502: Chapter 21 The Earring Case (Part 2) 502: Chapter 21 The Earring Case (Part 2) Gongsun Ce held up two fingers, “First, Aorus Otimis planned to take down Wing of Death.
He used his superpower to gather the three together, used his superpower to kill them all, and then used his superpower to escape from the scene.
After that, the young lady burst into the scene.
Does that sound reasonable to you?”
Huang Qi nodded dumbly, “Reasonable…”
“Reasonable my ass!” Budman was so angry he slapped him across the face, “That cross-dresser Aorus wouldn’t dirty his own hands even if he wanted to kill someone!”
The term “cross-dresser” really is quite apt.
Thanks for expanding my vocabulary; I’ll remember to add that the next time I curse at Aorus.
“Let’s talk about the second possibility…” Gongsun Ce said unhurriedly, “In fact, Kova was a mole planted by another organization within Wing of Death, and had long been eyeing those three senior members.
After the encounter last night, he immediately realized it was the perfect opportunity.
He contacted the three seniors first thing, arranged a meeting place, pretended to lure the young lady into the dead-end alley, asking the seniors to join him in a counter-attack, when in fact he intended to use the terrain and nighttime environment to take his chance to kill them!
That naturally explains why those three victims would appear in such an unlikely place.”
The gang members gaped in astonishment with crew-cut ranger Darkus being the first to object, “How is that possible?!
Kova only has the Earth Tunneling Skill; where does he get such great ability?!”
“Hold on.
Huang Qi, can Kova’s Earth Tunneling Skill be used to take others with him?”
Huang Qi answered subconsciously, “Yes…”
Gongsun Ce clapped his hands, grinning, “That makes sense then.
Kova was prepared to assassinate on opportunity.
He pretended to flee, but in reality, he turned around secretly, grabbing his accomplice to dive into the ground with him.
Let’s reconstruct the scene, Kova emerged from the ground first, drawing the attention of the three, and then the real culprit attacked from the shadows, killing all three in one fell swoop!
Who could the real culprit be?
Naturally, he would be close by to commit the crime, and he must possess a highly lethal power, able to strike quickly from a distance, causing the bodies to be torn apart—doesn’t that fit perfectly with Huang Qi’s explosive bullets?”
Huang Qi nearly popped his eyeballs out, “Me, me, me, you’re spouting nonsense!!
Last night I fucking…”
“You don’t have an alibi for last night,” Gongsun Ce kindly reminded, “because after the fight with the young lady, you split up to look for Kova; no one can vouch for you.”
Wing of Death members looked at each other, each recalling their old teammate’s superpowers.
Ah Huang had a versatile use of special bullets and was considered one of the city’s top marksmen, especially reliable in encounters.
His power was well-known by everyone…
and it matched perfectly with the deaths of those three people.
Even skilled Superpower Users could meet their end in a gutter, ambushed and unable to use their abilities before being instantly killed—it couldn’t be more common!
The more the crowd thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and now the look they gave the blond was somewhat off.
Budman glared and said, “You son of a bitch…
fuck…
you little…”
Huang Qi, who hadn’t even finished junior high, was not eloquent by any means, his face turned red with anger as he pulled out his gun and shouted, “Gongsun Ce, you’re fucking framing me!!
I’ll fight you!!”
Gongsun Ce pressed down the gun, speaking softly, “Don’t be hasty, don’t be hasty.
Isn’t it all speculation?
There are many inconsistencies with this guess, and I have a third, more reasonable suspicion.
You can hear me out before you come to any conclusions.”
The blond was taken aback at his words.
Gongsun Ce pushed up his glasses with an almost boastful tone, “Last night I was in a bad mood and just happened to see three gangsters I had a grudge against, so I killed them to vent my anger.
Then I hid and waited for the young lady to break into the scene before pretending to be confused.
In this way, all the blame would be thrown onto her, and I would no longer have any suspicion of murder, doesn’t that sound even more reasonable?”
The blond’s face turned pale, and even Budman closed his mouth in uncertain astonishment.
The atmosphere was as if listening to the confession of a perverted murderer, and Qin Qianbai anxiously grabbed his sleeve, “Don’t talk nonsense!
How could you—”
The grey-haired youth heaved a sigh of helplessness, “What did I teach you this morning?”
“…Acting?” The young lady said, shocked.
