Live Action Murder Mystery

Chapter 59

(The real murderer has been locked in; “Yang Ye, are you a henpecked male?”)

Gu Liang understood the implications in Yang Ye’s words very quickly.

The precondition to their previous deduction was that— according to the magic-related clues that Yang Ye possessed, the pentagram spell was meant for sealing evil spirits. This evil spirit should come from the doll, so the spell should be used against the doll.

Whereas the basis of Gu Liang’s conjecture was that the doll was harmed by Boyfriend Feng, hence the revenge-seeking against him, and through the manipulation of humans, the doll had killed Boyfriend Feng.

Therefore, the person who used the pentagram spell could very well be the person being controlled by the doll. Concurrently, that person is the real murderer who killed Boyfriend Feng.

The real murderer killing Boyfriend Feng occurred under the effects of the doll’s influence, and when they used the pentagram to kill the doll later out of subjective consciousness, it was an attempt to save themselves.

Under such circumstances, if the doll needed to rely on humans to seek retribution against Boyfriend Feng, it indicated that her own strength should be quite limited, even to the extent where they could call it weak.

Otherwise, she could have used the strength she possessed to kill him directly, instead of borrowing the assistance of humans.

And if she needed to borrow a human’s strength, it signified that she can only affect a person’s intelligence and consciousness through some obscure method, thus controlling their actions. Then, the final method of killing had to be something that humans are capable of, like stabbing him with a knife or using a rope to strangle him, so on and so forth.

But what was the manner of Boyfriend Feng’s death?

He had burnt to death in an instant, and he had been scorched into ‘boxing pose’ in an instant.

This was definitely the work of magic.

This would create a paradox: the doll had to be weak to the extent where it required a human’s strength to kill someone, while being strong enough to the extent where she could a bestow a powerful killing spell on the humans simultaneously.

The existence of the paradox implied that— Gu Liang’s brain hole was not tenable.

Furthermore, under the conditions where no other traces of magic was found and only pentagram-related clues existed in the script, the possibility of the doll killing Boyfriend Feng via human interference and then getting killed by the pentagram, could be eliminated.

Gu Liang leaned his head against the headboard, breathing out a sigh.

“No one found other traces of magic, only the pentagram exists. Therefore, the magical elements related to Boyfriend Feng’s death, can only be linked to the pentagram array.

“In summary… If the pentagram wasn’t used to kill the doll, then it could only be used to kill Boyfriend Feng.”

Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye before he said: “And we’ve circled back to this question: what is the link between the pentagram spell and Boyfriend Feng’s death? Your story clearly stated that the pentagram seals off evil spirits, it couldn’t possibly be that Boyfriend Feng is an evil spirit?”

Yang Ye was seated on the sofa with one leg overlapping the other. His hands were clasped together and placed on his lap, which made his sitting posture extremely domineering.

After a moment of contemplation, he said to Gu Liang: “If the missing arms have no bearing on the spell, why do you think the arms are missing?”

Gu Liang thought about it, saying: “If I was Li Xiao Yu, who discovered that Lady Rong wasn’t dead after my attempted poisoning, but realised that there was a symbol appearing on the doll’s arm, I might have guessed that the doll had blocked the calamity for Lady Rong. Subsequently, in order to prevent Lady Rong from knowing that I tried to kill her, I might cut off the dolls’ arms. However…

“Li Xiao Yu doesn’t really have the opportunity to do such a thing. When you were sleeping in my room last night, both of us saw the doll before we slept, and she was still in normal condition then. It’s not possible for her to dismember the doll without drawing our attention.

“When we finished eating breakfast on the second day, both of you spent half an hour together, and then she followed you to the lake… By the time she returned back to the ancient castle, it should be close to 10 o’ clock.

“We returned to the lodging area at 11 o’ clock. If she wants to go to all the rooms to cut off the dolls’ arms, it’s not feasible.

“Right, after I returned, I realised that the room had been tidied up before. The butler should have cleaned up the room. If Li Xiao Yu had done such a thing, she might even bump into the butler. In essence, we can eliminate Li Xiao Yu. Therefore—”

Gu Liang gazed at Yang Ye, and replied in a resolute manner: “It’s more probable that the arm cutting was done by Butler Hao.”

“As a matter of fact, I think that the chances of Butler Hao knocking me out is comparatively higher.” Yang Ye continued, “We don’t have to organise the timeline for when he hit the back of my neck right now. But based on height alone, the ladies with us aren’t really capable of it.”

