Chapter 648 Dao Zhi Yong's Deduction

Haha, they don't know that the reason I'm so wealthy is because I once had a rich brother who was also an executioner, a killer. But this person always bullied and tormented me. He stepped on my fingers, dragged me by the neck, and in front of me, murdered my wife. Then he hung me up. If it weren't for my strong constitution, the rope breaking, I probably wouldn't be alive today. After I was rescued, I found the funeral home where he worked. That's right! He was working at the funeral home back then. While he was on duty late at night, I ambushed him from behind and killed him with a stone. To cover up my crime, I had no choice but to drag him into the crematorium, to make a clean break.

I don't know if it was my good luck, but the surveillance equipment at that place was faulty, and the body was completely burned, with the ashes also disposed of by me. The people at the funeral home at the time thought my brother had just gone missing. After his death, I inherited all his property, five villas, and a considerable amount of savings. At first, I lived a very exciting and luxurious life like those wealthy individuals, but gradually, I felt that it all became meaningless. One day, I watched a movie about a crematorium worker, and for some reason, I was reminded of the scene where I killed my brother.

So, I wanted to relive it. I came to work at the funeral home, starting as an ordinary crematorium worker, and slowly, through hard work, I became the director. With power, whatever I want to do becomes much easier."

Reading this, I almost tore the notebook in half. But Dao Zhi Yong intercepted me, "He Ting, don't rush. These writings are not from Director Liu!"

"What?" I stared at the extremely serious Dao Zhi Yong.

"Please listen to me. I was also almost fooled. But last night, I brought his handwriting samples and studied them. I found that these writings seem to have been copied. What I mean is, although these characters are very similar to Liu Hao Kang's handwriting, they are definitely not written by him! I also found another notebook here. Take a look yourself!"

I took the other notebook and read its contents. They seemed somewhat similar, but the writing time was clearly longer. I asked curiously, "Dao Zhi Yong, what are you trying to say?"

"The first notebook was easily discovered, but how did I find the second one?"

I shook my head, urging Dao Zhi Yong to get to the point. He quickly said, "Actually, the original one was almost completely burned. If I hadn't used our Daoist sect's 'Purple Light Character Analysis Technique,' it probably wouldn't have been recoverable. This notebook is a replica I made after restoring it, imitating Liu Hao Kang's handwriting. The similarity is one hundred percent."

"Continue!" Liu Yu Ning was also captivated by Dao Zhi Yong's idea and urged him impatiently.

Dao Zhi Yong nodded. "Someone imitated Liu Hao Kang's handwriting and also burned his original. What was he trying to do? The only possibility is that there's someone behind Liu Hao Kang, and this person is the real mastermind. But he knows Liu Hao Kang is dead and wants to push all the blame onto him. At first, I didn't notice the traces of copying, but when I saw the years, 2021 and 2022, I noticed a pause in the middle when the person wrote the number '2.' However, Liu Hao Kang himself wouldn't do that. I once worked on a case of bank data theft. I suspect he's trying to mimic this number '2' because he used to work in a bank, specifically after 2000. If he wrote dates frequently, he would have gotten used to writing this number, making it difficult to change. This person should be over 40 years old. Someone even saw the manager's signature and seal, but I later saw through that. It was done by the real killer to frame the manager. At that time, the manager died in his office with a suicide note next to him. Of course, the suicide note was fake. The killer meticulously copied the manager's handwriting."

"So, you mean the person behind Liu Hao Kang who forged this notebook is the real killer? But wouldn't doing so expose him more easily? He could have just run away, couldn't he?" Liu Yu Ning asked doubtfully.

"No, we will definitely find him. But if an ordinary person can't see the problem with the handwriting, then there's no evidence. Also, I found a problem with Dr. Tang's character 'Tang'!"

"What is it?"

"That character should have been altered. The original meaning of 'Tang' includes exaggeration, being boastful, like 'absurd.' It can also mean empty, futile, like 'effort is not in vain.' But if you break it down, it's 'Guang' and 'Shen' missing its left side, and another 'mouth.' What does this mean? 'Guang' could refer to one's future, meaning to expand, broaden, constantly ascend, and progress. As the saying goes, 'The wind will break the waves, and the time will come to hoist the cloud sails to cross the sea.' But when this person writes the character 'Tang,' he actually closes the left part of the missing 'Shen.' This is theoretically a misspelling, but the habit appears because this person has psychological issues. If I'm not mistaken, he's very introverted, very cautious, and reclusive. Also, that Dr. Tang is likely another person. The killer is trying to shift the blame, wanting to completely absolve himself and disappear from Liu Hao Kang's records. Look, in this original notebook, even though it's badly burned, there's still a blank space here. There's a 'Tu' radical on the left side of the character 'Tang.' I didn't see it at first, but I discovered that there are residual phenolphthalein reagents here. So, I used sodium hydroxide to dot a bit, and the 'Tu' radical appeared. This is because phenolphthalein reacted with sodium hydroxide!"

As he spoke, Dao Zhi Yong produced a small piece of the burned notebook. I took a look, and indeed it was so. But then I thought of something and questioned, "Since he was going to burn the notebook, why would he use phenolphthalein? Isn't that redundant?"

"No, if this were added, even if we used technical restoration, we wouldn't be able to see it unless someone discovered the phenolphthalein. The killer probably didn't anticipate this. But he didn't know that there's someone in this world who can find so many clues from handwriting!" Dao Zhi Yong said firmly. However, his serious expression lasted less than a minute before he tossed a piece of betel nut and chewed it casually.

Although I felt a bit speechless, what he said seemed to make a lot of sense. Phenolphthalein indicator is made by dissolving 0.5g of phenolphthalein in 95% ethanol, without adding water, and diluting to 100ml. It turns blue and then fades when it encounters sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide dissolves completely in water to form sodium ions and hydroxide ions, thus possessing the general properties of a base. It can undergo acid-base neutralization reactions (which are also decomposition reactions) with any protic acid.