When people encounter a murder case, they react differently. Some are shocked and terrified, some are indifferent, some are excited and curious, and this musician looks like the most ordinary kind.
Jian Jing had to spend some effort to comfort her before getting to the point: "You left the hall around 7:30 pm yesterday. Did you go to attend the auction?"
She nodded.
Jian Jing asked, "What was the situation like at that time? Did the victim say anything special to you?"
"Yes! He said a lot of interesting things, like my code name. To tell the truth, I don't like dogs, I'm allergic to dog hair, why wasn't it a cat? I have a very cute plush cat."
This lady's thoughts jumped around a lot. Just now she still looked shocked, but now she was enthusiastically talking about her cat, and specially took out her phone to show Jian Jing the cat's photos.
Jian Jing said, "Dogs are also very cute."
"Maybe." She shrugged, looking completely unconvinced.
Jian Jing returned to the main topic: "Which item were you bidding on, can you tell me?"
"I have nothing to hide. Number 3," she held up three fingers, "Gold is fascinating, and the missing Mayan culture also attracted me."
Jian Jing fell silent in thought, then after a while asked again: “Do you know which items the others were interested in?”
Xu Gou Lady shook her head lazily, "I don't care about these things, sorry."
"Then, why did you leave the hall at 10:05 pm?" Jian Jing asked again.
Her answer came without any hesitation: "The bathroom."
"Did you run into anyone?"
"I didn't notice."
The questioning ended.
From 7:05 pm to 7:36 pm, Xu Gou, Yin Hu, and Zi Shu respectively made a round trip once.
Next was the questioning of the fourth person, Wei Yang, from 7:40 pm to 8:10 pm.
There were many interesting little collectibles in her cabin, and even the table was full of boxes. And there was not only Jian Jing, but also the You Ji Old Woman.
The three women with a considerable age difference were having afternoon tea on the balcony.
The sunshine was bright and the sea waves were deep blue. The waiter brought coffee, and Wei Yang took out a beautiful bone china cup and invited them to have afternoon tea together.
Jian Jing politely complimented for a few sentences, then slowly got to the point.
"I'm very curious,” she said, “which item does Ms. Wei Yang want to bid on?”
Wei Yang said, "I'm a practical person. Although the bronze head is important, I don't think I can get it. I want to buy the Buddhist scriptures, priced at no more than seven digits at the most."
Jian Jing asked her the same questions about anything unusual, and that she could say anything she thought was necessary.
Wei Yang thought for a while and said, "I hesitated a little on the price and tried to probe him with a couple of sentences, but he didn't say anything, just assured me that this transaction would be absolutely confidential and he wouldn't reveal half a word to the outside."
"Then what?"
"Of course I couldn't say anything more. I just filled in a price and came out." said Wei Yang.
Jian Jing thought for a while, then turned to look at You Ji Old Woman. She and Shen Hou left the hall together, but returned at different times.
Her timeline was 7:50 pm to 8:05 pm, Shen Hou’s was 7:50 pm to 8:33 pm.
"You two were there for Item Number 2, right?"
The old woman nodded.
"How did you two quote the price?"
You Ji Old Woman always spoke in such an unhurried tone: "We estimated a price. If it was at an auction outside, it would probably be 50-70 million. If we met someone intent on making trouble, 200-300 million would not be surprising. But since it's being auctioned here, it must be much more affordable. Old Hou and I contacted a few friends and plan to contribute part each, bidding 2.7 million RMB.”
This was the first time Jian Jing had a clear idea of the price.
But Wei Yang was very skeptical: "Would that price work?"
"It would have worked originally, but now ..." the old woman shook her head with a sigh, "I guess the bids from the other few must be higher than ours."
Jian Jing asked: "The others?"
"Tiger, Ox, and Pig must be going for Item 2 as well. They don't seem short on money either." You Ji old woman pondered, "But when it comes to murder, Dragon and Snake are more suspicious."
Jian Jing became interested: "Why?"
The old woman smiled and said, "Young lady, you are still too young. They obviously came for the person, not very interested in antiques."
"You mean they knew the victim?" Jian Jing asked, "What kind of person was the victim? Do you know?"
"The person is dead, there is nothing bad to say." The old woman took a sip of red tea, her tone flat, "He used to be quite famous in the industry. His skills were indeed good. It's a pity he didn't use them on the right path, making enemies."
Whenever it comes to old people, once they open up, you don't have to worry about them leaving you hanging. As long as you make a listening gesture, they will be very happy to tell you some old stories from years past.
You Ji was like this too.
She had emigrated abroad for many years. Sometimes she would suddenly forget how to say an idiom, occasionally hesitate for a while, but as she spoke more and more fluently, dialect would occasionally pop up.
According to her account, Zi Shu had a unique eye for antiques appraisal and rarely made mistakes. His skills were superb, especially good at counterfeiting antiques. No matter if it was porcelain, jade, or bronze, he was extremely proficient, and his fakes were indistinguishable from real ones with the naked eye without scientific instruments.
It was this skill that allowed him to cheat a lot of people.
However, the antique business was like this, relying on vision and luck. If you appraise wrongly yourself, you can’t return the goods. You can only swallow your grievances and admit it.
However, as the saying goes, if you stand by the river long enough, your shoes are bound to get wet.
When Zi Shu was at his most proud and prosperous time, the environment was not as clean as it is now, with dragons and snakes mixed together. He inadvertently offended a big shot.
The other party didn't say much. They tied him up and chopped off two of his fingers, asking, "Will you keep doing it in the future?"
Zi Shu surrendered very quickly: "I dare not, I absolutely dare not."
