Murder in a Secret Room Bed and Breakfast (4)

Pushing open the door of the interrogation room, Meng Siqi saw the suspect Xia Sulan at first sight. Xia Sulan must have kept her head down just now, but when she opened the door, she raised her head with her jaw tense and a hint of panic in her eyes.

Xia Sulan was wearing a thick down coat. Her facial features were relatively regular and her hair was tied in a thick braid. It was not like the healthy hair of this woman. Meng Siqi could tell at a glance that her hair was sparse on her forehead and her facial skin was not in good condition and was slightly rough.

Because she worked in a soap factory, her nails were very short. She didn't grow them long or have them trimmed. The skin on her fingers was dull and showed signs of long-term fatigue.

Maybe it was the pressure of life and what happened last night, she looked out of spirits, with the corners of her eyes drooping, creating a pair of wrinkles that were not suitable for her age.

Seeing someone coming in, Xia Sulan took the initiative to speak. Her lips were very dry and her voice was slightly hoarse: "Officer, I don't know how Shanwen died. I was sleeping the whole night. I only knew she was in trouble when I heard her shouting in the morning..."

Sometimes the person being interrogated may be very nervous and will have all kinds of bad guesses before the interrogation. Of course, they all know that the police suspect her, so they want to clarify the facts as soon as possible.

But the police want to focus on evidence, and the few words spoken by the person being interrogated can only be used as a reference.

No one responded to Xia Sulan's words. Everyone sat down, opened their notebooks, and put down their pens. The whole process was very serious and professional. Coupled with the atmosphere in the interrogation room, it was inevitable that the suspect would feel invisible pressure.

The interrogation began. Meng Siqi looked from the notebook to the suspect. She looked serious and asked in a strong tone: "Name?"

Xia Sulan was stunned for a moment and replied, "Xia Sulan."

"gender?"

"female."

"Age?"

"Twenty-six. This year is twenty-six."

After asking for basic information, Meng Siqi formally asked: "Xia Sulan, your friend Long Shanwen died at the Romantic Poetry B&B between midnight and one o'clock last night. The murder weapon was a small fruit knife. Do you know this murder weapon?"

"I...I know."

"Can you describe it?"

Xia Sulan suddenly fell silent for a moment.

However, Feng Shaomin gave Meng Siqi affirmation in his heart. Usually, few interrogators would test the demeanor, emotions and language of the person being interrogated from the perspective of the weapon from the very beginning.

The murder weapon is the most direct link between the suspect and the deceased. If the person sitting opposite is the real murderer, she will be caught off guard by this problem. At the beginning of the interrogation, this is a powerful blow to the suspect's psychological defenses.

"I..." Xia Sulan shook her head. "I ran out of the house this morning when Sun Yuanyuan shouted that something happened and called for help. I thought something happened to Sun Yuanyuan, so I ran downstairs. My first thought was to look for her in the yard."

"I followed Sun Yuanyuan's voice and ran to the yard. I saw Shanwen lying on the ground, covered in blood and the knife..."

Xia Sulan suddenly lowered her head and covered her face with her hands, her tone revealing fear and uneasiness: "I never thought Shanwen would die..."

After saying this, she calmed down for a long time before slowly putting down her hands and raising her head slightly, but there was still anxiety in her eyes.

"Please describe the knife?" Meng Siqi asked again seriously.

Some suspects usually have a lot of cover-ups, whether in expression or actions. If you easily believe what she describes, then you will fall into her trap. Meng Siqi can only understand everything that happened last night according to his own thoughts.

"That knife is covered in blood!" Xia Sulan looked at the dark brown interrogation table, fear spreading in her eyes, "It was a fruit knife, the fruit knife we ​​used to cut the cake last night."

"You remember that it was the fruit knife that cut the cake last night?" Meng Siqi finally asked about the cake, which was her next question. According to the on-site inspection, there were many snacks on the table, including unfinished cake, but only one knife was missing. There was no doubt that the knife on the ground was the fruit knife that cut the cake. Xia Sulan's description was correct. But this did not mean that she was not a suspect.

"Yes, I cut the cake yesterday..." Xia Sulan nodded.

Today's trace examination report showed that the knife had fingerprints from three people, including the deceased Long Shanwen, Xia Sulan and Ding Qian.

Meng Siqi asked: "Besides you, who else has touched this knife?"

After experiencing a period of fear, Xia Sulan slowly calmed down. Especially when faced with such a question that required her to recall, she regained some of her natural expression. "I don't remember. I cut the cake into several pieces. Afterwards, everyone was laughing and joking. No one cared who would touch the knife."

Not only Feng Shaomin, but also Han Changlin gave his affirmation. It was obvious that Meng Siqi had used only a few very short questions to understand the suspect's whereabouts last night. Who used the knife? Fingerprint details? These were the key clues to this closed room murder case, which showed that Meng Siqi had already figured out a very clear idea.

