The correct way to use the Invisibility Cloak is for two people to work at different times to gather as much information as possible.
Wearing a cloak, Yu Hanjiang followed the police unnoticed.
The police went to the monitoring center to check the surveillance footage, but unfortunately the surveillance video of Class 3 of Senior Three was broken. Ying Xiaoya's incident occurred between 11:30 and 11:45. During this period, the surveillance footage only showed Ying Xiaoya walking into Chongwen Building of Senior Three and directly appearing in Xingzhi Building next door through the sky corridor.
Her figure flashed past the corner of Xingzhi Building, but her subsequent actions were not captured on camera.
The police officer frowned: "How long have the school's surveillance cameras been broken?"
The principal explained awkwardly, "It broke last year, this..."
"They came wanting to replace all the cameras, but the city won't approve the funding..."
The police officer looked grim. The surveillance footage was completely useless, so he had no choice but to go to the office next door to quickly investigate the students in Class 3. Class leaders such as Yu Hui and Xie Xinghe were among the first to be interrogated.
The police asked Yu Hui, "Where were you between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m.?"
Yu Hui: "We played basketball. Our whole class was on the basketball court."
Police officer: "What's your relationship with Ying Xiaoya like? Did you see her go anywhere at the time?"
Yu Hui frowned and asked, "What happened to Xiaoya? Why wasn't she here during roll call?"
Police officer: "Answer my question first."
Yu Hui raised an eyebrow: "You haven't even told me where she is, how am I supposed to answer?!"
This guy is clearly going through a rebellious phase and isn't afraid of the police. You can tell he's really worried about Ying Xiaoya.
The two police officers exchanged a glance, and the policewoman whispered, "She jumped...and died."
Yu Hui was stunned for a moment, then realized what the other person meant. His face immediately began to twitch. He stood up in despair and turned to rush out: "Where is Xiaoya? I need to see her!"
The policewoman quickly pulled the agitated teenager back: "Calm down!"
Yu Hui was forcibly pushed back into his seat. He sat there for a long time, then covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling.
The policewoman couldn't bear it, so she gently patted his shoulder and said, "Don't get agitated. We also want to find out the cause of Ying Xiaoya's death as soon as possible. Yu Hui, we hope you can cooperate."
The police captain said calmly, "According to the teacher, you and Ying Xiaoya are dating, and you often give her chocolate?"
Yu Hui snapped out of her daze, her eyes red. Like a wounded beast, she jumped up and roared, "Screw your love life! She's my cousin. My aunt lives in another city, so she's temporarily staying with me! Is the teacher being paranoid? Just because a boy and a girl are close doesn't mean they're dating?! Damn it! I treat her like my own sister! What's wrong with taking care of her?!"
The police were stunned by his shout, and Yu Hanjiang was also quite surprised by his answer.
However, upon closer reflection, when Yu Hui gave Ying Xiaoya a gift, he said, "This is a birthday present I bought for you." He referred to himself as "brother," so that's what he meant—it seems it really was a misunderstanding.
So, was the love letter sent by Xie Xinghe? Or are there other people involved in this case?
Yu Hanjiang frowned as he pondered the questioning while listening carefully to the police.
The police officer continued, "Has your sister been acting strangely lately?"
Yu Hui thought for a moment with a serious face, then sat back down and said, "Last week she suddenly became absent-minded. When I asked her what was wrong, she wouldn't say. She was always daydreaming in class, and she almost tripped several times on her way home."
The police officer handed him the love letter he had found in Ying Xiaoya's bag: "Do you know who sent it?"
Yu Hui frowned: "I don't know. My sister is too pretty, and people often slip love letters into her bag. If I knew who it was, I would have beaten them up long ago! Those flies are so annoying, they even stuff food into her bag, I threw them all away!"
Yu Hui was clearly devastated and seemed on the verge of exploding at any moment.
The police officer cut to the chase, producing evidence found in the classroom, and asked, "Is this chocolate yours?"
Yu Hui nodded: "It's mine. We both love to eat this, and I always carry it with me."
The police then handed him the suicide note they had found: "Is this Ying Xiaoya's handwriting?"
Yu Hui's eyes widened suddenly: "Impossible! She's not that fragile, she wouldn't commit suicide just because she did poorly on a test! This suicide note wasn't written by her, how could she commit suicide? My parents were planning to celebrate her birthday tonight... No way..."
