At the time, even I wasn't clear.
Liu Yuning held onto me tightly, not wanting to let go for a moment. I felt a bit shy and said, "I haven't showered yet!"
The guy popped a pill into his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and covered himself with the quilt. His provocative, charming eyes kept sending me waves of love. He raised a hand, wiggled his index finger, and beckoned, "Waiting for you!"
I hurried to the bathroom. The events of the evening are omitted for 500 characters...
The next day, Liu Yuning and I were already in the hotel lobby. We only realized everyone else was already eating when we saw them, oh, it turned out we were late.
As we ate, everyone was chatting casually. Just then, my phone rang. It was that lawyer Tachibana Tadashi. I curiously asked him, "What's up, Counselor!"
"Something's happened, Mr. Tada Shun, he's been murdered!"
"What? Wasn't that place heavily guarded? How could something happen there?" I asked. Tachibana told me to come over immediately, saying the local police were already waiting.
I said okay and then informed everyone of the situation. Everyone immediately put down their chopsticks, leaving their unfinished breakfast behind, and left the hotel.
Upon arriving at the Hui Guang Photo Studio, we saw many police officers already guarding the entrance. A police captain from the local station saw us and said, "Are you the Punishment and Crime Unit? We've finally been waiting for you. We can't handle this case here; we've already notified the higher-ups, and it's now in your hands!"
"Yes, Director Zhang has already informed me. We'll need your assistance if necessary!"
"Alright!"
After greeting the police captain, I noticed local fire department personnel nearby. I ignored them and walked straight into the photo studio. The body was on the first floor, discovered in Mr. Tada Shun's room. I didn't realize until I went in that his body was almost burnt to charcoal.
I saw scorch marks all around his room, estimating that a fire had occurred here last night and was only extinguished this morning. Based on the extent of the damage, the fire must have lasted at least 3 hours.
There was hardly any intact flesh on the body. It started burning from the head, then the body, and then the limbs. I took out the shadowless reflection tube and the stethoscope and examined the deceased's organs. They were filled with smoke and dust, proving he wasn't cremated after death but died in the fire.
Mr. Tada Shun's room caught fire, and although he tried to escape, he failed. I had checked the door lock, which appeared to have been broken open; there were signs it had been locked from the inside. There were footprints on the floor, belonging to Mr. Tada Shun. Analyzing the trajectory, he returned to the bookshelf, trying to stay as far from the flames as possible, realizing he couldn't escape.
A firefighter walked in and told me, "We've determined the cause of the fire. Gasoline was present at the scene. Mr. Tada Shun was smoking, but when he fell asleep, the cigarette butt accidentally slipped from his hand and landed on the gasoline. We've communicated with the forensics team, and they said they collected some cigarette butt ashes at the scene with Mr. Tada Shun's DNA on them. Additionally, some of the almost unrecognizable burnt furniture contained remnants of books Mr. Tada Shun used to read."
This firefighter spoke quite clearly; I felt he had potential to be a police officer.
"Gasoline? Did someone enter this room before Mr. Tada Shun's incident?" I asked.
"No, we've checked the surveillance. Not a single person was seen!" a police officer said.
I asked Xia Hou and the others to re-examine. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, but since we were here, some work needed to be done again.
I went to the room's window, which was also severely burnt. The window had been closed before. I wondered, in this room,
which was sealed at the time, how did the gasoline get in? Could this be a locked-room murder case?
I carefully examined the floor and walls, looking for any gaps, but I practically crawled on the floor, using precision instruments to search everywhere, and found nothing. Others also struggled with me for a long time. I then asked the receptionist at the photo studio who had previously served us, "Weren't you here last night?"
"No, I was staying in the hotel upstairs. Everything was fine until before 2 AM. But around 3 AM, the downstairs started to catch fire. I vaguely heard Mr. Tada Shun's screams, so I went downstairs and saw his room was on fire. That's when I called the police."
"When was the last time you saw Mr. Tada Shun?"
"It was around 1 AM. I even made him a bowl of noodles!"
"And after that?"
"I went up to my room to rest!" For some reason, this receptionist always seemed a bit evasive. Seeing her demeanor, I became serious, "Miss, although I don't know your name, I hope you can cooperate with us fully. Please understand that a murder has occurred at the photo studio, and withholding information from the police will not benefit you in any way!"
"I... I've told you everything! Officer He!" The receptionist seemed to become nervous. She clenched her hands tightly and took a step back, but Liu Yuning held her from behind, "Tell us! Otherwise, do you know where you'll be going later?"
"Ah! No! I'll tell you, you two. Actually, I went to Mr. Tada Shun's place again at 2:30 AM!"
"What did you go there for? Did you smell gasoline then?"
"We... actually, you know..." The receptionist didn't explicitly state it. Tachibana Tadashi, who had been at the scene but silent, suddenly spoke as if reciting a mantra, "Bastard, it must have been the witch! She first bewitched you, Miss Huang, and then went to take Mr. Tada Shun's life!"
"Tachibana, what are you talking about?" Huang Xiaocao looked at him in surprise.
"Nothing. If a witch gets angry, you mortals can't resist her. Now that Mr. Tada Shun has been murdered, the next one might be someone else in the will. Wuwu, I told them long ago not to argue about these things. If the witch finds out, she'll definitely get angry. Even Director Gan, who lived in seclusion, is in danger, so can you guys escape? Wuwu! What worries me the most is that I, an outsider, am being implicated! I was attacked too!"