Assistant Quan Lei walked into the small office, which became a temporary interrogation room.

Jian Jing was very polite to him: "I want to ask you a few questions, I hope you can answer truthfully."

The assistant's face flashed with uneasiness, and he said awkwardly: "Okay, what do you want to ask?"

"Hou Rui died inexplicably, I want to know who might have done him." Jian Jing said slowly, "I heard that his personal relationships are messy, can you tell me about this?"

The assistant hesitated and stammered: "He just likes to play, likes to go to bars to pick up girls, and occasionally sleeps with fans... His last girlfriend was Coco, because of the breakup, the two of them had a very unhappy quarrel."

"So who is Hou Rui with now?"

The assistant shook his head in embarrassment, but Jian Jing had no intention of giving in and stared into his eyes.

"Okay." He was not a man of strong will, and quickly gave up resistance, "Hou Rui is now with President Chen."

Jian Jing asked, "Let's not talk about those fleeting romances. Among the people around him, is President Chen the only one who has an ambiguous relationship with him?"

The assistant answered affirmatively, "Yes."

"What about you and the agent?"

The assistant waved his hands, "No, no, Sister Yao and I are not that kind of people. I have a girlfriend, and..." After a little struggle, he chose to be honest, "President Chen sent me to take care of Hou Rui, how could I have anything to do with him?"

Jian Jing raised her eyebrows, "Really? But I heard that President Chen is very 'generous'."

"Well, President Chen's other 'friends' are also artists, and have nothing to do with me." The assistant was extremely embarrassed.

Jian Jing looked at him for a while, and because

of his looks, she temporarily believed him: "Do you have a good relationship with Hou Rui?" "Of course not." The assistant complained, "Hou Rui is not easy to serve, and I am the boss's spy, keeping an eye on him all the time to make sure he doesn't mess up. He annoys me a lot, and he gets angry at the slightest provocation and even complains to the boss. What can I do?"

At this point, he seemed to realize that something was wrong, and tried to save the situation: "But I will never kill someone because of this. Mr. Chen pays me a lot. One day when I have enough of his arrogance, I will just stop doing it."

Jian Jing nodded. If there was no emotional dispute, it would be of no benefit to the assistant if Hou Rui died.

"How is the relationship between the agent and Hou Rui?"

The assistant sighed and said, "It's not so good recently. Hou Rui thinks he's famous now, and he thinks Sister Yao is not strong enough. He doesn't have the resources, so he wants to change his agent. Sister Yao finally brought out a popular artist, and she certainly doesn't want to let go. But he is the boss of the company now, and the senior management is coaxing him, so he will probably do as he wishes."

"What about reporter Yuan? I heard that he and Hou Rui had a conflict."

"That's what happened. He took the photos, and Sister Yao said he could just give some money to buy them back, but Hou Rui disagreed, saying that he was annoying to death because he was following her all day long." The assistant frowned, "Then she asked President Chen to take action and gave him a lecture."

"What was reporter Yuan's reaction?"

"He said that he would kill Hou Rui one day, so he should wait." The assistant spread his hands, "Just say something harsh."

Jian Jing nodded, thinking, from this point of view, Jiang Baiyan's information is correct, reporter Yuan and agent Yao both have strong motives to kill, and they also have the conditions to kill.

And from the perspective of time, reporter Yuan has a greater advantage.

"When you went to call Hou Rui at 9 o'clock, was the door locked? Could you hear anything going on inside?" Jian Jing asked in detail, looking serious. "This is very important, think about it carefully."

The assistant tried to recall: "It was 9 o'clock at that time. There was a notice tomorrow. I wanted Hou Rui to go back and rest early, so I went to the bathroom to call him. The door was closed. I knocked on the door first, but there was no movement inside. Because Hou Rui had drunk a lot before, I was afraid that he would pass out inside, so... yes, I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I had to call a few times, but there was still no movement. I guess he might be unhappy with me and deliberately ignored me, so he went back first."

Jian Jing asked: "Was there any vomiting sound or something else?"

The assistant shook his head: "I can't hear it clearly, the music from the toilet was always playing."

"I understand, thank you." She instructed, "Don't disclose our conversation for now."

The assistant agreed.

