"You must be mistaken!" When Chen Chen heard from Officer Coleman that Xia Nan was the prime suspect in Professor Albert's murder, he found it utterly ridiculous.
"Mr. Chen, she is just a suspect at the moment. We need to know where Xia Nan is. Please cooperate." Officer Coleman maintained his cold demeanor.
Equally cold was the glaring white incandescent light on the ceiling of the interrogation room, its brightness blinding. Chen Chen subconsciously undid the top button of his shirt. The custom-made collar, tailored to fit the contours of his neck, felt so tight he could hardly breathe.
"After leaving the hotel yesterday afternoon, I haven't been able to contact her," Chen Chen tried to control his emotions, but his voice quivered noticeably. "Are you sure she went to see Professor Albert?"
"Yes, Mr. Chen, we saw Xia Nan enter Professor Albert's lab in the security footage at his door. This was found at the crime scene."
Coleman handed over a transparent bag containing a phone with a blue casing. Chen Chen instantly recognized it as Xia Nan's. On the inner side of the custom blue case was a photo of the two of them at Stanford Library. No wonder he couldn't get a hold of her, but Xia Nan wasn't one to be so careless.
"What's the relationship between Xia Nan and Professor Albert?" Coleman continued his questioning.
"Professor Albert is my mentor, and Xia Nan is my girlfriend. During my PhD studies, they met a few times, and that's it," Chen Chen wracked his brain, unable to think of any other interactions between Xia Nan and Albert. Yet, why would Professor Albert, who had been in seclusion for 5 years and even refused his visits, open his door to Xia Nan?
"Why did she seek out Professor Albert?" Coleman's tone remained steady.
This question had been haunting Chen Chen since he learned of Xia Nan's appearance at Professor Albert's lab. Why did Xia Nan visit him and hide it? When they first started dating, they had agreed to give each other space. Sometimes Xia Nan would disappear for days, and Chen would never pry if she chose not to explain. It was a testament to their trust. Now, however, this trust rendered him incredibly uneasy and even slightly neurotic. After a long pause, he uttered, "I don't know, she never told me."
"You're her boyfriend, how could you not know?" Coleman was visibly unsatisfied with Chen Chen's response.
"I respect her privacy immensely. Do you think you know everything about your wife?" Faced with Coleman's skepticism, Chen Chen's voice rose. Coleman gestured for him to remain calm.
"We hope you can provide some clues to help us locate Xia Nan soon," Coleman drew a circle on his notebook. The inquiry seemed to have circled back to the start. "Does she have any friends or usual spots in San Francisco?"
"She's been missing for almost 30 hours! I want to find her more desperately than you do, but I genuinely don't know. Her closest friend in San Francisco is Emily. I called her last night, but she didn't even know Xia Nan was in the US. I hope you can find her quickly. Can't the police use street surveillance to trace her movements? I'm sure she didn't harm Professor Albert. Now, I'm genuinely worried about her safety," Chen Chen said all in one breath, looking gloomy and anxious. A dreadful thought flashed across his mind: What if the murderer found Xia Nan? Chen didn't dare to think further.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, Xia Nan vanished from the surveillance footage," said Coleman. Seeing he wasn't getting more useful information about Xia Nan from Chen, Coleman shifted gears, "As Professor Albert's student, do you know of anyone who might bear a grudge against him?"
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Slumped back in his chair, the news about Xia Nan disappearing from the footage seemed to confirm Chen's suspicions. He wondered who could bear such a vendetta against Professor Albert to murder him. Chen's brain was stuck, more complicated than any research he had undertaken. Remembering the stitches he saw on Professor Albert's jaw in the morgue, a name faintly echoed in his mind — Will Goss. If Albert had any enemies, Will was the only one Chen could think of. But that was a decade ago.
Back then, he and Will were pursuing their Ph.D.s under Professor Albert at Stanford University. Will was Chen Chen's senior. They admired each other's talents and became close friends. At that time, Will was deeply engrossed in the study of neural control of the human brain. However, Professor Albert rejected this topic, and sternly told Will that he had to cease his research immediately.
Will believed that the research was significant for the treatment of human mental illnesses, but due to Professor Albert's authority, he had to stop. Chen Chen accidentally discovered that Will was still working on it secretly, and Will asked him to keep it a secret. Out of curiosity, Chen Chen got involved in Will's experiment. They implanted a micro-controller in a rat's brain, successfully controlling its behavior. This made Chen Chen realize why Professor Albert had stopped the research, but Will seemed particularly excited.
The clandestine research was discovered by Professor Albert, who was furious. He made an inhumane decision to expel Will. Will believed that Chen Chen had betrayed his secret to Professor Albert, and from then on, they became sworn enemies.
It couldn't be Will! That was ten years ago, and moreover, Will is now doing well at Nofi Pharmaceuticals. Chen Chen tried hard to suppress this ridiculous thought, but more doubts surfaced.
Chen Chen remembered that Will didn't show up at last night's dinner. Even though Will was the top candidate for the award ceremony today, he was also absent. It was very strange. What's even more bizarre is that this wasn't just a simple homicide case. Chen Chen speculated that the killer had stolen Professor Albert's brain. If it were just a regular killer, why would they want Professor Albert's brain?
"Did you think of something?" Seeing Chen Chen lost in thought, the experienced Detective Coleman felt it was time to intervene.
"No," Chen Chen blurted out. His habit was to remain silent about suspicions until they were confirmed.
"Keeping secrets won't benefit Xiannan," Coleman said, leaning forward to look Chen Chen in the eye.
"Is Professor Albert's brain missing?" Chen Chen asked in a low voice.
Taken aback by the sudden question, Coleman paused for a moment. The theft of Professor Albert's brain was a detail not to be disclosed to the public, and it had already alarmed the FBI. How could he know?
"Mr. Chen, in this room, you don't have the right to question," Coleman said coldly.
"I believe you really should answer my question," Chen Chen pressed. "Am I right?"
"No!" Coleman's answer was firm, a result of years of professional training to speak even untruths convincingly.
"You shouldn't hide it. To extract a brain from the jaw, not many can do it!"
"Then who can?"
"You need to investigate that."
Chen Chen didn't want to mention Will's name. After all, this was just a guess based on a stitch, and mentioning it would seem far-fetched. But he had to find Will immediately. Even if it was just a guess, he couldn't let it go.
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Chen. But Professor Albert's brain is not missing! I need to return to the crime scene," Coleman decided to end the conversation, sensing Chen Chen's intentional concealment.
Detective Coleman's emphasis on the fact that Professor Albert's brain was not missing made Chen Chen even more certain of his suspicions.
Could the killer's motive have been Professor Albert's brain? As a neuroscientist, Chen Chen couldn't figure out why someone would want to steal a brain. The only similar incident he could think of was when Einstein's brain was stolen.
In 1955, 76-year-old Einstein passed away. During the autopsy, the pathologist Harvey took Einstein's brain. For over two decades, Harvey didn't contribute any significant research. The brain returned to Princeton 43 years after it was taken.
"However, Einstein's brain had 73% more glial cells than the average person's. Mine has slightly less, but it's close," Professor Albert had once boasted about his brain, likening it to Einstein's.
Could the professor have been killed for brain research, leading to the removal of his brain? This possibility sent chills down Chen Chen's spine.
Exiting the interrogation room, Chen Chen checked his phone. He received a message from Angelica saying that Katrina seemed to have contracted the Super Brainwave.
"Send her to the Nofi Medical Center, they have a treatment!" Chen Chen called Angelica to apologize for not being able to be there.
Now, he needed to find Will and get answers. If Will was the killer, then Xia Nan might be in his hands.