45 Red Roses

At 10:00 AM sharp, a Rolls-Royce blocked the main entrance of the police station.

Gu Qianfan got out of the car, dressed in a black suit and a blue Submariner, with only one watch showing, yet it was so bright that the policewoman on duty squinted.

At the end of the corridor, Lin Long blocked the way, one hand in his pocket and the other hand waving a disposable glove, still stained with blood.

The two people stopped at the same time, two meters apart; the disinfectant in the air couldn't mask the scent of rose perfume.

Lin Long: "It was your sister who died."

Gu Qianfan: "Mm."

After wiping it a few times, the clean mirror reflected a shimmering light. Gu Qianfan stopped, put the handkerchief back into his suit pocket, and sighed softly.

He asked, "How did she die?"

Lin Long had been silently observing the man's every move. He replied, "According to the current investigation, the victim, Gu Mansheng, was found dead with her throat slit and her body thrown into the sea. The time of death was around 11:00 AM last night. The primary crime scene... cannot be determined at this time, but based on the surveillance video from the shore, it should have been on the yacht. Mr. Gu, the yacht is still near Donglin Island. This island is the property of the Gu family. The police have asked you to grant them access so they can investigate the case."

Gu Qianfan turned around to face Lin Long. The white walls around him and the white LED light overhead made it seem as if a thick layer of white mud had been applied to his face.

Gu Qianfan said slowly and deliberately, "I went to the yacht last night and met with Gu Mansheng."

Lin Long narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade, and stepped forward to block the doorway: "When and what are you going to do?"

Gu Qianfan put his hands in his suit pockets and walked back to me: "She called me last night and said she wanted to talk to me about the company's shares. She said she could give me 30% of the company's shares, but on the condition that the shares be converted into cash immediately. I didn't agree to that. Then I left. She was still alive when I left."

Lin Long: "Words are meaningless. What evidence do you have to prove it?"

Gu Qianfan's eyes darkened, like the bottomless sea: "There are surveillance cameras on the yacht. I'll take you to check them later, and you'll know. Besides, I've only seen her once."

Lin Long squinted, his gaze like a X-ray vision.

**

The sun was shining brightly, and four hours had passed since the murder.

Lin Long led the team onto the boat, which sped off, and the group soon arrived at the outer perimeter of Donglin Island.

The sea breeze howled, ruffling Lin Long's already short hair. He raised his binoculars and saw the yacht in the lens.

The yacht was moored at the shore, its hull adorned with a striking red flower, next to which was the Chinese character "顾" (Gu). This was the same character seen in the surveillance video earlier.

"There's a yacht on the shore with a flower on it and your Gu family's name on it." Lin Long put down his binoculars and squinted his eyes, which were stung by the sea breeze.

Standing beside him, Gu Qianfan remained calm. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "The Rose, this is a birthday gift from Father to Gu Mansheng."

The cybersecurity personnel who had followed along quietly explained, "Captain, this Gu Mansheng is nicknamed 'Rose Princess.' Back then, Gu Mansheng was the only daughter of the Gu family from birth. To show his doting affection for his beloved daughter, Old Master Gu specially commissioned this one-of-a-kind yacht and presented it to her at her eighteenth birthday celebration. It shocked the entire Hong Kong paparazzi circle at the time; all the paparazzi considered sneaking into the banquet as a way to..."

He seized on the key point and interrupted, "Is it only Gu Mansheng who can operate this ship?"

Gu Qianfan calmly hummed in agreement.

Soon, the boat reached the shore, right next to the yacht. Compared to the massive yacht, Lin Long's lifeboat looked rather frail.

The cybersecurity personnel standing nearby smacked their lips twice, practically drooling: "No wonder it's the Gu family, they're really rich. This ship is so luxurious, I heard it cost a whopping 20 million to build..."

Lin Long rolled her eyes at her colleague. Being broke is truly terrifying.

He stepped off the lifeboat, his shoes landing on the soft white sand, then braced himself and surveyed the surrounding terrain.

The other people on the boat also got off, and the other two police boats that had followed also stopped behind the lifeboat, with five or six police officers getting off each time. Roughly calculated, at least a dozen people followed.

Lin Long ordered: "Everyone, split into two groups, A and B. Group A, come with me on the yacht to search, and the rest of you, search for clues near the island."