Jian Jing dragged the mouse and replayed reporter Yuan's actions.

According to his confession, she went to eavesdrop first, and when eavesdropping failed, she

went to the terrace to smoke. Smoking... She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up and went straight to the terrace.

The restaurant's terrace is not big, about ten square meters, it is a balcony with a few pots of green plants and two chairs. There is an ashtray on the table with some ashes and a cigarette butt left.

She picked up the remaining cigarette butt with tweezers and identified the brand on it.

Yes, it matches the brand of cigarettes that she had glimpsed in reporter Yuan's box before, so it should be left by him.

She sniffed the cigarette butt lightly and discerned a hint of orange.

She had just watched the surveillance video and confirmed the time when the food was served in reporter Yuan's box.

He was the last to arrive and had to cut in line, so the food was served slowly. He arrived at 6:50, but the food was not served until 7:30, and was not finished until 8:10. The last complimentary fruit was served at 8:15.

On his table, the fruit plate showed signs of being moved, and the oranges and cantaloupe had been eaten.

This cigarette butt smells of orange - the xylitol on the table is mint-flavored - so it can be basically proved that the cigarette was smoked after 8:15.

His second activity time was from 8:42 to 8:48, a total of only five minutes. Was it enough time for him to kill someone and then come back to smoke?

The time of death from suffocation is very long.

Jian Jing fell into a knowledge blind spot and had to seek help from smokers.

"Hello, I have a question for you." She called.

The patient asked lazily: "Go ahead."

"How long does it take to smoke a cigarette?"

Ji Feng: "Generally speaking, 3-5 minutes."

"What about natural combustion?"

"About 8-10 minutes, depending on the brand." He was very interested, "If you encounter any case, tell me..."

"Thank you." Jian Jing hung up the phone cruelly.

This cigarette has burned out, even if it is lit first and then killed, it will be difficult to complete.

Reporter Yuan's suspicion suddenly decreased.

Now, the biggest suspect has become the agent Yao Fei.

She seems to have an alibi, but in fact, the waitress did not see her in person, but only heard the sound through the door.

Whether it is a locked door or a sound, both can be faked.

The sound is simple and can be solved by a Bluetooth speaker, but how is the door locked?

The silence of the small bathroom is circling around.

The layout of the bathroom is as follows:

. Men's bathroom.

Washing... Women's

hand... Toilet

...

Door...

The outside door cannot be locked and can only be closed normally. In addition to the ball door lock, the compartments of the men's and women's bathrooms also have a bolt added to the back.

The ball door lock has a feature that you can lock the door from the outside by pressing the protrusion in the center of the inner handle and closing the door directly. It is also very simple to open it, which can be done with a thin card. It has no anti-theft performance.

Jian Jing asked the waitress who delivered the item: "Was the door locked when you opened it?"

The waitress reached out and grasped the handle, regaining her sense: "No, the handle can be turned, the guest must have inserted the bolt from the inside."

She was very sure: "Yes, the guest said 'Come in, the door is not locked', but she forgot to insert the bolt, so she had to let me insert it through the gap in the door."

Jian Jing raised her eyebrows.

It's a bit interesting.

The bolt style is the most common bolt, which is sold online for only a few dollars. It is cheap and easy to use. But now it has become the key to the alibi.

Jian Jing used a magnifying glass to carefully examine the bolt. There is some wear on the metal plug rod, and the marks are very light, all of which are horizontal lines. They should be normal marks left after repeated use.

In addition, there are no sticky marks on the entire bolt.

Jian Jing knows a few techniques to use the bolt to make a secret room. It is not difficult to do it with practice using universal fishing line or tape. But there is a problem with this technique, that is, it cannot be canceled from the outside.

The door is locked and there is no one inside. Isn't this a giveaway?

The murderer used the secret room in reverse to create the illusion that someone is inside, so he must reopen the door.

This is not difficult from an operational point of view. As long as the hook on the plug rod is not pressed, be patient, and slowly move the rod in the socket to open the door.

But there are no marks on the plug rod.

How did she do it?

Jian Jing put herself in the murderer's shoes and felt that the method should not be too complicated. The door of the bathroom cannot be locked, as guests may come in at any time. If she uses a mechanism or something, it will be easily exposed. Concealment, efficiency and simplicity are what she pursues.

