At five in the morning, in the late autumn, the river was still a black, night landscape. A husband and wife selling breakfast pushed their cart to an open space outside Flower Street. After placing three or five small tables and a dozen small stools under a streetlamp, the husband began to skillfully ignite a simple iron stove and then placed a large iron pot on it.
Beside him, the wife had already arranged porcelain bowls filled with meatballs by the iron pot. She then opened an electric griddle, testing the heat with one hand while holding a basin of mung bean batter mixed with eggs, chopped scallions, fennel, onions, and other seasonings by the griddle. As soon as she felt the griddle was hot enough, a spoonful of batter was poured in. In a few breaths, a crispy-edged, soft-centered egg pancake was ready.
From setting up to serving, from heating the pot to serving the pancakes, it took a mere ten minutes. The elderly couple's food stall was ready to welcome customers. At this time, men and women emerging from the nightclubs, as if they hadn't eaten for ages, both tired and hungry, could not resist the allure of the fragrance of meatball soup and egg pancakes. Often at this point, whether they were locals or migrant workers from out of town, rich heirs, or spoiled young masters, anyone who wanted breakfast would queue up obediently, then, without distinction of person or status, unfamiliar individuals would squeeze onto a small table to eat ravenously. Some people who had vowed to kill each other over trivial matters on the dance floor just a few hours earlier might now be sharing a table, sipping meatball soup. Perhaps, feeling content, they would even ask their companion to reach for a tissue for them. Whether revenge would be exacted was uncertain, but at this moment, nothing was more important than breakfast. Breakfast was everything.
Yan Qing, who had just experienced his first nightclub forays, was currently slurping a large bowl of meatball soup with gusto. Mei Qian, though resolute about settling in the north, couldn't yet adapt to the local palate. Still haunted by the strange experience of drinking lamb soup last time, he stared at the ordinary-sized bowl, no bigger than a takeout container, with its eight ping-pong-sized meatballs and a pancake as large as a pot lid, hesitant to take a bite. He had specifically asked for a small bowl, a *small* bowl! Didn't restaurant owners in the north have any concept of size? And what was this taste? Why was the pepper so strong? Weren't meatballs meant to be eaten? Why did Ping An and the others insist they were for drinking? Could meatballs be drunk?
In the blink of an eye, Gao Xiaofei had finished his mountain of meatball soup and was opening his phone while picking his teeth.
"Something's wrong! Liuzi's in trouble! He's in the hospital!" Twenty-two missed calls and a text message nearly made Gao Xiaofei spit out his breakfast.
"What's up?" Ping An listlessly slurped his meatball soup, internally formulating how to explain Liuzi's background story to Yan Qing and the others. Gao Xiaofei's fright startled him.
"That coward actually broke his own finger and was taken to the hospital last night. He's hospitalized now." Gao Xiaofei stood up, paid for their meal first, glanced at Yan Qing, and gestured to leave soon.
"What's the rush! He's not dead, is he? If he's not dead, what's the rush? I haven't had my tea yet. Are you even a person of Hechuan if you don't have tea?" Yan Qing, who hadn't slept all night and was teetering on the edge of anger after the electronic music bombardment, would probably kill anyone who dared prevent him from having a delightful bowl of covered-bowl tea after breakfast.
"Ping An, stop thinking. Speak your mind. What, are you planning to hide something?" Yan Qing looked around, feeling that venting his anger on Ping An was the most appropriate course of action.
"I wasn't planning to. I just don't know how to tell you all about it right away." Ping An sighed.
"Everyone go home, change, wash your faces. It's five in the morning. We'll gather at the bureau in three hours. Mei Qian, go to the hospital to check on Ren Liu. If he's alright, supervise him and return to the bureau for the meeting." Yan Qing smacked his lips, his longing for the covered-bowl tea at home growing. He gave the order to disperse.
Just as everyone was preparing to leave, Gao Xiaofei's phone rang again.
"Hello! Speak! I'm with Director Yan! What? Ren Liu is dead!" Gao Xiaofei was genuinely terrified this time, looking at Yan Qing and the others with disbelief.