He became agitated and repeatedly said "no," so the police had no choice but to let him go home temporarily.
Yu Hui turned and walked away, looking utterly dejected.
The next person to be questioned was the class monitor, Xie Xinghe. The boy answered the police's questions calmly and politely, saying that he and Ying Xiaoya were just ordinary classmates.
Upon hearing the devastating news of Ying Xiaoya's death, the boy's hands trembled slightly, and his face turned deathly pale.
No matter what the police asked him after that, his answer was always the same cold, hard one: "I don't know."
The police officer took the book out and said, "This book, ' The Count of Monte Cristo,' was found in your bag."
Xie Xinghe's back stiffened slightly, and he said coldly, "What does it mean to have a classic book in your schoolbag? I love reading. Besides ' The Count of Monte Cristo,' I've also read 'Les Misérables,' 'War and Peace,' 'Wuthering Heights'... I've basically read all the world's classics."
The police couldn't explain anything based on a famous book, so they had no choice but to let him go back.
Xie Xinghe and Yu Hui both have solid alibis. Everyone saw them playing basketball at the time, and neither of them had a motive for murder. The other people were not familiar with Ying Xiaoya and could not provide any useful information.
Yu Hanjiang's Invisibility Cloak time was almost up, so he decisively turned around and left to meet Xiao Lou in the maple forest.
***
Outside the maple forest.
Xiao Lou, pretending to be a school teacher, calmly sat on a wooden chair, carefully organizing the current clues.
He was already handsome, and his serious expression made him even more so, attracting curious glances from many passing students. However, he remained calm and unmoved by being "watched."
Hearing familiar footsteps, Xiao Lou looked up and hurriedly asked, "Teacher Yu... have you found anything?"
Yu Hanjiang sat down, glanced at the students not far away, and whispered in their ears: "The police went to Class 3's classroom to collect evidence and found Chocolate..."
Love letters, origami cranes, the count of Monte Cristo —all the same as the evidence we had previously collected. Additionally, a suicide note was found on Ying Xiaoya's desk, which read—"I'm sorry to my parents and teachers, I've lost faith in life and want to end my life at 18." The handwriting on the suicide note also matched Ying Xiaoya's.
Yu Hanjiang paused, then continued, "Only Ying Xiaoya's footprints were found on the rooftop, and there was nothing unusual about the railing where she jumped—all these clues seem to indicate suicide."
Just then, notifications appeared simultaneously in the floating boxes for both of them.
Red Heart 3 Escape Room Inference: Did Ying Xiaoya commit suicide? Yes/No. Note: An incorrect judgment results in challenge failure.
Xiao Lou pressed "No" without hesitation and looked at Yu Hanjiang, saying, "It wasn't suicide."
Yu Hanjiang nodded, ignoring the floating window, and asked, "What did you find?"
Xiao Lou took a deep breath, composed himself, and quickly said, " The Forensic Doctor's initial diagnosis is a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage caused by the fall, but I've noticed something amiss. In a normal person, the pupils dilate after death, but Ying Xiaoya's pupils are abnormally constricted—pupil constriction is a special symptom that the Forensic Doctor must pay attention to in toxicology testing; it only appears in cases of carbamate or organophosphate poisoning."
Yu Hanjiang was startled: "Drug poisoning?"
Xiao Lou nodded firmly: "Yes. Carbamates and organophosphates are common components of pesticides and are easy to buy. After being poisoned by these two substances, the deceased's pupils will constrict and the muscle fibers will twitch abnormally— Ying Xiaoya was very likely poisoned."
Yu Hanjiang really wanted to give Xiao Lou a thumbs up.
I heard that Professor Xiao studied toxicology identification during his postgraduate studies and is extremely familiar with the symptoms of various poisonings. Therefore, Xiao Lou is able to keenly detect abnormalities in corpses.
Ying Xiaoya was poisoned before she fell from the building, so it was clearly not a suicide.
—This was a meticulously planned murder.
In fact, at the moment Ying Xiaoya fell from the building, Yu Hanjiang had a hunch that she did not commit suicide.
If it were a simple suicide, there would be no need to let them into the Red Heart 3 escape room to solve the mystery and investigate, because these clues are obviously somewhat deliberate, especially the suicide note left by the deceased on the table.
If it wasn't suicide, who could be the murderer?
