“In that case, we can start with household registration, specifically Sichuan and Chongqing household registration.” Xu Xiaolin slammed her pen down on the notebook again, as if she had found a breakthrough.
Wang Shen couldn't help but chuckle twice, took a sip of tea, and said, "My beautiful writer, do you think only people from Sichuan and Chongqing eat Sichuan cuisine these days? People all over the country love Sichuan food. If we were to search for dishes based on taste, we'd be swamped."
Xu Xiaolin tapped her forehead with her pen, thought about it, and realized that Wang Shen's words did make sense. Then she crossed out the words "Sichuan and Chongqing" from her notebook. "Anyway, we've still found some clues. At least we know that there's someone closely related to Han Mo in his room. By the way, speaking of this person, do you remember the one Manager Han mentioned who often went in and out of the restaurant with Han Mo?"
"You mean this person?" Wang Shen picked out a photo from the pile on the table, facing Xu Xiaolin, and held it in his hand.
"That's right, it's him. You should know who he is."
"This person is called Xiao Lin. He was Han Mo's former assistant and was responsible for helping Han Mo arrange some reader meet-and-greets."
"To put it simply, she's Han Mo's personal secretary?"
"You could say that."
"Is it possible that this person..."
“No.” Wang Shen shook his head with a smile before Xu Xiaolin could finish speaking. “He couldn’t possibly be Han Mo’s lover, much less the person in the room.”
"Are you so sure?" Xu Xiaolin pouted, revealing a defiant expression.
"It should be confirmed. Han Mo and her assistant Xiao Lin often eat at the 'Spicy' restaurant, and they always order Han Mo's favorite dishes. Han Mo doesn't seem to be accommodating Xiao Lin. I also checked Xiao Lin's information, and coincidentally, it shows that Xiao Lin is from Sichuan."
“That’s right.” Xu Xiaolin interrupted Wang Shen. “Xiao Lin is from Sichuan, so Han Mo and Xiao Lin made an agreement to eat sweet food during the day and spicy food at night.”
“If that’s the case…” Wang Shen paused for a moment.
"Can't you refute me now?" Xu Xiaolin looked at Wang Shen smugly and took a sip of tea.
“That possibility certainly exists. However, my experience in handling cases tells me that Xiao Lin and Han Mo have no connection. In any case, let’s list him as a suspect for now. Besides, I will eventually have to visit him.”
After Wang Shen finished speaking, he saw Xu Xiaolin quickly jotting down his words on a piece of paper. After writing down the key points, Xu Xiaolin flipped back two pages and said, "That's not all. The phone ringtone that the deliveryman, Acheng, mentioned, and the big man are also strange. First, let's talk about the phone ringtone. According to Acheng's description, Han Mo's phone should have been inside the house at the time, and the door was locked. What we need to figure out is whether Han Mo was alive or dead when Acheng went to deliver the food."
“I investigated this a long time ago. According to the phone records, Han Mo ordered food at around 9:45 p.m. Based on the distance, A-Cheng should have delivered the food around 10:30 p.m. The forensic doctor determined that Han Mo died between midnight and 1 a.m. So, when A-Cheng delivered the food, Han Mo should still be alive.”
"If that's the case, do you think the murderer could have been inside the house at the time? If the murderer was indeed inside, why didn't Han Mo call for help?"
“The murderer might be inside the house. The reason Han Mo didn’t call for help might be that she was being held hostage.” Wang Shen picked up a marker from the table, walked to the left wall, and wrote some important information on the plastic blackboard hanging on the wall. “Trembling tone,” “different menus,” “assistant Xiao Lin,” “cell phone ringtone”… and then added a big question mark.
“And that big man, that’s him, the scarred man. Who is he?” Xu Xiaolin walked to Wang Shen’s desk and pulled out the photo of the scarred man from a pile of photos.
“He is Han Mo’s stepfather,” Wang Shen explained, glancing at the scarred man.
"Huh? Stepfather? Han Mo's?" Xu Xiaolin was clearly surprised.
“That’s right. I’ve checked Han Mo’s file. Why are you so surprised? Do you think someone as glamorous as Han Mo can’t be associated with this kind of person?”
“According to Acheng, this man must have gone to see Han Mo that day. Based on the clues we have now, he is the prime suspect.” Xu Xiaolin wrote down the words “scarred man” in her notebook.
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