Mystery Hunter

Translator: Ca5 Editor: MadHatter

“Let me share my views with you first about this case.” Captain Wang said to Jiang He.

Jiang He’s falcon-like glare drew Captain Wang’s attention, and he added: “Of course, it might not be so rigorous. Two corpses were discovered within Li Weiyi’s house. The younger deceased is that of Li Weiyi’s wife, He Huijuan whereas the older deceased is that of Li Weiyi’s mother, Wu Guifeng.”

The officer in charge of the criminal investigation listened to his leader’s speech while reviewing the information on cosmetics of the victims.

Captain Wang continued: “Based on the overall circumstances at the site, I have a preliminary conclusion. The same knife—the one that was driven into Wu Guifeng’s body right now—is responsible for the wounds on the two corpses. This knife has serrations. Wu Guifeng committed suicide. My observations lead me to believe that this is most likely the case…”

At this point, Captain Wang re-enacted the murder scene:

Her husband, Li Weiyi ate breakfast around seven in the morning after which he began a long day of work. As he hastily left the house to head to work, He Huijuan was still beneath the comforter. The mother-in-law has long been exasperated by this indolent daughter-in-law. She did nothing at home while her son labored tirelessly outside.

The grouchy mother-in-law emerged from the kitchen brandishing a sharp knife. In the kitchen, she was chopping meat for today’s meal.

Wu Guifeng motioned for He Huijuan to get out of the bed as she stood there, but He Huijuan had no intention to do so. Wu Guifeng, nevertheless, was adamant to force her to rise today despite He Huijuan disregarding her. The two were bound to dispute during this process. Wu Guifeng lifted He Huijuan’s quilt impetuously.

This move enraged He Huijuan, who was on the verge of standing up. He Huijuan was highly likely to insult Wu Guifeng at the limited amount of space if she lost her rationality. The clay sculpture still contained three spots of fire, which made Wu Guifeng shiver with rage. She happened to be holding the serrated knife at the time, and Wu Guifeng was devastated and stabbed He Huijuan in the belly with it

The knife sliced deeply into the stomach as it descended.

As it sank, the knife drove deeply into the stomach.

He Huijuan may have let out a terrible wail, but Wu Guifeng had no choice but to cover He Huijuan’s mouth with her hand at this point. He Huijuan died within a few minutes.

A dreadful wail may have escaped He Huijuan, but Wu Guifeng was compelled over He Huijuan’s mouth with her hand at this stage with her succumbing to her demise shortly after.

Wu Guifeng looked at everything in front of her after the impulsive killing; she was regretful, appalled, and reprimanded herself, yet everything was already irreversible.

Wu Guifeng was aware that when a mother-in-law murdered her daughter-in-law, the guilt and remorse for her conscience were something she could not bear. After a long internal struggle, she pulled out the knife stuck in her daughter-in-law’s abdomen which she took to the living room.

She leaned against the shoe cabinet softly with the intention of making one more call to her son on the phone by the front door. After giving it some thought, though, she couldn’t take this move, not even any words could flow out of her lips. As a result, Wu Guifeng took her own life with the same knife.

It was after the junior high school students from the opposite door returned home that they noticed bloodstains spilling out of the house and informed the police.

The detectives around him sent Captain Wang appreciative glances at his explanation. This reasoning encompassed every aspect of the scene and can be said to be iron-clad. Recently, a few young investigators were transferred. They could not wait to cheer right now.

“8 and 9 aren’t far from 10,” Captain Wang coughed gently.

Jiang shook his head and remarked, “It’s too bad.”

“It’s too bad?” “What’s wrong?” Captain Wang inquired.

Jiang He stated: “All speculations must be backed up by evidence and the only reliable analysis is one that is based on what you personally witness. Your line of reasoning can’t be adopted if you haven’t been in the kitchen and haven’t seen the blood on the phone in the hallway. There is a 60% chance that the likelihood of your speculation is incorrect when you conjectured assumptions based on evidence that is not necessarily factual.”

“Go look for yourself and you’ll know.” Captain Wang cast a glance at Jiang He before proceeding to the kitchen by himself.

Jiang He did not accompany Captain Wang to the kitchen, as though he had already concluded that Captain Wang’s speculation was amiss.

Captain Wang stood in the kitchen, looking around. Even though the kitchen was pristine, no meat or chopping board could be spotted. No signs of lunch could be seen prepared here. Captain Wang examined the interior of the refrigerator, yet no chopped meat could be found. Realizing that his assumption was erroneous, Captain Wang shook his head helplessly. It would make no sense to put chopped meats in the refrigerator after killing someone when normal logic was to be applied.

Captain Wang, on the other hand, was still hesitant. He exited the kitchen and stared at the wired phone by the front door. Given the white phone being relatively clean with minor black stains and devoid of dust, it would be reasonable to assume that it was frequently cleaned. Had Wu Guifeng sought to make a phone call after the murder, bloody handprints on the phone should have existed, yet there were none.