“Of course, it’s acting; this guy wouldn’t kill anyone unless it’s a special circumstance,” Kardesia took off his hat, twirling it expertly on his fingertip, “Gongsun Ce, why all the nonsense?”
To buy time to gather my thoughts, as well as observe everyone’s reactions.
“Of course, it’s to unveil an important fact to everyone.
Solving a case requires evidence; without it, even the most reasonable-sounding speculations are just that—speculations,” Gongsun Ce slipped his hand into his pocket, “Let’s go back to the beginning.
Miss has been unrelated to these three deceased from the start because she came here chasing after Kova.
So, do we have any evidence to prove this point?”
Gongsun Ce winked at the neighbor, hoping she would catch the hint.
After pondering for a moment, Qin Qianbai spoke slowly, “…Yes.
It’s in your hand.”
“Ah!
I remember now, you mean that thing!” Gongsun Ce theatrically clapped his hands, rummaging inside his pocket, “I happen to have it on me!”
His pocket seemed to be stuffed with an assortment of trinkets: house keys, a keychain, playing cards, a white handkerchief, a cellphone, bottle caps, and even a white miniature Spirit Light Ball.
Gongsun Ce’s pocket had virtually become a space pocket; the more he searched, the more small items he pulled out, like a magic show.
An inconspicuous metal ornament was nonchalantly tossed out, lying amongst the pile of sundries.
“!” Budman’s eyes widened as he called out, “What is that thing?!”
“Which one?” Gongsun Ce asked curiously, “There’s too much stuff here…”
“Right there in your right hand, that crescent-shaped thing!!”
Budman snatched the crucial piece of evidence, which was exactly the item Gongsun Ce had picked up from the crime scene last night.
A metal earring shaped like a crescent moon, its surface severely distorted, and it was stained with dried blood.
The burly blue-haired man tossed it to the blond.
“Look!” The blond caught the earring, first opening his mouth in confusion, then exclaimed in surprise, “This is…
Kova’s earring!!”
Gongsun Ce satisfactorily retrieved various white sundry items and said leisurely, “Regarding this piece of evidence, I have a simple line of reasoning I must mention…”
“We don’t need your nonsense, clown,” Budman signaled for a tall, thin man in the group to step forward, “Shengzi, find the emotional residue.”
Gongsun Ce had seen this man before; he possessed a superpower to detect the emotions remaining on objects, emotions left by the deceased.
This ability was tough to activate and produced subtle results but could still be practical for investigation, often used by thugs to explore crimes in their territories.
Shengzi took the earring and concentrated on touching it for a while.
“My ability has activated; Kova is dead,” he began dryly, “The emotions he left behind…
first is his concern about whether he could escape successfully, next the shock of witnessing a traumatic scene, and finally disbelief at seeing someone again.”
“Who is that someone?” Budman asked.
“I don’t know, big brother,” Shengzi said with shame, “That’s all my ability can do…”
Budman waved his hand, signaling for him to step back, his eyes full of ferocity as he gripped the hammer handle.
“That’s enough.
I understand what happened,” the burly man stated, “It couldn’t have been Kova and Ah Huang working together.
If it really was a partnership, there’d be no reason for him to be shocked at seeing Ah Huang commit murder, much less feel such disbelief.
It must be that Kova emerged from underground and happened to witness the crime scene.
He was horrified by the brutal corpses, and losing his life upon seeing that woman once more—who had defeated their entire team earlier—the woman who played the innocent, Rashamon!”
·
Hearing these words, Qin Qianbai couldn’t help but feel unangered.
Through these two days of interaction, she had come to understand the thugs’ behavior.
The black-clothed individuals were domineering, filled with prejudice, fixed on their suspect, intent only on capturing and interrogating, without any consideration for logic or innocence.
Arguing logic with these people was utterly pointless.
Qin Qianbai was still suppressing the urge to fight because she believed this clever grey-haired young man wouldn’t perform so many meaningless actions without reason.
He must have had a purpose behind his many words and circus-like tricks earlier.
She observed Gongsun Ce’s profile.
His face was still serene in the sunlight, beset with a slightly inscrutable smile.
“Indeed, it’s enough, as long as one more overlooked condition is added, the truth of this simple case is about to emerge,” Gongsun Ce spoke leisurely, his hands clasped together, “We all know the Miss is innocent, and we’ve also figured out who the murderer is, haven’t we?”