Xiao Lou's major is Forensic Doctor, and his specialty is toxicology. However, he has loved detective novels and escape room games since he was a child, so he is very familiar with the basic reasoning process.
In handling homicide cases, being able to locate the primary crime scene greatly aids the police in solving the case.
Xiao Lou determined that this was not the primary crime scene, and the reason was actually quite simple.
The heart is the body's central blood supply center. It acts like a powerful pump, its regular beats delivering blood to every part of the body. The victim's fatal wound was to the heart, with the knife inserted close to the aorta. If the victim was stabbed to death in bed, the severed aorta would cause the gushing blood to splatter onto the pillow, sheets, and even the walls.
The surrounding area was clean, with no trace of blood splatter.
Her blood only soaked through the clothes on her chest. Judging from the amount of blood loss, it was about 100cc, less than half of what a normal person would lose when donating blood. She was clearly murdered elsewhere and only moved to the bedroom bed after she had bled out enough.
Murder, bloodletting, and placing the victim on a bed covered with rose petals—this killer is clearly a psychopath!
Xiao Lou turned and went to the kitchen, partly to search for other evidence and partly to confirm his theory.
The deceased's dirty clothes in the bathroom had some stains that looked like blood, but from his professional perspective, they weren't blood at all; they looked more like juice. The first place he thought of that was closely associated with juice was the kitchen.
Xiao Lou walked into the kitchen and, sure enough, saw a watermelon on the table. The watermelon was cut in half; one half must have been eaten, and the other half was now rotten and smelly—the blood-like stains on the woman's clothes were watermelon juice.
There was a fruit knife stuck inside the watermelon. Xiao Lou gently pulled the fruit knife out.
The sharp, slender fruit knife and the marks on the female protagonist's body, which he had just examined, were completely identical.
This Fruit Knife is the murder weapon that killed the female protagonist!
Xiao Lou's heart began to pound violently.
He began to search the kitchen carefully, and if he wasn't mistaken, this was the real crime scene!
The kitchen appeared to have been cleaned; there were no obvious traces of blood.
He crouched down to check the drain in the corner and found some hair on its edge—short black hair about 3cm long, clearly belonging to a man. There were also a few drops of blood on the wall behind the pipe that hadn't been cleaned up.
The discovery of the primary crime scene and the murder weapon instantly brought the clue collection rate to 70%.
Xiao Lou habitually turned the trash can over. The kitchen trash can was full of vegetable leaves, fruit peels, eggshells, and frozen meat packaging bags. It can be inferred that the female protagonist must have cooked a meal at home before she died, and it was enough for more than two people, with at least five dishes including vegetables and meat. She couldn't have eaten that much by herself.
Apart from that, no refrigerators or cabinets were found.
Xiao Lou turned and went out. On the dining table directly opposite the kitchen was a large bouquet of roses. The glass vase holding the roses was very delicate, and the water inside was still very clear. The roses were blooming well, but some of the flowers had been picked, which was likely the source of the rose petals in the bedroom.
Xiao Lou turned the restaurant's trash can upside down and dumped it on the ground. Apart from some fruit peels, there was a greeting card in the trash. It was a heart-shaped card commonly used in florists, with the words "Happy Birthday, Husband will always love you" written on it in strong, bold handwriting.
The clue collection rate has increased to 75%, and the roses and greeting cards are clearly helpful in deducing the case.
Xiao Lou walked into the study opposite the dining table.
A bookcase occupying one wall is filled with medical books, including several monographs on cardiac surgery.
Next to the bookshelf was a typical office desk with a desk lamp on it. There were three drawers on the right side of the desk, and a small cabinet with doors on the left. Xiao Lou opened the drawers and found a passport and a medical practitioner's license in the first drawer, belonging to the male head of the household. He finally learned the man's information— Zhao Sen, born October 26, 1988, Han Chinese, a surgeon.
The other drawers contained lists of property management fees, bank receipts, and medical research papers, which were not of much help to the case.
Xiao Lou closed the drawer and opened the cabinet door in the lower left corner.
Inside the cabinet, he found a black safe with a combination lock. It had a four-row numeric keypad, numbered 123, 456, 789, and *0# from top to bottom. He had seen many safes like this before. After entering the correct numeric combination, he could unlock it by pressing the # key.
