Wang Shen and Liang Zichen returned just in time; the locksmith had already removed the chain from the door. The door to Han Lin's house was finally opened.
Looking at the lock in the locksmith's hand, Wang Shen asked, "Is there any sign of this lock being tampered with?"
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, the locksmith examined the lock in his hand again, then shook his head and replied, "No, the lock cylinder is intact, the chain is intact, and there are no signs of tampering."
Wang Shen nodded and said to the police officer behind him, "Fix the plastic seal on this lock, especially the door handle, and take it back to the station immediately so that the forensic department can check for any remaining fingerprints."
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, one of the police officers took a plastic bag from his pocket, received the lock cylinder and door handle from the locksmith, and then sealed them away. Afterward, the police officer and the locksmith left the building together.
"Captain Wang, I remember you said you had been to Han Lin's house before. Wouldn't there be your fingerprints on the doorknob?" Liang Zichen glanced at the doorknob and suddenly thought of this trivial question.
Upon hearing Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen recalled the circumstances of his visit to Han Lin's house and then shook his head. "No, because I clearly remember that it was Han Lin who opened and closed the door; I didn't touch the doorknob at all. Besides, even if there were my fingerprints on it, I could clearly explain it to the bureau."
After answering Liang Zichen's question, Wang Shen walked to Han Lin's door, stood at the door and looked inside for a while, then took out his phone and took a few photos. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual inside did he go inside.
"Captain Wang, why did you stand at the door for a while just now?" Liang Zichen followed behind Wang Shen, puzzled by Wang Shen's behavior.
“First, let’s observe the original state of Han Lin’s house. Sometimes our unintentional actions can destroy useful evidence. Second, you just heard what the locksmith said. There are no signs of the lock being pried open or damaged. That means the door chain was locked from the inside. So who could that person be?” Wang Shen paused here and turned to look at Liang Zichen.
"Isn't Han Lin the only person who could be in the room?" Liang Zichen asked Wang Shen again, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Not necessarily. If Han Lin did indeed commit suicide, then in this situation, only Han Lin would have locked the door from the inside. But what if it was murder?"
"Huh? Captain Wang, so you always thought Han Lin's fall was murder?" Liang Zichen said in surprise.
Upon hearing Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen sighed softly and explained, "I told you long ago that for every murder case, we must approach it with the attitude of questioning everything and then using evidence to prove everything. Only in this way can we avoid overlooking any possibility and prevent the murderer from escaping justice."
Liang Zichen understood the admonition in Wang Shen's tone and silently lowered his head for his carelessness.
“If it’s a murder, and the lock is intact, and the chain is locked from the inside, then it’s another locked-room mystery. But in many locked-room mysteries, the murderer uses a method I call ‘waiting for the right moment.’” As Wang Shen finished speaking, Liang Zichen and another police officer standing next to him stared at him with curiosity.
Wang Shen glanced at the two men and then continued explaining his words. “The biggest difficulty in locked-room mysteries lies in solving the locked room itself. We all know that murderers aren't gods; they can't possibly move freely through enclosed spaces. Therefore, every locked room has a gap. And this gap is designed for the murderer to commit the crime. However, often those involved are blinded by their own actions and can't see where this gap is. Some murderers construct a perfect locked room at the crime scene after committing the crime. But as I said, the more perfectly the locked room is constructed, the lower the chance the murderer will escape. So, think about it, if the murderer can't escape the locked room he created, where will he be?” After speaking, Wang Shen turned to look at the two men standing behind him, awaiting their answer.
Liang Zichen frowned slightly, then a smug smile spread across his face shortly afterward. "Then the murderer will trap himself in the secret room he created."
“That’s right!” Wang Shen pointed at Liang Zichen with his index finger in agreement. “But all murderers generally have two motives. First, to successfully commit the crime. Second, to successfully escape legal punishment. Driven by these goals, how can a murderer both create a perfect locked-room mystery and escape legal punishment?”
Liang Zichen frowned again. This time he considered it for a while, but finally came up with a possibility. "The murderer might temporarily hide himself at the crime scene so we won't find him. Then, after we confirm the locked room, he'll leave without a trace?" Liang Zichen wasn't sure about the possibility of his guess, and his tone still carried a hint of doubt.
“That’s right.” Wang Shen nodded affirmatively. “That’s why I observed the room from the doorway first, to see if there were any signs of suspicious activity. However, doing that requires a relatively high level of environmental control. Here…” Wang Shen glanced at the surroundings and paused. “In short, the first thing we need to do is to check the entire room.”
After speaking, Wang Shen pointed in two directions, instructing Liang Zichen and the other police officer to check in those directions. Wang Shen himself then went to the other room. About ten minutes later, Wang Shen, Liang Zichen, and the other police officer returned to the living room. They exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"Captain Wang, it seems that the locked-room hypothesis from earlier is not valid," Liang Zichen said, looking at Wang Shen.
Wang Shen glanced around the room again, then nodded and said, "Indeed, it's really inconvenient to hide oneself inside the room."
"If that's the case, then Han Lin committed suicide?" Liang Zichen asked after hearing Wang Shen's words.
"It's still uncertain, let's assume it's safe to assume for now," Wang Shen replied to Liang Zichen, while seemingly remembering something. Wang Shen immediately picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Hey, Xiao Li, you were on duty yesterday, right? I put you in charge of monitoring Han Lin's communications devices. Did you find anything?"
"Captain Wang..." a policewoman's voice came through the phone. "I really did my best to monitor him all night yesterday. I checked all the phone numbers under that person's name, including QQ and everything else. But this person seemed to have lost contact with the whole world all night, not even sending or receiving a single spam message." After saying that, the policewoman sighed wearily on the other end of the phone.
"Thank you for your hard work. I'll treat you to coffee tomorrow." With that, Wang Shen hung up the phone.
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