After giving a pause, Yang Ye said: “Let’s continue talking about the arms. If this matter was done by Butler Hao, we still have a problem at hand: why did he cut off their arms? It’s not like he has an incentive to help Li Xiao Yu conceal the fact that she wants to kill Lady Rong? Does he like the Confidant Ai played by Li Xiao Yu? There doesn’t seem to be such a narrative from what we currently know.

“If he isn’t helping Li Xiao Yu cover her motivation to kill, then he should be concealing something else. There has to be other secrets on the dolls themselves, they aren’t as simple as we perceive them to be.”

Gu Liang frowned at Yang Ye, “If the person responsible for the arm cutting and knocking you out is Butler Hao, then we can deduce his action timeline— he brought the arms to the peach forest to deal with them. If he buried the arms in the ground, they would be easily discovered, if he threw them in the river, these resin-made arms might float up, so his best course of action is to burn them.

“He was afraid this matter would attract our attention, so he checked his vicinity. Back then, Designer Mei and Confidant Ai had just finished their argument and left together, but you didn’t. Thus, he knocked you out and went to burn the arms. Concurrently, he could take it a step further and shift the blame to you because the detective and I could see that you were the first to walk in the direction of the peach forest but the last to leave.”

Yang Ye merely listened to him before he commented: “There are no issues with the action timeline. During the centralised discussion, we have to focus on questioning Butler Hao. If he’s not the real murderer, he should and will explain these contentions clearly. If he doesn’t explain them clearly, then the possibility of him being the real murderer is extremely high.”

“Sure.”

Exhaling, Gu Liang raised his cup to take a large gulp, “Let’s go to another place. Oh right, do you want to drink some water too?”

“Yeah.” Yang Ye raised the water glass that Gu Liang had drunk out of, and downed the remaining contents in one breath.

“Hey you—”

“Economise our time, don’t talk about other things. Let’s go. Where to?”

“&#k2026;&#k2026;”

Gu Liang blinked his eyes, as if he was a touch disoriented.

It was usually Yang Ye who would veer off course while Gu Liang focused on solving the case.

It was the opposite this time around; unexpectedly, Yang Ye was the one who forcibly diverted the topic back to the case.

It took Gu Liang a moment to respond to him: “Two places. The first is Lady Rong’s room, I want to see if we can find any other clues pertaining to the dolls; the second is your room. Speaking of which, have you been in your room since last night during the script enactment segment?”

Yang Ye: “I actually haven’t.”

“Which means that you don’t know what condition your doll was in when we were both being punished either, like if she had been taken away during that period of time, for instance.”

“Yes.”

“Go back to your room to sleep next time. You’re affecting the case solving.”

“Come to my room next time then.”

“……”

At this moment, both of them had just reached Gu Liang’s room door.

Gu Liang thought of something abruptly. “Right, if your doll was still in your room last night, there has to be clues. Go to your room first! This clue is extremely vital. Move.”

* * *

Thus, after leaving Gu Liang’s room, the pair went to Yang Ye’s room immediately.

For full disclosure, Yang Ye’s room had been searched a few times, but they did not find any special clues.

The only clue related to magic was on the sports car he drove.

Despite that, Gu Liang approached his closet again and re-opened the doors. Then, he crouched down and stuck his entire head in to inspect it carefully.

“Yang Ye, do you have an electrical torch?” Gu Liang asked.

Yang Ye: “There’s some in the storage room. Give me a moment, I’ll bring one over.”

His footsteps faded away in a series of thuds before they sounded again, growing closer.

After receiving the torch that Yang Ye was handing over, Gu Liang shone the torch into the closet and stuck his head in again.

“Are you trying to look for scorch marks?” Yang Ye asked him.

“Yes. I was contemplating if the dolls could block disasters, or perhaps it’s more appropriate to say, the brain hole where they could act as Lady Rong’s substitute. I suddenly realised where the problem lies.”

Gu Liang said, “Apart from the inordinate strangeness that the arm cutting presents, there are actually issues with your story. Do you remember what Su Lan said?”

Yang Ye: “Of course. Lady Rong’s room had scorched traces on her bedsheets, and Lady Rong was awoken by the spray of water.”

Gu Liang slowly shifted the electrical torch in his hands, scrutinising the closet interiors for any traces as he said to Yang Ye: “We previously deduced that if magic does not exist, Lady Rong should have died from the suffocation owing to the fatal damage done to her windpipe. But this does not mean that her body would be completely free of burn marks. After all, even the bedsheets had caught fire, it’s just that the situation wasn’t as severe.”

