Chapter 1 Police Investigation

The police's investigation began, or rather, it could be said that it was Feng Bujue's investigation.

After a few words with Schofield, Brother Jue learned that there were only four police officers in total who had come to investigate the murder in this mountain villa... Besides Schofield and the two subordinates he brought into the house, there was one person left outside watching the car.

But this was also reasonable. Police stations in remote areas like this one had very limited resources. Sending two police cars and four officers to the scene already indicated how seriously they took this case.

"It's getting late, Detective. Have you considered having your men take the body back to town for examination first?" Feng Bujue asked this question while kneeling on one knee on the floor beside the body, bringing his head close to Dennis's neck and carefully observing the wound.

At this time, the people in the corridor outside the door had left, with one police officer standing guard at the door, and another starting to take some preliminary notes.

"There's only one clinic in town, and I don't think the doctor there can handle this kind of work," Schofield replied. "Our town rarely has murders like this. To perform an autopsy, we'd probably have to send the body to Ogilvy City, which is half a day's drive from here. The police station there is equipped with a forensic doctor..."

"Alright," Feng Bujue interrupted. "Never mind I asked." As he spoke, he stood up, went behind the armchair, and gently moved Dennis's head, looking at it for a few seconds before saying, "He was strangled to death. The wound is very thin, located at the back of the neck. The weapon should be something like a wire or fishing line."

"Hmm..." Schofield followed Feng Bujue and also saw the condition of the back of Dennis's neck.

Feng Bujue continued, "In addition to the wound cut by the line, there are many irregular small wounds on the front of his neck." He raised the deceased's hand and used a toothpick to pick out a strand of flesh from his fingernails, saying, "Obviously, he scratched it himself with his fingers."

Schofield thought for a moment and replied, "Hmm... Was this left when he was being strangled from behind and tried to pull the line away?"

"A futile struggle," Feng Bujue said coldly. "As long as the perpetrator pulls tight enough, even if they use a hemp rope as the weapon, it is difficult for the victim to dig their fingers into the gap between the hemp rope and the skin, let alone such a thin line... If the perpetrator has enough arm strength, they could even cut the whole head off."

Listening to Brother Jue's calm narration and looking at his indifferent and focused expression... even Schofield, a detective who had seen many things, couldn't help but feel a chill.

"The carpet in front of the armchair has traces of being pushed by the deceased's toes, with several layers of obvious folds pointing forward." Feng Bujue lowered his gaze. "Combined with the scuff marks on the carpet... my preliminary judgment is that he was strangled to death while sitting in this chair. After he died, the killer didn't move him."

As he said this, Feng Bujue suddenly saw something. He bent down, slightly pushed aside the deceased's legs, and picked up a cigarette butt from the cushion of the armchair.

The next second, he immediately turned to look at the ashtray on the small table next to him, which also contained several cigarette butts. Brother Jue took both of them and compared them in front of his eyes, and after smelling them, confirmed that they were the same brand, and said, "Was he smoking when he was killed..."

"So... the killer hid somewhere in this room beforehand, secretly approached the target from behind, and then struck suddenly?" Schofield speculated.

Feng Bujue shook his head and replied, "The only places in this room where someone could hide are under the bed, in the closet, and in the bathroom next door." He walked to the bathroom and gently pushed the bathroom door, and the wooden door immediately made a creaking sound. "Most of these wooden doors and furniture make this kind of noise. If the killer was hiding in the bathroom or closet, there would definitely be a sound when they came out." He then came to the bed. "As for under the bed, it's already difficult to hide an adult, and the deceased's face was facing this bed, so he would have been seen when they came out."

"Then... that means the deceased knew that the killer was in the same room with him before he was killed," Schofield said after a few seconds of thought. "But he wasn't prepared."

Feng Bujue shrugged and said, "Yes, the killer must be someone who knew Dennis. So, when the killer walked into Dennis's blind spot and took out the weapon, Dennis was still smoking leisurely."

"Sure enough, the killer is in this villa..." Schofield muttered thoughtfully.

"What? It sounds like you already have a suspect?" Feng Bujue said.

"Uh... just some ideas that aren't very mature yet," Schofield said.

"Why not share them, Detective?" Feng Bujue said.

Schofield hesitated for a moment, glanced towards the door (which was still open), and then lowered his voice slightly. "I suspect... it's Old Master Colson."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Don't you think... that old man seems too calm?" Schofield said. "His words and actions don't seem like the reaction an old man who has just suffered the pain of losing his son should have."

"No, his reaction is normal. Before you came, when he had just learned that his son had been killed, he was indeed very agitated, but he calmed down faster than most people," Feng Bujue said. "Because he's not an ordinary old man." He paused. "There are at least four obvious signs on Colson that indicate he has a military background, and Dennis also mentioned this to me. Colson has probably seen more dead bodies than you and I have seen living people. He has a strong will and is rational enough. This kind of person won't break down easily."

As Feng Bujue spoke, he walked to the window. "Also... you've seen that Old Master Colson needs a cane to walk, and the killer in this case must hold the weapon with both hands and get close to the victim." As he spoke, his eyes lit up, as if he had found something on the edge of the window frame, but he didn't stop his narration. "What's more... if he was in the same room with his father, Dennis wouldn't have turned his back to him and smoked while talking. That would be too disrespectful."

"Did you find something?" Schofield also noticed Feng Bujue's actions and quickly followed to check.

"Ah... I just figured out how the killer escaped from the locked room," Feng Bujue replied in a very relaxed tone. "It's not a difficult problem." He pointed to the window frame. "Look here..."

Schofield looked in the direction Brother Jue was pointing and found a faint bloodstain with clean edges. "What does that mean?"

"It means the killer used the murder weapon directly to create this locked room," Feng Bujue said. Then, he opened the window and leaned out to look. "The foundation of this villa is quite thick. The window sill is about 1.7 meters above the grass outside." As he spoke, he climbed out himself, after all, this was only the first floor...

"Hmm... Everyone except Colson and Oliver are suspects," Feng Bujue muttered after jumping onto the lawn outside the house. Then, he began to look down and examine the footprints.