Although there is no evidence to confirm Writer Wu's confession, it must be admitted that his words led the case to another possibility.
"To be honest, I don't trust Wu Xing's words too much. His motive for murder is very clear." Officer Liang said, "He is very cunning and may fabricate testimony in his favor."
Jian Jing nodded: "The painter has already talked to Mr. Kang about publishing the collection of essays. He must solve this problem as soon as possible. But his testimony can explain the door lock and footprints."
The footprints left on the balcony were with the toes pointing outward, heading out from the bedroom, not inward. In other words, the person flipped from the bedroom to the studio and left, while the other person flipped from the studio into the bedroom.
Considering Writer Wu's age and clumsy figure, the possibility of him quietly breaking into Painter Chang's bedroom and killing him was very low.
The probability of a painter opening the door for this old pervert in the middle of the night is very low.
"He must have lied somewhere. A normal person would have left the place immediately if he was scared." Jian Jing said, "The reason why he locked the door and disguised it as a secret room was to delay the painter's discovery, so that he could leave and destroy the manuscript."
Officer Liang agreed: "That's right."
"But we still have to open the safe." Jian Jing was distressed, "After all, if the safe is not opened, I wonder how Writer Wu will get the manuscript out."
Officer Liang hesitated for a moment, then agreed: "Can you open the lock?"
Jian Jing sighed: "Let's take a guess. Painters often don't set passwords that are too complicated. Just try birthdays or anniversaries."
They searched online for information about Chang the painter and tried again.
The results are all yes.
"It's too much of a gamble to try the password." Officer Liang felt that this was a less reliable approach and changed his mindset decisively. "Assuming the murderer knew the password, he must be someone very close to the painter. Yes, Xiaotian, he is the only person who came to the painter in the middle of the night and was let into the house."
Jian Jing hummed, her mind a little confused.
Indeed, Xiaotian had been scolded by Painter Chang today, and he was full of complaints, so he had the motive to kill. It was not difficult for him to find an excuse to enter the teacher's bedroom in the middle of the night, and Painter Chang would not be on guard against his female students.
"Remember? You are responsible for making medicine for the painter." Officer Liang immediately thought of a key point and connected the two together. "As long as we add a little sleeping pill to the medicine—Eddie didn't say there was such a thing—the painter will lose consciousness without any defense."
Well-reasoned and convincing.
The problem is, “We need to find evidence.”
Officer Liang immediately said, "I'll go check the medicine. Join us?"
Jian Jing thought about it for a while, but was still unwilling to give up the safe: "I'll study this further."
"Then let's split up." Officer Liang rushed downstairs to verify his guess.
Jian Jing continued to study the safe and found that the pointer on the lock was very small, a heart, and seemed to be of natural material. She showed a subtle expression, took the mobile phone of Chang Huashuo, and used her birthday to unlock the screen lock.
After a moment, he tried to spin the dial: 9-3-4-1-5-2-0.
yg520.
With a "click", it opened.
Jian Jing: “Tsk.” It’s another nine-square grid. Easy to guess.
She squatted down to get something from the safe, but her hair was not tied up tightly, and a strand of hair slipped from her shoulder, and the end of her hair touched the ground.
Jian Jing quickly reached out to grab it, but this time, she was stunned.
, right
Yeah, right
Oh my god!
"Did you open it? What did you find?" When Officer Liang came back, he saw him sitting in front of the safe with a look of disbelief.
Jian Jing turned her head and sighed slightly, with a look of shock on her face: "Look."
Lift up the bed sheet significantly.
Officer Liang turned on a high-intensity flashlight and saw an extremely clean area under the bed, which was obviously different from the dusty area around it.
It's hard to guess that just a short while ago, someone had been hiding under the bed.
Officer Liang suddenly had an idea and blurted out, "Did he see the password to the safe while hiding under the bed?"
"That must be the case." Jian Jing rubbed her arms and got goose bumps all over her body.
He said: "I think some of the testimony of writer Wu can be proven to be false. The murderer had been hiding under the bed of painter Chang and left after killing the painter, so the door and the safe were open."
"When did he hide here?" Officer Liang said, "I just checked the Chinese medicine package. The amount was still there yesterday. It has nothing to do with the medicine."
Painters often pack their medicines separately by day, and each bag has a date on it. There are clearly several bags in total, and none is missing. Oda did not lie.
Jian Jing picked up the red wine glass on the bedside table and shook the remaining wine. She glanced at it and didn't find any residual powder particles. She was very sure: "Could it be like this?"
"We'll know after a test." Officer Liang took out his cell phone and looked at it, feeling extremely depressed. "The technical investigator said there will be no one after 12 o'clock."
Jian Jing had no choice but to temporarily stop drugging and take out the things in the safe: "The murderer opened the safe, which proves that there are things he needs in it."
"What are these?" Officer Liang frowned as he flipped through the pages.
The things locked in the safe by Painter Chang were not jewelry, passbooks or other valuables, but some relics of Yangguan: his diary, photos with relatives and friends, some letters and other documents with a sense of age.
Jian Jing's heart moved slightly.
These things have no monetary value, but have a close personal relationship with Yangguan. I thought the motivation came from painter Chang himself, but now it seems that this is not the case.
