Jian Jing walked around the crime scene twice and felt tired: "Can I sit down?"
"Have a seat, the evidence collection is done," Ji Feng handed her a tablet.
Jian Jing found the most comfortable spot on the sofa and tapped open the software to the statements section.
First, let's clarify several time points.
The victim entered the suite at 10:05, the last time others saw him alive. The autopsy report estimated time of death to be between 10:40-11:10.
In addition, the manager saw a customer appear at the club around 10:50. He chatted with the customer briefly and after arranging for him to enter the VVIP lounge, went upstairs around 11:00 to notify the victim per his instructions.
At that time, he heard arguing inside the room. He knocked but got no response.
Worried, the manager found the head of security and together they pried open the door and discovered the victim's body.
It was exactly 11:10 then. Several minutes later, the head of security called the police.
So what was everyone else doing during that 1 hour 5 minutes?
Jian Jing scrolled down and saw a lot more text. She asked, "Is there video?"
Ji Feng said, "Yes, tap on the statements at the bottom to see videos."
She opened the manager's statement.
He was an obese man in his thirties surnamed Zhao. He was amiable looking and very cooperative in manner.
The manager answered: "My job is mainly coordinating work between departments - arranging manpower, clearing and cleaning venues, scheduling stage performances, things like that."
"Talk about what you did the night of June 15."
"Oh there was so much going on that night I can't even count using 10 fingers. I remember right after we opened doors at 7, there was a customer insisting on booking out the venue. I told him we don't do that but he just threw a stack of cash at me and kept at it. You can tell he was a spoiled rich kid..."
The police had to stop his chatter: "Answer only what was asked, don't ramble."
The manager felt wronged: "But I'm answering the question!"
The other officer rephrased: "Just focus on your actions between 10 and 11 pm."
"Let me think. A little past 10, the boss finished drinking with his customer so I walked him upstairs to rest. Then I went back to work - I was running around the club nonstop, my legs were so tired! At 11, no 10:50, an important regular customer came. I hurried to greet him. Can't slight the big boss clients even once or they won't come back - oops sorry for rambling again - after I chatted with him I went upstairs to get the boss and you know the rest."
"Elaborate further about what happened upstairs."
"Okay. I went upstairs at 11 and heard activity inside the room but no one responded when I knocked. I was very worried so I got Da Qian (head of security) to open the door. It took 5 minutes at most, I knocked again when we got up there and still no response. The key couldn't open the door either so we used tools to pry it open. Then when we got the door open I saw boss lying on the floor. Scared me half to death! I rushed over and saw blood covering his head, while Xiao Tan just sat there in a daze not knowing what he was thinking.
"I checked for breathing and boss had already passed. So I told Da Qian let's call the police. Then I asked Xiao Tan if he did this and he ignored me. I was worried he might harm himself so kept guard until the police came.
The head of security was next.
Wearing a black suit, he had a sturdy build and looked like the chair might collapse under his weight at any moment.
"I work from 6 pm to 3 am," contrary to expectations, the big guy was very articulate. "My main duties every night are patrolling the club for customer safety and keeping order. If there are drunk customers I'll have them escorted back to their rooms or call a car to send them home, or I'll have troublemakers removed."
He specially clarified, "We're a proper club and don't get violent with customers."
The police asked: "Where were you between 10 and 11 pm?"
The head of security answered: "I should've been patrolling."
"By yourself?"
"With colleagues." He recalled, "I remember we handled an incident that night too. A customer drank too much and caused a ruckus. It took us a long time to get him calmed down."
"Around what time was this?"
"Don't remember clearly, maybe 10:20 or so."
"What then?"
"Chatted with colleagues, patrolled around, called cabs for customers - kept busy with odd jobs. Close to 11, I was about to go for a midnight snack break when Brother Zhao (the manager) suddenly came to get me. Then we went upstairs together."
"Talk about discovering the victim."
"Okay." The head of security carefully recalled before slowly answering, "At that time, Brother Zhao rushed over very anxiously saying the boss seemed to have fought with Xiao Tan. He knocked but the boss ignored him so he wanted me to open the door and check out the situation."
The police suddenly interrupted: "Couples argue all the time. Why did you immediately agree based on this?"
The security head sighed, "Because of Xiao Tan's past." He revealed, "Kid's got a record. He threatened a customer with a knife once over some conflict. Boss spent a lot of money covering it up. And also..."
He had an indescribable, puzzled and difficult to express subtle look on his face.
"Well, boss had really peculiar tastes. There was once before Xiao Tan came saying boss took a bad fall and lost a lot of blood down there. We rushed him barely in time to the hospital with the doc saying any later would've been dangerous."
Jian Jing: "???"
She grabbed Ji Feng and showed him the screen: "Is this what I think it means?"
Ji Feng: "Yes."
Jian Jing understood. No wonder the manager panicked over no activity behind the door and went straight to the head of security. He didn't care about interrupting the boss's "fun".
Turns out it was the kind of fun that could kill someone... cough.
She continued reading.
Next was the secretary.
In contrast to Jian Jing's familiar Dai An, this secretary had many shirt buttons undone, wore a butt-hugging skirt ending above the thighs, fishnet stockings and long sharp nails. Fake and tacky.
"My job is listening to boss's orders. Whatever he tells me to do I'll do," while dressed provocatively the secretary had a coy girly voice. "Usually I don't get off work to go home until boss goes to bed."
