Conflicting impressions of Jiao Yan.

Made Chen Xiao suspicious of her.

The foundation of suspicion, aside from image issues, stems from the signals the killer sent out.

People have seven emotions and six desires.

In a murder case, many people’s seven emotions and six desires are magnified infinitely. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Those magnified emotions are the basis for the police to seek their motive for committing the crime.

But when almost no emotional outburst is felt in a murder case, for the police, it’s an indication of increased difficulty.

An emotionless case leaves the motive elusive.

While in the autopsy room, Chen Xiao thought of the word scenario.

He believed that since the killer was so familiar with the situation between Jiao Guoxuan and Qiao Zhiyuan, and from other details, he could see that the killer was familiar with the deceased’s family.

This proves that before the case happened, the events between the Jiao Family and Qiao Family might have involved him multiple times.

Chen Xiao went to Jiao Guoxuan’s home with a purpose of finding scenarios.

After leaving Jiao Yan’s room, Chen Xiao finally arrived at the dining room.

The dining room was the crime scene.

The killer sedated the three deceased using drugs.

Afterward, they were bound, and finally killed.

Jiao Yue was the sole survivor in the case.

She said she saw the man covered in blood at home!

She was very certain that the person was Qiao Zhiyuan.

This information was clear to both Chen Xiao and Lin Xi.

Yet Chen Xiao discarded this information at this moment, quietly sitting at the bottom end of the dining table, facing the main seat where Jiao Guoxuan sat.

Chen Xiao looked forward, starting to analyze in his mind.

The case records show that there is some time gap between the deaths of the three victims.

Moreover, the killer’s time of action was not during dinner.

The drugs were placed in the family’s water dispenser.

This means that everyone in the Jiao Family actually fell into a coma that evening.

The difference is that Jiao Yue woke up and wasn’t bound, so she saw a man covered in blood in her home.

As for why Jiao Yue didn’t scream or call out, the reason was that she woke up very late.

She saw someone leaving her home at that time!

After the person left, she went to the dining room and found her parents and sister all dead.

After going through the case in his mind, Chen Xiao started seriously considering the scenarios he knew.

The first scenario is naturally Qiao Zhiyuan’s car accident and Jiao Yan’s broken hand.

The second scenario: the rift between the Qiao Family and Jiao Guoxuan, Qiao Zhiyuan threatened to dig out Jiao Guoxuan’s heart to see if it was black!

The third scenario?

Chen Xiao originally didn’t have a third in his mind, but now he has a new scenario.

That is, when Jiao Yue woke from her room, whether he saw Jiao Yue?

Regardless of whether he saw her, he ultimately let Jiao Yue go.

And when he left, he should not have hesitated or paused much.

If he had, Jiao Yue would very likely have seen his full face!

Therefore, throughout the case, there’s always been a clear direction: why did the killer spare Jiao Yue?

Was it because he had some special relationship with Jiao Yue?

If not, would a killer with such an unusual method be soft-hearted because the witness was a child?

Chen Xiao thought not.

Since it wasn’t soft-hearted, then the greatest possibility was a relationship.

If this relationship is extended, then Chen Xiao can think of two very reasonable explanations.

For example, Jiao Yue isn’t Jiao Guoxuan’s biological daughter?

Or, Jiao Yue is Jiao Guoxuan’s biological daughter.

But some men’s hearts are just inexplicably loving what belongs to others.

He loves Wei Rong, so under loving what belongs to others, he can’t bear to kill Jiao Yue.

But if that’s the case, wouldn’t the motive very likely be a crime of passion?

Is there a sense of a crime of passion in the whole case?

At least for now, Chen Xiao doesn’t feel strongly about it.

So he came up with a third explanation that isn’t so reasonable.

That explanation is: is it possible that the killer deliberately left Jiao Yue alive? And when he left, he didn’t see the awakened Jiao Yue!

The reason for leaving Jiao Yue alive is to direct the police to investigate Wei Rong!

Sitting in the chair by the table, Chen Xiao’s mind was spinning rapidly.

No matter how he thought, he felt little about the first two explanations, although they were reasonable, Chen Xiao still felt a hidden thrill about the third explanation.

"If my feeling is correct, then can I rule out the key person who caused the case, not being Wei Rong!"

"Furthermore, the investigation by Teacher Han Zai previously basically revolved around Jiao Guoxuan, simply because Jiao Guoxuan made too many enemies."

"But Teacher Han Zai’s investigation also ended without result, so can I temporarily exclude Jiao Guoxuan?"

"Excluding the two of them, plus my suspicion of Jiao Yan, why not define the key person as Jiao Yan!"

With this thought in mind, Chen Xiao stood up and returned to Jiao Yan’s bedroom, taking away the book "Before and After People" by Wang Dahe.

Leaving the Jiao Family, Chen Xiao called Wang Jun to confirm they were still at Kang Xin Hospital and then drove there.

By the time Chen Xiao arrived, the doctor’s consultation had already ended.

After the consultation, Wang Dahe’s state showed no change, after all his psychological problems were mostly hidden.

Chen Xiao exchanged a few words with Wang Jun, then pushed Wang Dahe forward alone, handed over the book, and gave him a pair of gloves.

Wang Dahe put on the gloves and was surprised to see that it was his own work:

"How did you get my book?"

"A crime scene in a case my wife is investigating revealed the teacher’s work. Since you wrote it, I thought you definitely understand it better than anyone else."

"I see." Wang Dahe realized, then continued:

"The prototype of this book is actually based on...Qin Qing’s brother."

"Hmm? The teacher’s wife’s brother!"

"Yes, your teacher’s wife’s brother was considered a very successful man before I wrote this book. But I’ve always disliked him, always felt he was a different person before and after people, no one could truly understand him."

"But later I realized I was wrong, I misunderstood him due to lack of understanding. He didn’t want to be a hypocrite in front of relatives; it was just his career had habitually made him that way. In front of relatives, he was also vulnerable and cared for them deeply."

Chen Xiao nodded silently, Wang Dahe then sighed and said:

"And the reason I decided to write a novel based on him was because he died because of Wang Jun."

In confusion, Chen Xiao asked: "What happened back then?"

"Wang Jun was his only nephew, and he himself only had a daughter, so at that time he really loved Wang Jun. That year, on the third day of the New Year, I took Wang Jun to visit your teacher’s family for the New Year. Wang Jun clung to his uncle wanting to play, Qin Hao took him to the side of an old wall to play."

"But no one expected that the consecutive heavy rains before the New Year had already weakened the old wall to the brink of collapse. At the critical moment, Qin Hao grabbed Wang Jun and threw him to the side, while he himself was hit on the head by bricks and died."

Hearing this, Chen Xiao fell silent.

Wang Dahe also expressed nostalgia for the past; "If he were still alive, he would probably be a more successful boss now. Unfortunately, the not yet mature Wang Jun let him down!"

Chen Xiao still said nothing, as such topics were difficult to continue.

Wang Dahe sighed, then changed the topic, asking with some curiosity: "Is the case your wife investigating a murder case or something else?"

"Murder case."

"Then the murdered person must be quite old, you can’t buy my book in recent years!"

This sentence made Chen Xiao’s eyes suddenly focus, and even his heart screamed:

"Indeed, the teacher’s book was written many years ago. His book didn’t cause much impact, so it’s almost impossible to buy now!"

"If that’s the case, where did Jiao Yan get ’Before and After People’?"