The reading room was crowded with fifty or sixty people, and it was dark. Seven or eight photographers were frantically taking pictures with their cameras. The central air conditioner was blowing cold air, but it had little effect.
Enthusiastic fans were shocked by the sudden news and looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Jian Jing changed her standing position—her feet hurt from running up and down in high heels today—and held the microphone, answering calmly, "There were indeed some unexpected events at the book signing event, but I cannot disclose the questions you asked without the police's permission."
"Are you unwilling to disclose it, or do you not want to disclose it?" the reporter kept on asking.
Jian Jing said: "Cooperating with the police is the duty of every citizen."
"Yes. But," he emphasized, "I heard that the deceased was your reader, and today is your book signing. Does this mean there is some hidden secret?"
Jian Jing glanced at Kang Mucheng.
He shook his head.
"I can't answer your questions without the police's permission." Jian Jing countered, "Mr. Reporter, are you instigating me to break the rules?"
The reporter laughed: "My professional ethics require me to tell the truth to the public. Mr. Jian, you keep saying that you need the police's permission, but did you really call the police? As far as I know, you and Jinwu Publishing House suppressed the news and did not inform the police, so you certainly won't get permission."
Keeping secrets is understandable, but covering up the news... doesn't seem like a guilty conscience. Many people whispered and cast questioning glances at Jian Jing.
However, Jian Jing did not show any sign of panic.
She glanced at a few faces thoughtfully: "As far as you know, four words are not evidence."
"I need to protect the informant." The reporter smiled slyly, "to prevent your revenge. After all, he is under a lot of pressure to reveal the truth."
"Words are not enough. If you want to correct me, you need at least witnesses. And without even a witness..." She shook her head, looking like she had nothing to say.
The reporter paused for a moment, then came up with another plan: "Since Teacher Jian refuses to admit it, then, do you dare to call the police in front of everyone?"
This move was so clever that Kang Mucheng's expression changed instantly.
He knew these reporters too well. They didn't care whether she called the police or not. As long as she was led by the nose, they would win. Otherwise, if they didn't end the current scene, the book signing would be a failure.
Kang Mucheng suppressed his anger and prepared to go on stage to answer for Jian Jing.
Jian Jing noticed his action and made a gesture to stop him: "There is no need for this."
"Why?" the reporter smiled triumphantly.
"Why are you asking this? Repeatedly calling the police will take up resources." A cold voice suddenly rang out at the door. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw only a neat police uniform and a pair of long legs.
Ji Feng strode onto the stage and snatched the microphone from Jian Jing's hand: "Do you know how many emergency calls the command center receives every day? Making one more meaningless call can take up another person's life."
The reporter was well-informed and was not frightened by him: "Who are you? The person in charge of the bookstore? Teacher Jian Jing's agent?"
"Heping City Criminal Investigation Detachment, Ji Feng." Ji Feng unfolded his police officer ID and looked at him expressionlessly.
The reporter was visibly stunned, but he reacted quickly and asked immediately: "As far as I know, the body was found two hours ago. Why did the police only respond now?"
"According to regulations, the police response time for non-emergency cases is three hours. We received the report at around 8 o'clock. It is now 10:20, which is within the time limit." Ji Feng said coldly, "Of course, there is another reason."
The reporter took the bait: "What's the reason?"
"With the help of Teacher Jian Jing, we have already identified the suspect in advance. Currently, the suspect has surrendered himself and confessed to the crime." Compared with the reporter's ambiguous "according to" and "heard", Ji Feng's words are undoubtedly more conclusive and powerful.
There was an uproar at the scene, with cameras and mobile phones all working frantically.
Send the Buddha to the west, send the favor to the home. Ji Feng stretched out his hand to Jian Jing in a serious manner: "I represent the police and express my gratitude for your help."
Jian Jing cooperated and stretched out her hand, shaking his: "I'm just fulfilling my duty."
After a short pause, she lowered her voice and asked, "Are you tired?"
"Get out." Ji Feng let go and winked at her.
She understood, said a few polite words, and moved up the time of the lottery, and only then was she able to get away.
The two went to a secluded place to talk.
"Let's surrender." Ji Feng said directly, "If you don't surrender, she will die."
Jian Jing was startled and regretted it: "Hey, Lu Weiguo!"
"Just thought of it?" Ji Feng rolled his eyes. "When I heard that you knew the identity of the murderer and were going to talk to her, I guessed that something might happen. Fortunately, I arrived in time. Otherwise, good things would turn into bad things and you would be in trouble."
Jian Jing smiled bitterly.
If Lu Weiguo seeks revenge on Manager Sun, there will be bloodshed at the signing event and the result will be the same.
"Thank you so much, you helped me a lot." She said sincerely.
"That's not necessary. I should thank you." Ji Feng smiled. "Sun Bing has already thought about escaping. If it's a few hours later, she would have run away. I have to apply for a warrant and find someone to chase her. It will take a lot of effort. You solved the case for me as soon as possible. It's a great help."
Jian Jing raised the corners of her lips unconsciously, the turbid air in her chest dissipated, and her whole body felt refreshed.
She found that she had gradually fallen in love with this feeling, which was so enjoyable and no less than the pleasure of being surrounded by fans just now.
However, she still had her composure and remained calm: "Why did Manager Sun want to kill someone?"
There was nothing to hide, and Ji Feng readily explained the whole story.
At the beginning of last year, Sun Bing was preparing to get married. However, her parents took away her betrothal gift, leaving her with a shortfall in wedding expenses. The man's family could not accept this and proposed that they break up.
