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A friend of Xue Zhengying said that the last time they saw Xin Yue was during lunch in the dining car, where she was eating with Xue Zhengying.
Xin Yue appeared to be preoccupied, eating slowly, and even lost her appetite halfway through, eventually returning to her sleeper car alone.
After finishing his meal, Xue Zhengying decided to check on her to see what was wrong.
According to Xue Zhengying, after he returned with Xin Yue, he sensed something was off during their conversation. So, when she went to the restroom, he took the opportunity to head to the conductor's room.
This means that Xin Yue's death occurred during the time Xue Zhengying was in the conductor's room.
The restroom in question was located between two sleeper cars, and since most people were still dining in the dining car, there was no one around the restroom at that time.
Later, someone went to use the restroom and noticed blood seeping out from under the door, which raised alarm bells.
Ming Jiushun carefully inquired about the timing. However, Xue Zhengying could not recall exactly when Xin Yue went to the restroom; he estimated it was about five minutes after she left that he went to the conductor's room.
Considering the time it took him to pass through each car, he spent a total of about five minutes in the conductor's room.
Then they proceeded to the restroom where Xin Yue had died. The time between Xin Yue being attacked and Xue Zhengying leaving should have been around 10 to 15 minutes, which aligns closely with the circumstances of Xin Yue's death.
After Xue Zhengying left, the conductor immediately expressed his opinion: "I believe it was a suicide. The door was locked from the inside, and escaping through the window is impossible. The timeline fits perfectly. If it were murder, then the killer executed it flawlessly. Especially considering they had to prevent her from screaming; after all, it's such a small space."
Ming Jiushun replied, "I still lean towards the idea of a killer silencing her. Although there’s currently no evidence. But what if the murderer had been following her? They could have seen Xin Yue go into the restroom alone and noticed that no one else was around. Just as she was about to close the door, they could have rushed in. A professional killer would act quickly."
"But," the conductor raised a question that also puzzled Ming Jiushun, "how can we lock the door from the inside?"
"That's not difficult," Si Jianxuan replied, pulling out a piece of string he had found and tying a loop at one end, practicing something repeatedly. He explained, "Notice that when the door is closed, there’s a narrow gap. The murderer could have tied a cotton thread to the latch, closed the door, and with a simple tug, it would lock. Once he breaks the thread and pulls it back, there would be no evidence left behind. So the internal lock doesn’t necessarily indicate a suicide."
However, this was merely a theoretical possibility.
According to Xue Zhengying's testimony, after the killer exited last night, he went towards the Hard Seat section.
If that murderer was from the Sleeper Car, why would he head to Hard Seat?
Moreover, he was wearing a conductor's uniform; why dress that way? Clearly, it was to smoothly pass from the Hard Seat compartment to the Sleeper Car under the guise of a conductor.
Ming Jiushun suddenly slapped his round head: "We previously fell into a misunderstanding thinking the killer was from the Sleeper Car. Now… without delay, let’s send someone to search the Hard Seat compartment and see if the Conductor Uniform is still there."
Si Jianxuan shook his head again, about to say something when the conductor's phone rang.
After a brief conversation, he announced that the Conductor Uniform had been found, but it was not on the train.
A member of the inspection maintenance crew discovered a black plastic bag outside the tracks. Upon opening it, they found a complete set of Conductor Uniforms and immediately reported it to the local Station Master.
The Station Master then called the conductor to inquire if it belonged to their train.
From the location where the uniform was discarded, it could be inferred that the time was around one o'clock, which coincided with Xin Yue's time of death.
"That's right!" Ming Jiushun realized. "The murderer killed Xin Yue and then discarded the uniform, slipping back into the Hard Seat carriage... This way, we wouldn't even find any evidence."
However, Si Jianxuan kept shaking his head, his face filled with distress. "No... No..."
Ming Jiushun and the conductor stared at him wide-eyed, as if he were an alien.
Si Jianxuan continued to shake his head for a while before suddenly breaking into a smile.
He slapped his thigh. "Yes, the plastic bag! That's the key! Just like that! The whole case is about to be unraveled!"
Just as Ming Jiushun was about to ask why, his phone rang.
It was a call from the police station handling Gu Qiuxian's body; the autopsy and toxicology reports were in. The deceased had died from a potent poison sourced from the Yunnan Jungle, which was lethal enough to cause death upon contact with blood.
Gu Qiuxian also had sleeping pills in her stomach, but they were not enough to be fatal.
After hearing this conclusion, Si Jianxuan clapped his hands. "Then the case is solved."
Ming Jiushun and the conductor exchanged doubtful glances and asked, "Really?"
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