After seeing Qu Jie's performance on the surveillance footage, Jian Jing began to have doubts about what happened to Shao Mai.
When Shao Mai appeared, she was stark naked, only wrapped in a bath towel. It looked like she didn't have time to get dressed (or her clothes were completely unwearable). At first glance, there didn't seem to be any issues.
But in the surveillance video, both Qu Jie and her were very drunk. From Jian Jing's personal experience, when drunk, one just wants to lie in bed and sleep, not do anything indecent.
Moreover, her knowledge of forensic medicine also told her that overconsumption of alcohol not only kills the mood but also inhibits those kinds of functions.
How could Qu Jie and Shao Mai, being so drunk, still enthusiastically applaud each other for love after going back to the room? It was even more touching than people with disabilities but strong willpower.
So initially, she suspected Shao Mai was lying.
However, their later conversation dispelled her doubts. Shao Mai had some residual traces on her body, and the five senses card also indirectly proved that she'd had sexual activities.
And her words and behavior were very innocent. At most she was a freshman in college. Her family conditions were not rich but decent. Her defense of Qu Jie also came from the bottom of her heart.
She was not lying. Then where was the problem?
Going back to the previous questions, why would the murderer dare to commit murder with the lights on and a stranger present, without any scruples?
Either he had administered anesthetics, or he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
The suspicion of the producer immediately rose to the highest level.
"You have two options," Jian Jing held up her index finger, "First, tell the truth. Second, I'll call the police and you can explain it to them. Pick one."
The producer was still unwilling to admit defeat, but for some reason, his eyes revealed some apprehension. He did not immediately refute.
Jian Jing did not give him a chance to hesitate: "I'll count to three," she said while tapping the keyboard. The number "1" flashed as it made a crisp "du" sound.
"2."
Another "duu—" sound.
"You don't need to threaten me," the producer finally spoke, pretending to be disdainful. "So what if it's true? She voluntarily came back with us, didn't resist either. Even if you sue me, can you win?"
Jian Jing looked at him and immediately judged that he was not lying.
In a flash, four words flashed through her mind: complacent and fearless.
No, perhaps it was —— used to it.
"What about the murder then?" she asked.
"I didn't kill him," the producer denied. "Why would I kill him? Do you think he doesn't know about this stuff?" He spoke in a subtle tone: "Do you think he can mess around everywhere and still have a bunch of bosses willing to promote him for no reason?"
Jian Jing was stunned for a moment, almost doubting her own ears.
"Many things don't need to be stated clearly. Everyone knows but doesn't say it explicitly," the producer had nothing to lose and spoke bluntly. "I didn't lie to you either. He happily scolded when angry but soon regretted it afterwards. His boss also invested in this project this time. If the project was ruined, he wouldn't end up much better."
At this moment, the composure card played an extremely important role, allowing her to calmly ask, "Then what?"
"He wanted me and Old Li to put in a good word for him —— Old Li is quite superstitious. The master's words have already shaken him quite a bit. And with this incident happening afterwards, who knows if he'll really drive the director away —— the director still has some influence after all. But like I said, society cares about relationships and interests. Why should I help him? He had to show some sincerity."
The producer shamelessly said.
Jian Jing was still incredulous: "How could you treat a person like this?"
He was impatient. "Exactly how naive are you? Does this kind of stuff not happen in the literary circle either? Without any rhyme or reason, why would a big star like Qu Jie be with her? Are there a lack of beautiful women in the entertainment industry? I'm not lacking one or two women either, but there are rules. Do you understand what rules are? This is adult society. If you don't obey the rules, who would be willing to play with you?
"Would bosses lack women? No. But Qu Jie understood the rules. He knew he wasn't the one making the most money so if he wanted more opportunities, he had to show some sincerity. Being a celebrity has one advantage. Young girls are willing to follow him voluntarily.
"This was his skills. He knew how to make the bosses happy, so his career took off. Am I as undiscriminating as you imagined? But it was like how ancient literati had to visit brothels to chat —— not going meant not fitting in to the group. I was just following the rules."
