The female lead Bei refused to answer Jian Jing's question. She did not admit to having any relationship with Qu Jie, nor did she admit that he had ever threatened or extorted her.
With no evidence at hand, Jian Jing did not press further. She changed the subject: "You came back the earliest yesterday, right?"
"Mm-hmm." Bei was neither cold nor warm in her response. "Is there a problem with that?"
"What did you do after coming back? Did you notice anything going on with Qu Jie's side?" Jian Jing asked.
Bei said: "What else could I do? Take a bath, put on a face mask, do yoga, I was very busy, how could I have the time to care about other people's business?"
Jian Jing asked: "You didn't notice anything?"
Bei: "No."
"His return made quite a bit of noise, did you hear it?"
Bei brushed it off: "I guess so, I wasn't paying attention."
"Did anything tonight leave a deep impression on you?"
"A deep impression?" She said in a mocking tone, "Isn't a person dying impression enough?"
Jian Jing did not respond, only looked at her searchingly.
At first, Bei wanted to say something more, but soon became uncomfortable under the gaze. Jian Jing's eyes were not strict or intimidating, on the contrary they could be described as calm, but being shrouded under such a look made her inexplicably recall the feeling of standing in front of a high-definition camera for the first time.
Being examined, analyzed, judged, it made one very uncomfortable.
"What are you looking at?" She tried to break the tension.
"Nothing." Jian Jing smiled. "Let me change the question, what do you think of Qu Jie as a person?"
"We're not familiar with each other."
"You've worked together before."
"Just acting together, no interactions outside of the scenes." Bei argued, "I don't understand him well, you've asked the wrong person."
"Then you have no clues about his death either?"
She nodded decisively.
It seemed for now there was no way to dig out any inside information, so Jian Jing did not waste any more time: "Thank you for your cooperation."
Daybreak shed light on every nook and cranny of the homestay, revealing its true appearance.
Jian Jing spent half an hour carefully exploring the enclosed space, and discovered some interesting things.
The original layout of the homestay was a square courtyard. Aside from the main entrance - courtyard - main hall, behind the east and west wing rooms was an alley that was originally used for servants to move around.
The four rooms in the east and west wings faced the courtyard, with windows facing the alley, actually interconnected in every direction.
And the room in the main hall that Jiang BaiYan had stayed in was rebuilt into a "回" shape in order to connect the courtyard with the two rooms in the back garden. In the middle was the room itself, with passages on both sides that could directly connect to the back.
Therefore, matching up the list of suspects with their rooms, and adding in the layout of passages, made the situation at the homestay extremely complex.
West - East
....Bei.....Jiang BaiYan..
*.****.********.*****.*.
*The victim..*Empty room*...Director Li*
*Photographer.....Courtyard......Art director*
*Production manager.....Well......Producer*
Kitchen....Dining room...Door......
The victim's room was part of the main hall, with the door to the east and window to the west. The production manager and photographer's rooms were part of the west wing, also with windows facing west, right behind the alley, able to directly connect with the victim's room.
Director Li's room was symmetrical to the victim's, with the door to the west and window to the east. The art director and producer's rooms had the same orientation, with an alley to the east. By going through that path, they could circumvent surveillance from the courtyard.
There was no need to elaborate - the murderer could not have openly walked through the courtyard to kill someone, aside from Bei and Jiang, anyone going that way risked being seen. But the alley did not directly connect to the victim's room. After entering the back area, one would appear outside Jiang BaiYan's door. To stealthily make it to the victim's location while avoiding notice, one had to pass through Director Li's room.
In other words, if the art director wanted to kill someone, it had to be before 00:40. Similarly, if the producer wanted to go through the alley, they had to pass the art director's room first.
Here it should be noted, Jian Jing had stuck her head out before to check the state of the alley. It had floor lamps installed that shone light upwards, even if one crouched down, the lamps right on the floor would cast a shadow onto the windows.
