Chapter 19: Clara, Be Serious

Leo pressed his thin lips together, his voice deep and calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. "Routine investigation. We need to re-verify some details of your uncle’s car accident from two years ago."

Jace froze for a moment, then frowned. "Wasn't that case closed? The killer was diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to take it out on society. My uncle just happened to be the innocent victim. I heard the perpetrator’s condition worsened in prison and he passed away a few months later."

Leo replied, "Old case review, standard procedure."

Jace nodded. "What do you want to know, Officer?"

Leo flipped through the case file in his hand. "When your uncle was renting the villa, was he close to anyone?"

"No. My uncle was a quiet man; he preferred to keep to himself."

After questioning Jace further, Leo saw him out of the station.

Somehow, Jace’s whereabouts had been leaked, and a crowd of fans had suddenly gathered outside the police station.

"Jace! We love you!"

"Oppa! Ahhh!"

"Our baby! Mama loves you! Get some rest, see you at the concert!"

There were "girlfriend fans" and even "mama fans."

Jace smiled and waved to them, telling them to go home and rest early.

Not long after Jace left, the Criminal Investigation Squad’s official website was swamped by his fans.

—

Why did you summon our Jace to the station? He’s been working non-stop, his eyes are bloodshot from exhaustion. As public servants, do you have any empathy?

—

What couldn't be said over the phone? Why make him travel all this way? Do you think our Jace is an easy target?

—

Looking for trouble where there is none. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

"Holy cow! Jace’s fans are insane!" Rocky stared at the screen in disbelief as the official site was practically "slaughtered."

Leo’s jaw was tight. "Rocky, disable the comments. Ignore them."

Leo had the technicians pull the surveillance footage from the meeting room.

He watched the replay.

When Jace mentioned his fans, the gratitude in his eyes was like a thin layer of ice—fleeting, but Leo caught it.

The corpse in the wall, Daryl Ji dying in a car accident, the killer being a terminal cancer patient acting out of spite...

It was all too convenient.

And yet, everyone involved was dead, leaving no witnesses to testify.

"Rocky, get me a comprehensive file on Jace."

Clara had worked through the entire night.

Leo arrived carrying breakfast. "Is the autopsy report out?"

Clara nodded. "After the dissection, I found the stomach contents were nearly zero and the intestines were empty. Combined with the bone density tests, it’s clear the deceased was in a state of long-term starvation and severe malnutrition."

She handed Leo a pathology report. "There are multiple old lacerations in the soft tissue of the lower body. These weren't caused by a single violent event, but by repeated, chronic trauma."

Leo’s expression turned heavy. "You’re saying the victim suffered long-term sexual abuse before she died?"

Clara nodded. "Yes. Chronic starvation caused her bodily functions to fail, and the persistent abuse accelerated the process. Simply put, she was starved to death while being systematically abused."

Leo’s brow furrowed, a layer of frost hardening in his dark eyes.

For a young woman, this was beyond cruel.

"Captain, Forensic Ye, we’ve completed the 3D facial reconstruction based on the skull."

Leo and Clara immediately went to check.

On the computer screen, the girl had a delicate, clean face with refined features, looking innocent and kind.

Thinking about what such a girl had endured, Clara felt a heavy weight of sorrow in her heart.

The reconstruction was uploaded to the missing persons database.

Soon, a match popped up.

蕎 (Kyo) Lin, female, twenty-one years old, raised in an orphanage.

Two years ago, a girl named Sunny Zhou had reported Kyo Lin missing.

Sunny worked at the Nightfall Bar. Leo and Clara headed there together.

Clara sat in the car eating the breakfast Leo had bought.

Having not slept all night, her beautiful eyes were slightly bloodshot.

She finished two steamed buns and half a cup of soy milk before she was full.

Leo glanced at her. "Catch some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there."

Clara nodded, lowered her seat, and closed her eyes.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, she began to dream.

She dreamt of a violent argument with Arthur right before she discovered his affair.

"I’m cured now, we can have sex, but I really don't want to touch you! You spend all day touching dead people, your hands are covered in filth. If you don't quit being a forensic doctor, I won't sleep with you!"

"No matter how much you scrub or how much perfume you spray, the moment I get close, I think of you touching those corpses."

"Either you quit and stay home as Mrs. Fu, or you work at the Fu Group. Otherwise, we can't be together. I don't like a woman who only knows how to deal with bodies. I find it disgusting!"

"Forensic Ye?"

Cold sweat broke out on Clara’s forehead. Her fingers were tightly intertwined, and her breath came in ragged shudders.

Trapped in the nightmare, she suddenly heard a deep, cold voice calling her.

She snapped her eyes open and met Leo’s dark, fathomless gaze.

She blinked, realizing she was still in Leo’s car.

Leo had pulled over to the side of the road.

He looked at her with a deep frown. "Another nightmare?"

Clara hadn't fully pulled herself out of the dream. That feeling of being called "disgusting" felt like an invisible hand squeezing her heart, making it hard to breathe.

"Do you find me disgusting?" she asked, her voice raspy.

Leo’s frown deepened. "What?"

Clara pressed her pale lips together. "My ex-husband said I deal with corpses all day. He found me disgusting."

Leo noticed the faint mist of tears in her eyes. "How is that disgusting? Don't I deal with corpses just as often?"

His expression was stern and righteous. "If there weren't people like us, who would seek justice for the wrongfully dead?"

Clara’s eyelashes fluttered as she sat up.

Leo’s features remained rigid as he continued with an air of authority, "Your profession is sacred. What you do is great. The person who finds you disgusting is the one who is blind, unable to distinguish between true filth and true purity."

"He minds the smell of death on your hands, yet fails to see the truth in your fingertips. He minds that you stand by a cold autopsy table, yet fails to see how many injustices you've righted."

Leo looked directly into her eyes, his words echoing with conviction. "The person who thinks you are dirty isn't worthy of your integrity."

Clara stared at Leo. She hadn't expected this usually cold, taciturn man to say such words to comfort her.

Her nose felt a bit stingy, and her eyes burned.

Oh no, I actually want to cry.

She tilted her head back slightly, forcing the tears back.

Once she regained her composure, she looked at Leo again, a seductive smile playing on her lips. "Captain, do you know what I want to do right now?"

Leo stared at her small face. "What?"

"I really want to have a wild night with you."

A crack appeared in Leo’s cold, disciplined facade. "Clara Ye, can you stay serious for more than three seconds?"

Clara was telling the truth.

A man with his looks, his body, his stamina, and such a solid moral compass—who wouldn't want to sleep with him?

"What’s not serious? Two consenting adults with needs and feelings—can't we just say it? It’s not like you haven't done me before—"

Before she could finish, the man started the engine and the car roared away.

He slid his sunglasses onto his high-bridged nose, his profile sharp and unforgiving.

Clara watched his cold demeanor and blinked her beautiful eyes. "Since I met you, you’ve become the primary source material for my erotic dreams."

She poked his muscular arm gently. "Captain, have you ever dreamed about me?"

Leo: "...No."

Clara: "If you haven't, why did your Adam's apple just move?"

Leo looked at the slender white finger pointing at his throat. He took one hand off the wheel and gripped her hand tightly.

His palm was broad and hot. Being held like that, she could clearly feel the thin calluses on his skin.

"Captain, you’re hurting me."

Leo pressed his tongue against his back teeth. "Clara Ye, stop being so provocative."

Clara: "Why? Can't handle it when I am?"

Leo: "..."