Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
As usual, Bei Chen had me notify several individuals related to the case; he was preparing to unveil the truth in this upside-down room.
This had always been his habit.
I quickly contacted some suspects in the case, including Fang Jia's father, Fang Peijun, her boyfriend, Zhang Jian, and her colleagues, Wu Xiaowen and Liu Ziqiang. The day after we visited Wu Xiaowen, I brought them all to Fang Jia's room.
Fang Peijun looked haggard, standing at the doorway with a vacant expression.
In contrast, Zhang Jian appeared to be in much better spirits; he stood beside Fang Peijun. Wu Xiaowen and Liu Ziqiang had taken leave from school to be here.
When I called them yesterday, I sensed Liu Ziqiang was reluctant to comply with my request. However, after assuring him it would be the last time I troubled them for assistance in the investigation, he agreed. Now, aside from the four of them, there were Xiao Zhang and that arrogant Bei Chen in the room.
Once everyone had arrived, Bei Chen gently closed the door and walked quietly to the center of the room.
"Up until now," he began his speech, "everything in this room is upside down—furniture, appliances, even the victim is hanging upside down. Why would the murderer do this? What is the reason behind it? I believe I know, and I can responsibly tell everyone this:
The murderer who killed Miss Fang Jia is among us."
Expressions on everyone's faces shifted dramatically, with Fang Jia's father, Fang Peijun, being the most agitated.
"What are you talking about? Do you have evidence to say that?"
"Please let him finish," I said, stopping the furious Fang Peijun.
Fang Peijun closed his mouth defiantly, casting a challenging glance at Bei Chen.
"I don't believe the killer is a madman. If the killer were insane, why would there be no fingerprints left at the scene? All the clues were cleaned up by the killer. Since the killer isn't mad, there must be one reason for turning the entire room upside down — the killer had to do it!"
Bei Chen paused for a moment before continuing, "I once discussed this with Officer Zhong. There is an American mystery novelist named Ellery Queen who wrote a book called 'Chinese Orange Mystery.' The scene in that novel is almost identical to Fang Jia's room.
In the novel, the killer turns everything in the room upside down to conceal the identity of the victim. Now, let's look at this case. Clearly, it wasn't done to hide the victim's identity.
So there is only one reason that can explain all of this — the killer had to turn the room upside down to cover their own tracks!"
The room fell silent; no one spoke as everyone focused intently on Bei Chen's reasoning.
"What was being concealed? At first, I wasn't sure. Then I noticed Fang Jia's body; it was hung upside down and strangled."
Bei Chen continued, "At that moment, I found it strange. Why did the killer have to strangle the body while it was hanging upside down? Was it merely to match the turned-over room? Then it hit me! We all fell into a trap set by the killer — a trap of misdirection.
When we entered this room and saw everything turned upside down, we naturally assumed that the body was strangled while hanging. But that's not true; Fang Jia was actually strangled before being hung upside down!"
"Impossible!"
I immediately interrupted Bei Chen. "Did you forget what the forensic expert said? The marks on the victim's neck indicate that they were made by two thumbs positioned in reverse. This clearly shows that the body was killed while hanging!"
"Is it only the dead who can be hung upside down, and not the murderer?" Bei Chen said coldly.
My mind suddenly went blank, and I seemed to understand what Bei Chen meant.
Comment 0 Comment Count