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Captain Wang glanced at Jiang He and began, "Let me share my thoughts first. This case..."
Upon seeing Jiang He's hawk-like gaze, Captain Wang added, "Of course, it might not be that rigorous. We discovered two bodies in the home of resident Li Weiyi. The younger body belongs to Li Weiyi's wife, He Hui Juan. The older body is that of Li Weiyi's mother, Wu Guifeng."
The surrounding detectives were busy checking the makeup data while listening to their leader speak.
Captain Wang continued, "From the overall situation at the scene, I have a preliminary hypothesis. The wounds on both bodies can basically be confirmed as inflicted by the same knife, which is currently embedded in Wu Guifeng's body—the Serrated Knife. Wu Guifeng committed suicide. Based on my experience, the incident likely unfolded like this..."
Captain Wang reconstructed the crime scene:
Around seven o'clock in the morning, after having breakfast, husband Li Weiyi began his busy workday and hurriedly left for work while He Hui Juan was still tucked under the covers. Wu Guifeng had long held grievances against her lazy daughter-in-law, feeling that her son worked hard outside while this one did nothing at home.
With a hint of discontent, Wu Guifeng emerged from the kitchen holding the Serrated Knife; she had been preparing lunch by cutting meat.
Wu Guifeng stood by the bedside and called for He Hui Juan to get up, but He Hui Juan showed no intention of rising. Determined to make He Hui Juan get out of bed today, Wu Guifeng insisted, but He Hui Juan remained stubbornly unyielding. During this process, a quarrel inevitably broke out between them. In a moment of impulse, Wu Guifeng pulled back He Hui Juan's covers.
This action completely enraged the still-sleepy He Hui Juan. Losing her rationality, He Hui Juan likely hurled severe insults at Wu Guifeng. Even a clay figurine has its limits; this made Wu Guifeng tremble with anger. At that moment, she was still gripping the Serrated Knife tightly and, in a fit of rage, stabbed He Hui Juan in the abdomen.
The knife plunged deep.
He Hui Juan may have let out a painful scream, but Wu Guifeng could not turn back now; she covered He Hui Juan's mouth with her hand. Just a few minutes later, He Hui Juan was dead.
After impulsively killing someone, Wu Guifeng looked at everything before her—she felt regretful, scared, and guilty. Yet no matter what happened, everything was already beyond repair.
Wu Guifeng understood the principle of paying debts with life; a mother-in-law had killed her daughter-in-law. Unable to bear the inner condemnation and remorse of her conscience, after struggling for some time, Wu Guifeng pulled out the Serrated Knife from her daughter-in-law's abdomen and went to the living room.
She gently leaned against the Shoe Cabinet and wanted to use the phone in the Entrance Hall to have one last conversation with her son. However, after much contemplation, she found herself unable to do it; she couldn't bring herself to speak. Thus, Wu Guifeng ended her own life with the same knife.
It wasn't until a middle school student from across the hall returned home from school and saw blood flowing out of the house that they called the police.
Hearing Captain Wang's reasoning, the surrounding detectives cast admiring glances at him; his deduction encompassed all details of the scene and was remarkably thorough. A few young detectives who had just transferred felt like applauding on the spot.
Captain Wang lightly cleared his throat and said, "It's about right."
Jiang He shook his head. "Not even close."
"Is it really that far off?" Captain Wang asked. "Where is it lacking?"
Jiang He replied, "All speculation must be based on facts. Only by analyzing what you have seen with your own eyes can you arrive at a correct probability. If you haven't been in the kitchen and haven't seen whether there are bloodstains on the phone in the Entrance Hall, you cannot use such uncertain evidence as the basis for your speculation. The probability you arrive at could be wrong sixty percent of the time."
"Let's go take a look then," Captain Wang said, glancing at Jiang He before heading toward the kitchen.
Jiang He did not follow Captain Wang into the kitchen; it seemed he had already concluded that Captain Wang would return empty-handed.
Captain Wang stood in the kitchen, examining it closely. It was spotless, with no cutting board or meat in sight. It appeared that no lunch was being prepared here. He opened the refrigerator door to check inside, but there was no prepped meat either. Shaking his head in frustration, Captain Wang realized his assumptions were somewhat flawed. Logically speaking, if someone had committed murder, they wouldn't have the presence of mind to put cut meat in the fridge.
Yet Captain Wang still felt unsatisfied. He stepped out of the kitchen and went to check the landline phone in the Entrance Hall. The white phone was relatively clean; although there were some dark spots, it showed no dust and appeared to be frequently wiped down. If Wu Guifeng had made a call after committing murder, there would surely be bloodstains left on the phone, but there were none.