As Zhao Leiting was taking notes, he felt that the breakthrough in this case was gradually becoming clear. He felt that Meng Siqi's interrogation method was more powerful than his previous step-by-step approach. In just a few minutes, the suspect had confessed several key details.

He also took notes carefully, fearing that he would miss any detail that Meng Siqi asked.

"Okay. Yesterday was Long Shanwen's birthday," Meng Siqi asked, "Can you tell me why you guys got together here?"

Usually people would choose to celebrate birthdays at home or in a hotel with a meal together, but the choice of these four people was a little different from others. This was a B&B in the mountains, which was more hidden and might have hinted at the murderer's motivation.

Long Shanwen booked the entire homestay, and they chose to gather here with only four friends, which might reveal a special relationship between them, and this might be the direction for solving the case.

Xia Sulan was calmer than before. She must be organizing her words. She slowly raised her head and glanced at Meng Siqi. "Shanwen and I come here to celebrate birthdays every year. I remember this for several years..."

This sentence made everyone a little confused, even Meng Siqi was confused as to why they were so fond of this B&B.

"Is there any reason why you chose the Romance B&B?"

Xia Sulan said: "There is no reason. The first year after we left the textile factory, Long Shanwen suggested that we go to a tourist area to celebrate my birthday. We both agreed at the time. The first B&B we booked was the Romantic Poetry B&B. Shanwen also said that we would come here in the future. She thought the environment and service there were good. So every year after that, we would get together here, except for one year when I was pregnant and it was inconvenient, but they went every year."

Meng Siqi grasped the key point: "Are you all textile factory employees?"

"Yes, the Dandelion Textile Factory. The four of us lived in the same dormitory. We were all female workers at the textile factory. I don't remember which year it was, but it was 1985. The factory was not doing well and we were forced to resign. After that, we got together once a year."

"Has your relationship always been this good?"

"Yes. We are good sisters. Although our lives are different after leaving the textile factory, we still think about each other."

"You said that life is different after leaving the textile factory? Is it true that your life is the same in the textile factory? Long Shanwen is so rich that he even rented an entire homestay. Why did he work in the textile factory?"

Xia Sulan's tone quickened a little, as if to prove that Long Shanwen's life was what she deserved. She said: "She is very beautiful and married a good husband. That is her blessing, but she did not despise us."

That is to say, Long Shanwen was actually in the same living situation as the other three. They were all very young at the time. In 1985, they should have been around 17 years old.

After leaving the textile factory, Long Shanwen's life changed dramatically, and this change was because of her marriage. From then on, the living conditions of the four people were completely different.

In addition to being rich, Long Shanwen is undoubtedly the happiest. Her life is going smoothly. Compared with the other three friends, Xia Sulan lives in poverty and works in a soap factory, Ding Qian is divorced and has trouble at work, and Sun Yuanyuan has been single and has an average job.

But they still think about the relationship they had in the textile factory. What kind of relationship could make Long Shanwen's life completely surpass theirs, and why does he still happily invite them to celebrate his birthday together every year?

"Did you three take special care of Long Shanwen during the time he was in the textile factory?"

"Yes, officer, how did you know?" Xia Sulan felt that she had not revealed that past event at all, but the young female police officer opposite her had guessed it. For a moment, she felt that she had a different insight.

She answered, "When Long Shanwen entered the factory, she was just 17 years old. She was in her prime and very pretty. There were many male employees in the factory who pursued her, especially one named Liuliu. Liuliu was his nickname. He was quite a rascal in private. He liked Long Shanwen and kept harassing him. At that time, the three of us sisters were united in protecting Long Shanwen, so Long Shanwen always remembered our kindness."

"Shanwen's family is poor, but she is a good girl who knows how to be grateful. Even if she has money, she still thinks of us. Every year on her birthday, we give her ordinary gifts, but Shanwen is willing to buy us pearl necklaces and gold jewelry. To be honest, I am a little selfish. I attend her birthday every year just for her gifts, which are more than my salary for several months..."

Meng Siqi roughly understood this past event, and Xia Sulan didn't seem to be lying. It took some courage for her to take the initiative to admit that she was selfish.

The topic finally turned to the birthday party. In fact, this was the main point that Meng Siqi wanted to know, so she wanted to put the most important part at the end, so that the person being interrogated could recall what happened last night when his emotions were the most stable.

She asked calmly, "Xia Sulan, can you describe what you did from the time you entered the B&B until Long Shanwen was found dead this morning? You can describe yourself, Long Shanwen, Ding Qian, and Sun Yuanyuan, everything you did during this process, what you saw, whatever you think, you can talk about it."

Xia Sulan seemed to think for a moment and said, "It was about four o'clock yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the B&B with Shanwen's car. She arranged all the food and accommodation at the B&B. We followed her into the house and went directly to the yard. The B&B had already arranged birthday cakes and delicacies in the yard. To be honest, I usually live a hard life, so I was looking forward to Shanwen's birthday."

