Archimedes and cryptography

  Zhen Ai sat in the interrogation room being questioned, while Evan and several other police officers stood outside the glass window watching.

  The questioner is Jasmine.

  At close range, Zhen Ai faced her, and she quietly sized up Zhen Ai a few times. Her beauty inexplicably made one think of the most cherished flower in the Garden of Eden - delicate, untainted by worldly dust, with an ethereal aura. Especially her eyes, very black, very bright, like obsidian at the bottom of the water, clear and sparkling.

  When a rarely seen beautiful girl appeared beside Yan Suo, Jia Si Min felt uncomfortable in her heart, but thinking of Yan Suo's personality, she remembered that he hadn't looked at Zhen Ai for a long time, and there was a thread of schadenfreude.

  Jasmine asked some basic questions first. She thought Zhen Ai was an ordinary overseas student who wasn't good at English, so she spoke extra slowly, as if speaking to a hard-of-hearing elderly person.

  "What's your relationship with Jiang Xin?"

  "Roommate."

  "Can you describe the scene when you first saw the crime scene?"

  Zhen Ai said fluently: "When I returned to the dormitory, the door was loose and opened with a touch. She was lying on the ground, covered in blood everywhere. I only took one glance and then nothing happened afterwards."

  "What's next?"

  "Report."

  His answer was too straightforward, leaving Jasmine slightly caught off guard, and her speech returned to normal: "So you've been at the scene all along?"

  "Yes."

  "What are you doing?"

  "Stand up." Zhen Ai ignored the doubt in her words.

  "Standing?" Jasmine's tone rose slightly at the end, with a strong sense of disbelief.

  "Uh-huh, standing."

  Jasmine inexplicably felt that her pupils were dark and deep, and after a few seconds of silence, she asked: "Wouldn't a normal person go take a look to see if their roommate who's lying in a pool of blood is still salvageable?"

  "Some people are crowding around the corpse, I think it's too crowded." Zhen Ai's face was pale and calm.

  Kaja Saeed found this statement very strange: "Surrounding... a corpse?"

  "Yes, Mr. Yan is inspecting the scene and the deceased, I don't need to add to the chaos."

  "Then what? Are you also...?" Jasmine's eyes widened in surprise, her words tumbling out quickly, "How did he end up in your dorm?"

  Zhen Ai calmly asked back: "Is this question related to the case?"

  A flicker of impatience flashed in Jasmine's eyes.

  Outside the glass window, Wen Siyu was deep in thought as he gazed at Zhen Ai inside. Suddenly, he asked Owen, "Don't you think she's too calm?"

  "What does it mean?"

  Yan's hands were inserted into the pockets of his windbreaker, his profile unusually calm:

  "When she saw the murder scene, she didn't scream or back away, nor did she show any signs of fear or evasion. She just stood there with her arms crossed. Just like now when I'm questioning her, she's answering calmly and clearly without a single grammatical error. Her speech speed, logic, everything is fine, she's not panicked at all."

  Owen also looked at Zhen Ai, whether it was secretly receiving inspections and reporting to the laboratory; or in daily life, she was like this, with eyes as black as a deep pool of water, without any ripples; her cheeks were clean and white, calm and quiet, even when smiling, there was no real smile.

  She is beautiful herself, and especially stunning when she smiles, she should smile more often.

  Owen's blue-gray eyes narrowed slightly: "You suspect her? To what extent do you suspect her? Do you think the password on the paper was written by her to lure us in? She killed someone first and waited for us to come over and prove her innocence? You think she's involved? That's impossible, Ai...

  "Of course it's impossible." Yu spoke up and interrupted him, and even smiled a little.

  Owen's expression softened: "Thanks for believing her!"

  "What?" She looked at him with a slanted gaze.

  "I'm glad you're finally starting to believe in people instead of just relying on those cold data and evidence."

  "You're looking down on me." Yan Su's face didn't look good.

  "I am being praised."

  "Do you think I would be swayed by such an abstract and emotional thing as 'trust'?" Yan Yu's expression was calm, "I don't think it was her who killed, because just now at the scene after I sent her away, I checked her things."

  Owen rubbed his temples, and indeed it was him...

  "There is only one person's toiletries in the bathroom, and the clothes on Zhen Ai's bed are clearly not her style, they belong to the deceased. Because there was no other place to put them, they were all placed on her bed."

  She doesn't live in the dormitory.

  Those who have no contact with each other will not harbor hatred towards one another.

  The printer belonged to the deceased, and Zhen Ai had used it before, indicating that their relationship was not bad. Also, if there was any hatred, due to a competitive mentality, the deceased would not have put his clothes on her bed.

  The only thing in the dormitory that belongs to Zhen Ai is the books on the bookshelf. They are categorized by color and placed on different levels, then arranged alphabetically. She has a very severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. But at a murder scene, she can switch back and forth, with bloodstains all over the place, and in her opinion, there's no beauty to be found."

  In conclusion:

  "If she were to kill someone, it would be in a more elegant and ruthless way." The words carried a hint of admiration and approval.

  Owen was furious: "Are you praising him?"

  "Of course."

  Owen looked up at the sky, this man is beyond salvation.

  "But there's one thing I'm curious about. The government will give some witnesses immunity, and if they kill someone, they won't be punished, I think she has it too." Yan Ruo's eyes were dark as he turned his back to the light, "If she killed someone, what would you do?"