Whether the person inside noticed or not, this was still an extremely risky action.
To commit murder without alerting others, it had to be done before the other person returned. Director Li did not have this issue, since the middle room was unoccupied during renovations. He only needed to go out and around the corner to get there.
This allowed deducing of the suspects' possible windows of opportunity:
Director Li: 00:40-1:40
Art Director: 23:50-00:40
Producer: 23:35-23:50 (or later, he stayed in victim's room for a period, unable to determine)
Similarly, if the production manager wanted to kill the victim, he had to do it before the photographer came back. The photographer did not have this restriction. His room shared a wall with the victim's, and there was no third person between them in the alley.
Therefore, Production Manager: 23:35-00:15, Photographer: 00:15-1:40
Bei and Jiang BaiYan's circumstances were different yet again.
They did not need to pass through the courtyard to access the victim's room.
On Bei's side there was no alley, only normal lighting. As long as she confirmed Jiang BaiYan's window was closed and she herself avoided the light sources carefully, there would be no sign of her movements at all.
So her window of opportunity to commit murder was very long - 23:35-1:40, she could act at any time.
Director Li: 00:40-1:40
Art Director: 23:50-00:40
Producer: 23:35-23:50
Production Manager: 23:35-00:15
Photographer: 00:15-1:40
Bei: 23:35-1:40
Could the above times help narrow down the murderer? No.
Not only that, Jian Jing also faced several difficult questions. The victim's door and windows were all locked from inside, how did the murderer come and go? Where did the blood come from? What was with the handprint on the steamed bun girl's face?
Especially the last point - it appeared the victim had faced something similar before too.
However, to resolve the above questions, she would have to revisit the scene.
This was a scene that Jian Jing did not particularly want to go back to, but there was no choice, since Director Li refused to call the police. Without professional personnel getting involved, she had no choice but to go.
She went fully prepared, bravely stepping into the chaotic space with nowhere to stand.
First taking photos, then recording video, she checked the door locks.
The windows were top-hung, pushing the handle below outward allowed the window to fully open outwards. Since it wasn't a high level, opening the window wide enough for an adult to get through was not difficult at all.
The door used a Class B lock and required a key. The landlord said every room only had one key, and if lost it required someone to break in the lock. But there were no signs of forced entry on the victim's door lock.
The key was on the tea counter just inside the room entrance.
She began searching the room for fishing line.
Did not find any.
Obviously the murderer had not used fishing line.
Jian Jing felt a faint sense of regret at missing out on this trope.
Back to business - actually there was no need for fishing line (that would be too obvious), plenty of rope-like objects were available: bathrobe ties, belts, phone charging cables... Even non-rope shaped items could work.
With so many messy items scattered about the scene, the setup could be improvised in several ways.
She was at a bit of a loss where to start, and pondered for a long time, attempting to reconstruct the murderer's movements: The lights were on in the room when he climbed in through the unlocked window. Seeing Qu Jie fast asleep, compelled by some strong murderous impulse, he approached the bed and strangled him. Qu Jie was drunk and unable to resist, dying just like that...
No, that wasn't right.
Generally if someone saw lights on in a room, they would assume the occupant was still awake. If that was the case, why did the murderer still carefully sneak around the courtyard on the way to the room?
Also, even if the murderer thought Qu Jie was dead drunk beyond awareness, upon seeing another person there, how could he be certain the steamed bun girl would remain asleep throughout?
Unless he was absolutely confident the people in the room would not wake up halfway.
This implied two different possibilities: either the murderer saw, or the murderer set things up that way.
Was there anything at the scene capable of rendering one unconscious?
There was an opened bottle of mineral water, with two sips taken, by Qu Jie's bedside table. But it would be difficult to tamper with such a sealed bottle of mineral water, and tough to guarantee Qu Jie would certainly drink it.
Humidifier? Had not been used, the plug wasn't even inserted.
