Death Notice 2 Destiny

Chapter 44

"Hmm." Luo Fei's gaze swept across the screens on the wall and quickly spotted Ahua and the others. They were searching room by room on the fifteenth floor of the building.

So Luo Fei, settling for second best, asked, "Where are Brother Long and the others?"

Yin Jian replied, "They're taking statements in the lobby on the first floor."

"Go and call him over; I have some questions for him."

Yin Jian replied, "Yes." He turned and left the house, and soon brought Brother Long back.

Luo Fei personally brought a chair for Brother Long: "Sit down." He hoped that the other party could calm down as soon as possible so as to maintain a good state of thinking and conversation.

Brother Long sat down, but his eyes kept wandering, as if he was lost in thought.

"You must be very familiar with that office, right?" Luo Fei asked in a casual, conversational tone.

"Oh..." Brother Long paused for a moment, then replied hesitantly, "Not very familiar with it."

Luo Fei was immediately stumped by the first question, and he couldn't help but frown. Brother Long, seemingly realizing what was happening, quickly added, "That's General Manager Deng's office; Ahua knows it well. I only occasionally go there with General Manager Lin."

"Well, as long as you've been there—" Luo Fei continued, "That room originally had a red carpet on the floor and crystal glass walls on all four sides, right?"

"Yes." This time, Brother Long answered more readily.

"Why are all the carpets and crystal glass on the walls gone now?"

"That was done by Ahua and his men. The carpet was removed, and the crystal glass was smashed."

"Why?"

"Weren't the two bosses supposed to hide inside? Ahua said the simpler the room, the better, without any clutter. Someone could probably hide under the carpet, and the crystal walls would be too conspicuous and interfere with the monitors. So we removed everything we could, and just added two beds."

Luo Fei nodded, but thought to himself: The real reason is probably not as superficial as Brother Long said -- maybe Ahua also suspects that there is another secret passage in that office! In any case, Ahua is indeed a cautious and meticulous guy.

"Did Lin Henggan and Meng Fangliang move into the office at 8 PM on the 1st?"

"right."

"Why so early? The death sentence notice doesn't start until the 2nd."

"This was Ahua's idea too. He said the office was the safest place, and it was better to get in early to avoid any unforeseen problems."

Luo Fei noticed that when Brother Long answered questions, he always deliberately put Ahua first. He could figure out the other man's mentality: because he didn't call the police, two people died as a result, so he tried to shrink back in order to shirk responsibility.

"When those two entered the office, did you thoroughly check the interior?"

"Of course it was checked. I even opened all the cabinets in the office desk to check; there's absolutely no one hiding in the room."

"And then you locked the door?"

"Yes, there are two doors, and Ahua and I each took a key. That way, only if both of us go upstairs at the same time can we open the door."

"Did you open the door after that?"

"It was opened last—after we saw someone on the security camera."

"It wasn't driven even once in between?"

"No. We've prepared dry food and water inside, and a chamber pot under the bed. Ahua repeatedly emphasized beforehand: unless the assassin enters the house, we won't open the door under any circumstances until the allotted time is up."

"During this period, were the two of you constantly in front of the monitor?"

"Yes—except for leaving briefly to use the restroom, but even then, we take turns. And several other brothers are also watching over us."

"Weren't any unusual circumstances found during this process?"

"No."

Luo Fei didn't want him to answer so quickly: "Think about it again."

Brother Long pretended to think hard, but finally shook his head: "There really wasn't anything wrong until the power went out."

Luo Fei turned to look at the surveillance screen behind him, which was playing a recording of the office scene. On the screen, Lin Henggan and Meng Fangliang were sitting at their desks, seemingly chatting.

"So? Did you find anything?" Luo Fei asked Yin Jian, who had been watching the recording.

"Not yet," Yin Jian said with a hint of complaint. "This video is just too long, nearly thirty hours. Even if you fast-forward through it, it'll take at least until dawn."

Luo Fei waved his hand: "Don't watch the previous parts yet, just switch to 11:30 PM on the 2nd."

Yin Jian immediately dragged the progress bar to near the end, and the video began to show the situation in the office at 11:30 p.m. the previous night. At that time, not much time had passed since the first power outage.

Lin Henggan and Meng Fangliang were found fast asleep, lying on their beds on the east and west sides respectively.

"How come these two are sleeping so soundly?" Luo Fei asked, somewhat puzzled.

His words made Yin Jian realize something was amiss. It was nearing the deadline set by the death sentence notice; logically, this should have been the most tense and expectant moment for Lin Meng and the other man. How could they be sleeping so peacefully?