  "Owen retorted: 'She won't. She doesn't have a social circle, all her energy is on her profession. A girl as serious and pure as she is would never go...'"

  "Yes." Xun Yu retorted, "Because she is serious and professional, so she will never kill anyone."

  Owen was stuck, let out a defeated sigh, and said that this person is too serious about logical problems.

  "I also know that the cause and effect of this sentence are unrelated and illogical. But I still believe her. Even if what you said really happened,"

  Owen smiled, without any hesitation: "I will also fulfill my duty, no matter what situation I encounter, no matter who the other person is, I will do my best to protect her safety, even if it means sacrificing my life."

  Her lips moved slightly, and her chin bit out a line of movement.

  He switched between China and the US when he was young, and the frequent changes in language environment made him introverted and not good at socializing. He was even taken by his mother to undergo autism tests three or four times. If he had any friends in the US, it would only be Owen.

  Owen is also a mixed-blood child. His mother was killed and he became determined to become a police officer. Not only did he become a police officer, but he also became the best special agent in the team.

  His conviction has always been firm from then until now.

  Looking out at Zhen Ai through the glass window, he suddenly thought, what are the beliefs of these people who have to disguise their identities all the time?

  Jasmine continued to ask: "May I ask, why aren't you sad or panicked that your roommate was killed?"

  Zhen Ai inexplicably recalled Shu Yu's words and mimicked him by asking in return: "If you asked if it was okay to ask, why did you directly ask without my permission? If you were going to ask anyway, why did you ask for my consent at the beginning?"

  Jasmine: ……

  This tune seems so familiar, why does it feel like I've heard it before?

  Owen's face outside the glass window was a bit grey, and he looked at Yan Sui with a strange expression. The latter remained calm and didn't react in any way.

  Jasmine's face stiffened: "This is a polite idiomatic expression. Can you answer my question now?" She took Zhen Ai's change of subject as an evasion.

  "Sooner or later, everyone will die."

  Jasmine: ……

  What kind of worldview is this? Cold and without sympathy.

  "Describe in detail the situation of the deceased, including their circle of friends."

  "I only know that at the beginning of school, she was very lively and participated in many clubs, such as rock climbing and dancing. She has many friends, especially male friends..."

  "Do you have a boyfriend?"

  "I don't know."

  "Don't know? You're roommates... never mind, is there anything else?"

  "She said she was too busy and quit many clubs, but kept the password deciphering club. Also, she always falls asleep in class."

  Jasmine thought this information was useless and that Zhen Ai was being evasive. "You remember these trivial matters so clearly."

  "I've spoken with her just a few times, it's not hard to remember."

  Jasmine thought she understood, "You two don't get along?" A cold and aloof girl must be envious of the lively and cheerful roommate that the boy likes.

  Zhen Ai stopped responding and slowly leaned back against the chair: "Discuss the rest with my lawyer!"

  Jasmine was taken aback, and she couldn't ask any more questions on the program. Usually, non-locals didn't have such a strong sense of self-protection, and they would cooperate extremely with whatever was asked, but Zhen Ai suddenly refused to speak.

  Owen gestured to the lawyers waiting at the door. The lawyer quickly brought out Zhen Ai and also warned Jia Si Min:

  "I can sue you for misleading speech!"

  Jasmine's face turned gloomy and she didn't utter a word. At this moment, she really hated the American judicial system for giving suspects so much freedom!

  The lawyer took Zhen Ai to register the information.

  Jasmine walked out to see that Yan Su had been in the cubicle all along, and she couldn't help but blush, feeling embarrassed about what had just happened. She then approached Yan Su with a request for consultation. As a special advisor to both the FBI and CIA, everyone naturally wanted to get his more professional opinion as soon as possible to crack the case.

  It was clear that Xun Yu was uninterested, and before he could even decline, Owen pulled him aside and whispered, "You have to participate in this case."

  She looked at him quietly with a "have you taken the wrong medicine or something, it's your turn to order me around" expression.

  "We need to figure out what's going on with Jiang Xin and that password, and whether there are any other passwords. Owen spoke quickly, "This case may have nothing to do with Ai, or maybe Jiang Xin wanted to harm Ai but something unexpected happened, or maybe someone wanted to kill Ai but mistakenly killed Jiang Xin instead. With so many possibilities, we must get to the bottom of it."

  "A look that says 'this small case is something local police are fully capable of solving, no need for me to get involved': 'Oh, let me go handle a case I could've solved 10 years ago, haha, my life is really progressing every day.'"

  Owen corrected with a headache: "'Ten years ago' is not suitable for someone in their twenties to say."

  "Ah, please believe the police."

  "I don't believe it."

  "Don't believe me? Come and see for yourself."

  "It's a local jurisdiction case, non-terrorism and non-public safety, special agents can't intervene." He spoke in a low voice, his hands clenched into fists.

  Yan Suo had his own pride, but at this moment, his only friend was anxious and worried, he couldn't ignore it. He deliberated for a while. Finally turned around to look at Jia Si Min: "Okay."

  Jasmine was delighted and smiled: "You like music, the New York International Music Festival is about to open, my friend is doing planning there, if you want tickets..."

  Yan nodded and took out a checkbook, scribbling his signature as he handed it to her: "I'll take four, thank you!" He then walked away.

  Jasmine stared blankly at the check in her hand, this wasn't what she meant!

  Ouwen followed Shenyu out, shaking his head, "Is there really someone so stupid?"