Jian Jing took a deep breath.
"You guys made a 'transaction'?" She mocked. "Then why did he die?"
The producer said, "It wasn't me who killed him. Why would I kill him? Everything was fine when I left, he was still alive and well."
"Was he still sober?"
"He was dead drunk." The producer said. "I called out to him a few times but got no response. So I just went back by myself."
"Were the doors and windows locked?"
He recalled, "I don't remember about the windows, but I took the door with me when I left. Anyway I didn't lock it."
"Even though you said that, you're still the prime suspect right now," Jian Jing emotionlessly threatened him. "If you can't provide more clues......"
When suspects bite others, they become the most enthusiastic. Although the producer claimed verbally not to be afraid of prosecution, he probably didn't wish to be detained either.
He thought for a while and said, "Did you ask Bei Han?"
"Does she have a motive?"
"It was something Qu Jie told me about." The producer smiled and said, "She had something that fell into his hands —— most likely photos."
After a conversation with the producer lasting no more than fifteen minutes, Jian Jing suffered from Chernobyl levels of mental pollution.
She was too winded to continue the investigation, so she simply went to buy a milk tea to drink.
"Jingjing," Jiang Bai Yan followed behind her with a baseball cap on. "I'll go too."
Jian Jing had no reason to displace her anger onto him, so she just glared at him.
"Don't look at me like that," Jiang Bai Yan said. "I'm innocent."
Jian Jing: "You really don't know what they're messing around with?"
"I've heard things, but no one explained it to me clearly. I just guessed myself, no evidence, so I shouldn't gossip randomly." He honestly confessed.
Jian Jing asked: "So what exactly is going on? Is Qu Jie an isolated case or......"
Jiang Bai Yan ordered two milk teas and pulled her into an alley, lowering his voice: "Jingjing, calm down a bit. If everyone was like this, why would we want to get rid of Qu Jie?"
She was startled, as if suddenly awakened from a dream, and slapped her forehead: "I really went stupid from anger."
The producer had been so righteous, as if she was the only one unaware this was the default rule known all over the world. It made her suspicious and doubtful, unable to think straight.
Jiang Bai Yan said seriously: "Jingjing, my industry is chaotic and many people have no bottom line, but there are also quite a few with a conscience. Power-for-sex transactions definitely exist, but decent people wouldn't do things like what Qu Jie did, I dare say."
The entertainment industry and celebrity scene had no shortage of people who lived on the edge of the law. Most people only evaded taxes with some small-scale embezzlement of funds, or hooked up with others. But not everyone lacked a moral baseline so much.
Like the saying goes, if you're not lacking money, you generally won't lack willing people for transactions. And yet, for some reason, using such despicable means —— Normal people all looked down on this.
"Are people like this common?" Jian Jing wondered thoughtfully.
Jiang Bai Yan opened his mouth and diffused the blame under her piercing gaze with difficulty: "You...... should go ask Kang?"
Jian Jing: "?"
"I'm just a small-time actor, the middle-lower part of the food chain." He miserably said. "The big bosses are the ones at the very top of the food chain. People below them rack their brains mostly to serve them."
Jian Jing gave him a sideways glance. "How would he know about this kind of stuff."
"Your bias is just too obvious." Jiang Bai Yan pretended to be injured with eyes brimming with tears. "It’s fine to interrogate me, but not him."
She casually distracted him: "The milk teas are done."
Jiang Bai Yan had to shut up and accept the milk tea. Together, they squatted by the roadside drinking milk tea and petting stray cats passing by.
The sugar and calories from the milk tea brought delight. A stray cat squatted by her shoes, exposing its belly and meowing while asking for handouts.
The sunlight was glaring, but Jian Jing's mood had slowly calmed down.
There were always disgusting things happening, but the investigation still had to continue.
As she stroked the soft belly of the cat, she asked: "Any news found about Qu Jie's girlfriend?"
"Got it." Jiang Bai Yan told her a name.
Jian Jing opened the WeChat interface and hesitated for a moment. She skipped past Ji Feng's name and directly tapped into a group.
