at other times, they eat, drink, and live on campus and aren’t allowed to leave the premises.

During the break, the management of interns is even stricter. They have to get up for work at 8 a.m., have half an hour for lunch and an hour for a break, and then start their internships.

After school ends at 5 p.m., they have half an hour for dinner, and then there is evening work.

Evening work lasts until 11 p.m.

Everyone returns to the dormitory to wash up and prepare to rest. The inspection team, consisting of student council members and teachers, conducts checks, and the dorm lights are turned off promptly at midnight.

The victim died at 3 a.m., which suggests that whoever was with her should have been inside the dormitory.

"Is there surveillance in the duty room?"

"There isn’t any inside the duty room, but there’s a camera at the dormitory entrance that can see the door of the duty room."

Ren Qiang gestured to investigate the surveillance naturally.

"Is the dormitory on-duty teacher male or female?"

"The teachers on duty in the boys’ dormitory are all male, and in the girls’ dormitory, they are all female."

"Currently, most students are on summer vacation, and the newly admitted freshmen haven’t arrived yet, so all the teachers on duty are homeroom and other practical course teachers overseeing the intern classes."

"Principal Zhang, could you please have the teacher who was on duty at the girls’ dormitory yesterday come here? We need to understand a few things."

"Alright, they’ll be right over."

In a short while, a middle-aged female teacher entered the meeting room.

Her face was very pale, and even her fingers trembled continuously.

"Hello."

"He... hello."

"Teacher Chen, no need to be nervous, we just want to understand if you heard any unusual sounds while on duty last night."

"No... no, I didn’t."

"Can you tell us what time you went to rest?"

"I started checking rooms at 11:30 p.m. and finished around 11:50 p.m."

"Then I went to wash up. At midnight, I turned off the dormitory lighting, then went to bed."

"Our schedule is the same as everyone else’s. After a long day, I’m very tired, so I fell asleep shortly after lying down, slept soundly, and didn’t hear anything in the late night."

"Do you know Zhang Xiao?"

"Yes, I am Zhang Xiao’s class advisor. Her academic performance is good, she’s pretty and obedient, has a good rapport with classmates, and is well-liked by teachers. But who knew she would..."

Chen Yan has overseen four batches of intern classes, teaching for twelve years.

Over these years, more than a hundred students have graduated under her supervision.

Many of them went on to earn significant amounts of money, leading to Chen Yan’s growing reputation at Old Factory Street Vocational University.

Many people tried to use connections to get their children into her class to have her as their advisor.

Thus, Ren Qiang understood why Chen Yan was so nervous now.

"Teacher Chen, did Zhang Xiao have any particularly close male friends?"

"Particularly close male friends?"

Chen Yan seemed puzzled by the question: "Is there a problem?"

Ren Qiang thought for a moment. As Zhang Xiao’s class director, Chen Yan should know her well, so there was no need to hide the fact from her.

"Because... our forensic doctor, upon examining Zhang Xiao’s body, found that... she was about four months pregnant."

"Pregnant?!!"

"Impossible!"

Chen Yan’s first reaction was disbelief: "I’m very familiar with every student in my class. Our vocational university is strictly managed, and everyone is usually busy, with no personal time. I know Zhang Xiao well."

"Zhang Xiao is outgoing, lively, and gets along well with most male classmates, but she doesn’t have a boyfriend."

"Additionally, our school’s class schedule is very tight. With segregated dorms, boys and girls hardly have any private time together. How could she...?"

Ren Qiang closely observed Teacher Chen Yan, sitting opposite him.

The deceased, Zhang Xiao, was her student, and at the time of the incident last night, Chen Yan was also the dormitory’s on-duty teacher.

Whether it’s suicide or homicide, from a management perspective, Chen Yan seems to bear some responsibility.

So, could Chen Yan be saying this to shirk responsibility intentionally?

However...

Though nervous, Chen Yan seemed genuinely shocked about Zhang Xiao’s situation.

Moreover, if Chen Yan’s claims of strict management at the vocational university are true, then the likelihood of Zhang Xiao becoming pregnant within the school is very low.

So, what’s the truth?

There have been frequent cases of similar deaths in Haizhou City these past years, with one or two occurrences each year.

Ren Qiang has been involved in some cases and broadly deduces that life’s pressures, the struggle to adapt to a tense atmosphere, and parental oversight could be underlying reasons.

Zhang Xiao’s situation may or may not fit this pattern, but to Ren Qiang, the factors surrounding her death might have a greater connection with... something else.

"Teacher Chen, I hope you can keep our conversation confidential, especially regarding matters about Zhang Xiao. Though she’s gone, I want..."

Chen Yan nodded: "I understand, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone."

Subsequently, Ren Qiang gathered more information from Zhang Xiao’s classmates, particularly her deskmate and roommates.

"Xiaoxiao... She didn’t exhibit any unusual behavior yesterday, just attended class with us."

"Last night, I heard someone get up, but I didn’t know it was Zhang Xiao. I assumed someone was going to the bathroom, and then there was no more noise."

"I slept too deeply last night and didn’t hear anything."

"I didn’t hear any sound."

At 3 a.m., a time when people are deeply asleep, Zhang Xiao left the dormitory, and most people heard nothing, except one person heard a little noise but assumed someone went to the bathroom and didn’t get up.