The weather was hot, and barbecues had lost their appeal.
Jian Jing found a roadside cold drink shop and ordered a matcha ice smoothie. Zhu Yanan spent a long time choosing before settling on a jasmine green bean soup. Each was curious about what the other had ordered.
"Is the matcha bitter?"
"It's alright. Is the green bean soup sweet?"
"No sugar added, still not bad."
Ji Feng: "..." Women.
He tapped the table, hurrying her: "Ms. Jian, hurry up."
Jian Jing sipped her ice smoothie, pondering: "From what I can see so far, both the person in charge and the head of security, the first two discoverers, have alibis prior to the incident."
The jobs of the person in charge and head of security required them to walk around the club frequently. And there could be emergencies at any time, so no one could confirm whether someone might look for them during a certain period of time.
Therefore, their statements were quite credible.
"The manager, secretary and accountant happened to be alone for different reasons during that period of time," she counted off on her fingers. "The secretary was in the office, the accountant was outside, and the manager was in the lounge. They didn't run into each other and none of them noticed any movement from the suite."
Ji Feng: "Do you think there's something wrong with them?"
"Hard to say. I also ignore my surroundings when I'm on my phone," Jian Jing thought about it and said worriedly, "Actually there's a classic solution for this kind of locked room mystery—the victim didn't die in the room."
Zhu Yanan was puzzled: "What do you mean, the body was moved?"
She shook her head: "No, it means the victim was attacked outside, but walked into the room alive and locked the door themselves, accidentally creating the illusion of a locked room."
Ji Feng said: "The murder weapon was still at the scene."
"Let's adapt it a bit." Jian Jing rolled her eyes. "The person was killed by having their head smashed in the room. After the murderer left, the victim locked the door and then collapsed back down."
Ji Feng was speechless: "Why would they do that?"
"True love."
"Ms. Jian, let me remind you that he was gay, but the three suspects with opportunity were all female." He said gently, "How true would this love have to be for him to cover up for the person who killed him?"
"You really lack imagination. What I just described was only a template that could evolve into countless possibilities depending on the relationships between characters."
When it comes to making up stories, the writer is a professional.
Jian Jing said, "For example, what if one of them was his daughter? Would it be possible for him to cover up for his only bloodline? Or the daughter of his white moonlight, the old flame he owed for many years, his half-sister by the same father..."
Ji Feng raised his hand: "Stop. Those are all your fantasies. Give me some practical evidence."
"What do you expect, that I can spot evidence you guys missed just by looking at the scene once? If it's come to this point you might as well quit too." She argued forcefully, "I'm giving you examples to help broaden your line of thought and consider another possibility—the existence of the locked room could just be a coincidence."
Ji Feng contemplated.
Jian Jing went on: "Do you feel like what I just said is unreliable because it's too sensational?"
He gave her a look that clearly asked, what else?
"That's discrimination against crimes of passion." She sneered, and immediately gave another example: "Then let me put it this way—what if the murderer had originally planned to kill both of them?"
"It's true that Tan Hao was drugged, and that the victim's head was smashed. He locked the door not to cover up for anyone, but because he was afraid the murderer would come back. Wouldn't that make more sense?"
Zhu Yanan couldn't help nodding along: "It really would."
Jian Jing turned to look at her.
Zhu Yanan was confused.
Ji Feng laughed: "Ms. Jian, you've bamboozled our prosecutor silly."
Zhu Yanan retorted: "What she said makes a lot more sense than your speculations about the suspects."
Ji Feng: "......"
"Ahem." Jian Jing was used to teasing Ji Feng, but felt a little bad about deceiving the honest Zhu Yanan. She volunteered: "I'm just speculating randomly. There are still flaws—Tan Hao's fingerprints are on the porcelain. If the murderer had already planned to kill him from the start, there would be no need to fabricate fingerprints."
Zhu Yanan realized her mistake and felt awkward for no reason.
Jian Jing changed the subject: "I think you should still investigate the relationships between the others and the victim. Also, if it really was a frame-up, the murderer should also resent Tan Hao quite a bit—was the victim really just gay?"
"Look at the amount of work needed." Ji Feng sighed and looked to Zhu Yanan: "Prosecutor Zhu, you heard all that too. We'll need some more time."
Having been bombarded by all these possibilities from Jian Jing, Zhu Yanan's mind was also shaken. She didn't want to wrongly accuse a good person or let a criminal slip through either, so she said: "Two more days at most. I'm also under pressure."
"Alright, two days it is first." Ji Feng wouldn't haggle. Get it settled first before discussing more. "Thanks."
Zhu Yanan was also efficient. She looked at her watch and decisively said: "Then it's decided. I should head back first."
"Should I give you a ride back?" he asked.
Zhu Yanan said: "No need, I'll just take a cab."
"That's not very safe." Jian Jing was shocked and hurried to say to Ji Feng: "Send her back. I'll take a cab."
"I'll send you back instead." To Zhu Yanan, Jian Jing's outfit and looks meant she had a much higher chance of running into danger. She had learned boxing for two years herself—if something really happened, at least she would have some ability to fight back.
Ji Feng couldn't help wondering: "The robbery rate around here isn't that high. Why are you two so worried?"
"You don't understand crap." Jian Jing vehemently shook her head and said to Zhu Yanan: "Don't worry about me. Most men, I can flatten with one hand."
Zhu Yanan was surprised.
"It's true. Don't judge Ms. Jian by her looks." Though he said so, Ji Feng still said: "Alright, it's just a little detour. I'll send you both back so people at the bureau don't laugh at me later for letting a woman go home alone."