“Agreed. I wasn’t at the scene back then, but in compliance with the script, I did pour the alcohol on her face early on, and when she woke up with a scream, the alcohol flowed into her mouth. At that moment, the lit matchstick was thrown at her, and the burning alcohol seeped into her windpipe.”

Having said that, Yang Ye finally understood why Gu Liang was checking the closet. “I get it. According to my method, Lady Rong’s body, well, her mouth and nose at least, ought to be scalded.”

“If we subscribe to the theory that the dolls will take Lady Rong’s injuries in its entirety, the doll’s body shouldn’t be completely devoid of burn marks.”

“Found it. Look at the corner of the closet, there are some scorched marks there.”

Gu Liang aimed the torchlight at one of the closet corners. Sure enough, the colour of the wood was slightly darker, probably because it was scalded by the fire but not enough to truly burn up.

Yang Ye’s voice deepened. “If that’s the case, the sprinkler system should have taken effect.”

Gu Liang stepped out of the closet and met Yang Ye’s eyes. Then, with exceptional tacit understanding, they moved— lifting the sofa, shifting the bed, shifting the closet… before removing all the carpets in the room.

By that juncture, the traces which showed that the room had been sprayed down before slowly emerged.

For instance, while the back of the carpet seemed to have no oddities, it was wet to the touch.

Another example was that when the dresser was moved away, the side of the cupboard had distinct water streaks that was not wiped dry.

Gu Liang went to look for Meng Qian Cheng to make him photograph the exhibit immediately.

Even after taking all the photographs, Meng Qian Cheng was still stuck in a slight stupor. “So, this room also experienced a fire?”

“Yes.”

Gu Liang took out the [The Ancient Castle’s Safety Handbook For Staff Personnel] that he had previously read, allowing Meng Qian Cheng to take a look. “It writes that guests should not smoke in the area, or else they will be drenched completely. This indicates that even if it was a cigarette, it would cause the sprinkler system to spray water. Hence, this clue is hinting at the fact that— as long as it senses the slightest fire or smoke, the sprinkler system will dispense water immediately.”

Meng Qian Cheng blinked. “That means to say—”

“Did you sleep well last night? Was your room sprayed with water?” Gu Liang questioned him.

Meng Qian Cheng became more dumbstruck, but he still replied: “I slept quite well. There should be no water… there was nothing the entire time.”

Gu Liang asked: “When Yang Ye and I weren’t around, what did all of you discuss? Do you have any brain holes?”

Meng Qian Cheng said: “It mostly concerned the possibility of the dolls having a substituting function, because a lot of people acted against Lady Rong, but Lady Rong didn’t die. Therefore, the people that killed her are not the murderers. En… And someone fished in troubled waters and killed Boyfriend Feng.”

When he reached the last part, Meng Qian Cheng gave Yang Ye a pointed look. He coughed twice and stopped speaking.

Gu Liang continued to ask: “Were all the dolls acting as substitutes concurrently?”

Meng Qian Cheng mulled over it for a moment, saying: “It should… It should be, all the dolls were missing an arm and had a chest wound, only Yang Ye’s remains an exception. Therefore, his doll…. perhaps it wasn’t used as a substitute for Lady Rong, but used to trigger the pentagram instead, to kill… kill Boyfriend Feng.”

“That’s not right.” Gu Liang patted the table. “Sit, I’ll explain it to you properly.”

Meng Qian Cheng looked around the ransacked room. In the end, he could only bring over a chair and sit down.

In the process, he studied Yang Ye and Gu Liang for a few moments.

Yang Ye was clearly taller by a few inches, and owing to his military experience, his body was slightly firmer. His facial features were also longer, which made them comparatively sharper and hard.

Gu Liang’s appearance was far gentler by comparison.

However, for some unknown reason, the panic that did not exist when he was looking at Yang Ye seemed to manifest whenever he was under Gu Liang’s cold stare. Unconsciously, Meng Qian Cheng would start listening obediently as the chill seeped into his heart.

“Yang Ye, you should sit too.”

As Gu Liang offered Yang Ye that short sentence, he sat down on the bed before he looked at Meng Qian Cheng again. “Around 12 o’ clock last night, the Scumbag Yu played by Yang Ye went to kill Lady Rong, are you aware?”

