Chapter 252: Chapter 252

Shi Nian led Tang Yanqing towards Rosa’s car. Old Qiao heard the commotion and followed along.

The three of them reached the car, and Shi Nian bent down to get into the driver’s seat and looked through the windshield.

Tang Yanqing and Old Qiao also looked in, and Old Qiao mumbled, "There’s nothing here."

Shi Nian sought Old Qiao’s opinion, "I’d like to move the car a bit. Is that okay with you?"

Old Qiao squinted at her, "Where do you want to move it to?"

Shi Nian glanced back to where she had stood earlier, "Roughly near that spot. But it might need some specific adjustments."

Tang Yanqing heard this, hesitated slightly, took a step back, bent down to observe, looked around, and then laughed. He strode back, reached out, and gently patted Shi Nian on the shoulder.

Shi Nian turned to look at him and saw him nodding and smiling.

Shi Nian also smiled. He was agreeing with her idea, which made her feel relieved.

Old Qiao was still scrutinizing Shi Nian, seemingly reluctant to be ordered around by her. She wasn’t part of the police, and this car was a crucial piece of evidence. Why should it be moved just because she said so, especially without a definite location?

Tang Yanqing moved closer with a smile, "Senior Qiao, let her try. I’m asking you as a favor."

Old Qiao continued to put on airs, "Even if you ask, it’s not happening. Let me say it again, this is our team’s case, and we have our methods. Why should we follow your lead?" As Old Qiao spoke, he pointed at Shi Nian, "Besides, what exactly is her role?"

Tang Yanqing held back and didn’t mention that Shi Nian was a journalist.

To be honest, officers often find journalists annoying during investigations. Sometimes journalists reveal police leads prematurely or write exaggerated stories, which can be quite misleading.

Tang Yanqing stood beside Old Qiao, trying to change the subject, "Do you know why I always call you Old Qiao? Let me tell you a story. Have you watched our Chinese martial arts films? You know Jin Yong, right? In his stories, there’s a hero of immense righteousness with the surname Qiao, who is revered by everyone in the martial arts world as ’Master Qiao.’

"In my heart, Old Qiao, you are my Master Qiao."

Old Qiao rolled his eyes at Tang Yanqing, "Just because you said this, I feel even less inclined to agree."

Tang Yanqing laughed heartily, "Alright, I take it all back. Please agree, I’m begging you."

In the past, Tang Yanqing was always a rebellious boy, and Old Qiao always felt that this boy didn’t respect him because he was from the Tang Family. Throughout these past four years, this boy had never spoken to him so humbly; it was rare that he didn’t bump into him with his shoulders when they met!

Old Qiao sighed, "Alright, since you’re being so polite today."

Old Qiao personally went to ask the forensics unit if the vehicle evidence could be moved. It just so happened that the forensic unit and the traffic officers had finished their on-site investigation, so they nodded in agreement.

Tang Yanqing then requested all the officers present to help push the car to the position Shi Nian indicated.

Shi Nian, with a serious expression, sat in the driver’s seat for a look, and without further ado, called out to everyone, "A little to the left."

"30 centimeters more to the right." Googlᴇ search NoveI~Fire.net

"...back 15 degrees."

Because of Tang Yanqing, the officers followed the directions of a non-professional. Over a dozen people pushed this big machine, moving it centimeters or tens of centimeters at a time.

Finally, Shi Nian shouted with joy, "Done! Mr. Tang, come quickly and take a look!"

Everyone was startled and crowded around to see. Instead, Tang Yanqing was not surprised at all, casually walking over.

The small driver’s seat couldn’t fit over a dozen people, so the officers standing outside couldn’t see anything and couldn’t help muttering, "What on earth is it? Such a mystery."

Only two or three officers who could squeeze into nearly the same observation point as Shi Nian gasped in low voices, "Oh my god!"

But Tang Yanqing just smiled knowingly, without showing any surprise.

Old Qiao couldn’t help but feel curious, suspiciously staring at Shi Nian: "What exactly happened?"

Shi Nian then got out of the car, gave up the driver’s seat, and invited Old Qiao to sit inside.

Old Qiao, not understanding the situation, sat inside. After sitting properly, he was about to lean out to ask Shi Nian, when suddenly—sunlight unexpectedly poured down from the roof opposite, shining on the windshield in front. A flash of intense light passed, and Old Qiao instinctively squinted his eyes. Once the intense light passed, Old Qiao reopened his eyes and let out a low exclamation, "My God!"

