Genius Detective

After a while, Lin Dongxue came back with a box of condoms. Tao Yueyue raised her eyebrows. Lin Dongxue said, "What are you surprised by? This stuff is very tough. It can hold a lot of water. It works better than a balloon, you know? In case of distress out in the wilderness, you can use this as a water bag."

"Okay, I learned another useless piece of knowledge."

"Shall we go to the bathroom to fill the water up?"

"Sister Lin, I think the experiment can be suspended for now. I found a detail..." She pointed to the dummy's ankle. "Something was tied here. This shouldn't be left from the filming. Do you remember how when we wanted this dummy, the screenwriter reacted a little unnaturally?"

"Of course I remember."

"When will the fingerprint-checking police come over?"

"They’re so far away. It’ll probably be around noon."

"Tell them to test this dummy as well."

"Okay, I'll get them to bring another prop over to experiment..." Lin Dongxue shook the condoms in her hand. "Well, I bought them for nothing. Buying these at hotels is very expensive."

"You can save them for when you reunite with Uncle Chen after a short time away since it’s said that short partings make lovers who reunite sweeter than newlyweds!"[1]

"You know everything!" Lin Dongxue poked Tao Yueyue's head with a smile.

"What are we going to do next?"

"Cai Zhengkai's testimony needs to be verified again. If he is still reluctant to talk, it’s necessary to call on him again."

"We can start with his agent."

"That's very true!" Lin Dongxue smiled.

So, they put the dummy back into the room. They found Cai Zhengkai’s agent. He didn’t have any jobs to do today, so he was talking on the phone while drinking coffee in the restaurant. When the police found him, he made a “be silent” gesture, ended the phone conversation shortly, and then asked, "What's the matter, beautiful police officer? Want to ask another question?"

"I still want to know about the quarrel between Cai Zhengkai and Little Ai last night."

"Can you sit down? I'm really stressed with you standing."

"You can stand up and answer."

The agent took a sip of coffee and said, "I’ve already said that Zhengkai has been in the house the whole time last night. What can he and Little Ai quarrel on? He’s not a heavyweight opponent. Would Zhengkai put that clown within his sight?"

"Please respect the dead!"

"Okay, okay, respect the dead. Zhengkai didn't meet Little Ai last night. That's all there is to it."

"Where is Mr. Cai right now?"

"In the gym. He pays great attention to his body shape and goes for a run every morning."

"If you’re unwilling to tell the truth, then I will exercise my power to summon Cai Zhengkai back to the bureau."

"Summon!? Called to have tea at the bureau?!"

"Yes."

The agent made a helpless move. "Why? Our Zhengkai is a public figure. How can it be possible to go to the bureau to drink tea? If word spreads, our company's stock price will plummet."

"Before the law, everyone is equal. I only need to know the truth. If you guys refuse to talk, then I can only use these forceful means."

The agent put his fist in front of his mouth and groaned, "Can I take my leave for a while?"

"Where are you going? To talk to Mr. Cai to discuss countermeasures? I’m a police officer, not a reporter. I want to know everything about what happened last night. Nothing more."

"I... I'll call him."𝗳𝒓𝚎e𝚠𝒆𝐛𝐧𝐨v𝚎Ɩ.co𝓶

The agent dialed the number, and Lin Dongxue sat down. Instead of sitting across from the agent, she sat at another table and waited. Tao Yueyue kept these details in her heart. The police should learn to keep a distance from those they’re investigating.

The agent covered his mouth, said something tensely, hung up the phone, and said, "He will be here soon. Order something to drink. I’ll treat you."

Lin Dongxue shook her head. "No need!"

Ten minutes later, Cai Zhengkai arrived. He had just finished exercising, so his cheeks were red, his breathing was heavy, he was wearing a sweatshirt, and there was a towel around his neck.

Sitting down, he greeted them. "Hello Tao Yueyue. Hello Officer Lin. What have you asked me here for?"

"To understand the situation."

"Didn't we talk about the situation last night?"

The agent signalled with his eyes. "Zhengkai, just tell the truth. Otherwise, Officer Lin will invite you to the bureau for tea and if it’s spread, your fans will cause a commotion."

Cai Zhengkai looked at his agent, and then at Lin Dongxue. The expressions on his face were very rich. He said, "Yesterday afternoon, my hand was injured by a needle. After coming back, I became more and more angry. I remember Little Ai was laughing at the time. Based on this, I can be sure that he must have done it. I was holding my breath in my chest and really wanted to kill him!"

"Zhengkai, don't talk nonsense!" The agent stopped him.

Cai Zhengkai ignored him and continued, "I was full of rage, so I put on the costume and walked out with a knife with my murderous intent at the time. Guess why I went out. I used this murderous intent to figure out the role of Zhou Xiao. I was pacing back and forth in the corridor, during which Tao Yueyue saw me..."

Tao Yueyue nodded. "I have already said this."

"I'm an acting-obsessed idiot. I wanted to save my emotions. My anger, sorrow and joy. I would need it when acting in the future. I probably wandered outside until 9:00PM, and then I ran into Little Ai violently coming down the stairs. A trash can on the floor had been kicked over, and we looked at each other. He yelled at me, ‘Get out of the way, you has-been.’ I scolded him saying he was an illegitimate child. Little Ai pushed me, and I was so angry that I wanted to stab him in the stomach. We quarreled back and forth, and I don’t need to talk about the details, right...?"

"Just talk briefly about it!"

Hence, Cai Zhengkai recounted what the two sides said based on his memories, all of which were mutually detrimental. "...Finally, he left saying, 'Just you wait. I won't let you rise in the movie' before leaving."

"What does that mean?"

"Changing the script! Scum!" Cai Zhengkai spat angrily. "He’s the kind of actor in the legends. He changes the script as he pleases. It’s not once or twice. I know that he went looking for the screenwriter to change the script and delete my scenes and the like. Besides this, what else is there for him to do? He was committing another fucking capital investment kidnapping again. The movie would take a miracle to be a good one! I swore at the time that I would be a dog if I picked up scripts like this again. After that, I went to the bar to drink in boredom. During the period, a fan asked me for an autograph. I received a call from my agent saying that Little Ai had fallen from a building, so I hurried over."

Tao Yueyue whispered to Lin Dongxue, "Xia Xiaolou said that he never returned to the room after he caught them having an affair. According to this, the screenwriter was the last to see him."

Cai Zhengkai said, "Officer, I’m not suspicious anymore, right?"

Lin Dongxue avoided answering. "Please don't leave the hotel today. The forensics officers will come over to collect everyone's biological information later."

"I’ll completely cooperate!"

Leaving the restaurant, Tao Yueyue remembered something. “When I ran into the screenwriter on the stairs last night, his face was very red, just like Cai Zhengkai’s just now... but the screenwriter’s breathing wasn’t heavy.”

"Which section of the stairs was it?"

"Between the second and third floor."

"A red face... People blush when they’re tense, but why should a person by themselves be nervous or tense? Flushing red is due to the blood rushing to the head..." Lin Dongxue thought.

"If you turn your head upside down, would you blush?" Tao Yueyue said. "I seem to have understood something. He was looking down to find something!"

1. The English equivalent would be “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. ☜