Digital passwords...
The only numbers involved in this case so far are the birthdays of the male and female homeowners.
The female protagonist's best friend gives her perfume and wishes her a happy birthday; she also receives a birthday card at the restaurant and her husband gives her roses, also wishing her a happy birthday. Multiple clues mention "birthday," so this date is definitely not simple.
The male homeowner's birthday can be found on his medical license: October 26, 1988. Xiao Lou remembers the female homeowner's birthday very clearly; the date on the greeting card her best friend wrote for her was July 17.
The safe's combination lock was a four-digit number. He entered 1026, but it said the combination was wrong. Xiao Lou then entered the woman's birthday, 0717, and pressed the # key.
With a crisp "snap," the silence of the murder scene was broken; the safe had indeed been opened.
—The clue collection rate suddenly jumped to 90%!
At this point, there are 18 minutes left in the countdown.
The safe had a two-tiered structure, with a folder on the upper level. Xiao Lou took it out and quickly flipped through it, extracting key information at a glance.
There are two insurance contracts. In the first contract, the insured's name is Zou Xiaomei, and the beneficiary's name is Zhao Sen; the two are husband and wife. In the second contract, the insured's name is Zhao Sen, and the beneficiary is Zou Xiaomei.
The couple purchased commercial insurance for each other, including critical illness insurance and personal accident insurance, with annual premiums exceeding 10,000 yuan. If the insured is hospitalized due to critical illnesses such as tumors or cardiovascular diseases, hospitalization expenses up to 500,000 yuan can be fully reimbursed; if the insured dies accidentally, the beneficiary can directly receive a maximum compensation of 2 million yuan from the insurance company.
Xiao Lou was terrified when she saw the insurance contract.
He had also bought commercial medical insurance for his parents, which is normal for family members to buy insurance for each other. However, cases of murder for insurance fraud are not uncommon. He had even seen news reports of sons killing their mothers just to collect insurance money—it was utterly depraved!
In this case, the couple's relationship had broken down. If Zou Xiaomei died in an accident, Zhao Sen would receive up to 2 million yuan in compensation!
Xiao Lou felt a chill run down his spine. He put down the insurance contract and continued searching through the lower safe deposit boxes.
Several photo albums were placed on the lower level.
The album contains many photos of Zhao Sen, documenting his entire growth from elementary school to junior high, high school, and university graduation. He appears to have been nearsighted from a young age, wearing glasses since childhood. Judging from the photos, Zhao Sen seems like a very gentle and approachable person—because he's smiling in every picture.
Besides their personal photo album, there are several wedding photo albums. When the couple first got married, they seemed very much in love. The man held his wife very gentlemanly, while the woman nestled against him like a little bird, with a sweet smile.
Turn the page...
Xiao Lou saw photos of the wedding.
There is a group photo of four people, including the bride and groom, the best man, and the maid of honor.
This group photo was clearly taken from the side, and none of the four people are looking at the camera lens. In the photo, the bride and groom are smiling at each other, the bridesmaid is gazing affectionately at the best man, while the best man, standing not far away in the crowd, is raising a wine glass to toast people, but his eyes are fixed on the bride.
Xiao Lou immediately perked up.
—A fourth person has emerged in connection with the case!
This best man also appeared in Zhao Sen's personal photo album. In Zhao Sen's graduation photo, there is a picture of the two of them with their arms around each other's shoulders. They must be very good friends, which is why Zhao Sen invited him to be his best man at his wedding.
Logically speaking, one should not covet a friend's wife, and men usually avoid suspicion when it comes to their good buddies' wives. However, the best man's staring gaze, as if he were eyeing prey, was clearly not the proper attitude towards his brother's wife.
Xiao Lou continued searching the safe and found a file folder in a hidden spot on the bottom shelf.
Upon opening the folder, there was a contract inside, a secret investigation agreement between Zhao Sen and a private investigator. The investigation concerned the relationship between his cousin He Yongqiang, his wife Zou Xiaomei, and his wife's best friend Liu Yun. As Xiao Lou pulled out the contract, a large stack of photos also fell out.
