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墨書 Inktalez
I followed my master into the room and slowly approached the deceased's bed, suppressing my discomfort as I carefully observed Wang Ruiming's condition.
The body of Wang Ruiming lay on the bed, face up, with his eyes tightly closed and an extremely pale complexion. His lips exhibited an unnatural bluish-purple hue. The blanket covering him had been lifted by the first police officer to arrive at the scene, revealing that he was dressed in a dark blue pajamas, with his hands resting peacefully at his sides, giving the impression that he was merely asleep. This eerie calm sent shivers down my spine.
"Mu Yang, what do you observe?" my master asked in a low voice.
*Coughing*, I replied, "There are no obvious external injuries on the deceased. The bed is very tidy, showing no signs of struggle, which suggests he wasn't harmed by external forces. It appears... as if he died in his sleep."
"Exactly," Forensic Doctor Liu said after examining the body's surface features closely. "The deceased has cyanotic lips, and there are large areas of wheal-like rashes on his neck, torso, and limbs. These signs are consistent with asphyxiation due to anaphylactic shock. While we need further autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, it is quite certain that this was not a natural death. Typically, during anaphylactic shock, a patient would experience severe struggles and convulsions. However, look at how neat the bed is and how peaceful his posture appears... I suspect it is highly likely a homicide."
My master nodded. "What about the time of death?"
"Preliminary estimates suggest that the time of death was between 10 PM last night and 2 AM this morning. I will provide a more precise assessment after the autopsy."
The Technical Investigation team was busy collecting fingerprints and footprints. I leaned over to take a look at the trash bin beside Wang Ruiming's bed and noticed it contained only a few fruit peels, some scraps of paper, and torn chocolate wrappers... I decided to have my colleagues from Technical Investigation take the entire bin back for analysis.
Then my master and I inspected other areas of the scene: the dormitory's doors and windows were intact with no signs of forced entry, and there were no indications of a struggle within the room; everything was orderly. It felt like an ordinary morning—except for the boy on the bed who would never wake again.
My master and I exchanged glances; we clearly shared the same thought: this scene suggested that it was likely a crime committed by someone familiar with him.
We immediately split up in unison; my master took out his phone to arrange for Senior Brother Old Qian to retrieve all surveillance footage from the school for review, focusing on recordings from 10 PM last night until this morning. Meanwhile, I went to find the head teacher to arrange for a quiet room where we could conduct our inquiries.
Since it was likely a familiar perpetrator, we needed to question Wang Ruiming's roommates, classmates, and teachers one by one. Several roommates reported no missing valuables; if it wasn't a robbery gone wrong, then what could be the motive for murder?
The head teacher arranged for us to use the school's counseling room as a temporary inquiry space. After a brief discussion with my master Zhou Weiguo, we decided to start with Li Zichen, who had discovered the body.
Li Zichen sat across from us with his hands tightly clenched together, knuckles white from tension; he seemed still overwhelmed by the shock of finding the body.
I handed him a cup of water and spoke in a calm tone, "Li Zichen, don’t be nervous; we’re just here to understand what happened. Can you tell us about your last encounter with Wang Ruiming last night?"
Li Zichen took the cup but didn’t drink from it; he lowered his head and said, "I... I had a cold and took some medicine last night. I went to bed early. I really don’t know anything... This morning I found that Wang Ruiming hadn’t gotten up yet; he usually wakes up early to read. So I went to call him but... didn’t expect..."
I noticed Li Zichen's shoulders trembled slightly as he spoke and avoided making eye contact with us. My master quietly jotted down notes without interrupting him.
"What was your relationship like with Wang Ruiming?" I continued to ask.
"It was... okay," Li Zichen replied softly. "Wang Ruiming is good at studying; sometimes he helps me with problems I don’t understand."
Seeing that he was too tense to continue, my master signaled for him to step out and let in the next roommate, Liu Haotian.
Liu Haotian was not very tall and wore black-rimmed glasses. He spoke somewhat awkwardly, "Officer, I just transferred here this semester, so I'm not very familiar with Wang Ruiming and the others. When I came back last night, they were all asleep. I really... don't know anything..."
I asked him a few more questions and found that he indeed didn't have much information, so I asked him to call in the last roommate, Chen Lichuan.
Chen Lichuan was on the school basketball team. He was tall and dressed in loose sportswear, looking sunny and handsome. Compared to the first two roommates, he seemed much calmer.
"I returned to the dorm around 10 PM last night, and both Li Zichen and Wang Ruiming were already asleep. I found it quite strange."
"Why did you find it strange?"
"Because Wang Ruiming never goes to bed that early. He studies until dawn every day and often stays up late working on problems. Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I can see him still reading under the desk lamp."
I nodded and noted Wang Ruiming's unusual early bedtime before continuing to ask Chen Lichuan, "What is your relationship with Wang Ruiming like?"
Chen Lichuan scoffed, "To be honest, not great. He is indeed a top student, but he loves to show off too much. He always acts superior and looks down on us 'athletes.' In his eyes, we are just muscle-bound idiots."
"Have you had any conflicts?"
"Not really; we rarely talk. However..." Chen Lichuan suddenly hesitated, sitting up straight. "Li Zichen once had an argument with him that I overheard."
My mentor looked up at him intently. "Oh? Tell me more."
"That day, I had plans to play basketball with some classmates. Just as I left the dorm building, I realized I forgot my phone. So I went back to get it, and as I approached the dorm door, I heard Wang Ruiming and Li Zichen arguing about something. It seemed like Wang Ruiming was threatening Li Zichen, saying that if he didn't give him 50,000 yuan within a week, he would tell the school about 'that matter.'"
"That matter? Do you know what it is?"
"I’m not sure about that, but Li Zichen was definitely worried about it getting out. He kept begging Wang Ruiming for more time."
Just as we were about to conclude the questioning, Chen Lichuan suddenly added a detail that might help with our investigation. "Oh, one more thing that could be useful: our dorm door is usually just closed at night; we don’t lock it. It makes it easier for us to go to the bathroom during the night."
After Chen Lichuan left, my mentor closed his notebook. "Mu Yang, what are your thoughts?"
I pondered for a moment before responding. "Based on what Li Zichen and Chen Lichuan said, there are two directions we can investigate further: First, Wang Ruiming's unusually early bedtime last night—could it be related to drug use? This needs thorough examination by forensics. Second, what exactly is that 50,000 yuan and 'that matter'? Besides questioning Li Zichen further, we should also conduct a wide-ranging inquiry among students and teachers who know Wang Ruiming to get a better understanding of him."
"Exactly," my mentor stood up. "And the habit of not locking the dorm door means anyone in the boys' dorm could have had the opportunity to commit the crime. Have Old Qian check Wang Ruiming's recent call records and transaction details. Additionally, I'll call Da Liu and ask him to expedite the autopsy; I have a feeling there’s an important clue hidden in Wang Ruiming's cause of death."
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