Twenty minutes later, in the study.

Feng Bujue was sitting behind the desk, casually flipping through the booklet in which Officer Mark had recorded the statements. Detective Schofield sat in a chair next to the desk.

The two of them had "requisitioned" the room to conduct individual interrogations of the suspects.

"Based on the confirmed criminal evidence and related information in this case, we can try to make a logical depiction and judgment of the perpetrator's criminal psychology. From collecting data to summarizing and analyzing to deducing results, these three steps are basic. Specifically, it's using deduction..." Feng Bujue was enthusiastically explaining (flaunting) the theory of criminal psychological analysis to Schofield.

"Oh! Deduction! I've heard of that," Schofield finally heard a term he understood, and he replied, "Is that a concept from the *Sherlock Holmes* novels?"

"No, 'deduction' is just a way of saying it; the word can have many meanings," Feng Bujue shook his head. "In this case, we need to use not so much Holmes's deduction, but rather the deduction in the so-called 'criminal profiling.'"

"Uh... what's that..." Schofield asked.

"Inferring the psychological characteristics of the perpetrator, and then sketching out some of his or her physiological characteristics, personality traits, daily habits, etc., thereby reducing the number of suspected objects and narrowing the scope of suspects," Feng Bujue explained. "This is not a science in the strict sense, but it is indeed a rather advanced detective concept." He licked his lips. "The deduction in criminal profiling is divided into two steps. The first step is to obtain the main basis through communication with the suspect. These bases can be behavioral elements or elements of criminal psychological traces; the second step is to start from the general principles of criminal psychology, physical evidence technology, and investigation, and associate the criminal behavior or criminal psychological traces with specific suspects, and draw profiling conclusions."

"Of course, the specific profiling steps have five steps and more than a dozen key points, so I won't go into details, and I can't finish explaining them in a short time. Anyway... I estimate... in ten years, these courses will be moved to police academy tutorials... In the future, it will be the world of the academics; people who write reports will get promoted faster."

Dong, dong—

Just as Feng Bujue was drifting further and further off-topic, a knock on the door sounded, and Officer Dumpty said from outside the door, "Mrs. Carroll has arrived, sir."

Schofield and Jue-ge exchanged a glance, and the latter quickly nodded. So, the detective turned to face the outside and called out, "Please send her in."

The door opened, and Mrs. Carroll walked in. Her eyes were red and swollen, the tear stains were not yet dry, and most of the expensive makeup on her face had been wiped away by her handkerchief. That face, which was not considered beautiful to begin with, looked even more haggard at this moment.

"I'm sorry to have to bother you repeatedly at this time," Feng Bujue said. Dumpty had already closed the door behind Carroll from outside the study.

Carroll replied, "It's okay... you're only doing your duty." Her voice was low and slightly hoarse, which was also a sequela of crying for a long time.

"Well... please sit down first." Feng Bujue gestured to the seat opposite him.

Schofield stepped forward in a timely manner to help the lady adjust the chair and let her sit down.

"Thank you," Carroll said softly to the detective, and then sat down in the seat directly opposite Feng Bujue.

"I'll get straight to the point," Feng Bujue said as soon as the other party sat down. "The murderer is someone in this villa, right here among us."

Carroll was somewhat mentally prepared for this. No matter how sad she was, she couldn't be so oblivious as to not be able to deduce such an obvious thing.

"Who... is it?" Carroll asked tremblingly.

"I do have some hypotheses," Feng Bujue said. "But before I'm completely sure, I'd like to hear your opinion first."

"Me?" Carroll asked in confusion.

"Yes," Feng Bujue asked. "I'd like you to tell me, who do you think the murderer is?"

Carroll's eyes flickered, her gaze uncertain, and she was obviously thinking about something in her heart, but she still replied, "I... I don't know... Why ask me?"

"Heh..." Feng Bujue smiled. "Since you don't want to say it, then I'll just explain my own reasoning." He leaned back in his chair and said in a relaxed tone, "I think... the person who killed Dennis Lovecraft is you, Mrs. Carroll."

"What!" Carroll was shocked and angry, and her voice rose involuntarily. "How dare you say that! I love my husband so much! My heart is broken by his death, and you actually accuse me of being the murderer!"

"According to your testimony..." Feng Bujue was not affected by the other party's excited attitude and continued on his own, "Before you opened the door, the door was locked. And after you opened the door and saw the body, you didn't even enter the room, and were so frightened that you collapsed in the corridor." He shrugged. "But when we arrived at the scene, the windows in the room were all locked from the inside, and there was no other exit at all. Besides you, who has the key... who else could it be?" He deliberately fabricated, "I see... you killed the person first, then locked the room, went out to dispose of the murder weapon and washed the blood off your hands, and then came back, pretending to be the discoverer of the body, in order to clear yourself of suspicion."

"You... you're talking nonsense!" Carroll was so angry that she couldn't speak smoothly. "Why would I kill my husband?"

"Motive... I think it's because love turned into hate..." Feng Bujue raised the booklet in his hand and waved it gently. "According to the situation obtained from Officer Mark's questioning... you and Dennis don't have any children, do you?"

"Yes! So what! Is that against the law?" Carroll asked rhetorically.

"A couple around forty years old, the man's family is well-off, and the woman's family is even more wealthy and powerful. Without any pressure in life, if the couple is loving, why don't they have children..." Feng Bujue murmured, "Although it's not against the law... it's very strange, don't you think?"

"That's our private matter!" Carroll said angrily.

"Private matter... ha..." Feng Bujue continued nonchalantly, "Then I, as an outsider, can't help but continue to guess... Does your husband love you as much as you love him... Did he marry you with some other purpose in mind? You also know that although the Lovecraft family is considered wealthy in the eyes of ordinary people, compared to your family..."