From Old Qiao’s perspective, he could see that where the windshield was previously transparent and offered good visibility, a colorful clown head suddenly appeared!

The clown had dark star-shaped eyes, a pointed white chin, and a blood-red mouth. A face that would originally bring joy now inexplicably jutted out from the windshield, making one’s hair stand on end!

Old Qiao hurriedly crawled out of the car, staring at Shi Nian in astonishment: "What on earth is going on?"

The rest of the forensic team also quickly crawled over to look, each sitting in the driver’s seat to find the angle from before. But unfortunately, the position of the sunlight continually changed, and a few minutes later, as the position of the sunlight shifted, the clown face on the windshield disappeared on its own.

Old Qiao was baffled, but after the initial surprise, the forensic colleagues immediately started testing the substance on the windshield.

Shi Nian stared at Old Qiao, fully understanding his shock: "Mr. Qiao, firstly I must say this was not from behavioral analysis, it was serendipity. Just now, the three of us were standing over there talking, and I instinctively turned back to glance at the evidence vehicle. At that moment, the angle and light were just right, and I saw a brilliant array on the windshield. Although at that time I didn’t realize it was a clown’s face."

"Imagine the victim was originally driving safely, eyes on the road, perhaps also somewhat distracted thinking about the partner meeting at the company later. At that moment, maybe she slightly jerked the steering wheel, and suddenly saw a huge terrifying clown face appear in front of her—how could she not have been terrified? A car accident would be understandable."

Old Qiao couldn’t help but nod: "But what exactly happened here?"

Tang Yanqing had been standing casually with his hands in his pockets, listening to Shi Nian’s account. At this moment, he curled a corner of his mouth and interjected, pointing to the sky: "Sunlight."

"As time changes, the angle of the sunlight also changes, and when the car drives into the appropriate angle, a picture will appear due to the change in sunlight."

The forensic officers also stepped forward: "Mr. Qiao, we found a transparent gelatinous substance on the windshield. Because it’s transparent, colorless, and odorless, we hadn’t noticed it earlier."

The forensic officer used a glass rod to take a bit of the substance, holding it before Old Qiao’s eyes: "This gelatinous material can cause sunlight to scatter. If the sunlight happens to reach a suitable angle and height, the white light will scatter into colored light, suddenly creating a colored image on the glass like a rainbow after the rain."

Tang Yanqing nodded and added: "Not only this gelatinous material, but if both the sun’s angle and height are suitable, the curvature of the windshield, as well as the solar film on the glass, will also cause sunlight to scatter to some extent. Combined with this gelatinous substance, it might result in secondary or even tertiary repetitive scattering and refraction, forming a colorful clown face."

"Such a complex method!" Old Qiao was taken aback and promptly asked: "Were any fingerprints found?"

The forensic officer could only shake his head regretfully: "No usable fingerprints, footprints, not even hair or skin flakes. It’s clear this person came prepared."

Tang Yanqing lazily nodded, placing a hand on Old Qiao’s shoulder: "Old Qiao, that question was unnecessary. Imagine a suspect skillfully using the scattering and refraction angles of light to calmly paint a clown face, what intelligence they must possess. How could a person with such high intelligence be stupid enough to leave traces or DNA clues for the police?"

Old Qiao couldn’t help but wipe his sweat: "What kind of person has Rosa offended? This is too bizarre! I need to go talk to her."

The forensic officers and Old Qiao left, and Shi Nian raised his eyes to quietly observe Tang Yanqing.

Tang Yanqing lowered his head to check his watch, then retreated from the accident scene back to Rosa’s house, simultaneously using an app on his phone to roughly record the distances and angles.

After taking a lap, he returned with a solemn expression.

"Let’s hear your thoughts first."

Shi Nian took a deep breath: "First, from the clown face itself, the suspect clearly has profound knowledge in physics and materials science. Also, the composition of the clown’s face is rigorously proportional, with smooth lines, indicating it was drawn all in one go, with great confidence and skilled technique."

Tang Yanqing added with a smile: "His skill in painting might be even deeper. This is reflected in his obsession, even fascination, with colors."

"You see, mastering the scattering of sunlight in gelatinous substances is already an arcane thing, like the rainbow, it’s merely an even distribution of light bands; but the clown painting, with its black eyes, white face, red mouth, every part’s color is true, and the transition of color blocks is smooth and natural... This can only be achieved through repeated scattering and refraction between the gelatin, glass curvature, and solar film. Such painstaking effort shows he couldn’t accept random color mixing, indicating his obsession with colors."

[Morning update, part two]