Sun Bing loved her boyfriend very much and refused to split up. In order to raise money, she thought of using public funds. In April, Lu Xue was transferred to the purchasing department. She discovered her actions through clues and secretly collected evidence.
On the day of the incident, Sun Bing was caught by Lu Xue. She begged Lu Xue to let her go, but Lu Xue wanted to use this incident to bring down her competitor and increase her salary, so she refused.
The two of them had an argument and pushed each other, and Lu Xue fell down. Her right arm was in a cast, so she couldn't keep her balance and hit her head on the corner of the table, unfortunately dying.
Sun Bing didn't dare to call an ambulance, and was even more afraid that the truth would be revealed and he would lose his future and happiness, so he made up his mind, cut off the power and turned off the surveillance, dragged the body to the flower bed, and buried it overnight.
He then forged a resignation letter, pretending that Lu Xue had resigned, and concealed the truth.
Over the past year, she has been worried about being exposed. In particular, in order to cover up the stench of the rotting corpse, she once poured chemicals into the flowerbed, causing the planted plants to die quickly and she was almost discovered.
She had to change into similar products overnight and re-change the soil to cover it up.
To this day, many employees in the bookstore still think that she buys a lot of gardening supplies because she likes to grow flowers.
[Task Name: Human Bone Incident at Book Signing Event (Completed)]
[Task Reward: 20 Basic Courage Points]
[Note: Courage can be used to draw cards (normal), consuming 5 points each time]
I solved the case, but the book signing event has to go on.
The readers were very enthusiastic, and the queue stretched to the stairs. At first, Jian Jing still had the energy to chat with the readers, but later she became numb and could not even recognize the word "Jian Jing".
She signed mechanically while her mind wandered.
It seems like something has been overlooked.
what is it then
"Teacher Jian, a reader gave you a bouquet of flowers." The planner handed the rose to her with a smile, "He was too embarrassed to come up, so he asked me to pass it on."
Jian Jing looked up and took the opportunity to stretch her sore neck: "Okay, thank you for your help."
The moment the hand touched the bouquet, wet drops of water splashed on the back of the hand, and lines of bright red liquid flowed down the flower stems, outlining seductive lines on the skin.
The planner was stunned, his eyes filled with horror.
"Your hand!" The reader next to her screamed before her, "What is this?"
"It looks like paint." Jian Jing didn't expect that she would be so calm and joked with them, "It seems that this reader was fooled by the merchant. However, the value of the gift is not important. Let's keep it a secret for him."
She sat there, and hid the bouquet of flowers under the long table. When the velvet cloth was covered, nothing could be seen.
The riot soon died down.
Jian Jing remained very calm and continued to sign autographs, with nothing unusual happening. It was not until the signing session was over that she took out the rose from under the long table and examined it carefully.
This is a bouquet of roses, but it has been dyed red with blood.
The blood dried and solidified on the petals, which looked seductively beautiful yet bloody and disgusting. In the center of the bouquet, there was a hard card with the following words:
"I'll come back for you, sweetheart."
A heart was drawn above the word "you".
It was exactly the same as what I had seen on the poster at the door before.
She felt a little sick. Jian Jing pulled out a tissue and wiped her fingers vigorously, as if trying to wipe off the stickiness on her skin.
"What happened?" Kang Mucheng frowned in disgust when he saw Rose. "What is this?"
The planner knew he had made a mistake and said awkwardly: "I met someone downstairs. She is a reader of Teacher Jian and asked me to help send flowers to her."
The rose was wrapped very well in cellophane paper, and she didn't notice anything unusual at the time. Who would have thought that it would bleed after just a few steps.
"Don't blame her, the flowers are very well made." Jian Jing thought, "Is the store manager here? I want to take another look at the surveillance footage from this morning."
She helped the bookstore solve Lu Xue's case, and the store manager was willing to do her a favor.
Jian Jing asked to check the surveillance footage at the gate around 7 o'clock.
The first person photographed was the event manager. The door opened at 6:47, and at 6:55, a hand-length black shadow appeared on the sign at the door, but the person was not photographed.
The man avoided the camera, walked up to the billboard and drew a heart on it with a marker.
The surveillance camera didn't capture the person, only a hand.
The left hand, judging from the skeleton, seems to be a male, with a "乄" shaped scar on the back of the hand.
"Are these flowers given to you by this person?" Jian Jing asked the planner.
The planner shook his head: "I didn't notice it. He was wearing a mask and holding flowers in his hands. I didn't see it clearly."
"Don't take strangers' things casually in the future." Kang Mucheng scolded, "Today it's flowers, who knows what it will be next time."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kang." The planner shook his hands and repeated uneasily, "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."
"This won't happen again." Kang Mucheng didn't want to say anything more and asked Jian Jing, "Do you want to call the police?"
Jian Jing lowered her head and sent a WeChat message: "No need, it's just a bouquet of flowers, it's not even a prank, the police won't file a case."
Kang Mucheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "You really didn't..." He hesitated to speak.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing." Kang Mucheng turned his eyes away and stared at the roses. "If you call the police, they can upgrade the security system if they determine that you are in danger. I think it's better to go there."
Jian Jing thought for a while and said, "Wait a moment."
"Waiting for what?"
"Lü Weiguo's testimony."
Kang Mucheng was stunned.
"If it's just a stalker, or a hater who hates me, there's nothing to worry about." Jian Jing tapped the table with her fingers, "But if it's not..."
That's a bit perverted.