"Yes." Jian Jing admitted straightforwardly, "This was my first reaction. Was the body really Dan? Could it be that someone wanted me to testify, thinking that Dan was already dead at 12:30. So the crime was committed before that time? But the truth is the opposite. He was still alive at the time, and the murderer acted after me."
"But according to the witch's diary, the ceremony must be held at 0 o'clock," said Zhang Xueer.
Jian Jing: "This is a clue I just got this afternoon. Now I have basically ruled out Xiaodao-kun as a suspect."
She sat up straight, stretched, and continued.
"And the seventh point is what I said at the beginning. Maybe the murderer left a clue on the head, so he had to chop off the head. Chopping off the witch's head was to cover this up."
Wu Lie asked: "Then which one do you think is most likely?"
"Witchcraft concerns, covering up clues, and provocative showmanship, all three of these make sense." She pondered, "So, to doubt the first point, we need to analyze each person's situation in detail. The second point requires us to go back to the scene. The third point depends on how well we understand each other."
It is now 7 o'clock in the afternoon, and there are still 3 hours before the voting starts.
Jian Jing: "Let's not waste time. I plan to go to the scene to take a look. What about you?"
Park Min-chul: "I want to talk to everyone individually."
"My head is about to explode. I'd better go to the deck to get some fresh air first." Liu Xiuzhi smiled bitterly, "It's a mess right now."
Li Kangna: "Well, let's just do our own things."
Everyone scattered like birds and beasts.
--
Liu Xiuzhi came to the deck. It was already dark and the starry sky was shining brightly above her head.
He sat down at the bar by the pool and ordered a martini.
The waiter brought the tray, leaned sideways to block the camera, and his lips moved silently a few times.
Liu Xiuzhi nodded calmly.
Ishikawa Keito walked to the end of the corridor and waved to the cameraman.
The cameraman understood and temporarily interrupted the live broadcast to play a commercial instead.
Ishikawa Keito walked into the bathroom and bumped into a staff member.
"Mr. Ishikawa, I really like your performance." The staff member said enthusiastically, "Can you sign an autograph for me?"
Ishikawa Keito was a little surprised, but he quickly agreed: "Of course."
The staff handed over the prepared paper and pen.
He picked up a pen and suddenly saw a word written on the paper, and paused abruptly. After just a second, he wrote his name as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you," he said.
Staff: "I am Japanese and hope my country can win."
Ishikawa Keito: “I will.”
--
buffet.
Li Kangna was holding a plate and waiting for steak. When he saw Wu Lie coming, he smiled and said, "I'm so hungry that my brain is not functioning properly. Do you want some?"
"Of course, one serving each." Wu Lie said to the chef.
While waiting, the two chatted.
"This morning's xiaolongbao was really good. I wonder if there will be any tomorrow." Wu Lie said, "When I was a kid, I went to my grandmother's house, and the thing that left the deepest impression on me was the xiaolongbao."
Lee Kangna: "It's hard to find authentic Chinese food in the United States."
The two of them were chatting about food, and the cameraman would not follow them all the time, as that would be too tiring. In the restaurant or conference room, they would generally choose a fixed lens and only use a few camera positions so that they could take a break.
Now, the photographer would just make a gesture to them and sit far away, keeping a certain distance while broadcasting live.
Li Kangna glanced at the lens and mouthed something.
Wu Lie smiled and nodded helplessly.
Li Kangna didn't say anything and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened: "I usually make it at home, but it doesn't always taste as good as before."
"I know a good Chinese restaurant in New York..." Wu Lie also showed no surprise.
--
At half past eight, the highlight begins.
The three guests gathered in the conference room, and the atmosphere was as heavy as the Last Supper.
"Ahem." Park Min-chul habitually spoke first. "Everyone should have some ideas in mind now. I suggest that everyone take turns to speak. Who goes first?"
He looked at Jian Jing, but she seemed distracted for some reason and had no intention of saying anything.
Li Kangna spoke first: "Let me tell you what I think. The motive for the murder this time is undoubtedly the reincarnation technique. From the clues we have collected, I think the murderer is the one chosen by Dan. Considering the infant mortality rate, I exclude children. The only ones left are me, my third son, and my nephew.
"I know I'm not. My nephew's behavior is a bit strange. He said he didn't go to find Dan. I didn't believe it at first. I didn't think about it carefully. If Dan chose him, he would definitely make him the heir so that he could take over later and it would also make him lower his vigilance. But we didn't get any clues in this regard.
"So I think the probability of having a third son is still the highest. It is only natural for a father to pass the throne to his son. As for the theory of fate, he has always been the one saying it. We have no evidence, so I cannot believe it."
These words were concise, powerful, logical, and convincing, and were a good start.
"My thoughts are similar to Li's." Wu Lie said, "What I care about most is actually the beheading. Although Teacher Jian and Xiaodao said a long list of things about headless corpses, they are all too... how should I put it, unrealistic. I think the murderer's purpose of beheading is very simple, to vent his anger. He hates Dan, and among all the people, the only one who hates him very much and is suspected to be a container is Lao San."
Park Min-chul received two votes, and the pressure suddenly increased.
He had to defend himself: "I am not the murderer. I just thought about it carefully. The murderer beheaded to prevent witchcraft. Even the witch's story proves that he does not know everything, but only has a partial understanding. One thing is certain, he knows the secret room, so the scope is narrowed down to family members.
"Teacher Jian once reminded me that the murderer might not be the container itself, but someone who deeply loves the container, or someone with a vested interest in the murderer.