He picked up the photos; they were all candid shots of the three of them shopping and eating together. In some photos, Liu Yun and He Yongqiang were holding hands, behaving intimately. But in other photos, Zou Xiaomei and He Yongqiang were holding hands and hugging— He Yongqiang, that scumbag, was clearly two-timing, dating the young and beautiful Liu Yun while also flirting with his cousin's wife!
The last few photos are quite explicit; Zou Xiaomei is wearing a thin silk nightgown and is making out with He Yongqiang in the bedroom…
These photos taken at home were taken from an overhead angle, and there is a time stamp in the upper right corner. Obviously, Zhao Sen had already installed surveillance cameras at home to monitor his wife's movements at all times, and these photos are screenshots from the surveillance footage.
Xiao Lou: "..."
What a melodramatic soap opera!
It wasn't the male homeowner, Zhao Sen, who had an affair, but the female homeowner, Zou Xiaomei, who died in bed!
If he hadn't opened the safe in the study, he might have mistakenly concluded that the male lead was cheating on his wife with his best friend, which led the female lead to angrily tear up the marriage certificate. Now it seems that it was the female lead who cheated, and the man she cheated with was none other than her husband's cousin, her best friend's boyfriend…
This reversal came completely unexpectedly.
Xiao Lou put down the photo in shock, quickly composed himself, and looked at the prompt in the floating window. The clue collection rate was fixed at 90%, with the safe being a major clue accounting for 15%. From the clues in the safe, he learned the names of everyone involved in the case—the deceased Zou Xiaomei, her husband Zhao Sen, her lover He Yongqiang, and her best friend Liu Yun.
The four people have a complicated relationship. He Yongqiang is Zhao Sen's cousin and Liu Yun's boyfriend. Zou Xiaomei's affair with He Yongqiang is equivalent to simultaneously cheating on her husband Zhao Sen and her best friend Liu Yun.
Both Zhao Sen and Liu Yun, as victims, had grounds to kill her. However, the identity of the specific murderer still needs further investigation.
The clue collection rate is 90%, only the last crucial clue is missing.
Xiao Lou turned around and went into the living room, searching carefully, but found nothing.
When he searched the last children's room, he found a cell phone and a power bank next to the pillow. The cell phone had a pink case and should belong to the deceased, Zou Xiaomei.
Such a crucial clue was found in the farthest children's room, a place most people wouldn't even search for first!
Xiao Lou's eyes
Liang immediately picked up his phone.
He pressed the power button, and a message popped up on the screen: "Please enter the password," followed by a numeric keypad.
Xiao Lou subconsciously entered the female lead's birthday "0717", but a warning popped up on the screen: "Password verification error. The phone will be automatically locked after 5 incorrect attempts. 4 attempts remaining."
He then entered the male homeowner's birthday, 1026, and was prompted: "Password verification error. The phone will be automatically locked after five incorrect attempts. 3 attempts remaining."
Not a birthday code? Then what is it?
The countdown in the floating window shows 15 minutes remaining.
Xiao Lou frowned and fell into deep thought.
He had searched the bedroom, bathroom, study, children's room, kitchen, and living/dining room. The woman's birthday was July 17th, and the man's birthday was October 26th. Apart from that, there were no other clues related to numbers.
In reality, the deceased's phone password could be set arbitrarily, and if the police couldn't crack it, they would hire professional technicians. But now, he's alone in a locked room, he's found the phone, but he can't crack the password—he can't just guess, can he?
Xiao Lou picked up her phone, thought for a moment, then turned and went back to her bedroom.
When your phone screen is locked and a "Please enter your password" prompt appears, most people will probably struggle with what the password is and waste time searching for clues.
But Xiao Lou had just searched the entire room as quickly as possible, and he was confident that he hadn't missed anything.
Since the phone's password isn't your birthday, there are no other clues related to numbers in the entire house. Therefore, the "Please enter your password" prompt that pops up on the phone could also be a distractor.
Who says you can only unlock your phone by entering a password?
Xiao Lou took the phone back to the master bedroom, walked to the rose bed, lifted the deceased's right hand, and placed her right thumb on the phone's fingerprint button.
The pink cell phone and power bank left at home naturally belong to the lady of the house.
The woman was lying on the bed; although she was a corpse, her fingers were still intact.
Wouldn't it be more convenient to unlock it with her fingerprint?