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French Garden
墨書 Inktalez
"Among all the people I know, the strangest one has to be him. Don't believe me? I bet you won't find another person as odd as he is." Zhu Xu lit a cigarette with his lighter, watching me through a haze of smoke. At that moment, we were drinking at a restaurant on Kongjiang Road. "Have you ever seen someone lock themselves in a basement for a month or two without going out? I have. You ask what he eats? Of course, he doesn't cook; he orders takeout all day long. How does he support himself? I'm not sure about that, but he seems to have plenty of spare cash." I grabbed a beer from the table and downed it in one go.
"There are plenty of such lunatics in the world," I said casually. "But although this guy is strange, he has helped me quite a bit, especially with some murder cases."
Hearing this, I laughed again. "He must be your Sherlock Holmes then? What exactly can he do? Does he really analyze cases like those famous detectives in mystery novels, unraveling them thread by thread to find the truth?" I said with a mocking tone.
I've known Zhu Xu for quite some time; he's been a police officer for many years and has solved numerous cases. For many years, I've scoffed at the pretentious detectives in mystery novels. I believe that the cases in novels are far removed from real-life murder cases; no one would go to the trouble of staging an impossible crime scene just for show. In reality, the perfect crime is one committed without motive.
"Logical reasoning can indeed solve real-life cases," Zhu Xu said, his face flushed from drinking and his speech slightly slurred. "In many of the cases I've solved, I've identified the culprit purely through logic. Of course, using tricks to commit murder is rare in reality, but reasoning is the best method for solving cases. Don't believe me? Let me tell you about a real case." He noticed my skeptical smile and added.
A few months ago, you might have heard about it—a murder occurred at Champagne Garden in Jing'an District. Where is Champagne Garden? Look at you, so uncultured that you don't even know this residential area. It's known as a gathering place for the wealthy! A French garden community! I've heard that villa prices there are still rising; someone with my salary could never afford it even if they saved every penny for a lifetime.
Back to the case. On the morning of February 20th, an elderly man came to the central garden of Champagne Garden to practice Tai Chi as usual. It was around six o'clock.
He discovered a young girl sitting upright on a bench at the Stone Pavilion in the central garden. She was wearing a white trench coat, her head bowed down, and her long brown hair covered her entire face. The old man thought she was asleep and kindly approached her to give her a nudge, saying something like it was chilly here and she might catch a cold if she slept outside.
But with that push, the girl toppled over to the other side. The old man was startled and realized something was wrong; he hurriedly propped her up. He saw that her complexion had turned blue and her body was starting to stiffen. Checking for breath, he found none! It dawned on him that he was holding a corpse and immediately called the police.
At that time, I was at Xiao Chen's—yes, the strange guy I mentioned earlier.
To call it a home is generous; it's really just a filthy basement. He fancies himself an artist and spends every day painting in that sunless space. His so-called impressionist works are completely distorted; honestly, I can't make heads or tails of them. You ask what I do there? Well, I just sit with him sometimes because I feel sorry for him not having many friends. Do you know how exaggerated this guy is? The last time we chatted, he thought the President of the United States was Bush—how long has Obama been in office now? Isn't that strange?
I received the call in his basement; it was Xiao Zhang calling me. Xiao Zhang is one of my subordinates and also a police officer. After getting the call, I planned to go with Xiao Chen. But of course, he put on that sour face and complained, saying things like, "I'm an artist, not a detective. Why do I always have to go with you?" But I know him well enough—he's just too proud, even though his curiosity is stronger than anyone else's! In the end, he obediently followed me to that so-called Champagne Garden.
As soon as we arrived at the scene, I saw Xiao Zhang looking excited. He may not have many skills, but he is obedient, and you know that's exactly the kind of person I like. According to his report, the victim was named Jia Jieru, twenty-five years old, currently working as a junior employee at a foreign company. The cause of death, according to the coroner's examination, was blunt force trauma to the back of her head, resulting in traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. I examined the body and noticed a dent in the back of her skull that made me feel a bit nauseous. It's such a pity that such a beautiful girl has met such a tragic end.
From the stiffness of the body, we could determine that the time of death was approximately between ten-thirty and midnight last night. Since it had been raining from five in the afternoon until one in the morning, there were no footprints left around the Stone Pavilion garden. Even if the murderer had left footprints, they would have been washed away by the rain long ago. The next step was to investigate whether any residents had witnessed any suspicious individuals during that time frame.
The investigation results were disappointing; almost no one had seen the victim, let alone any suspects. Isn't it strange? Logically speaking, ten-thirty to midnight isn't that late; there should be quite a few people out for a stroll. How could no one have witnessed the murderer in action?
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