Yu Hanjiang quickly went through the suspects in his mind and said, "During the police interrogation just now, a useful piece of information emerged: Yu Hui and Ying Xiaoya are not lovers, but cousins. Ying Xiaoya is staying at Yu Hui's house."
Xiao Lou suddenly realized: "No wonder... I remember when Yu Hui gave me the gift, she said it was a gift from her brother. I thought Yu Hui was older than her and called herself 'brother.' Turns out they really are siblings."
Xiao Lou paused for a moment, then continued, "When the police were questioning Yi Ru just now, she also confessed that the origami cranes were a birthday gift she prepared for Ying Xiaoya. I just went to the convenience store to inquire, and she did indeed go there to buy two bags of potato chips, so she has an alibi."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Therefore, the possibility of a crime of passion is ruled out. Yi Ru, Yu Hui, and Xie Xinghe are not the murderers."
The reasoning has once again run into trouble.
Currently, only these few students are known by name. If none of these three students are the murderer, then the murderer is either a student from another class who has not yet appeared in the two's field of vision, and the plot will continue to unfold as new characters are introduced.
Alternatively, the murderer could also be a teacher...
Xiao Lou asked, " Any clues about that printed love letter, or ' The Count of Monte Cristo '?"
Yu Hanjiang said, " Yu Hui said his sister is beautiful and often receives love letters, but the source of the letters is still unconfirmed. As for ' The Count of Monte Cristo,' when the police mentioned it, I noticed that Xie Xinghe's expression was a bit off. What are your thoughts?"
Xiao Lou pondered: "The theme of this book is revenge. The protagonist is framed by two despicable people and a judge, and thrown into a dark prison. He suffers a lot in prison, but fortunately he meets an old priest who teaches him all sorts of knowledge, lets him know who framed him, and tells him the location of a treasure. After the old priest dies, the protagonist escapes from prison, finds the treasure, becomes extremely wealthy, and goes by the alias ' The Count of Monte Cristo.' After careful planning, he successfully returns to take his revenge."
"Revenge…" Yu Hanjiang frowned. " Was Ying Xiaoya's death a revenge killing?"
" Xie Xinghe has this book in his bag. Maybe he's related to the theme of 'revenge'?" Xiao Lou pressed his temples, feeling like his head was about to explode. "And the curse, we have absolutely no clue about that keyword right now."
"With insufficient clues, this case cannot be solved in a day." Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, the police will come again tomorrow."
"You mean they'll gather evidence of poisoning and go back to the school to investigate again?"
"Hmm." Yu Hanjiang nodded: "You are a Forensic Doctor, so you can tell at a glance that the deceased was poisoned, but most Challengers are not Forensic Doctors and will not notice the abnormality of the deceased's pupils constricting. Therefore, the locked room will definitely tell the Challengers in another way — Ying Xiaoya was poisoned."
"That makes sense." Xiao Lou immediately understood: "If we don't tell them this clue, the Challengers ' reasoning will run into trouble. I'm the Forensic Doctor, and I can find out the real cause of Ying Xiaoya's death in advance. The other Challengers will most likely find out the truth when the police come to the school to investigate again tomorrow."
Yu Hanjiang turned to look at him, his eyes full of admiration: "Thanks to you, we obtained evidence of the deceased's poisoning in advance. This is our advantage, and we should make use of it."
Xiao Lou paused for a moment, then said, " Captain Yu means to search the school for drugs in advance?"
Yu Hanjiang stood up decisively and said:
"The murderer probably hasn't had time to properly dispose of the evidence of the poisoning yet, otherwise, this locked room mystery would be far too difficult. Let's wait until it gets dark and all the students and teachers have left before we start gathering clues... Also, the broken streetlights in the maple forest will definitely come in handy, so let's work hard tonight."
Xiao Lou also stood up, nodded and said, "Okay, you're the expert in evidence collection, I'll follow your instructions."
Having solved so many criminal cases, Yu Hanjiang's efficiency is truly doubled with the help of a forensic doctor. Moreover, Xiao Lou trusts him and is willing to follow his instructions, which is even more valuable.
Looking into Xiao Lou's clear eyes, Yu Hanjiang suddenly thought that meeting Xiao Lou as a partner in Card World was a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.
Regardless of who the murderer is.
They will definitely find the other party as quickly as possible!