Production affairs was a busy man, spending the entire morning arranging the work of the crew. With the male second lead dead, there was a need to have the scriptwriter revise the plot, modify tomorrow's shooting schedule, and reassure the staff, keeping him spinning with tasks.
Jian Jing finally got a chance to ask her question when he was free.
"Did I cause the haunting?" Jian Jing asked, catching him off guard. "Why do you ask?"
"Your actions weren't that meticulous," Production affairs replied, looking embarrassed.
Jian Jing bluffed, "With the amount of blood at the crime scene, you're probably the prime suspect."
Production affairs immediately defended himself, "I didn't kill anyone."
"Then did you create all that blood on the bed?" she asked. "Why pretend there's a ghost?"
Production affairs awkwardly pulled at his mouth, seeming to want to say something but finding it hard to articulate.
"What do you want to do?" Jian Jing asked.
"Well..." Production affairs avoided her gaze for a moment, finally giving in. "We have a reason for doing this."
"We?"
"Uh," Production affairs vaguely brushed it off, quickly getting to the point. "We hope Qu Jie can withdraw from the shooting."
Jian Jing was puzzled. "What does Qu Jie's participation in the shoot have to do with you?"
"It doesn't have anything to do with us, but Director Li..." Production affairs hesitated for a moment, as if giving up the struggle, then confessed with a bitter smile, "He previously treated his wife's illness and signed an agreement with someone. If this film doesn't meet the target, he'll have to pay out of his own pocket."
Jian Jing had heard of the betting agreement, and it suddenly made sense.
"We've known Director Li for many years, especially me. He's helped me several times, and I can't bear to see him fail. After all, his wife's illness hasn't been cured yet. If he loses more money, what will happen in the future? Originally, we were confident in this film, but who knew..."
Disgust crossed his face. "To put it bluntly, I'd rather Qu Jie's acting be a bit worse; that can be compensated for with the script and camera work. But what he's done isn't right; any trouble he causes affects the film's release."
"Why not just terminate the contract directly?" Jian Jing asked.
Production affairs chuckled bitterly. "Director Li is a bit indecisive. We've talked to him, told him to bite the bullet and pay up, but he can't make up his mind. He keeps delaying, and in the end, the investors personally intervened and couldn't refuse."
"So, you came up with this plan?"
"Sigh, you don't understand Director Li." Production affairs said, "Once everyone's here and shooting has started, with his personality, he'd rather take a chance, unable to make a decision."
She smiled. "But he's very superstitious, isn't he?"
Production affairs coughed twice, nodded helplessly, but still defended his friend, "He didn't believe before, but after his wife's illness got so bad, he prays to the gods every day. Now that the treatment is effective, he believes even more."
"But if you decided to fabricate the illusion of a haunting to make Director Li terminate the contract, why would Jiang BaiYan's room also have it?"
Faced with Jian Jing's question, Production affairs avoided her gaze, hesitating and stammering, "Just Qu Jie, it's too obvious... we were worried he'd figure it out..."
Jian Jing narrowed her eyes. "Did you bribe Master Long?"
Production affairs froze, astonished. "How did you know?"
Master Long's implications were so obvious, it's hard not to see through them. She thought to herself, probing deeper: "So, the master's warning about him getting into trouble, was that something you all discussed?"
"Yes, but not in that way," the production affairs hurriedly explained. "It was just to prompt him to propose leaving on his own and to put some pressure on Old Li. No one thought someone would actually die."
Jian Jing looked at him for a while before asking, "How did you fake that effect?"
"It's actually quite simple," the production affairs said. "There are many blood packs in the crew, and Qu Jie also has a habit of leaving the window open. I entered through the window and installed a mechanism on the ceiling—you should have noticed, the roof was modified, originally in the shape of a 'person,' but it was changed to a flat roof for installing central air conditioning, leaving some space above."
"Qu Jie has acted before, he can tell if it's a blood pack used for filming, so I specifically bought chicken blood and pig blood from the slaughterhouse. Xiao Gu handled the effects, using a timing device to make the blood flow down in the middle of the night."
He confessed, "It was just to scare him, there was no poison inside, it couldn't kill anyone."
"I checked the ventilation ducts and didn't find the mechanism you mentioned."
"I removed it," the production affairs said.
"When?"
"Around one o'clock."
Jian Jing looked at him and asked slowly, "Did the cinematographer also participate?"
"It wasn't mentioned, but he should have known."
"When you removed the mechanism, didn't you notice anything unusual inside the house?"
The production affairs shook his head and pointed in a direction, "I was behind collecting the wires, I didn't look inside the house, afraid of being discovered." After a pause, he added, "At that time, the little girl was screaming, I thought they had seen the blood and were just scared, I didn't expect someone to actually die."
"Can you tell me the truth now?" she asked, "Who do you think killed him?"
The production affairs tightly closed his mouth.
"You suspect Director Li," she stated, "Why?"
After a long silence, he finally said uncertainly, "Terminating the contract requires paying a hefty penalty, and it's not easy to explain to the investors..."
Jian Jing nodded.
A hefty penalty for termination, a bet agreement, a seriously ill wife... enough to provide a motive for murder.
Could it be Director Li?
She pondered for a moment and asked, "Does Director Li know the truth about the haunting?"
"Of course not," the production affairs said, "If he knew, it wouldn't have the desired effect."
Jian Jing frowned.
So far, Director Li was indeed the most suspicious person.