Fortunately, Brother Long provided an answer in time: "They all took sleeping pills this afternoon."

Luo Fei uttered a "Hmm?" to indicate his doubt.

"This was Ahua's idea. He said that if they didn't take their medicine, neither of the two bosses would be able to sleep. Enduring twenty or thirty hours of this would surely make them sick, even if they weren't originally."

That's true. Lin Henggan and Meng Fangliang are both nearing fifty, and their physical condition can't compare to Ahua's and the others. Enduring more than a day under immense mental pressure would undoubtedly be torture for them. It would be much better to take some sleeping pills, close their eyes, and sleep soundly without thinking about anything.

Luo Fei stopped dwelling on the issue and refocused his attention on the playback video. Everything in the office remained normal, but Luo Fei and the others held their breath in tension, knowing that a strange change was about to occur.

The time in the upper left corner of the screen ticked by second by second. When the number reached 23:35:12, the screen suddenly flickered slightly, and the time changed to 23:39:21.

Luo Fei shouted, "Stop!" Yin Jian immediately manipulated the player to freeze the image at that moment.

Undoubtedly, the nearly five-minute time jump was due to the first power outage. And when the interrupted video feed resumed, the situation inside the house was noticeably different from before.

First, Lin Meng and his companion's sleeping positions changed. In the instant the scene switched, it gave onlookers the illusion that the two of them had "moved" slightly. However, this is not surprising: although Lin Meng and his companion had both taken sleeping pills, it was only to help them sleep, and the dosage would not be large. It is inevitable that they would turn over and move around while they were sound asleep.

But other changes were quite striking. For example, the sliding window on the south wall, which was tightly closed before the power outage, was wide open afterward. Luo Fei estimated that the extent to which the window was open perfectly matched the remains left at the crime scene.

However, compared to another scene in the picture, the inexplicably opened window is not surprising.

On the west side of the room, a tall man's figure suddenly appeared. He had his back to the camera and was walking towards the single bed against the west wall.

"Eumenides!" Yin Jian blurted out as if he had suddenly seen a familiar face.

Luo Fei understood why his assistant was so agitated. The figure was undeniably familiar. The man was tall and muscular, dressed casually, and wore a black woolen hat pulled low over his head, completely obscuring his face from the surveillance camera's view.

This is exactly the same murderer who killed Han Shaohong in front of the Deyue Building. Back then, the murderer was disguised as an undercover police officer, and his clothing, appearance, and physical characteristics were exactly the same as the mysterious man appearing on the screen now.

Eumenides! Anyone who experienced the Battle of the Deye Building will immediately think of this terrifying name!

Luo Fei calmed himself, pressing his face close to the screen, trying to catch some more detail. After a moment, he shook his head slightly and said, "Gloves, shoe covers, hat—he's wearing them all… He wouldn't overlook something like that…"

Yin Jian also understood Luo Fei's description, which meant that the person in the painting wouldn't have left any fingerprints, footprints, or even hair at the scene. Therefore, the police's trace evidence experts were rendered useless.

Luo Fei seemed to have extracted all the valuable information from the screen. He tapped the table with his finger and said, "Continue playing."

Yin Jian pressed play as instructed, and the frozen image on the screen began to move again. The man wearing a black woolen hat walked step by step toward the single bed on the west side. His gaze was fixed on the soundly sleeping Lin Henggan, and his unhurried manner made it clear that he regarded the other man as a cooked meal.

What's even more infuriating is that when the lights came back on, the man deliberately waved his right hand in the direction of the camera, and a chilling white light flashed, revealing the sharp blade he had hidden between his fingers.

"This is... too arrogant!" Yin Jian said angrily. The other party's attitude was clearly a silent provocation: Look, I killed Han Shaohong right under your noses last time, and now I'm back again, what can you do about it?

Fortunately, the annoying recording ended quickly. At 23:39:32, the monitor screen went black, indicating that the recording had reached its end.

Luo Fei knew that it was because the backup generator had also been damaged. From the last moment of the video until the police repaired the circuit, the entire Longyu Building was plunged into darkness.

"How exactly did that guy get into the room? Did he get in through the window?" Yin Jian looked at Luo Fei as if seeking confirmation. He had also noticed the change in the window as the video footage jumped around.

Luo Fei shook his head: "That must have been a deliberate misdirection. Based on the on-site investigation, that window couldn't possibly have been an entrance or exit."

Although he hadn't been to the scene, Yin Jian had no doubt about Luo Fei's investigation findings. He scratched his head, puzzled, "What happened? Were there other passageways inside the house?"

Luo Fei, however, denied his guess again: "No."