"I was thirsty, so I drank some drinks, and so did Yuanyuan. We don't usually drink, but Ding Qian saw the red wine on the table and asked Shanwen to drink with her. After that, we kept chatting, and a lot of the chats were about the time in the textile factory. We lived together in the textile factory for more than a year, and we all missed it. In fact, after leaving the textile factory, we didn't have anything else to talk about. At most, they would ask about my daughter. They didn't have children, so they didn't talk much."

"It was dark, and the courtyard was lit up with colorful lights, which was very beautiful. Although I come to this B&B every year, the lights are a little different. Starting from the textile factory, I took the initiative to cut the cake, so this time I took the initiative to cut it and share it with everyone."

"After we finished eating the cake, we sang on the grass that night. The B&B had a TV and a microphone. We sang, chatted, ate, and drank together. I also drank red wine. It was around 11pm. Everyone was tired and prepared to go to bed."

Meng Siqi kept following Xia Sulan's description. Just as Xia Sulan said, there was a lot of garbage on the grass in the yard, including cake crumbs, wine bottles, drink bottles, empty wine glasses, and various scattered snacks.

They must have had a pleasant night that night, but what happened in the second half of the night?

Xia Sulan continued, "There is a glass house in the yard with quilts inside. It should be for a family of three. It would be a bit crowded for the four of us to live in it. Sun Yuanyuan and Long Shanwen have a better relationship, so they took the initiative to live in the glass house. Ding Qian suggested staying in the room, so I followed suit. Later I went to sleep. Because I drank some red wine, I slept very soundly that night until the next morning..."

At this point, Xia Sulan stopped describing the whole experience, including some details. Meng Siqi also basically understood what happened last night, including the details she wanted.

She immediately picked up the point and asked, "You said that none of you drink, but Ding Qian was the first to drink red wine, and she asked Long Shanwen to drink with her. Did she always ask Long Shanwen to drink with her on her birthday in the past?"

Xia Sulan shook her head and said, "No, I remember that Ding Qian never seemed to like drinking red wine before."

"Then why did she drink it this time?"

Xia Sulan shook her head again, "I don't know either."

"Before you went to bed, Ding Qian suggested staying in the room instead of living with Long Shanwen. Has she done the same thing before?"

"Sun Yuanyuan and Shanwen have the best relationship and live together every year. Ding Qian and I also stay with Shanwen occasionally."

Meng Siqi also asked about the situation of the two chefs and the waitress.

Xia Sulan said that the waiters did not come to the yard last night. The two chefs would occasionally come to the yard for the delivery service, and their stay was very short. At around 11 o'clock, Long Shanwen called to order the last midnight snack, and the chefs did not come again after delivering the meal.

Finally, she asked, "Xia Sulan, do you recognize this symbol that Long Shanwen drew before his death?"

In order to make the suspect recognize her, she pushed the photo she prepared in advance in front of her. However, during this process, she always paid attention to Xia Sulan's facial expression and eyes. If the symbol is related to the murderer, then the suspect must be a little different.

Xia Sulan lowered her eyes and fixed her gaze on the photo. Although the photo showed a symbol, it also showed Long Shanwen's fair hand, the beautiful bracelet on his wrist, and the blood stains on his fingers.

The symbol was bright red, and anyone who saw it would feel repulsive. If what Xia Sulan said was true, she should have seen the symbol this morning. If she was not the murderer, she would have ignored the details of the symbol. So when the clear photo was placed in front of Xia Sulan, she would have shown a certain degree of repulsion.

When Xia Sulan looked at him, Meng Siqi noticed that she swallowed and her eyes were dodging. She seemed to be rejecting him, but also wanted to confirm him, so her eyes were a little complicated. After a few seconds, she raised her head and said, "Officer, I don't know him."

"Okay, Xia Sulan, the interrogation is over. You can take a rest and drink a glass of water. If you remember anything later, remember to tell us." Meng Siqi ended the interrogation.

The next interrogation was about to begin. She had already thought about it. It was to interrogate Ding Qian. According to Xia Sulan's description, Ding Qian had two anomalies. First, when she rushed to the yard for the first time, she drank red wine with Long Shanwen even though she could not drink much. Second, when they were staying in the hotel at night, she was the first to ask to stay in the room.

Meng Siqi believes that if she was the murderer, then the first action might be to take the opportunity to make Long Shanwen drunk, and the second action was to deliberately exclude evidence of her absence at night.

After leaving the interrogation room, Han Changlin praised directly: "Xiao Meng, the interrogation was very effective. At this pace, we should be able to find key evidence. The next interrogation will be more intense."

Zhao Leiting also praised: "Yes, after today's trial, the murderer will definitely not escape Siqi's sharp eyes."

Meng Siqi was filled with excitement. He ignored Zhao Leiting's flattery and said humbly, "Thank you, Korean team. I will work hard."

Feng Shaomin asked: "Xiao Meng, who do you want to judge next?"

"Ding Qian, what does Master think?"

"Yeah. I agree with you."

Meng Siqi felt more certain about his idea and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Master."