Central air conditioning? She climbed up to check it. The layer of dust on the vents was very evenly flattened, with no signs of being scraped or disturbed, and no suspicious items discovered either.
However, on the chandelier in the room, she saw a few trailing bloodstains.
Jian Jing carefully climbed down the ladder and frowned in deep thought.
"Jingjing." Jiang BaiYan wandered over and peeked in, "Any clues yet?"
Jian Jing glanced at him.
Jiang BaiYan: "???"
"What exactly did Qu Jie do?" She went straight to the point, "Do you know who wants to kill him the most?"
"Hard to say specifically, I just heard a little gossip, probably drugs or triads." Jiang BaiYan said, "The one who wants to kill him the most...probably his ex-girlfriend."
"Why?"
"Cheated on her feelings." He said, "Before Qu Jie became famous, he got a few roles through her introduction. Later when he became popular, he dumped her. She said she wanted revenge, and soon after there was an accident on set and she broke her leg and retired from the industry."
Jian Jing asked: "What's her name?"
"I don't remember." Jiang BaiYan scratched his face, "Let me ask around for you."
"Speaking of which, are you familiar with the producer?"
"So-so, Director Li found me this time." He sighed, "I'm already regretting it a little. Wang Producer's capabilities fluctuate, if he loses the gamble I'll suffer."
"What do you mean?"
Jiang BaiYan said: "Look at the works he's produced, some have decent reviews, some are a mess." He listed the names of several major productions that even Jian Jing had heard of.
She said: "I remember the news said these were investments of several hundred million."
"Right, he's very good at attracting investment." Jiang BaiYan said, "That's how he's gotten to where he is today. Who doesn't like a producer who can bring in money?"
"I see." She said, "Let me talk to him again."
At noon, Jian Jing stopped the producer just as he was about to leave and said she wanted to speak with him alone.
The producer had an "why do you have so many issues" expression, but Director Li didn't dare offend her now and helped persuade him to reluctantly agree.
"What else do you want to know?" Being questioned a second time, the suspects were generally wary. "I've told you everything I know."
Jian Jing asked, "I'd like to understand in more detail what you did after you went to the victim's room last night."
"I chatted with little Qu for a bit - didn't I already tell you this?" The producer frowned. "Don't ask repetitive questions, my time is precious."
Jian Jing: "You only chatted?"
Producer: "What else?"
"So far, you seem the most suspicious." She said, "If you don't tell me the truth, I'll hand the investigation back to the police. Even if you're not the murderer, you should be prosecuted."
The producer laughed in anger: "What kind of nonsense is this? What did I do?"
"When Qu Jie came back at 11:30 last night, he was already so drunk he couldn't stand steadily. You're a man, tell me, can a man that drunk still have intercourse like normal?" Jian Jing stared into his eyes. "You said you stayed in his room for a while, what exactly did you do?"
The producer's expression fluctuated unpredictably: "Miss Jian, you can mess around with food, but you can't speak recklessly."
He sternly said: "You have to take responsibility for your words. Don't think you're amazing just because your book was adapted. I know many authors like that, I'm very familiar with Old Huang, and I often collaborate with Fei Niao too. I just need to give them a call, do you think they'd still work with you?"
"Are you threatening me?" Jian Jing was very surprised.
"I'm telling you not to talk nonsense and defame others' reputations." The producer said coldly. "I'll let it slide this time, next time I'll go directly to your boss."
Jian Jing was speechless with anger: "Go ahead, talk to them now. Who do you want to find, Kang Mu Cheng or Kang Lei? Do you want me to call them for you?" She laughed coldly again. "I would never falsely accuse someone. What, you think just because the sheets were stained with blood, you can't extract DNA evidence?"
"To tell you the truth, I obtained evidence from that classmate long ago." She said furiously, her voice unusually loud. "All I need to do is hand it to the police for DNA comparison. Do you think the prosecution would charge you with rape?"
The author has something to say: as we all know, drunk men can't perform...