"That doesn't make sense." Yin Jian was deeply perplexed. "The only entrance and exit are heavily guarded. How did that guy get in and out of the office?"

Brother Long stared wide-eyed, glancing between Yin Jian and Luo Fei. This question had also tormented him for a long time, and he desperately hoped someone could give him an answer.

"Theoretically speaking, he shouldn't be able to get in or out at all—" Luo Fei said thoughtfully, "so perhaps he didn't get in or out at all."

This sentence sounded a bit convoluted, and Yin Jian pondered it for a moment before realizing its meaning: "You mean, he was originally hiding in this room? And then, after Ahua and the others opened the office, he escaped under the cover of darkness?"

Before Luo Fei could answer, Brother Long shook his head vigorously: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. I already said, Ahua and I carefully checked the house before locking the door; there's definitely no one else inside."

Yin Jian, however, was somewhat unconvinced: "Perhaps he's hiding in a place you wouldn't expect? That guy often has some unexpected methods."

"It's such a small room, do you think he could squeeze into a crack in the wall?" Brother Long retorted, his face flushed. He was already frustrated enough today and couldn't tolerate anyone questioning such an undeniable fact.

This time, Luo Fei sided with Brother Long. He stroked his chin and said, "Judging from the situation at the scene, it wouldn't be easy for someone to hide inside. So it's unlikely that the guy was already hiding at the crime scene before the door was locked."

"Didn't you just say he 'didn't go in or out'?" Yin Jian was even more confused by Luo Fei's ambiguous attitude.

"'Not coming in or out' doesn't mean he was in the house the whole time. There's another possibility—" Luo Fei paused, and after everyone else had adopted a serious listening attitude, he said, "--he was never in the house at all."

"But this..." Yin Jian was even more astonished, "There's video footage! He definitely went into the house; we all saw it clearly!"

Brother Long nodded in agreement, equally unable to accept Luo Fei's assumption.

"Seeing is not necessarily believing—because videos can be faked."

"Fake video?" Yin Jian's mouth dropped open; he had never even considered this possibility. However, given Eumenides' abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him!

With Luo Fei's prompting, Yin Jian's thoughts became much clearer. He pondered for a moment and began to analyze, "Could it be that the footage of the murderer sneaking into the house was pre-recorded by Eumenides? When the power went out for the first time, he used technical means to replace the surveillance signal with this video, thus creating the illusion for bystanders that someone had broken in. This made Ahua and the others rush upstairs to open the door, and Eumenides then took advantage of the chaos and darkness to sneak into the house and assassinate the two victims."

Luo Fei nodded slowly: "Although many details are still difficult to explain, at least it's a line of thought worth considering."

Brother Long protested once again: "That's impossible!"

Luo Fei and Yin Jian turned to look at him simultaneously. Brother Long stiffened his neck and said, "When we entered the house, the two bosses were already dead. The murderer definitely didn't go in after we opened the door!"

Luo Fei clicked his tongue; this was indeed a problem. Ahua had previously stated that only four people entered the house: himself, Brother Long, and two henchmen, so there shouldn't have been any chaos inside. Even if Eumenides had indeed followed them in after opening the door, it would be difficult for him to kill two people in that situation, wouldn't it?

What Brother Long said next made Yin Jian even more frustrated: "I was the first to rush into the room. I ran straight to Boss Lin's bedside and stepped into a puddle of blood at the head of the bed. Then my henchmen came over and shone a flashlight on him. Boss Lin's neck had been cut open; he was already dead. It wasn't what you're guessing at all."

"If that's the case, then Eumenides went inside early! Sigh, it just doesn't make sense from any angle..." Yin Jian shook his head, as if giving up on himself, and could only look at Luo Fei with pleading eyes.

Luo Fei also seemed somewhat at a loss. Finally, as if he had thought of something, he said to Yin Jian, "Play that video again, starting from before the first power outage."

Yin Jian then rewound the recording a bit, starting it again from 23:35:00.

Luo Fei's gaze was fixed on the right side of the screen. The entire office was monitored by two cameras, and the right side of the screen showed the situation in the western half of the office.

Yin Jian was also intently watching that area, because that was where the mysterious man had appeared.

At 23:35:12, the screen jumped briefly, and the time then switched to 23:39:21.

Yin Jian pressed his face against the screen, carefully examining the later recordings for any signs of manipulation. Luo Fei, however, had already leaned back in his chair, muttering, "It seems your analysis earlier was indeed wrong."

Knowing that Luo Fei had already reached a conclusion, Yin Jian quickly turned around and asked, "What happened?"