It wasn't that big of a deal originally. But hearing him put it that way made Jian Jing feeling rebellious: "I said no need, so no need. I'd like to see who's tired of living and tries to rob me."
Ji Feng reacted quickly as well: "Don't say that. You're a famous author, it wouldn't look good to take a cab yourself." He held onto her arm. "Get in the car. Prosecutor Zhu has work tomorrow. Don't delay her rest."
Jian Jing had tricked Zhu Yanan earlier so she already felt guilty. With him putting it like that, she really couldn't refute further and got in the car angrily.
Ji Feng asked: "You're still living in your previous place?"
Zhu Yanan nodded.
"You should move. More cases come up, be careful of people keeping tabs on you." He said.
"Too busy recently. No time to move." Zhu Yanan also had no choice. Work at the procuratorate was busy and she often needed to work overtime or go on business trips. She really had no way to spare the time to look for a new place and move.
Ji Feng asked: "What about your boyfriend?"
"We broke up."
"Then how about this. I'll introduce you to a roommate." He said. "Ms. Jian, Liang Yi's looking for someone to split rent recently right?"
Jian Jing checked her Moments feed and said yes. "Just posted about it yesterday."
Ji Feng said: "I'll give you her business card later. She's my college classmate and also a police officer. It should be safer if you two live together."
"Thanks for arranging this." Zhu Yanan appreciated his good intentions. The criminal cases she supervised at the Supervision Division were often extremely cruel. Without a reliable roommate, she really wouldn't feel assured.
Her place wasn't far from the procuratorate. Ji Feng was very familiar with the area and dropped her off downstairs, waiting for a bit even after until he saw the lights upstairs come on before driving away.
Jian Jing noticed and asked: "Is she in some kind of trouble?"
"A man was caught following her yesterday." Ji Feng said. "I went over to ask and he said he was a victim's family member of some case, anxious to know the verdict, which was why he kept following to ask about it."
Jian Jing's eyelid twitched strangely: "That's so creepy. What happened next?"
"Just tailing her, didn't do anything. What could be done? Gave him a talking-to and let him go." He said. "This is exactly why I really don't recommend Yun Yun go into this profession either. Too dangerous."
Speaking of which, Jian Jing suddenly remembered the gossip from today and told him about Yun Yun going on a date with a boy.
"Must be that class committee kid from her grade." There was a hint of sourness in Ji Feng's tone. "Girls don't stay at the best schools."
"Dating after the college entrance exam period is over is only natural." Jian Jing spoke up for her. "You're being salty. I bet you got rejected when you confessed to your crush after your own college entrance exams."
Ji Feng: "Do you feel unhappy if you don't step on me a few times?"
She said: "I'm just logically reasoning."
"Oh really? Let's hear this reasoning of yours then."
"Prosecutor Zhu was your high school class president right? The good grades, pretty one. Am I right?" She said.
Ji Feng looked at her amused. "How'd you guess?"
"You two are quite familiar. Generally, prosecutors don't assign cases to the same person every time, so it proves you have some personal connection. She also mentioned you were acquaintances. However, she doesn't know Liang Yi, so Liang Yi is not your college classmate. Being able to become a prosecutor means she had very good grades, and adding to that her good looks, the range is quite small."
Jian Jing thought for a moment and added, "Also, she has a certain aura with you. I guess you didn't get punished by her less when you were studying together."
"Not bad for Teacher Jian." Ji Feng readily admitted, "But can you explain to me how you made the correct deduction yet arrived at the wrong result?"
Jian Jing: "You asked if she had a boyfriend."
"Is it not normal for me to ask this?" Ji Feng shook his head, "Teacher Jian, you have crashed."
She kept her head in the face of danger and asked back, "Do you swear you asked this casually?"
Ji Feng glanced at her, curious: "What's the difference between asking casually or not?"
"No difference," Jian Jing shrugged, "Tricking you causes me no loss."
"..."
Ji Feng understood. Teacher Jian was just bored and looking to tease him a bit for fun.
He simply didn't take her bait: "What time should I come to pick you up tomorrow?"
"I'll call you when I wake up."
The next day.
Jian Jing woke up after 8 AM and glanced at her phone.
Ji Feng left a message saying he had an operation in the morning and would call her when he was free.
Since that was the case, Jian Jing was in no hurry to get out of bed. She tossed her phone aside and lounged a bit more before slowly getting up. The knight outside could not wait any longer and whined for her to go out.
"Coming, coming." She took the leash and casually bit into a slice of bread to take the dog out for a walk.
The knight happily ran out, panting with his tongue out halfway to death when he came back.
It was too hot.
Jian Jing was afraid he would get heat stroke, so she fed him an icy yogurt.
Knight: "Woof!" Fully revived!
Ji Feng's call also came: "Are you awake now?"
"It's almost lunchtime."
"I'll be right there."
He arrived quite quickly. Other than his slightly messy hair, he seemed fine. But as Jian Jing barely picked up her keys, she sensed something wrong: "Why do you smell of blood?"
Ji Feng was puzzled for a moment: "Really? I didn't fire my gun today."
Jian Jing circled around him.
His clothes were undamaged. There was some dust on his shoulder, clearly from brushing against something. Faint bloodstains seeped out from his back: "Your back."
He looked over his shoulder.
"You went to catch someone this morning?"
"Yeah, luckily no guns, but he had a knife and was quite fierce." He couldn't reach his back so he gave up, "It's nothing. I probably scraped the ground a bit while subduing him."
He took it for granted, not making a big deal: "Let's go. Had lunch yet? Who do you want to investigate first?"
"Thinking your body is made of iron?" Jian Jing took out a first-aid kit. She left no room for objection, "Come over. I'll dress your wound."