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墨書 Inktalez
From Luo Ding's notes, it is evident that he wrote these words in a haphazard manner, scribbling here and there. The handwriting is chaotic, and I have to rely on the context to decipher each character. As a university student at Dongxing University, not studying medicine, this writing truly does not live up to the reputation of Dongxing University.
However, it is also clear from Luo Ding's notes that he was under immense pressure while writing. He was terrified that he would die soon, prompting him to hurriedly record everything he knew.
Luo Ding is indeed a homebody, but he is not a perverted shut-in. He knows that he could never attract Lu Zhiqiu's attention and usually indulges in fantasies instead. His personality reveals that he is quite timid; he would never dare to steal underwear on his own.
During his university years, Luo Ding became obsessed with playing computer games. At that time, he had to recharge his game card, and he ended up spending half of his tuition money on it. As the deadline approached, Luo Ding found himself needing another fifteen hundred. At this point, Wang Yikai learned about the situation and struck a deal with Luo Ding.
It was the second semester of their senior year when the school organized internships. Wang Yikai, as the class monitor, managed to get Luo Ding involved as well. This led to the incident where Luo Ding went to the girls' dormitory to steal Lu Zhiqiu's underwear. Unfortunately for him, Xing Yafang caught him in the act, and Luo Ding fled in fright with the underwear in hand.
Wang Yikai was furious at Luo Ding for failing so miserably and scolded him harshly. However, he still gave him a thousand as hush money and urged him to pay back what he owed.
That night, Luo Ding arranged to meet Lu Zhiqiu, who was also contemplating the situation. After some thought, Luo Ding decided it was best to tell Lu Zhiqiu the truth about what had happened. After all, Wang Yikai had been crazily pursuing Lu Zhiqiu; if things didn't go well, who knew what Wang Yikai might do?
Just as Luo Ding was about to speak up, he saw someone approaching in the distance. To his surprise, it was Wang Yikai. Feeling awkward, Luo Ding quickly left.
Luo Ding had no idea when Wang Yikai returned, but the next day, Lu Zhiqiu was dead.
This made Luo Ding suspect that Wang Yikai was involved; however, there was no evidence for the police to act on, and Luo Ding dared not speak out. He feared that before the police could uncover the truth, Wang Yikai might eliminate him too. After all, Luo Ding had witnessed how gruesomely Lu Zhiqiu had died.
In his notes, while Wang Yikai appeared normal on the surface, Luo Ding believed him to be a complete pervert inside. Before demanding that Luo Ding return Lu Zhiqiu's underwear, Wang Yikai even took a moment to sniff it and looked utterly satisfied afterward. This action convinced Luo Ding that Wang Yikai was capable of murder.
"Those who cannot have her will destroy her," I shook my head slowly and said.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Mingkun asked upon hearing my words.
I leaned closer to Zhao Mingkun's ear and whispered, "Luo Ding's notes suggest that Wang Yikai is the real murderer. It turns out that Luo Ding stealing underwear was all orchestrated by Wang Yikai. Later on, when Luo Ding met with Lu Zhiqiu, Wang Yikai showed up midway and then left. The next day, Lu Zhiqiu was dead."
"Wang Yikai kills when he can't have someone?" Zhao Mingkun remarked.
I nodded and replied, "According to Luo Ding's speculation in his notes, Wang Yikai likely confessed his feelings to Lu Zhiqiu that night under the influence of alcohol. However, since Lu Zhiqiu was still dating Hu Pei at that time and did not agree to him, Wang Yikai became increasingly angry. When Lu Zhiqiu turned to leave, he picked up a brick impulsively and killed her."
"Where's the murder weapon?" Zhao Mingkun asked again.
I paused for a moment and replied, "Initially, I thought the murderer had premeditated the killing, but from the evidence, it seems more like a crime of passion. The tool used for dismemberment could very well be a trowel, which is commonly found on construction sites. There are no fingerprints; the murderer might have worn gloves, and such items are also readily available on site."
I patted Zhao Mingkun on the shoulder and said, "It seems likely now that all three items are easily found at a construction site. If someone were planning a murder, they would surely have a strategy in place."
"That's only natural," Zhao Mingkun replied.
I nodded. "But based on our analysis, there doesn't seem to be any preparation. If that's the case, then Hu Pei and Liu Ruijie probably didn't commit the murder. If they were planning it, there would be a scheme rather than just grabbing a weapon from the construction site."
"If it's not those two," Zhao Mingkun said, looking at me through the rearview mirror, "then we need to investigate how Liu Ruijie's five hundred thousand came about. The insurance payout was one million; who took it?"
At this point, I felt something was off again. "But if Hu Pei didn't do it, why is he so terrified? How could Hu Pei be scared to death? This raises suspicions. Moreover, Jiang Xiaochun's behavior also seems questionable."
With that thought, I shook my head inwardly.