"The items are very scattered. How do we know what was taken away?" asked Officer Liang.
Jian Jing said, "Read it all first."
Officer Liang showed a look of struggle on his face, but said nothing and picked up a certificate painfully.
Jian Jing took the initiative to pick up the letters and read them one by one.
These private letters, which have not been made public, contain a lot of information, revealing a lot of industry gossip from more than ten or twenty years ago, and writer Wu is also mentioned in them. But apart from him, the others have nothing to do with the people present.
"There's a letter here." Officer Liang rummaged through his notebook and found a few sheets of letter paper between the cover and the interlayer.
It was hidden so secretly that both of them became interested and immediately started to check it out.
As expected, the content of the letter was somewhat sensitive.
This was sent by Yangguan's ex-wife, and the general content was that she was sick and unable to take care of their daughter, and wanted him to take the child away and take care of her for a while.
Not knowing what Yangguan’s reply was, she wrote back in the next letter to thank him for introducing the doctor, saying that she had already had the operation and had sent her child to the countryside to be taken care of by her mother.
At the same time, there was a remittance slip (receipt) in the letter paper, which was from Yangguan to his ex-wife, and the amount ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand.
The third letter is newer and should be from more recent times.
"… The doctor has diagnosed cancer and I have about a year to live. I have decided to give up treatment and leave my savings to my daughter… After I die, you have to take good care of my daughter… Attached to this letter is a recent photo of my daughter. You have probably forgotten what she looks like, right? We all owe her too much… "
The letters were long, so they read them quickly and searched through boxes and drawers for photos. But after opening all the letters and documents, they did not find any photos sent by the ex-wife.
Officer Liang's hair stood on end with excitement: "He took the photo!"
"It is also possible that he hid it. It would be very troublesome if the painter found out that there were photos of girls." Jian Jing said this, and she was about 70% sure of it.
I have already guessed the murderer's identity.
Mr. Tao didn't expect Jian Jing to come to him alone. He was surprised and puzzled: "Is there something wrong?"
"Mr. Tao said before that he can come to see you anytime," Jian Jing looked at her watch. "Although it's a little late now, it's urgent. Can we talk?"
What Mr. Tao said at the time were just polite words, and he never thought that he could pry him into submission. But then he changed his mind and wondered if Kang Mucheng had gotten into trouble and he was looking for another buyer
He immediately perked up, opened the door and invited me in: "Of course, please come in."
He asked warmly and kindly: "Jingjing, why did you come to see me at this time? Do you need my help? Just tell me, I will help you if I can, don't be polite to me."
"I'd like to ask Mr. Tao, how does Morningstar sign writers?" Jian Jing smiled.
There is drama.
Mr. Tao suppressed his excitement at catching a fish and said kindly, "Sometimes it's a competition, sometimes it's a submission, but these are all newcomers. Those who have published works will definitely be given preferential treatment, and royalties and other things can be discussed."
Jian Jing pretended to be curious: "How did Xia Xing get signed to your place? I heard that his first book was very good."
"An old friend recommended you, saying she was his daughter. She showed me the manuscript and it was indeed good, so I signed you." Mr. Tao paused and hinted, "But no matter how good your conditions are, you are still a newcomer. If Jingjing is willing to come, I will convince the boss to give you the best treatment."
Jian Jing suppressed her laughter and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tao. It's very late. I don't want to disturb your rest."
"It's okay, I slept late." It was too late, and it was inconvenient for Mr. Tao to keep me longer, so he said some money and promises and sent me out.
Jian Jing said goodbye to Mr. Tao, turned a corner, and knocked on Xia Tianxin's door.
quickly opened the door.
"Are you still asleep?" Jian Jing asked.
Xia Tianxin invited him in and said with a smile, "I'm working on the manuscript. I just sent the last chapter of the new book to the editor."
Jian Jing stared at his face and asked softly, "Are you still working on your manuscript so late?"
"Finish it sooner and feel at ease sooner." Xia Tianxin smiled, "Why are you looking for me so late? What's the matter?"
Jian Jing didn't say anything.
Xia Tianxin also calmed down.
A strange silence brewed between the two girls, like a silent spell.
After a long while, Jian Jing said, "You can go and write a mystery novel. Maybe you will be more successful than me."
"Why?"
"You have talent," Jian Jing turned her head and looked at him, "if you use it in the right place."
Xia Xing curved her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling, and she seemed to be happy from the bottom of her heart: "Is it me? But if I were better than you, you wouldn't be here."
"You admit it?" Jian Jing asked.
Xia Xing smiled: "I have read a lot of mystery novels, and almost every author warns readers that there is no perfect crime in the world. Although I think I didn't leave any loopholes, when I saw you, I knew you knew it."
Jian Jing frowned: "You do this..."
"Do you know where the difference between mystery and romance is?" Xia Xing interrupted, "Mystery focuses on logic, but romance focuses on this."
He pointed at his chest and said slowly, "If you love someone, no matter how many things he has wrong in a thousand ways, you still like him. If you deny it, it's the same if you hate him."
Jane was silent.
"Ok, I've finished sharing my creative experience." Xia Xing made an inviting gesture, "It's your turn. Please start from the beginning. I'll be a very good listener."