181: Big hammer 80, small hammer 20
Ye Lin took a deep breath, calming himself down. Since forensics couldn't find anything, he would have to verify it himself.
He picked up the large pliers and struck the wall, immediately creating a dent.
"Lin Zi, what are you doing? Don't be impulsive." Yu Haifeng and Old Zhao, seeing Ye Lin like this, feared he would act recklessly and hurried to stop him.
Everyone else also looked at him with concern, but they didn't notice that Ye Lin wasn't looking at them, but at Chen Bin.
As Ye Lin smashed the wall, Chen Bin's mouth twitched, then he revealed a tense yet disdainful expression. It was hard to say why, but it was very strange.
"It's fine, I'm not hitting anyone, I just want to look around," Ye Lin said calmly.
Seeing that Ye Lin's words were calm, the others figured he was alright and let go of him.
Ye Lin took the large pliers directly to the wall on the balcony. He had felt that this wall was problematic that night, that it must have been altered.
So, he took the large pliers and smashed the wall twice with great force.
Under the powerful blows, two pits were created in the wall, revealing the cement underneath.
Ye Lin leaned in and examined it closely.
He had previously suspected this wall was newly built, but from the two pits now, the top layer was new paint, while the layer beneath was the old paint from before.
Two layers of paint indicated one thing: the wall hadn't been altered, only repainted.
"Officer Ye, this wall had a lot of cracks, so I just painted it. Don't take your frustration out on the wall if you can't find anything," Chen Bin said sarcastically from the side.
"Lin Zi, if it doesn't work, just let it go. We'll investigate further," Yu Haifeng comforted him.
"That's right, as police officers, it's impossible to catch everyone every time. We're bound to fail once," Zhao Jianfeng also came over to comfort Ye Lin.
Ye Lin looked at everyone. Their gazes held no complaints, only concern.
He smiled slightly, perhaps he was too hasty. He looked at Yu Haifeng: "Team Leader Yu, can we rely on that fingernail?"
Yu Haifeng shook his head in a troubled manner. Not to mention that the fingernail was found solely by Ye Lin, even if he believed it, others might not.
Even if it had been found during today's search, what then? Chen Bin could simply say he didn't know, and it wouldn't be enough to convict him.
Ye Lin sighed, pursed his lips, and prepared to accept this failure.
"Comrade, are you done investigating? I need to go home and cook," Just then, Aunt Zhang's voice came from the doorway.
With so many people standing at the door, she was a bit hesitant to go upstairs.
Yu Haifeng saw that it was already 5:30 PM and they shouldn't disturb people's lives, so he quickly said, "Aunt, we're done investigating, it's alright."
Aunt Zhang responded, walked up the stairs, looked inside, and happened to see Ye Lin standing there with the large pliers. She muttered, "Always renovating and investigating cases, so many things."
Yu Haifeng gave an awkward smile. There was nothing he could do; they had indeed disturbed her, so he could only offer a conciliatory smile.
Just as the aunt was about to open her door and go in, Ye Lin suddenly said, "Wait."
Aunt Zhang paused, "Are you calling me?"
Ye Lin quickly said, "No, Aunt, I wasn't calling you. You should hurry home and cook, it's getting late."
The old lady quietly said, "You people are all so strange."
With that, she went inside.
"Then, Lin Zi, let's pack up and go," Yu Haifeng said, his spirits not very high.
"Team Leader Yu, I just said, wait," Ye Lin repeated again.
"You still want to investigate?" Yu Haifeng looked at Ye Lin, puzzled.
"Yes, there's one more place," Ye Lin said, "That aunt just reminded me."
Hearing that Ye Lin still wanted to investigate, everyone looked over.
"When we were downstairs earlier, the aunt said this family renovated but didn't live here. I didn't pay attention to it at the time."
"Just now, the aunt mentioned 'renovation' again, which means one thing: this house has been renovated."
"But look, besides that one wall being painted, where else are there signs of renovation?"
"I'm thinking, if it was just painting, the aunt wouldn't necessarily remember it so vividly. There must have been something else."
"In this room, the most likely place to have been renovated is there!"
Ye Lin pointed his right hand towards the bay window in the second bedroom.
"That bay window? Isn't that normal?" Yu Haifeng said.
Ye Lin smiled without answering, instead turning to ask Chen Bin: "Chief Chen, do you think it's normal?"
Chen Bin's face had already turned pale, and the fingers holding his cigarette trembled slightly.
"What's abnormal about a bay window? Who doesn't have a bay window in their home?" He was still being stubborn.
"You do, but don't you think your bay window is too abrupt?" Ye Lin said calmly, "A bay window in a place with such a poor view, with no drawers underneath, unable to see the scenery or provide storage—don't you think it's useless?"
"I like it. What law stipulates that a bay window must be used for viewing scenery? I just like having such a ledge," Chen Bin began to argue.
"Do you like the ledge, or are you trying to cover up what's inside?" Ye Lin sneered.
"What's inside? You... you shouldn't talk nonsense," Chen Bin was already panicking, his words starting to stutter.
By this point, if Yu Haifeng still couldn't see the clues, then he had been a criminal investigator for nothing.
He turned to Zhao Jianfeng and said, "Old Zhao, get a sledgehammer and smash it open!"
Chen Bin became anxious upon hearing this, rushing forward to grab Yu Haifeng, and sternly said, "Yu Haifeng, don't go too far! Who gave you permission to smash up my house?"
"I have a search warrant, so I can search," Yu Haifeng shook off Chen Bin, and loudly ordered, "Find a hammer, smash it! I'll take responsibility if anything happens."
With Team Leader Yu's command, the Comrades immediately sprang into action.
Zhao Jianfeng went downstairs and, from who knows where, got a large sledgehammer specifically used for smashing walls on construction sites.
As soon as the hammer appeared, Ye Lin was momentarily stunned. It was such a familiar scene; he recalled the classic line from his previous life: "Sledgehammer 80, small hammer 20."
"I'll do it," Ye Lin snatched the sledgehammer without explanation and swung it at the concrete bay window.
One swing down, "80!"
Another swing down, "80!"
Everyone was astonished. Was Ye Lin possessed? What was he doing yelling "80, 80"?
But Ye Lin himself found it interesting; it truly felt special to swing a hammer while calling out prices.
As Ye Lin's hammer fell, Chen Bin couldn't hold on any longer. His legs gave out, and he almost collapsed to the ground, but Zhao Jianfeng quickly supported him.
Ye Lin's strength wasn't originally very great, but with the system's strength attribute card and the added power, his smashing still felt very powerful.
With a thud, the entire building shook with one swing. A large chunk of cement was smashed off the concrete bay window, and debris scattered, frightening several forensic colleagues who quickly ran out.