It was evident that Wu Guifeng has never touched the phone.

Captain Wang, however, had uncovered a fascinating detail at this moment. Despite the absence of bloody handprints on the phone at the entrance, Captain Wang noticed a bloodstained handprint on the doorknob.

“There is a discovery!” Captain Wang yelled as he approached the bedroom.

“Huh?” Regarding Captain Wang, Jiang He turned his head.

The captain’s discovery was intriguing.

“There is a bloody handprint on the door handle of the entrance,” said Captain Wang.

Jiang He nodded and said, “When I walked in, I noticed it. What did you discover?”

Captain Wang was still ecstatic earlier, but now a bitter expression spread across his face: “It’s nothing; I just discovered that my assumption is wrong. No one had been cooking before, judging by how clean the kitchen was. The speculation of murder in the heat of the moment is therefore invalid.”

The captain mused to himself, “If it’s not murder in the heat of the moment, could it have been premeditated murder?” “The long-running conflict between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law boiled over today. Wu Guifeng, the mother-in-law who was the murderer, committed suicide today, so there was no point in calling her own son. That’s wrong; if it was premeditated murder, the way of carrying it out was far too simple.”

After refuting several of his own conclusions, Captain Wang grew agitated: “By the way, you didn’t even head there just now. After looking around the kitchen, you’ve probably concluded that my assumption is incorrect.”

Jiang He responded, wagging his finger, “It’s not a mistake, it’s simply that your assumption is less likely.”

“How can you be sure it’s not what I guessed just by looking at the wound?” Captain Wang seemed hesitant.

Jiang He seated in front of the dresser stool and observed the dresser.

There would be no concern about making a mistake since the police that were in charge of criminal investigation would place the things in the same position as before to avoid destroying the scene. Not to mention, photos for comparison were available. As the cosmetics were arranged on the dressing table, several labeling of He Huijuan flashed across Jiang He’s mind regarding her.

Willful and lazy.

Vanity?

Cosmetics were all over the place, with many dumped on the dresser. He Huijuan didn’t bother to do anything that couldn’t be easily fixed. There are many dust-like traces on the dressing table, which were formed by the fall of makeup powder when He Huijuan put on makeup. The dressing table was covered in many dust-like traces that He Huijuan’s cosmetic powder caused when she applied her makeup.

He Huijuan had never wiped the dressing table as was apparent.

Jiang He still had to decide whether to label Huijuan as vanity.

Seeing that Jiang He was ignoring him, Captain Wang said again, “I said…”

Jiang He did not allow Captain Wang to speak: “You will realize that your assumption was off if you use your eyes to observe and your intellect to analyze. Has research been done on the brand, model, purpose, and pricing?”

Holding a cellphone, the police officer remarked, “On the dresser, there are twenty cosmetics, including lipstick, BB cream, chalk, eye shadow, finishing powder, mascara, eyebrow pencil, whitening cream, sunscreen, makeup remover, beauty blender, and so on. There are more than two types of things that differ in their effect and color…”

Everyone’s heads spun when they heard about these kinds of cosmetics; it was disorienting enough to hear about their types alone, much less about what they were used for.

On the other hand, Jiang He listened intently: “What about the price?”

The detective continued, “After looking through them one by one, we learned that these cosmetics are not cheap. The average lipstick costs more than 300 RMB. The rest are even more costly. All of these beauty brands are well-known like Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Dior, and the like.”

“Are these authentic?” inquired Jiang He.

Several people exchanged puzzled looks: “About this… we are not certain about the authenticity of the cosmetics. There’s no invoice, and we big men don’t understand these things…”

Jiang He nodded and replied, “Go and check. If these are well-known brands, they should be able to be determined by the serial number.”

He heard a “bump” emanating from the bedroom door as he spoke.

Everyone turned around, and a woman appeared in their line of sight. The woman put down the suitcase, as evidenced by the faint sound. The woman walked over without saying anything after putting the suitcase down.

Captain Wang took notice of the woman. The lady stood about 1.7 metres tall. She was tall, with two peaks. She appeared to be about twenty-five years old. The woman approached the dressing table, sat on the stool, and began to examine the cosmetics on display.

Everyone looked at her, and she likewise returned a glance at them, and they were clueless about what this woman was doing.

Captain Wang was about to say something when Jiang He interrupted him.

Captain Wang merely kept a tight eye on the woman.

Her lips were red and teeth white, her brows were swirling, she was born with the posture of sinking fish and geese, the appearance of closed moon and shy flowers, pink cosmetics and jade carving, and she’s cute.

The woman eventually responded, “These cosmetics are all authentic products. The fact that she is still ready to make an investment in herself speaks much about this woman. The cosmetics on the dressing table cost roughly 6,000 RMB in total.”

‘6,000 RMB?’ Jiang He muttered something.

“I am Xu Yiman. What about you guys?” asked the woman with her hand extended to them.