"Girl, go home. Ping An, come with me. Straight to the hospital!" The sudden turn of events forced Yan Qing to abandon his covered-bowl tea. He pulled Ping An into the police car and drove towards the hospital.
Let's rewind fifteen minutes. Two police officers watching over Ren Liu in the hospital were dozing off, one in a chair, the other leaning against the wall on the floor. A nurse on her morning shift passed by and accidentally woke them.
"It's almost five. Director Gao and the others will probably be here soon, and the doctor will come for rounds. Open the door, let's see if that coward needs anything," one police officer said to the other, who held the key.
"Alright, you go wash your face first." The other police officer took out the key, unlocked the ward door, and walked in to check on Ren Liu's condition.
"Something's wrong! He's dead!" A few seconds later, a cry of alarm broke the unusual morning.
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Let's rewind to the present. When Yan Qing arrived at the hospital with Gao Xiaofei, Mei Qian, and Ping An, the area around the hospital's semi-basement had already been cordoned off by officers from the local police station who had arrived earlier.
"What's going on? Weren't you told he only broke a finger? How is he dead!" Yan Qing furiously asked the police officers on site.
"You can see for yourself! It's too bizarre!" The two police officers guarding Ren Liu said with tears in their eyes.
Entering the ward, they saw Ren Liu's neck suspended by a nylon rope from the steel rebar guardrail in front of the window. Because the window was high above the ground, Ren Liu's body was in a very strange posture—his back, neck, and head were pressed tightly against the wall, his entire body suspended in mid-air, his buttocks about ten centimeters from the bed. His legs were fine; his left leg was bent, resting on the bed, while his right leg was stretched straight, only his heel touching the bed, forming a thirty-degree angle with the surface. His hands were also positioned oddly: his right hand, cuffed to the right-side handrail of the bed, was clenched tightly, while his left hand hung naturally down onto the bed.
Following the nylon rope tied around Ren Liu's neck, they found it was tightly fastened to the steel rebar guardrail inside the window frame. The window showed no signs of being opened; the latch on this old-fashioned window was still securely in its slot, and the dusty glass surface bore no fingerprints.
"Suicide? Or...?" Looking at the scene, Gao Xiaofei habitually glanced at Ping An.
"It's definitely murder. Ren Liu wouldn't die, nor would he dare to die." Ping An scanned everything in the room, his mind working rapidly. The only door was locked from the outside. The window was too small, and the inner frame had bars. Even if someone could get through, they wouldn't be able to. Ren Liu's hand was cuffed; even if he wanted to commit suicide, he couldn't. What on earth had happened?
"Are you sure there are no signs of tampering on the window glass, the window handle, inside or out? Based on the dust on the glass and the marks around the window closure, this window hasn't been opened for at least three months," Mei Qian reported to Yan Qing after a thorough re-examination of the window with the technical personnel.
"The hallway surveillance has been checked. After Ren Liu was admitted, no suspicious individuals entered or exited..." a police officer reported to Gao Xiaofei. "Upon inspection, there are no signs of forced opening on the handcuffs."
"No one in, no one out! A person in handcuffs tied a rope to himself from several meters away and hanged himself?" Yan Qing's eyes were bloodshot, his anger directed indiscriminately at everyone present.
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"A locked-room murder? Do they have to make it this dramatic?" Ping An, who had been silent, was in a corner, repeatedly reviewing every image before him.
"Ping An, explain it to me now. What did that hoodlum say to you earlier? Why did you drag us to the nightclub? What's so wrong with Ren Liu?" Yan Qing yelled at Ping An.
Ping An seemed not to hear Yan Qing's words. Instead, he stared intently at Ren Liu's outstretched right leg. "There's a wound on his right foot. Look closely, here." Ping An suddenly walked to Ren Liu's body and pointed to a faint scar on his right ankle. "Could an officer take a photo and have the forensic doctor examine it? And please ask the officers guarding Ren Liu if this scar was there before he was admitted to the hospital."