“I’m aware.” Meng Qian Cheng started getting flustered under his stare, and he could not resist wringing his hands.

Afterwards, he realised— I’m the detective, what am I getting flustered for?

Then, he straightened his waist and tried his best to stare into Gu Liang’s eyes. “But I don’t know his specific modus operandi. Su Lan said it might be related to fire.”

“It is fire-related. More importantly, it was the burning of her throat.”

Raising the safety manual, Gu Liang gave Meng Qian Cheng a detailed explanation with regards to the mechanisms for the sprinkler system and smoke detector and Yang Ye’s method of killing once. “Do you understand?”

Meng Qian Cheng nodded his head obediently. “Understood.”

Gu Liang gave a pause, and then asked: “Therefore, do you understand what I’m driving at?”

Meng Qian Cheng shot a pleading look in Yang Ye’s direction, “I don’t… don’t get it.”

In that moment, it was like— Gu Liang was the lecturing teacher who had explained the question to Meng Qian Cheng numerous times. However, when Meng Qian Cheng was asked again if he understood, he still did not understand, so he could only ask his desk mate Yang Ye for help, all anxious and fraught.

Amused by his expression, Yang Ye chose to watch the show at the side line, neither making an utterance nor helping.

Gu Liang heaved out a sigh, like he was hating iron for not becoming steel. Then, he explained to Meng Qian Cheng: “According to the brain holes that the group conceived, if all the dolls were substitutes, then Designer Mei’s modus operandi would cause all the dolls to have knife wounds above their chest; Confidant Ai’s modus operandi will lead to a heart symbol appearing on all the dolls’ right arm… What of Yang Ye’s actions then?”

Meng Qian Cheng finally realised it. He said: “I get it, the dolls’ throat will burn up, and their faces, especially the areas around the mouth and nose, will also burn up. This will cause the smoke detector and sprinkler system to take effect, and water will spray down from the ceiling.”

Gu Liang asked: “Since that’s the case, why was the sprinkler system in Yang Ye’s room the only one which activated, while all the other rooms remained dormant?”

Meng Qian Cheng thought about it: “Because… only the doll in his room burned up.”

“Precisely.” Gu Liang stood up, and slowly said, “Therefore, the dolls did not act as substitutes concurrently. Instead, each doll can only act as a substitute once.”

“Then why… why…” Meng Qian Cheng started to scratch at the few strands of hair that were left on his head.

Gu Liang said: “Right now, we can roughly restore the murderer’s modus operandi.

“Let’s make an assumption first. Assume that dolls in each guest room can only work against that specific guest’s killing method.

“Under that assumption, the doll in Designer Mei’s room will have a knife wound in her chest. The doll in Confidant Ai’s room will have a heart symbol on her right arm. And for the doll in Scumbag Yu’s room, of whom Yang Ye is acting as, her body and the lower half of her face in particular, started burning up a little, thus triggering the sprinkler system.

“At that moment, the real murderer appeared. The real murderer used the pentagram to kill Boyfriend Feng. While we’re still in the dark about the operating principles of the pentagram, there’s only one explanation that we have found thus far.

“Afterwards, the real murderer started concealing their modus operandi while finding a target to shift the blame to.”

“The real murderer went to each and every room and realised the strange states that the dolls were in, and decided to exploit it. Hence, they stabbed the dolls in the chest once, wanting to give us the delusion that all the dolls were concurrently serving as substitutes.

“But after the heart symbol appeared on the doll’s wrist because of the poison, the real murderer didn’t know how to falsify it, and it isn’t feasible for them to paint a heart on the dolls’ wrist because such methods can be discovered easily. Hence, they can only chop off all the dolls’ arms.

“Lastly, there is Yang Ye. The thought of falsifying partial burns on the dolls’ bodies might have occurred to the real murderer, but that presents a problem. Starting a fire in the room will cause the sprinkler system to dispense water, and if they were to go to every room to burn each doll, then they would have to change the bedsheets and blankets of all the rooms, and get rid of all the water traces. They don’t have that much time.

“Perhaps they could bring all the dolls to an open space environment and then put all them back after they were done burning them, but it would be too troublesome to do such a thing. Moreover, they can’t guarantee that all the burn injuries they inflict on the dolls will be the same.