"Please allow me to help you recall that there are witchcraft-related props in the rooms of the wife, the eldest daughter-in-law, and the second daughter. They are people who only know a little about it. So, after Dan's death, will the wife's interests be damaged? No, on the contrary, she can be with her lover. What about the second daughter? No, Dan will not choose her or his son-in-law. The child has not been born yet, and the risk is too great. Therefore, in the eyes of the eldest daughter-in-law, the most likely person is her husband.
"If the eldest son turned out to be Dan, she would have no problem accepting it emotionally. Moreover, the couple had been childless for many years but did not divorce, proving that they were deeply in love. She wanted to protect her husband and maintain her own status, so it's not surprising that she chose to kill Dan."
Take a breath and continue.
"As for the beheading, I agree with Professor Jian's guess that the murderer wanted to cover up the evidence. If he died of suffocation, strangulation would require strength and it would be easy to leave wounds on the back of the hand. Strangulation is more reasonable, and this may leave some marks on the neck - a ring. Only married people wear rings on their hands."
Park Min-chul looked at Valeria's finger, on which was a huge diamond.
The eldest daughter-in-law got the first vote.
Valeria had never expected that she would become a suspect, and she immediately defended herself: "I think this accusation is totally unreasonable."
She gathered her thoughts and said, "My interests are in my marriage, not my husband's soul. Even if Dan becomes the eldest son, it is no loss to me. I don't agree with what you said about the ring. I am not the only one wearing the ring. Others are also suspicious. It's too strange for me to think so."
Park Min-chul nodded: "Maybe the evidence is not sufficient. There is another reason why I have not locked it. During the entire investigation, he was not present. Although he seemed to have been actively involved, he rarely expressed a clear opinion. He just guessed based on what others said, and then tried to clear himself of suspicion, making us think that the suspect was the candidate for the container, ignoring the people closest to them."
Valeria pursed her lips and said, "Everyone has his own toys."
"Yes, my intuition tells me that the murderer is hiding very deeply." said Park Min-chul.
The air was quiet for a while.
The next person to speak was Ishikawa Keito.
He said: "It's different from what reporter Park thought. I think we made the case complicated. Now it's very clear that Dan wanted to reincarnate into someone else to achieve immortality and was killed by someone else. Please think about it. The ceremony was held at 0 o'clock. The housekeeper said that at this time, Dan usually rested. He asked someone to go. Wouldn't the other party be suspicious? Especially since he is the third son, the relationship between father and son is not harmonious.
"Considering that it is unlikely that he would choose a woman, his wife is not related by blood, and his daughter is from a different family. It would be too strange to ask his eldest daughter-in-law to meet him in the middle of the night. I think the only person who would meet him without any precautions is his nephew. Please think about it, Dan knew he was going to die, and he saw so many relatives before he died, but he didn't see his nephew? He was lying."
Ishikawa spoke the last few words with particular sincerity.
Jian Jing couldn't help but glance at him, and could see "confidence" in every inch of his face.
She frowned.
Jiang Baiyan said: "You said I was lying, do you have any evidence? Do you think Dan had any intention to meet me? I talked to him before the dinner, and he met others because they were in trouble, but I didn't. Besides, Dan knew that he would be reincarnated as someone else, so was it necessary for him to tell his last words one by one?"
Ishikawa Keito spread his hands and did not refute, but he did not change his mind either.
The next person to speak was Andre.
He said straightforwardly: "All my ideas have been confirmed by you. The third brother and the nephew are both possible. I need to think about who it is specifically, but it's either me or him."
Kumiko Terauchi: "I'm sorry, I may have some bad thoughts - the witch's diary never mentioned that the container must also be present. If I were Dan, why would I call the container here? What if he resists? The safest thing to do is to let him stay in his room without knowing anything and wait for the ritual to be completed."
Many people looked hesitant.
She continued, "So, when my nephew said he didn't die, he was not lying. On the contrary, it proved that he was the vessel chosen by Dan, and he was not the murderer."
Kumiko is beautiful, gentle and generous, and at first glance she is just an ordinary Japanese woman. As long as you spend some time with her, it is not difficult to find that she is smart and careful, and often pays attention to some details.
Therefore, everyone was listening carefully to her words.
"I think the murderer is his father. Although Teacher Wu said that he died at 10:30, this is only his one-sided statement. Perhaps, he wanted to borrow money from Dan, but accidentally heard the whole story. In order to protect his only child - please don't forget that the original child was seriously ill and would not live long - and to transfer Dan's property to the child, he decided to kill Dan."
Kumiko Terauchi said slowly, "The most important thing is that phone call. I thought about it for a long time, why did the murderer call the restaurant? I couldn't figure it out until I looked through the phone book and suddenly realized that I was wrong. Maybe the call was not made by the murderer, but by Dan."
"Why did Dan call the restaurant?" everyone was puzzled.
She said: "Dan wanted the murderer to think that he had dialed the wrong number in a hurry and failed to call for help, so that the murderer would not be suspicious."
"Ah." Kojima Shigeru exclaimed, as if he had suddenly realized something. "It's an extension number."
Kumiko Terauchi nodded: "The restaurant has an automatic answering machine, and we all heard, 'OK, this is the restaurant, the call is connected'... The murderer breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't expect that the restaurant's internal number was -56."
"56, Wu Lie." Zhang Xueer took a deep breath and suddenly understood.
Wu Lie retorted: "Anyone can make the call, why didn't the murderer deliberately frame me?"
"I don't have conclusive evidence." Kumiko said calmly, "I just screened according to the possibilities, and the person who fits the bill is you. If someone gives me a clue, then the murderer must know Chinese."
Jiang Baiyan: "The pronunciation of Arabic numerals is similar in Chinese, Japanese and Korean."
"It's more likely that they are Chinese," Jin Lan'er retorted.
Andrei and Valeria looked at each other, and both showed less suspicion: Russian numbers are not pronounced like that.