Ping An's subtle discovery drew everyone together. "We're asking you, when did that small wound on his foot appear?" Yan Qing quickly asked a nearby officer.
"Director Yan, we really didn't notice," the officer replied helplessly after thinking for a long time.
"No need to be so serious, I'm just curious. Perhaps he accidentally scratched himself before he died," Ping An said. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he said to Yan Qing, "Hurry! Arrange for a team to go to Unit 4, Building H, Apartment 903, Fairytale Road Garden Community to protect a woman! Be quick! If Ren Liu was silenced, that woman is also in danger."
"What woman? Silenced? Explain it to me," Yan Qing said.
"Ren Liu's woman, Jia Zhen. Oh, and be careful when you go. This woman is a drug addict," Ping An sighed. "Ren Liu might have been forced into drug trafficking and other illegal activities because of this woman. He was also forced to be arrested. The confession he gave Xiao Fei was also prepared in advance."
"What!" Gao Xiaofei exclaimed in shock.
Let's rewind two years. Chen Nairong, who had just started his business, was then just an honest businessman trying to find loopholes and make a quick fortune. After taking off his police uniform, he failed at several businesses. At some point, he came into contact with a group of drug traffickers. Hechuan City at the time had just undergone a systematic "anti-gang and anti-evil" campaign, and several mafia bosses involved in drugs were imprisoned.
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Chen Nairong was heavily in debt at the time. To make money, he gritted his teeth and accepted a batch of drugs. He had the drugs, but he didn't have anyone to distribute them. Such people were hard to find. Although Chen Nairong had some status, he hadn't actually been involved in the underworld, nor did he have any followers. Later, he personally led people to distribute the goods in the Flower Street area. He was discovered by Ren Liu, who was officially the largest beverage supplier in Flower Street but secretly the most influential boss there. Ren Liu was a rule-abiding person. Although he was a hoodlum, he never dabbled in drugs and did not allow drugs to appear on Fruit Street. It was precisely because Ren Liu always adhered to the bottom line of the law and never crossed it that he was spared during the "anti-gang and anti-evil" campaign.
Chen Nairong couldn't sell his goods and couldn't get his money back. To make money from drugs, he needed a "helper." What kind of helper? After more than three years of the "anti-gang and anti-evil" campaign, there were almost no people in society who dared to call themselves "gangsters." Only those like Ren Liu and Niu Jian, who had influence in the industry through "mutual support," were still somewhat influential. But these people had one thing in common: "I'm tough, don't mess with me," and "I won't do anything illegal." It was too difficult to get them involved in drug trafficking.
Chen Nairong, blinded by money, had met with Ren Liu several times, hinting that he wanted Ren Liu to join him. However, although Ren Liu was a "social person" and often engaged in bullying and domineering behavior, he knew the bottom line. The "anti-gang and anti-evil" campaign was still fresh in his mind; all the once-mighty "bosses" were either imprisoned or dead, with no good end. Let alone drugs, once you touched them, one foot was already in prison. Therefore, he flatly refused Chen Nairong's "suggestions."
Chen Nairong knew in his heart that the nightclubs in Flower Street were the best places for him to distribute his goods, but without Ren Liu's nod, not a single packet of drugs could enter. But how could he make Ren Liu bow?
The wicked Chen Nairong set his sights on Ren Liu's wife, Jia Zhen. He found an opportunity when Ren Liu was not at home and secretly arranged for several people to forcibly inject Jia Zhen with drugs. By the time Ren Liu discovered this, Chen Nairong had already fled out of town. At first, Ren Liu swore to kill Chen Nairong, but as Jia Zhen's addiction worsened, Ren Liu had no choice but to go from wanting to kill Chen Nairong to begging him. Chen Nairong felt the time was ripe. He met with Ren Liu and asked him to escort a batch of drugs to Hechuan. As a reward, he offered a large bag of drugs, enough for Jia Zhen to use for more than half a year.