**

The yacht has three decks: a helipad and a swimming pool on the top deck, a gym, a cinema, a bar, and an outdoor dining area on the middle deck, and two lounges on the bottom deck.

Once aboard the ship, Lin Long spotted a camera hidden in a lamppost, then proceeded to the middle deck.

Gu Qianfan spoke up, his eyes flashing between light and shadow: "This is the place. Gu Mansheng and I met at the restaurant last night."

The restaurant door was not closed. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about it. The inside was not messy either. The only noticeable thing was a few drops of blood on the floor. They grew larger and larger, and finally dripped continuously towards the back door and disappeared on the deck.

Lin Long looked around, his brows furrowed: "Cybersecurity, quickly check the surveillance footage, and everyone else, immediately search for any suspicious clues at the scene."

The officers behind him went back to their work and replied in unison, "Yes, sir!"

**

The case has been ongoing for 12 hours.

Lin Long finished his recollection and stood on the yacht, telling Fang Chengjin and Zhou Yun that he had stopped here.

Zhou Yun asked, "What evidence did you finally find on the yacht?"

Lin Long shook his head. "There's nothing there, just bloodstains on the ground."

Zhou Yun: "What about the surveillance cameras?"

Lin Long opened his laptop and played the captured video.

Fang Cheng stared intently at the video screen, his gaze sharp and focused.

The video shows the time as 11:08 PM. The frame only covers the middle floor area, and a man appears in the frame; it's Gu Qianfan. He's wearing a well-tailored suit and looks like he just got off work. He goes to the door, knocks twice, and then the door opens.

From the perspective of the video, it's still unclear whether the person inside the door is Gu Mansheng.

After Gu Qianfan entered, what happened inside remains unknown. Ten minutes later, Gu Qianfan came out, just as he had when he entered, without any abnormalities. He quickly went down the deck and disappeared from the video surveillance.

However, the next second, a door suddenly opened on the side of the back door on the middle deck, and a figure crawled shakily to the deck at the back of the ship. She crawled on the ground for about five minutes and reached the back of the deck. She tried to untie the lifeboat, but unexpectedly, she suddenly flipped over and fell into the sea... At this point, there were no further changes in the video.

As the video reached this point, Lin Long began, "We've watched the entire video at least three times. The video basically ends here, without any changes. This means that during the time of the murder that night, only Gu Qianfan was present. When Gu Qianfan left, Gu Mansheng collapsed and crawled towards the lifeboat, eventually capsizing and dying in the sea. From this video, we can only deduce that Gu Mansheng was killed by Gu Qianfan, but there were no murder weapons at the scene. Xia has already conducted an autopsy and determined the cause of death. It was determined that a sturdy small knife slashed the carotid artery in her neck, causing her to bleed to death."

Zhou Yun: "Have you searched Gu Qianfan's home and the places he usually goes?"

Lin Long nodded: "We searched everything, but we didn't find any relevant evidence. The key is the murder weapon. Xia Xia, to be precise, was a small knife, which was very sharp."

Fang Cheng remained silent. After watching the video, he went back and opened it again.

Zhou Yun then asked, "What did Gu Qianfan say?"

Lin Long: "Gu Qianfan said he only came to discuss the company's equity, but they couldn't reach an agreement, so he left. He said he also felt confused as to why Gu Mansheng had called him over that night."

Lin Long said helplessly, "Actually, I don't think the suspect is Gu Qianfan. If he really killed him, there would be no need to leave this surveillance evidence that so obviously points to him. But right now we can't find any other clues. If we can't find out, this case will become a cold case."

Zhou Yun then asked, "What were Gu Mansheng's social relationships like before her death?"

Zhou Yun flipped through the documents. "He's a top student, from a single-parent family, his mother works as a cleaner, and he's been dating Gu Mansheng for five years. Given how mismatched they are, will Gu Mansheng's family agree to their marriage?"

Lin Long replied: "Gu Mansheng really likes Shen Jun. We investigated him at the hospital. He is kind and gentle to patients. It is said that Gu Mansheng met him when she accidentally broke her hand and went to the hospital for treatment. After that, the two got together. I don't think he is very suspicious."

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow and looked up at him: "Why?"

Lin Long said slowly and deliberately, "Because we have already investigated. On the night Gu Mansheng was murdered, Shen Jun went to a bar and drank all night. He did not have time to commit the crime."