"Where were you and what were you doing the night of the incident?"
She said, "Before 8, I was resting in the office. Nothing much to do. Past 9 something my friends said they were partying at the club so I went down to sing with them for a bit. Close to 10:30 I stepped out to buy supper for boss then got back around 10:50."
"No late night snacks at the club?"
"There's buns and noodles but boss doesn't like those."
"He orders the same every night?"
"Drinks less so eats less. He'll definitely want something, not necessarily every day."
"Notice anything off when you came back?"
The secretary said, "I knocked but there was no sound in the room. Figured boss hadn't woken up yet so went back to the office to wait."
"Anyone else in the office?"
"No. Li Sister's computer was on but she wasn't there. She probably went for snacks," the secretary explained. "Our late night snack time is 10 pm to midnight. Go late, there's nothing left."
"When did you find out something happened to the boss?"
"Brother Qian (head of security) told me. He said police were coming so don't wander."
"Before that, you heard nothing?"
"The club has excellent sound proofing and I was on my phone so didn't notice anything. I have nothing to do with this and know nothing."
Then it was the accountant's turn.
A woman in her forties wearing loose top and pants with grey flats. She appeared apprehensive and a bit nervous.
"That night I was working overtime on the books. In the office before 10:30. After finishing I went downstairs for snacks and didn't return upstairs until 11:15. That's when I found out about the boss."
Her timeline was very simple. "Anyone able to verify your downstairs whereabouts after 10:30?"
She shook her head: "I was originally going to go back to the office, but the room on the top floor was stuffy, so I got some fresh air outside for a while without running into anyone."
In other words, she had no alibi.
The last one was the business department manager.
The so-called business department was actually responsible for accompanying drinking and singing. The manager was in her thirties and female. Contrary to the unprofessional image I had, this manager was dressed very plainly, with light makeup, wearing a black diagonal shoulder long skirt, not deliberately trying to be provocative, but rather giving off an elegant feel.
"I am the business department manager of Jin Cui Hua Palace. My daily job is to arrange for our waiters to serve customers in private rooms."
The manager said unhurriedly: "On the evening of the 15th, as usual I started working at 7 pm until after 9 pm. I was chatting with customers in private rooms the whole time and many people can testify for me. Oh right, that evening a colleague had a conflict with a customer and got injured. I took her to the hospital but because I was busy, after paying I went back to the club."
"What time was that?"
"I remember when I left the hospital it was 10:10 pm. Considering the commute, I should have gotten back to the club around 10:40 pm, I don't remember exactly."
"Did you drive there yourself?"
"I don't know how to drive, I just took a taxi."
"What happened after you got back to the club?"
"I wanted to report the incident to the Boss so I went upstairs. On the way I ran into Brother Zhao and he told me that Xiao Tan had come. So I wasn't in a hurry to find the Boss and took a break in the lounge."
"When did you find out what happened to the victim?"
"Da Qian came and knocked on my door, telling me that the Boss was dead. That's when I found out."
"Did you hear any movement beforehand?"
"I didn't notice."
--
As Jian Jing was fully focused on watching the surveillance video, Ji Feng once again surveyed the crime scene.
He carefully examined the lounge and office outside, confirming the sound insulation between the two rooms. Unless it was a loud noise, with both doors closed it would indeed be difficult to hear anything. But if there was only one door in between, one could still vaguely hear some sounds.
From this perspective, none of the suspects seemed to have lied.
So did they really have no suspicion?
"I still don't quite understand." Prosecutor Zhu interrupted his train of thought and questioned, "Although several people have no alibi, the motive for Xiao Tan to commit murder is very clear, while the others don't have an obvious motive."
Ji Feng nodded: "Yes, Xiao Tan and the victim had emotional disputes and had clashed over it many times. The victim had said that she would take back the things she gave him, so whether for money or love, he had sufficient motive to commit murder."
Prosecutor Zhu said: "I know you insist on investigating because you're afraid of wronging a good person, but from what I can see so far, I don't notice anything suspicious."
"It's intuition," he said, "or you can call it experience."
She raised her eyebrows.
Ji Feng said: "I've seen many homicide cases, some with elaborate plans but failed executions, some dismembering the body yet still able to sleep in the same room with it, but most are crimes of passion where the perpetrator kills on impulse then worries about covering it up afterwards - judging from the crime scene, there's no doubt Xiao Tan was this kind of person, right?"
Prosecutor Zhu nodded: "Yes."
"For such a perpetrator," he continued, "before being caught, they may hold out hope. But he was caught red-handed at the scene with the weapon. Think about it, he kills on impulse without considering anything, yet is able to withstand so many days of interrogation, insisting he's not the murderer...isn't that strange?"
"But that's just your psychological analysis of him, there's no evidence to prove he's not the murderer."
Ji Feng said: "That's why we're still investigating. Jian Jing is the best at this." He called to Jian Jing, "Teacher Jian, are you done? Give us some feedback."
"Why the rush," Jian Jing sauntered over, similarly examining the office and lounge carefully. Finally she said, "I'm hungry, let's go."
Prosecutor Zhu: ??? I was waiting to hear about suspicious points, how can we just leave?
Ji Feng: "Alright, let's go."
She was puzzled: Go, just like that? Are these two communicating telepathically?
Author's note: Prosecutor Zhu: Why don't you take me to play along?
I've lost my enthusiasm for gambling.