It became clear that Wu Guifeng had never touched this phone.
However, at that moment, Captain Wang noticed a detail: although there were no bloodstains on the phone in the Entrance Hall, he saw a bloody handprint on the doorknob.
"I found something!" Captain Wang shouted as he walked toward the bedroom.
"Hmm?" Jiang He turned back, intrigued by Captain Wang's discovery.
Captain Wang said, "There's a bloody handprint on the doorknob in the Entrance Hall."
Jiang He nodded. "I saw that when I came in. What do you think it means?"
Captain Wang, who had been excited just moments ago, now wore a look of disappointment. "Nothing much. I just realized my guess was somewhat wrong. Given how clean the kitchen is, it seems no one was cooking before. So my theory about a crime of passion doesn't hold up."
He murmured to himself, "If it wasn't a crime of passion, could it be premeditated murder? The long-standing grudge between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finally erupted today; perhaps Wu Guifeng planned to kill and then commit suicide without calling her son. But that doesn't make sense either—if it were premeditated murder, then the method was too simple."
After repeatedly overturning his conclusions, Captain Wang felt slightly agitated. "By the way, you didn't even go into the kitchen to look; you must have assumed my guess was wrong."
Jiang He raised a finger and shook his head. "It's not wrong; it's just that the likelihood of your speculation is low."
"But how can you determine it's not as I speculated based solely on the wounds?" Captain Wang asked, feeling somewhat unwilling to accept this conclusion.
Jiang He sat in front of the vanity, observing it closely.
To avoid disturbing the scene, the detectives carefully returned each cosmetic item to its original position after checking its details, using photographs for reference to ensure nothing was misplaced. As more and more cosmetics were placed back on the vanity, several labels for He Hui Juan began to form in Jiang He's mind.
Willful, lazy.
Vain?
The arrangement of the cosmetics was chaotic; many items lay toppled on the vanity. It was a simple task to set them upright, yet He Hui Juan couldn't be bothered. The traces on the surface revealed a significant amount of powdery residue, indicating that He Hui Juan had never wiped down the vanity after applying her makeup.
It was clear that He Hui Juan had never cleaned this vanity.
Jiang He needed to confirm one more thing: whether he should label He Hui Juan as vain.
Captain Wang noticed Jiang He's indifference and spoke up again, "I..."
Jiang He cut him off before he could continue: "By observing with your eyes and analyzing with your brain, you can see that your assumptions are not quite accurate. Have you clarified the brands, models, uses, and prices of these cosmetics?"
A detective holding a phone chimed in, "We've got it sorted out. There are a total of twenty cosmetic items on the vanity, including lipsticks, BB cream, powder, eyeshadow, primer, mascara, eyebrow pencil, whitening cream, sunscreen, makeup remover, and beauty sponges. Some items come in two or more varieties with different functions and colors..."
Listening to the list of cosmetics made everyone feel overwhelmed; just hearing about them was dizzying enough without considering their uses.
In contrast, Jiang He listened intently. "What about the prices?"
The detective continued, "After checking each one individually, we found that these cosmetics are quite expensive. A regular lipstick costs over three hundred yuan, and the others are even pricier. The brands are all high-end, like Saint Laurent, Dior, Givenchy..."
"Are they authentic?" Jiang He asked.
The others exchanged glances. "Well, we don't know if they're genuine; there are no receipts. We're just a bunch of men who don't really understand this stuff..."
Jiang He nodded and said, "Look into it. If these are all brand-name products, we should be able to verify their authenticity through their serial numbers."
At that moment, a loud thud echoed from the bedroom door.
Everyone turned to look as a woman appeared in their line of sight. The faint sound they heard was her setting down a suitcase. After placing it down, the woman said nothing and walked straight over.
Captain Wang observed her closely. She stood about five foot seven, with a tall and graceful figure, and her curves were striking. Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be around twenty-five years old. The woman approached the vanity, sat on the stool, and began examining the cosmetics laid out before her.
The others exchanged glances, unsure of what this woman was doing.
Captain Wang was about to speak when Jiang He interrupted him.
So, Captain Wang decided to continue observing the woman intently.
Her elegant posture exuded confidence as she sat there with poise. With red lips and white teeth, delicate brows, and a beauty that could make fish sink and birds fall, she possessed a captivating charm. Her makeup was subtle yet refined, making her look lovely.
After a moment, the woman spoke up: "These cosmetics are all genuine. It's clear that she is willing to invest in herself; the total price of the products on this vanity is around six thousand yuan."
"Six thousand yuan?" Jiang He murmured.
The woman extended her hand. "Xu Yiman. May I ask how you all are called?"
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