Just like the murder weapon she chose.

Murder weapon...?

Could it be?

Ah.

For the first time, Jian Jing felt a flash of lightning passing through her mind.

A flash of inspiration came to her, and she suddenly understood.

Souga, there may be many ways.

She took out a long cotton swab from the makeup box, tied double-sided tape on the cotton head, and poked it into the socket. When she took it out, there were some tiny white particles on the surface of the tape.

Put it in the evidence bag and slowly rub it open.

Sure enough.

Paper fragments.

Some tricks, to be honest, are not tricks at all, and can only be called blind spots in thinking.

The rod may not be the rod itself, but a substitute. Just

like blackmail, paper towels can be made from local materials and rolled into strips of about the same size as the rod. Use a hard card or a blade to insert it into the crack of the door, catch the pattern of the paper towel, and then move it into the socket from the outside to make it a disposable door bolt.

When a waitress delivers something to a guest, how many people will push the door hard? They will definitely push it slightly and stop when they find it is locked.

After using her to prove her absence, the prop loses its value, and a knife cut can immediately cancel the secret room. Then throw the paper towel into the toilet, clean and without any trace.

What is missing now is the evidence.

It is not a difficult task.

Jian Jing said softly and walked into Box No. 1. She told her assistant, "I want to talk to Ms. Yao alone."

The assistant did not suspect anything and immediately left. The

female agent did not realize that there was something wrong, but instead asked, "Any progress? I just saw Coco next door, she and Hou Rui were having a very unhappy quarrel, could it be..." "

Ms. Yao, I already know who the murderer is." Jian Jing said.

The female agent was startled, then reluctantly said: "Really? Miss Jian, aren't you a writer? Can you really solve cases?"

Jian Jing said: "Yes, I have solved a few cases fortunately. Every time at the end, I would persuade them to surrender. After all, everyone is confused sometimes. It is better to think clearly."

The female agent said: "I don't understand what you mean."

"Before Hou Rui died, he left clues about the murderer." Jian Jing turned on her phone and showed her the picture she had taken. "He has hinted at the identity of the murderer."

The female agent glanced at the photo and said: "What kind of hint is this?"

"It's a coincidence today that every suspect has some connection with this death message. But if you think about it carefully, it's actually not reliable." Jian Jing raised her finger, "Assistant Quan Lei, 'Quan' and 'quan' are homophones, but to be honest, if he wants to leave a death message, he must cut his hand and write it in blood, which is time-consuming and laborious.

If it's Quan, it's more in line with the fist." She clenched her five fingers into a fist: "If I want to hint Quan Lei, I will use this gesture, it's simple and convenient."

The female agent did not comment.

"As for reporter Yuan, 'Yuan' sounds the same as 'Yuan', but I doubt very much, does someone like Hou Rui know reporter Yuan's surname or name?" Jian Jing reasonably questioned, "He should have just called him 'dead paparazzi' or something like that, right?"

The female agent said, "How would I know that?"

Jian Jing did not force her, and continued, "Jiang Ou and Coco, both match the information. Assuming Hou Rui knows Jiang Ou's identity, there is a simpler way to express his name."

She dipped her finger in water and drew three lines or three dots on the table.

"Three dots of water are much easier to draw than a circle, and three is also his ranking." Jian Jing said slowly, "As for Coco, this is a stage name. The two were lovers. Do they call her by her stage name behind her back? Her real name is Zhu You, and it is more appropriate to use U."

The female agent asked back: "What does this have to do with me? My name has nothing to do with O."

"It's your earring." Jian Jing went straight to the point. "The last stroke of the earring with the letter G is crooked. It looks like an undrawn O, but it can be said to be G."

She analyzed: "When Hou Rui died, he was half-kneeling on the ground. From his perspective, he could just see your earring reflected on the metal decorative strip on the wall."

The female agent subconsciously touched her earlobe, and then sneered: "So what Teacher Jian meant by solving the case is making up stories?"

"It was just now, but not now." Jian Jing shrugged, admitting that most of the death information was speculation, "I have figured out your modus operandi."

The agent folded his arms: "I would like to hear the details."