On the day of the incident, he had a heated argument with Qu Jie. Qu Jie made bold threats, claiming he was not easy to bully and could bring trouble to the crew or even Director Li himself at any time. Additionally, if his negative news were to be exposed, the film would most likely not be released.
Director Li might have to bleed heavily for this, and it could even affect his wife's medical treatment.
And looking at the timing, he was the last one to return, and he lived right across from the victim, making it very convenient to strike, with ample opportunity.
But there's one glaring question here.
—Why would the killer create such a scene at the crime scene?
Rather than complex motives, the killer's actions are the key to solving the case.
If he intended to capitalize on the rumor about the wealthy daughter and create the illusion of a female ghost committing murder, then the combination of a locked room and bloodstains would be absolutely perfect.
But now that the production affairs have already admitted that the effect of the blood-soaked bed was his doing, it's clear this wasn't part of the original plan of the culprit, but rather something they took advantage of.
Consider this, a superstitious director who sees blood dripping from the ceiling after committing a murder, what kind of reaction would they have?
Even a normal person would be terrified, let alone him. Even if he managed to keep his composure despite his fear, would he have the courage to further exploit the situation by using the blood from the fake ghost to stage the scene?
Director Li doesn't seem like that kind of person at all.
Furthermore, he returned very late, presumably unaware of Qu Jie and the girl's situation. So why would he still choose to act upon seeing not just Qu Jie alone in the room, but another person too?
The level of drunkenness of Shao Mai is unpredictable, wasn't the culprit afraid of being caught by her?
Jian Jing pondered for a moment, then went to ask the production affairs another question.
He said, after returning to his room yesterday, he quickly fell asleep and didn't talk to anyone else.
With this in mind, the identity of the culprit becomes apparent.
Jian Jing spent some time deciphering the mechanism of the locked room.
In the afternoon, she gathered all the suspects of the case and announced that she had found the culprit.
Director Li couldn't wait: "Who is it?"
"Don't be in a hurry." Jian Jing didn't immediately point out the culprit, but instead looked around at everyone and said, "I want to ask everyone here first, who knows the truth behind the haunting, anyone who knows or has a guess, please raise your hand."
Director Li was stunned: "The truth behind the haunting?" He turned his head and saw the other main creators exchanging glances, immediately becoming suspicious, "Could it be..."
The production affairs director avoided his gaze and silently raised his hand.
Then, the art director also reluctantly raised the back of his hand.
"No one else knows?" Jian Jing smiled, "Don't lie to me."
The female lead Bei hesitated slightly, afraid Jian Jing would expose her, and had to reluctantly raise her hand in cooperation.
Jiang BaiYan scratched his face and obediently raised his hand too.
Director Li looked at them incredulously, then looked at the cinematography director and the producer.
The cinematography director cleared his throat and shrugged, saying, "Okay, I guessed."
But the producer, just like Director Li, was shocked and suspicious, "Is it you guys? What are you trying to do?"
"Nonsense! We just don't like that kid, vented a bit, what's wrong with that?" The art director shrugged, pretending to be indifferent.
The producer was furious, "Ridiculous! Your messing around completely disrupted the shoot!" Then he suspected, "Did you guys kill him?"
The production affairs director quickly said, "No, we just wanted to teach him a lesson."
"Murder isn't necessary," the art director added.
"Who exactly did it?" the producer took charge and questioned Jian Jing.
But Jian Jing didn't even want to bother with him, and continued on her own, "The second question, on the night of the incident, did anyone see someone leave their room?"
Everyone looked at each other, shaking their heads in succession.
"Good." Jian Jing didn't explain the reason for her inquiry, then shifted the conversation to the main topic, "Now, let me reconstruct the sequence of events."
She organized her thoughts: "Qu Jie died of mechanical asphyxiation, meaning he was strangled to death by the murderer's bare hands. Judging by the handprints left on the body, the murderer is a male with considerable strength. After killing Qu Jie, the murderer locked the door, exited through the window, and used a mechanism to create the illusion of a locked room."
Jiang BaiYan, ever the diligent student, raised his hand: "What mechanism?"
"The murderer hung a clothes hanger on the window handle. When the window opened upwards, the handle would point upwards, and when it closed, the handle would break off." The scene was too gruesome for a demonstration, so Jian Jing described it as best she could. "A dry makeup sponge was placed beneath the hanger, along with an absorbent bath towel. When blood dripped down, the towel absorbed the moisture, causing the sponge to expand, lifting the hanger and shifting its center of gravity, thus hooking the handle."
Jiang BaiYan, a top-notch Watson, asked earnestly, "Wouldn't the hanger stay hooked on the handle this way?"
"It would, which is why a compressed wet wipe and a block of ice are also needed," Jian Jing explained. "The wet wipe is small enough to get wedged between the handle and the glass. Placing a few ice cubes on it, the melting ice expands, pushing them off the handle. The wipe and hanger fall to the ground, completely inconspicuous."
Thanks to Qu Jie's sloppy habits, wet wipes, hangers, towels, and sponges littered the floor, unnoticed by anyone, because that was just how messy he was.
"I understand now," Jiang BaiYan chimed in cooperatively. "The fact that the murderer could set up this mechanism shows that they were aware of the haunted house setup and planned accordingly."
The producer visibly sighed in relief. "So, I'm not a suspect anymore, right? Geez, I've been saying all along I didn't kill anyone."
The female lead, Bei, spoke coldly, "Wouldn't the murderer lie?"
"True," Jian Jing agreed, unwilling to let the producer off easily. "Whether they were aware or unaware, it's all based on your own words; there's no evidence. At the moment, we can't rule out anyone as a suspect."