Sisterhood of crime solvers:
Jian Jing has posted: Busy?
Liang Yi wants to solve cases: On stakeout
Ya Nan is working overtime: Court just ended, what's up?
Jian Jing has posted: Ran into a case and wanted your help
Liang Yi wants to solve cases: Tell us quickly!
Ya Nan is working overtime: Public prosecution or private prosecution?
Jian Jing explained it all in this way and that.
Liang Yi wants to crack the case: I can ask around for you, but this is not my jurisdiction.
Ya Nan is working overtime: Rape is a public prosecution case, let's talk more later.
Jian Jing has submitted the manuscript: Ok
--
After drinking milk tea, continue working.
The producer hinted that the female lead Bei is very suspicious, however, Jian Jing observed her hands, to be honest they don't look good, her skin is very white, but her fingers are naturally round, average in length, not meeting the criteria for "slender jade hands".
Precisely because of this, her palms and handprints do not match. But judging from her previous performance, she must have concealed some things.
"I found this in Qu Jie's room." On the second visit to inquire, Jian Jing was more direct, not waiting for the female lead Bei to speak, she directly revealed the USB drive in her hand.
The words on the verge of the female lead Bei's mouth were swallowed back.
Under the effect of the advanced observation card, Jian Jing saw two completely different emotions of "vigilance suspicion" and "nervous panic" on her face.
"In fact, I'm not sure if this is what you want." She said on purpose, "Why don't we take a look together?"
There was struggle flashing in the female lead Bei's eyes.
Jian Jing felt a little remorseful and took the initiative to say: "I am not interested in your privacy, Ms. Bei. What I want to know is the truth behind the murder."
Female lead Bei: "I didn't kill him."
"You've been to his room." Jian Jing affirmed, "And you took something away. He kept threatening you with it, didn't he?"
The female lead Bei bit her lip and was silent for a while.
"I understand your concerns. You're afraid of becoming a suspect." She said, "But now it's me investigating the case, not the police. You won't get into too much trouble - on the premise that you are frank enough with me."
Female lead Bei asked: "What do you want to know?"
Jian Jing: "When did you go to the victim's room?"
She said: "Half past ten."
As expected. Jian Jing asked, "How did you get in and what was the situation in the room?"
"The window in the room was open. I saw that everyone hadn't come back yet, so I decided on a whim to go in and take a look." The female lead Bei was concise and to the point, "I found something in the safe box in the closet, then I came back."
"What time?"
She recalled: "Not yet 11 o'clock."
"These are photos of the crime scene." Jian Jing deliberately selected a few that showed the scene without the corpse, "Is there any difference from when you went in?"
The female lead Bei took a few glances with disgust and shook her head, "I can't tell, his room was too messy."
Jian Jing nodded without forcing her, and asked again, "As far as you know, besides you, who else wanted Qu Jie dead?"
"I don't know." The female lead Bei subconsciously denied it.
Jian Jing smiled and shook the USB drive at her.
The female lead Bei took a deep breath and softened a little, "I can't be sure..."
"It's okay, we're just chatting casually." Jian Jing gave the universal response.
Only then did she stammer open her mouth: "A few days ago, it seemed that the production affairs had also gone into Qu Jie's room."
The production affairs need to arrange all kinds of things for the crew up and down, so it's normal for him to go to Qu Jie's room, just like going back to his own room.
Jian Jing asked, "Why do you pay so much attention to this?"
"He looked sneaky, as if he didn't want anyone to find out." The female lead Bei answered softly.
"When did this happen?"
"The day before yesterday."
Jian Jing looked pensive, "Do you know the reason?"
She shook her head and reached out her hand, "I've told you everything I know, can you give me that now?"
"No." Jian Jing retracted her hand.
The female lead Bei glared at her angrily, "Are you going back on your word?"
"I never promised to give it to you." She said, "This is my draft."
The author has something to say: I have tried my best to write in a narrative tone, but apologize in advance if it still causes discomfort.
The content is made up, please do not associate it with anyone.
