Chapter 31 : Scene

No. 3 Qian Min seemed to have truly become a detective.

While inspecting the scene, he analyzed aloud, “Judging from the body temperature and livor mortis, the time of death is approximately 7 to 8 hours ago.

What time is it now?”

“It’s half past ten,” replied No. 11, the high school teacher, answering the detective’s question.

“Then the murder likely occurred around two or three o’clock,” Qian Min carefully lifted the victim’s clothes with his fingertips and the back of his hand to examine the wounds, making gestures that others couldn’t understand.

Everyone around watched silently, the more timid keeping their distance.

Hua Ru’s heart was pounding with fear, terrified that the scene might reveal clues, and that she might be unmasked as the killer right then and there.

“There are two murder weapons. One is a pointed, double-edged blade, about 3 to 4 centimeters wide and roughly 0.5 centimeters thick.

Judging by these characteristics, it’s either a dagger or a sword.

The other weapon should be a knife, with a flat tip; its width is hard to determine, but it’s about two centimeters thick.” No. 3 pushed up his glasses and pointed at the victim’s abdomen. “There are three knife wounds—on the abdomen, left cheek, and the forehead.

The dagger wounds total twenty-one.

From the angles of the wounds, we can deduce that the killer wielding the knife isn’t very tall, much shorter than No. 15.”

“No, no, you haven’t considered the possibility that the killer might have been bending down or squatting, so your conclusion is incorrect,” No. 10 Liu Qingzhu suddenly interjected, stubbing out his burning cigarette with his left hand.

When all eyes turned to him, he continued, “Look carefully at No. 15’s leg—it has an unnatural discoloration, likely from a heavy blow.

That strike could have caused him to crouch or kneel.

If the killer then struck the head, height would be difficult to determine, and the killer could be much taller than you think. In fact, all of us here are suspects.”

What’s going on?

Why would Liu Qingzhu say something like this?

According to No. 3 Qian Min’s deduction, No. 10’s height should have excluded him from suspicion.

The main suspects ought to be No. 2 Zhang Huiran, No. 3 Qian Min, No. 5 Shamate Man, No. 6 Shamate Woman, No. 7 Ragnar, No. 8 Huang Waikai, and No. 11 the high school teacher.

Others like No. 14 Yelena are quite short, and Hua Ru is only slightly taller than that young lady, so their heights theoretically make them less suspicious.

No. 1 Zhou Wei, No. 10 Liu Qingzhu, No. 12 Xukesi, and the remaining people are taller and should also be outside suspicion.

Then… why did No. 10’s remark suddenly implicate himself as a suspect?

Could he be trying to frame someone else?

Like No. 12, pulling No. 12 into the suspect list and verbally guiding everyone to doubt him?

“Do you know anything about forensics?” Qian Min asked the elder.

“Not much, just some basic knowledge,” Liu Qingzhu replied, his act of feigned expertise making everyone hesitant to continue the topic.

“Maybe you’re right.” The detective didn’t argue but scanned the room again. “The killer is professional; there are obvious signs that the scene was cleaned. Footprints and other crime evidence have been destroyed, and no clear fingerprints are found.”

“A professional assassin?” No. 1 Zhou Wei couldn’t help but voice his speculation.

“Maybe, but it doesn’t quite fit. A professional wouldn’t leave so many traces. I believe it was an amateur. If I’m correct, the four killers aren’t very familiar with murder, which is why they messed up the scene so badly.

Among the four, one must have planned it, but only two actually attacked No. 15.

The room is narrow and can’t accommodate four people moving around freely, so only two really carried out the attack.

Where were the other two?

At least one must have been standing outside watching.”

No. 3 Qian Min pointed to some faint bloodstains under the door and continued, “Has anyone ever painted a car? When spraying, you use paper to cover parts like the windows so paint doesn’t get on them.

Similarly, these bloodstains on the floor have signs of being partially covered.

During the scuffle, someone was standing at the door, their feet blocking some blood.

Look at the door itself—no blood outside, not even on the door’s surface behind it.

This suggests that the door was open during the murder.”

Hua Ru tensed slightly.

The things the detective mentioned were never on her mind last night.

There had been blood on the outside of the door, but she wiped it off with an apron.

The door opens inward, meaning the outside would have been splattered with blood during the killing.

She deliberately erased those traces so no one would discover No. 15’s death so quickly.

The bloodstains near the main entrance hadn’t been specially cleaned.

The more you try to cover up, the easier it is to make mistakes.

Considering this, she had focused on cleaning the traces left by the four killers but hadn’t disguised the crime method itself.

Originally, she hadn’t thought this would have any fatal impact.

Now, indeed, No. 3 Qian Min had deduced the situation at the time of the crime, but this still wasn’t enough to catch the culprit.

Finding blood on someone’s feet was basically impossible to use to pin the crime on Hua Ru or others.

“So, you think whoever has blood on their feet is the killer?” No. 10 lit another cigarette and slowly took a drag, his face still expressionless, giving off a deeply worn-out vibe.

“It’d be best if we find blood traces, but I don’t believe the killer would make such a careless mistake.” Qian Min waved away the smoke drifting toward him. “Everyone, don’t leave. Anyone who leaves will be considered a suspect.”

No. 1 Zhou Wei suddenly started examining everyone’s feet.

When he reached No. 12 Xukesi, he stopped abruptly and asked seriously, “What happened to your face?”

(In Cantonese) “I fell. I was in a hurry pressing the doorbell just now and tripped,” Xukesi explained calmly. Zhou Wei didn’t seem convinced and looked skeptical. Seeing this, Xukesi added, “I fell over near No. 5. Ask him; he didn’t catch me.”

“No. 5, is that true?” Zhou Wei fixed his gaze on the Shamate Man.

“Yeah, damn, it looked painful even to me—bam! Fell hard,” No. 5 mimicked falling down in a comical manner, making several people chuckle.

“Brother, be more careful next time. Don’t be so reckless. I know you Hong Kong reporters are tough, but take care of yourself,” Zhou Wei’s expression softened.

After checking everyone, no one had blood on their feet or body.

Qian Min inspected the room a little longer, then closed the door and ordered everyone not to enter.

“Now, let’s all go downstairs and see if anything interesting has happened.” He led the group out of No. 15’s room.

Could it be that he was the one who sprinkled the flour in the hallway?

Or had he found something and wanted to send everyone away?