"And so, after escorting one shipment, Ren Liu was trapped on Chen Nairong's pirate ship. Later, to ensure his girlfriend's drug supply, he slowly became Chen Nairong's subordinate," Ping An said. "Chen Nairong used a similar tactic on Niu Jian's son. He incited several beautiful ladies to completely captivate Niu Jian's son, and under their instigation, he became addicted to drugs. Niu Jian, to supply his son, had no choice but to give up resistance and also became Chen Nairong's man."
"Why didn't Jia Zhen and Niu Jian's son go to rehab?" Mei Qian asked, confused.
"Ren Liu and Niu Jian didn't like dealing with the government much, and another thing is, they couldn't bear it." Ping An said, "The most crucial point is, you'd never guess, the police officer Niu Jian wanted to report was not Chen Nairong, but Su Xia."
"Su Xia! How could it be him? How is he involved again?" Gao Xiaofei said.
"Heshang said that when Niu Jian came to me to report a police officer, Chen Nairong ordered Ren Liu to 'talk' to Niu Jian. Heshang was also there at the time and personally witnessed Niu Jian writing a signed letter of complaint, accusing Su Xia of acting as a local protection racket and condoning Chen Nairong's drug trafficking," Ping An said. "Honestly, I'm almost numb. I don't know who is right or wrong anymore, or who is lying."
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"Where is that letter of complaint?" Gao Xiaofei asked.
"Ren Liu burned it," Ping An said.
"No, I have to bring Heshang back to take a statement!" Gao Xiaofei said angrily. "From the beginning to the end of this case, we've been led around by the nose by the other side. We finally managed to expose Chen Nairong, and now things have become even more complicated."
"Let's focus on the current locked-room murder case first," Ping An said. "Whether it's Chen Nairong, Ren Liu, or Su Xia, whose involvement is still questionable, I have a feeling that these people in the spotlight are like chess pieces, manipulated by someone else."
"Just wait. In the next few days, there will be a case discussion meeting at the bureau. I already know Director Yan will invite you," Gao Xiaofei said. "There's some information I can't tell you yet. Once the leadership approves, you can look at it and listen carefully. Perhaps you'll have a different perspective."
Was Niu Jian silenced because he wanted to report? Was Wu An truly a good person? Was there someone behind Chen Nairong? Why was Su Xia repeatedly reported? Why did Ren Liu die? Too many mysteries, too many doubts. Just as one "dead end" was found, another new "dead end" awaited. One tangled with another, one mystery winding around another. It looked as if someone was trying to exhaust themselves. Did they want themselves to be forever trapped in these riddles? What were the true mastermind's intentions?
Ren Liu's body had been taken down by the police, and all suspected individuals in the hospital were brought back to the police station for statements. Gao Xiaofei was busy organizing all the evidence collected by the technical investigation, while Mei Qian, centering on the hospital, retrieved all surveillance footage within a ten to fifteen-kilometer radius. Ping An stood still, watching everyone busy themselves, feeling a sense of being "enclosed." Was this just a simple drug case? Why did everything feel so bizarre? Why did he feel like he was being led by a leash?
"Since Niu Jian's case, I haven't done any deductions. The cases are linked, giving me no chance to catch my breath. After I was discharged from the hospital, I wanted to clear my mind and then do a thorough deduction. But I received new clues from Su Xia and the circus, and then coincidentally discovered the method of Wu An's murder, and then by chance discovered Ren Liu," Gao Xiaofei walked behind Ping An, watching his friend lost in thought. Ping An, sensing his arrival, seemed to be speaking to him, or perhaps to himself.
"I didn't even have time to verify if the method of Wu An's murder was valid. I wanted to sneak into Flower Street while Ren Liu was being apprehended, hoping to find clues indirectly and help you verify how much of Ren Liu's confession was true and how much was false, but he died," Ping An said regretfully.
"You mean, Ren Liu..." Gao Xiaofei said.
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"Yes. When I saw him, with his skills, he could have easily escaped, but he pretended to be caught. What was his purpose?" Ping An said. "It was precisely because Ren Liu's capture was so suspicious that I brought you to the nightclub to investigate."