The current clues felt like a circle; no matter where we started analyzing, we always ended up back at the same point or stalled at some other point. Thus far, Hu Pei and Liu Ruijie's suspicions hadn't been cleared, but now there was another suspect: Wang Yikai.
When a person is about to die, their words often carry weight; besides, Luo Ding had no reason to slander a classmate he hadn't contacted in seven years when he felt his end was near. If Luo Ding's claims were true, could Wang Yikai be the murderer?
At the Royal Garden Hotel, Wang Yikai had always looked down on us. Could this disdain be mixed with something more sinister?
Zhao Mingkun remained silent for a long while before saying, "Among these thirteen people, although everyone has some suspicion, some are more suspicious than others. Why don't you rank them? We can follow that order to gather information; what do you think?"
"That's a good idea," I snapped my fingers.
I began, "Luo Ding is definitely not a suspect anymore; it's unfortunate that if the murderer had seen this notebook earlier, Luo Ding might not have been so frightened to death. Currently, the most suspicious person is Wang Yikai, followed by the deceased Liu Ruijie and Hu Pei. The rest are about equal in suspicion; however, Wang Yikai's three dormmates—Zhang Yi, Cheng Lu, and Sun Shouwang—are the least suspicious."
After a pause, I continued, "Wang Yikai was fiercely pursuing Lu Zhiqiu back then; his roommates probably wouldn’t have continued chasing her either. At that time, if Wang Yikai got drunk and attempted something against Lu Zhiqiu or even killed her, I believe the other three would have merely gone along with him without any real intent to act."
This time, Zhao Mingkun countered my argument with my own words: "That’s not necessarily true; you can know someone’s face but not their heart. Although Wang Yikai was pursuing Lu Zhiqiu, there's no guarantee that the other three wouldn’t feel tempted upon seeing her. If even Wang Yikai couldn't win her over, then those three might feel desperate enough to take drastic measures."
"Kori Chiu's clothes showed no signs of being torn," I said. "Ming Lu Zhi Qiu wasn't raped. If someone truly wanted to possess Lu Zhiqiu, wouldn't they have assaulted her before killing her?"
Zhao Mingkun shook his head and said, "Let me tell you a story from Wu Zui's childhood. When Wu Zui was about seven or eight years old, he admired his friend's remote-controlled car. He wanted to borrow it, but his friend refused. So, one day after his friend left, Wu Zui smashed the car and threw it into the backyard."
"I didn't realize at the time that Wu Zui's character had already twisted by then. I asked him if he had played with the car while he had the chance," Zhao Mingkun continued slowly. "If Wu Zui wanted to play with it, there would have been the sound of the motor, which would have been too obvious and would have exposed him. So instead, he quietly destroyed the car and discarded it. In the end, no one knew who had smashed it."
"If someone wanted to rape Lu Zhiqiu, strong resistance might attract attention," Zhao Mingkun said. "So it would be better to quietly destroy her in one swift move, ensuring that no one could ever play with her again."
After hearing Zhao Mingkun's words, I fell into a long silence. The idea that if one cannot have something, then no one else should either reveals a dark side of human nature. Perhaps this is one of the worst parts of humanity.
I sighed helplessly and said, "Then what’s the point of sorting through suspects? Aside from ruling out Luo Ding, everyone else seems quite suspicious. Excluding Luo Ding, we still have Liu Ruijie and Hu Pei among a total of fourteen suspects. And right now, we have no evidence; we can only rely on witnesses for our investigation. The only solid leads we have are a few photos of the corpses. I wonder if we can uncover the truth from seven years ago before the murderer finishes off the remaining eleven."
Zhao Mingkun noticed my pessimistic tone and replied, "If the truth were that easy to find, it wouldn't be called the truth. At least we can confirm that Luo Ding didn't commit the murders; eliminating one suspect is better than nothing. We're almost at Wang Qianduo's house; you should prepare to ask her whether she killed anyone seven years ago."
"It doesn't seem likely," I said. "From Wang Qianduo's demeanor, she seems not to believe that the murderer would come after her, indicating that she isn't very fearful inside. However, we know what kind of person the murderer is—someone who would rather kill a hundred innocents than let one guilty person escape."
Now we were effectively attacking from both ends: Zhao Mingkun and I were investigating events from seven years ago while Gu Chen looked into Lu Xiangyang's case. Regardless of which side yielded results first, it could prevent the murderer from claiming more victims. Although these dozen or so people might think Lu Zhiqiu's death benefited them and even hope for her demise.
But it was impossible for all thirteen individuals to be involved; just because one person wishes another dead doesn't mean they should be killed for it. Before any crime is committed, merely thinking about it makes these individuals innocent in the eyes of the law. They may be immoral, but legally they haven't done anything wrong.
What kind of story will Wang Qianduo tell us? In her narrative, who is truly the murderer?
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