“Hence, they can only make Yang Ye the target of their blame shifting by making Yang Ye’s doll the special and incongruous existence. He took the doll from Yang Ye’s room and brought it to the vegetable field to burn it. And as they had expected, all of you fell for the scheme; upon seeing Yang Ye’s doll in the vegetable field, you assumed that he was the murderer.”

Meng Qian Cheng was a little dazed after hearing the speech. He clapped his hands. “Ah, right. I understand what you’re driving at now. The real murderer had cut off all the dolls’ arms and stabbed them with a knife. Subsequently, they changed the bedsheets and blankets in Yang Ye’s room, wiped away the visible traces of water and lastly went to the vegetable field to burn the arms.

“When all is said and done, it wasn’t possible for them to get rid of all the water stains in Yang Ye’s room, which is why you made me photograph the water marks… So that was your purpose.”

Gu Liang said: “Right on the mark. Since they cleaned up the watermarks in Yang Ye’s room, we didn’t immediately discover the fact that Yang Ye’s room was once sprayed down by the sprinkler system, and even nearly fell for their ruse, believing that all the dolls were serving as a substitute concurrently.”

Meng Qian Cheng rubbed his hands again as he tossed out another question: “Who is that person then?”

“I think, apart from the reason I mentioned about marrying the blame, there might be other factors which gave them no choice but to marry the blame.

“When Lady Rong was sprayed awake last night, she would definitely require a change of bedsheets and blankets. Therefore, the person she contacted will help her deal with the water in the room and change her sheets. After asking her a few questions, they will naturally discover that Yang Ye had been here before, which would also lead them to the conclusion that there is a high possibility that Yang Ye was the cause of the bedsheets catching fire.

“This person is naturally aware of the fact that the storage room opposite of Lady Rong’s room has alcohol and matches. They’ve been to every guest room before, they know that there are no fire starting tools in everyone’s room. These tools can only come from the storage room. Hence, they guessed that Yang Ye went to the storage room and took the alcohol and matches from there.

“Not to mention, Lady Rong was capable of guessing that Yang Ye was associated with the fire, and Designer Mei knew some details as well because Designer Mei told him to kill her. My soy sauce character was completely without a timeline, so I was allowed to arbitrarily roam around at night. In reality, I could have chanced upon him in the storage room. After taking all these factors into account…

“Once everyone discovers the pentagram and the scorched remains in the vegetable field, they can easily associate the incident with Yang Ye. Because in the story filled with numerous characters, he has associations with fire. He has been to the storage room, seen the alcohol and matches, and since he was capable of taking those items to burn Lady Rong, he could have taken them again to burn the dolls, and use the pentagram to kill someone.

“Finally, there is still one extremely crucial point. This person treats the premise as their sky and moves anywhere freely, and is capable of grasping every person’s movements in the ancient castle. They could see Yang Ye walking to the garden and staying there for a long time. Hence, they could follow him and knock him out, thereby increasing his suspicions.

“In conclusion, it’s hard for the real culprit to replicate the burnt portions on the doll’s body from Yang Ye’s room; Yang Ye ventured into the garden the earliest; Yang Ye had used fire last night… For all these various factors, Yang Ye became the most suitable target to shift the blame to.”

Meng Qian Cheng thoroughly comprehended the entire matter this time around. He slapped his own thigh abruptly, and he was about to say something loudly when Gu Liang gave him a silencing gesture. “Don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Meng Qian Cheng swallowed that mouthful of air and his saliva. Lowering his volume, he uttered, “Then… If that’s the case, that person can only be Butler Hao!

“You can stop speaking… the possibility only heightens the more you think about it!”

Meng Qian Cheng continued to say: “In the previous script, he was quite candid when he was being Scientist Li. The fact that he suddenly became like this… his acting skills is on par with the NPCs!

“Like I was saying, even if he was hurt by a woman, it wouldn’t reach the extent where he couldn’t recover himself after such a long period of time. How could he possibly lose his original nature as well!

“It turns out he was deliberately hiding himself!”

“More or less.”

Gu Liang stood up, “We still have an hour or less, we can focus on finding clues related to magic and Butler Hao.

“There are three more questions that we still need to clarify.

“One, why was the pentagram effective in killing Boyfriend Feng?

“Two, what is Butler Hao’s motivation for killing Boyfriend Feng?

“Three, confirm if Butler Hao is capable of manipulating magic.”

Meng Qian Cheng ruminated about it: “We’ve essentially confirmed the third question, no? Didn’t we find the volume record from the kitchen? A magician visited the ancient castle. I’ll ask Lady Rong specific questions relating to the magic and the pentagram later. I’ll pay attention to their tone of speech.”