The big shot let him go. He rushed to the hospital to at least have them reattached. But ever since then, the two thumbs have not been very flexible, unable to do delicate work.
He withdrew from the business since.
Counting the time, his last big job was also over ten years ago.
Jian Jing couldn’t help but wonder: "It's been so long. Is someone still coming to take revenge?"
There was a light laugh from the side. It was Wei Yang who spoke up: "The antique business has deep waters. Bankruptcies caused by an object are not uncommon, let alone family destruction. I have encountered spending huge sums of money to buy several antiques, wanting to resell them for a big profit, but they turned out to be fakes. Not only did the person commit suicide, they left all their ass worth of debts to their wife and children."
Jian Jing uttered an "oh" and silently added new motives to her notes.
Because Shen Hou was taking a nap at this time, Jian Jing was going to ask Chou Niu next.
His timeline was 7:52 pm to 8:30 pm.
Jian Jing's questions were largely the same as before, just asking which number he was buying, and if there was anything noticeable said at that time.
Chou Niu's answer was also Item Number 2, and he expressed disapproval of the auction rules.
"I'm not surprised by his death." Chou Niu looked like a rather wealthy tycoon. His gestures carried an aura of importance, “The buyer's and seller's information is in the hands of the same person. It does not comply with the rules of a dark auction, unless he himself is the seller."
It was another highly enlightening answer.
Jian Jing nodded in agreement, but raised doubts: "If he is the seller, what is the benefit of killing him? The buyers can't get the goods anymore either."
"Some people don't want the goods to be sold, and are willing to kill for it." Chou Niu said coldly.
Jian Jing was silent in thought. After a while, she asked, "Do you think the victim was the seller? Do you have any evidence?"
"I'm just guessing randomly. In the end, it doesn’t matter who the seller is." Chou Niu said, "I just feel it’s a pity that the ram's head will drift to who knows where again."
Probably because Jian Jing's gaze was too obvious, he took the initiative to say: "I was originally planning to buy it and donate it out. What a pity.”
Jian Jing just smiled, not really believing him.
After Chou Niu was Wu Ma. He left at 8:15 pm and returned at 9:00 pm, right on the edge of the time of death. Jian Jing was going to question him carefully.
But when she went to find him, Wu Ma was talking seriously with the cruise staff, with a solemn expression.
"What's going on here?" Jian Jing was extremely curious.
Wu Ma forced a smile, both helpless and incredulous: "My room was broken into."
She was surprised: "A thief?"
"Yes, someone rummaged through my safe," Wu Ma made way and invited her into the room. His cabin was tidy and neat like a mirror image of Jian Jing's room, with only a laptop computer on the desk and not much luggage.
However, the safe embedded in the closet had been opened, and the lock was visibly damaged.
"What did you lose?" Jian Jing asked.
"Nothing lost," Wu Ma spread his hands, also feeling strange, "Even if there was a thief, they shouldn't have targeted my room specifically. I don't have anything valuable here."
Jian Jing squatted down to examine the lock and determined that it had been pried open by force. She also looked at the door lock, which was intact. Apparently, the thief had somehow obtained a key card to the room.
"Forget it, nothing is lost," Wu Ma did not suffer any loss and did not plan to make a big fuss about it. "You came to ask me about what happened last night, right?"
She nodded and asked directly, "You left the auction hall around 9 pm. What was the victim's condition at that time?"
Wu Ma shrugged. "I didn't notice anything wrong at all."
"Who did you bid for? Which lot number? Would you mind telling me?"
Wu Ma smiled. "I can't reveal client information or I won't get more business."
"Was it Lot 2?"
He just smiled mysteriously, not revealing anything.
Jian Jing didn't ask further.
The sky was already getting dark. She wanted to hurry up and interview the last two people before dinner.
Yi Long and Yi She.
Si She's timeline was 9:30 pm - 9:55 pm. Chen Long was 9:50 pm - 10 pm. In terms of timing, both were suspicious. And they did not look like they were here to buy antiques at all.
She asked Si She first.
He seemed very sick. This time he wore a mask. His face was pale, and the exposed hands had protruding veins. He did not look like he just had a sore throat as he claimed.
"Have a seat," his voice sounded hoarse than normal people’s due to coughing. "What do you want to ask?"
Jian Jing asked, "What were you doing between 9:30 pm and 9:55 pm last night?"
Si She said: "Bidding."
"On which lot?"
"Lot 1."
Jian Jing glanced at him and asked, "Did you know the victim beforehand?"
"No, I didn't know him," Si She coughed from time to time and said hoarsely, "I borrowed a friend's invitation. I had no prior involvement in this before."
This person was unexpectedly cooperative. Jian Jing secretly looked over his room. There was also very little luggage, but the few personal belongings were very valuable, indicating good financial conditions.
She couldn't help asking, "May I ask, since you had no prior involvement, why did you want to participate in the club's trading conference this time?"
Si She hesitated and said, "I'm in poor health and wanted to find something special to improve my fortune. I heard there would be a Buddhist scripture here, so I came to take a look."
Jian Jing realized he was superstitious.
The last one was Chen Long.
Of all people interviewed so far, this man had the coldest attitude. He didn't even let Jian Jing into the room.
She asked, "Would you mind telling me which lot you bid on?"
Chen Long said coldly: “That’s confidential.”
She: "Did you know the victim beforehand?”
Chen Long: “No comment.”
She: “You left at 9:50 pm. Did you go to the auction hall?”
Chen Long: “That information is classified.”
She: “Then did you see the victim after 7 pm last night?”
Chen Long: “Don’t bother me if there’s nothing else.”
That concluded Jian Jing’s initial round of interviews with the ten people.
