The reasoning begins.
Qi Mi wrote down on a piece of paper the two witnesses and one piece of physical evidence that had convicted Liang Hui, and began to make a judgment based on these things.
Witness 1, He Qixuan, who lived in the right room on the second floor, saw Liang Hui go upstairs before 12:10.
Witness 2: Xu Wei, who lived in the left room on the first floor, saw Liang Hui running out in the heavy rain at 12:15.
[Physical evidence: The fruit knife stuck in the landlord's body had Liang Hui's fingerprints on it.]
"If we can infer that these testimonies are tenable, then the fact that Liang Hui committed murder should be beyond doubt. Otherwise, Liang Hui should be innocent."
Qi Mi looked at the expressions on each of their faces and saw that no one objected, so he continued.
The first step is to examine the testimony of the witness He Qixuan.
"You said you saw Liang Hui going upstairs before 12:10. What time was that?"
"It should be around seven or eight minutes past twelve."
Qi Mi stared at him: "Why is the time so vague?"
He Qixuan replied slowly, "Because I saw Liang Hui go upstairs, and then I checked my watch after returning to the room and dealing with the cockroaches with Li Hui. It was ten minutes past twelve. Working backwards, I think I saw Liang Hui around seven or eight minutes past twelve."
Qi Mi took note and then asked, "Then when did you hear the sound of the heavy object falling to the ground?"
"I don't know about that. We all turned off the lights and lay in bed at that time, but it should have been about four or five minutes," He Qixuan recalled.
Qi Mi thought thoughtfully: "So, the time here is just an approximation?"
He Qixuan pursed his lips and said, "Well... because I didn't expect anything to happen at that time, I naturally didn't pay much attention to the time."
Qi Mi hummed, and in the silence, the only sound was the rustling of his writing and drawing on paper.
Mao Xiang was curious, so he stuck his head out and half-closed his eyes: "What are you writing?"
Qi Mi ignored his words, put down the pen, and looked at He Qixuan again: "So what kind of clothes did you see Liang Hui wearing at that time?"
"A black sweatshirt, the same one his body was found in."
On this point, Xu Wei and He Qixuan can corroborate each other, as both of them saw Liang Hui wearing a black sweatshirt.
"Then where were you standing when you saw Liang Hui going upstairs?" Qi Mi continued to ask, unable to tell what his expression was.
He Qixuan thought for a moment and said confidently, "He was right at the door. He didn't walk far when he looked up and saw Liang Hui going upstairs."
Qi fan: "Are you sure it's him? I remember when I came back to look at your group photo, all four of you were wearing black clothes."
He Qixuan was a little hesitant.
"Or let me ask you another question. You said you and Li would turn off the lights and go to bed after dealing with the cockroaches, but I remember you always like to be clean and won't go to bed without taking a shower. Didn't you take a shower that day?"
He Qixuan was stunned. After thinking carefully, he replied, "No, I did wash it. I found the cockroach when I was taking a shower." Then he turned to look at Li Hui, as if seeking an answer.
Li Hui nodded, confirming that He Qixuan had discovered the cockroach while showering. "I remember I was playing with my phone when I heard He Qixuan yell. He put on his clothes and ran out the door without saying a word. I thought something was wrong, but it turned out to be just a small, broken cockroach."
At this time, Mao Xiang became more and more confused, thinking they were going off topic. "What does this have to do with cockroaches? Class Flower, do you have any idea?"
Qi Mi glanced at him with a smile: "I'll have it soon..."
He stared at He Qixuan again and confirmed, "Did you wear glasses when you went out?"
He Qixuan's expression changed: "I think I did wear it, I, I can't remember clearly."
“…”
When the question reached this point, the scales in everyone's hearts shifted.
He Qixuan is moderately myopic and looks like a blind man without his glasses. If he hadn't worn glasses that day, he might not have thought that the person going upstairs was Liang Hui.
The police did not ask him this question during the interrogation, so it is not surprising that He Qixuan forgot this small detail.
Moreover, for a nearsighted person, the action of taking off and putting on glasses has become as commonplace as blinking. Moreover, it has been twelve years since this incident. Looking back now, even he himself cannot confirm whether he was wearing glasses at that time.
Qi Mi put a big question mark next to the first witness.
Then continue to scrutinize the testimony of the second witness, Xu Wei.
"You said that at 12:15, you were sure you saw Liang Hui running out in the heavy rain. Why were you so sure about this time?" Qi Mi asked Xu Wei.
Xu Wei: "Because I opened my phone and checked the time! Didn't I tell you there was a big lightning flash? It lit up the yard clearly, so I was sure it was Liang Hui who ran out. I'm not shortsighted. I saw Liang Hui's face that night. It was him who ran out... At that time, I was thinking, running out in the rain at night, is this guy crazy?"