Gu Liang said: “Mn. Be more careful. Especially during the one-on-one interrogation; don’t divulge the information I told you to everyone in a direct manner.”

Meng Qian Cheng nodded. “Rest assured, I’m an old player!”

Gu Liang gave him a look that conveyed he did not fully trust him. He turned around and walked out of the door. “Yang Ye, let’s go and check the other rooms again.”

After Gu Liang left the room first, Meng Qian Cheng called Yang Ye to a stop.

“Mn? What’s the matter?” Yang Ye asked him.

Meng Qian Cheng suppressed his voice and said: “Your wife is too fierce and frightening!”

“Pfft.” Yang Ye could not help but laugh. However, because Gu Liang Liang was still nearby, he could only cough lightly to conceal it instead.

Clicking his tongue twice, Meng Qian Cheng regarded Yang Ye with a sympathising gaze. “You’re definitely a henpecked male. How miserable.”

After saying that, Meng Qian Cheng murmured a few more lines: “It’s not reliable for a man to find a man, it’s better to find a considerate woman who is gentle and soft like water…”

“What do you mean by miserable? Other people couldn’t be envious even if they tried. Being managed by him, will be the fortune I’ve cultivated in eight lifetimes.”

After Yang Ye finished saying those words, he turned around and walked into the corridor under Meng Qian Cheng’s stupefied expression, and hooked onto Gu Liang’s neck.

Gu Liang swatted his hand away. “What were you talking about?”

“Nothing really, praising you.”

“Praising me? Why did you do it behind my back then?”

“We were merely afraid it would inflate your pride.”

“…… Seriously?”

“Of course. I would never lie to you. Our Gu Liang Liang is loved by everyone he meets!”

“……”

* * *

At 5 in the evening, the free exploration came to an end.

The second floor area promptly opened, allowing all the players to follow the directions indicated on their card to reach the second-floor centralised discussion room, thus beginning the centralised discussion.

Similar to the centralised discussion room in Undying Town, apart from the main discussion hall and one-on-one interrogation room, every player had their own individual resting lounge which could be used for private conversations.

Once the discussion began, Meng Qian Cheng called Lady Rong into the one-on-one interrogation room first.

Gu Liang reckoned he wanted to clarify the magic issue with pointed questions first.

Gu Liang thought about it for a moment before he went up to Su Lan. “Designer Mei, shall we chat individually?”

Su Lan seemed to find it odd, since she looked at Gu Liang first before glancing at Yang Ye. Despite her hesitations, she nodded her head in the end. “Let’s go to my resting lounge then.”

A moment later, inside Designer Mei’s resting lounge.

Su Lan gazed at Gu Liang: “What do you want to ask me?”

Gu Liang: “During the dance party at night, you left around 9:15, right after Boyfriend Feng. Is that correct?”

Su Lan nodded: “Yes. Is there a problem?”

Gu Liang: “At 11:30, I was observing covertly through my front door on the 6th floor lodging area, and I saw you walking out from the elevator, why was that? Did you go back to the main hall?”

Su Lan admitted to it with incredible ease. “Yes, I went back to the main hall. Before 11, I left my door unlocked to observe the corridor from my room, and I witnessed you and Yang Ye talking for a while. You entered your room, he headed towards the storage room. Subsequently, I went into the lift and returned to the main hall on the first floor for the sake of retrieving my knife.”

Gu Liang came to an understanding. “You’re talking about the dagger you threw under the table after you killed Lady Rong?”

“Yes. Since the tablecloth was floor length, it concealed the knife.”

Su Lan said, “Although I didn’t kill Lady Rong, the knife still had my fingerprints. If something were to happen later, I wouldn’t be able to explain it, so I thought it would be best if I retrieved the knife. Thus, I took advantage of your departures to detour back and pick up my knife.”

“Where’s the knife then?” Gu Liang asked.

“It’s gone.” Su Lan replied.

Gu Liang tapped on the table with his index finger once. “Therefore, it’s quite plausible that the butler picked it up as he was clearing the tablecloth.”

Su Lan: “It’s possible.”

— For that reason, this clue also pointed towards Butler Hao.

Why did he keep the knife without making a sound, and not disclose this matter?

Was it possible that he was already aware that someone was going to act against Lady Rong back then?

Could the real murderer be the butler?

The overall appearance of the story… what was it like exactly?