"Once Ren Liu's weaknesses were exposed, we could understand how Chen Nairong controlled Ren Liu and Niu Jian. What was Wu An's role in all this? And Su Xia?" Ping An buried his head in his hands and squatted down in pain. "Every new clue discovered is also a new problem. These cases are like a bottomless pit; the more you investigate, the messier it gets. If these cases were deliberately designed, how intelligent must the person be?"
"Mmm, that's what you're saying, but for now, we need to figure out how this locked-room murder happened," Gao Xiaofei said, sitting on the ground.
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Why did Ren Liu die? That's the key issue! As for how he was killed, it's actually very simple. I already discovered the method of killing just now," Ping An said faintly.
"What? Impossible! How did you discover it? Why didn't you say anything?" Gao Xiaofei asked in surprise.
"It's useless! What good is knowing the method? I've been wondering all along why Ren Liu had to die! That's the most crucial question." Ping An said.
"Impossible, stand up and explain it to me clearly. How was Ren Liu killed?" Gao Xiaofei grabbed Ping An and pulled him up.
"Three questions. First, could Ren Liu commit suicide with handcuffs on? Second, in this room, which resembles a locked room, are there any other passages to the outside besides that window? Third, I heard the doctor say that the ward Ren Liu was in was chosen temporarily, not to mention that the police had already inspected it. So, where did the nylon rope that hanged Ren Liu come from?" Ping An said. "Also, three findings: First, there's a faint scar on Ren Liu's ankle, like it was cut by a small knife, right? Second, the window glass is dusty inside and out, with no marks, right? Third, a person's will to survive is a 'passive skill.' At the moment of Ren Liu's death, his legs and feet would involuntarily brace against the bed to support his body, meaning he wouldn't die even if he hung there all night."
Gao Xiaofei looked at the hospital bed, then flipped through the photos, nodding thoughtfully.
"Now, the key deduction comes. Regardless of whether Ren Liu was murdered or committed suicide, for him to die in this manner, his legs must not touch the bed. In fact, at least one leg must not touch the bed. This condition is a prerequisite and a necessary condition for Ren Liu's death," Ping An pointed to a piece of iron hook embedded in the wall near the ceiling above the bed. "I just secretly asked. The iron hook above the bed was used to hang curtains or other medical equipment in the past. Almost every old-fashioned ward has one. So, with Ren Liu cuffed to the bed and unable to move, to prevent his legs from touching the bed, wouldn't he have to rely on that iron hook? For example, using a rope to lift one of his legs high up, so his body couldn't lie stably on the bed. Then, pulling the nylon rope around his neck would cause him to die."
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"Is there any evidence for what you're saying...?" Gao Xiaofei asked.
"How many years has that iron hook not been used? If there was friction from a rope, there would be marks," Ping An said.
"But your inference only proves that it's feasible for Ren Liu to hang himself this way. It can't prove whether it was murder or suicide," Gao Xiaofei continued. "Moreover, if it was murder, the killer could only have dropped the rope from that window to hang Ren Liu. But if someone were standing outside the window, even if they opened it, and reached in, it would be impossible to accurately place the rope over Ren Liu's head. Ren Liu was lying down at the time, so it would be even more impossible to get the rope on him. Besides, we checked, and that window showed no signs of being opened. There were no marks on the glass outside the window. Ren Liu seemed more likely to have committed suicide."
"If it was suicide, what about the rope on his legs after he died?" Ping An asked. "Also, regardless of the handcuffs, even if Ren Liu tied the rope to the guardrail inside the window from the inside, the space between the inner glass and the guardrail is less than a finger's width. Shouldn't there be some marks on the glass? Stand on a stool yourself and look at the window glass again."
Hearing this, Gao Xiaofei quickly stood on a stool and carefully examined the inner surface of the window glass. Indeed, he found no marks.
"This is unscientific!" Gao Xiaofei exclaimed.
"This was a crime of opportunity. I bet the murderer, after discovering Ren Liu's ward, took less than half an hour from planning to execution," Ping An said. "Now, let me tell you how the murderer killed Ren Liu."