As soon as he said this, he realized that this was Liang Hui's home court and took a deep breath.
At this time, Qi Mi noticed something was wrong: "You said you saw Liang Hui's face? If he was running away because of the crime, how could you see his face? It should be his back, right?"
Xu Wei blinked, recalling, "Maybe he just glanced back and I happened to see him. Anyway, I'm sure it was his face, otherwise I wouldn't be so sure that it was Liang Hui who ran away."
"Why don't you teach us what Liang Hui did at that time?" He Qixuan suggested.
"I won't!" When Xu Wei heard that he had to learn the movements, he shook his head like a rattle. His scalp was already tingling and he didn't want to imitate a dead person and get unlucky.
Qi Mi thought this was a good idea and stood up: "Then I will learn it and you describe it."
Xu Wei thought for a moment, "At the time, I saw Liang Hui run into the yard and circle around almost in the middle of it. I saw his face clearly when he turned around, and then he turned around and ran out of the yard. I didn't see anything. I was very sleepy at the time, so I turned over and fell asleep."
Listening to Xu Wei's description, everyone's eyes fell on Qi Mi.
He turned in Xu Wei's direction, stepped outside the circle of candles, and pretended to run a few steps: "Is this probably what it feels like?"
Xu Wei nodded and clarified the scene: "But the expression on Liang Hui's face seemed even more anxious at that time."
Qi Mi walked back and stared at the other five people: "Did you find anything?"
He demonstrated it again to remind them.
"What can we find out from this?" Mao Xiang curled his lips in disapproval.
He Qixuan's eyes flashed with understanding. "I don't know how you feel, but from what I see now, it seems to me that Liang Hui is in a hurry to find something... If he really was a fugitive, he would have run out without looking back. There seems no need to circle around in the yard before running out."
Qi Mi raised the corner of his lips: "Yes, I feel the same way. He walked around the yard in a circle, more like he was looking for something, or rather... looking for someone."
Boom!
Suddenly, there was a sharp thunder outside the window.
At the same time, the only remaining candle light in the room flickered a few times, and the pale beams of light shone through the window, casting everyone's shadow on the ground, making the atmosphere in the room even more gloomy.
Several people crowded together.
Seeing that thunder was now heard in the sky which was just filled with scorching sun, Qi Mi was curious and opened the curtains a little to take a look at the situation outside.
"No! Don't pull it open!" Everyone didn't want to see that creepy eyeball again, so they hurried to stop him.
Qi Mi immediately lowered the curtains and sat back down as if nothing had happened. With his back to the window, he continued his previous conversation, "So, can we reasonably suspect that Liang Hui actually saw the murderer and chased him out that day, and Xu Wei happened to see him standing in the courtyard looking for someone?"
Everyone nodded hesitantly.
"In fact, have you noticed that the witness testimony is just fragments? Even if the person He Qixuan saw was indeed Liang Hui, it only proves that he went upstairs. Similarly, Xu Wei saw Liang Hui running into the courtyard in the heavy rain, which only proves that Liang Hui did run away. These two points cannot prove that Liang Hui was the murderer at all."
As Qi Mi spoke, he also drew a question mark next to [Witness 2].
The two consecutive question marks made everyone feel uneasy, and the scale in their hearts shifted increasingly between "Liang Hui is guilty" and "Liang Hui is not guilty".
However, there are also voices of opposition.
Li Hui suddenly raised a point: "Yes, your speculations may all be correct, but don't you think this is too much of a coincidence? Liang Hui 'happened' to go upstairs, and a murder 'happened' to happen upstairs. After the crime, Liang Hui 'happened' not to return to the room, and 'happened' to run out... Oh, and there's that knife. The fingerprint evidence on the knife can't be fake, right?"
Li Hui stared at Qi Mi: "Even if you doubt the testimony of the witnesses, what about the physical evidence? What do you say about the murder knife left on the body?!"
Everyone turned their eyes again, waiting for Qi Mi's answer.
Qi Fan found it amusing: "Aren't we just reasoning rationally? Why does it seem like I'm the only one defending Liang Hui?"
"Aren't you?" Mao Xiang glanced at him up and down. "One moment you suspect that He Qixuan is seeing things because he's not wearing glasses, and the next moment you suspect that Liang Hui is looking for someone. Aren't you just deliberately defending Liang Hui?"
Qi Mi raised his eyebrows, looked at the expressions of these people and said speechlessly: "Okay, let's just treat it as a debate between the two sides..."
He flipped the paper over, revealing the side with the previous record, and pointed to the two words "fingerprint" he had written earlier. "Aren't you all wondering why I put a question mark here? Then I want to ask, is that knife Liang Hui carrying with him?"
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