508 A Reasonable Deduction

"…"

Fang Yuanyuan scrunched up her nose at her, then thought for a moment before asking a question seriously. "Do you have anything on today?"

Xiang Wan gave her a solemn glance. "I have my hands full everyday!"

Fang Yuanyuan: "…"

She had already made plans with Qing Dai and a few other authors to visit Xuan Yue.

Fang Yuanyuan told her that although Xuan Yue had refused to go to the hospital that day when the incident occurred, she actually went to the hospital the next day. Besides asking for an immunoglobulin shot, she also wanted a rabies vaccine… She was so paranoid.

"This girl is so unlucky!" Fang Yuanyuan remarked as she shook her head. "It was just a movie date with her bestie. And her bestie would actually attack her out of nowhere… the impact is too great…"

Fang Yuanyuan paused and turned her head when she noticed Xiang Wan's stunned expression.

"What's with this look?"

Xiang Wan kept staring at her without a word.

Fang Yuanyuan: "…"

She gasped two seconds later. "Sis, why are you looking at me in this way?"

"…" Xiang Wan still did not reply.

"D*rn! Have you made up your mind about how to get rid of me or something… Babe, don't look at me in this way, I'm getting the creeps… Xiang Wan, are you thinking of biting me to death?"

Fang Yuanyuan looked at her teasingly when she suddenly protected her neck with her hands. "Don't bite me, don't bite me…"

Xiang Wan suddenly stared at her ferociously. When Fang Yuanyuan saw that, she started to move backwards step by step. She was just joking initially but was now feeling nervous… "Xiang Wan? What's with you?"

Xiang Wan took a feather duster and tapped on her leg. "I'm not going to bite you. I just wanted to hit you!"

"Hahaha!" Fang Yuanyuan cackled in relief. "Gosh, you nearly scared me to death. Sis, you should go act as the female zombie. Who knows, you might shoot to fame! Do you know that you really looked like one earlier? Maybe you'll even be more popular than Xie Wanwan…"

Act as a female zombie?

Xiang Wan's hand that was holding a feather duster suddenly twitched.

That's right! Why didn't she think of that?

…

She was in a daze again.

Fang Yuanyuan waved a hand in front of her.

"Xiang Wan, what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing?" Xiang Wan looked up. "I suddenly thought of something."

"Alright! So will you be joining us to visit Xuan Yue?"

"Not going!" Xiang Wan's expression did not seem happy. She picked up her phone and quickly typed a message to Bai Muchuan.

Fang Yuanyuan did not know that Xiang Wan was suspecting Xuan Yue. She hovered around Xiang Wan and was trying to persuade her. "Look, we're all from the same website and even had dinner together… Oh right, that day when we ate together, Xuan Yue was the one who picked up the tab. With something so major happening to her, it's only right for us to visit and see how she's doing… Moreover, all of us are going. I really don't know how the others will see you if you don't go."

"Do you think I care?"

Xiang Wan did not even lift her head while she typed her message and responded to Fang Yuanyuan.

"Forget it then, I can't outtalk you. I'll get going now!"

Fang Yuanyuan wanted to go back to her room to get her bag when Xiang Wan suddenly lifted her head and spoke in a very stern and grave tone.

"Don't go!"

Fang Yuanyuan was confused when she looked at Xiang Wan's grim expression. "What happened to you?"

"You're not allowed to visit Xuan Yue."

Her stern look startled Fang Yuanyuan.

"Why? We've already made arrangements!"

"I'll tell you later. You're not allowed to go visit her and that's final. And…" She paused for a moment and although she knew she shouldn't do this, she couldn't control the kindness in her heart. "Tell Qing Dai and the others not to go as well… find an excuse and don't go there!"

…

…

Bai Muchuan was on his way back to Serious Crime Division One when he received news from Xiang Wan.

"About Xuan Yue and Shiliu's case, I have a thought about it. Are you in office? I'll come right away to discuss this in detail."

She was very serious.

All of her words meant business.

Bai Muchuan lowered his head and pinched between his eyes. "You didn't sleep well last night? Don't be paranoid and think too much."

"I didn't," said Xiang Wan, "How about this? We can talk over the phone. Is it convenient now?"

Bai Muchuan took a glance at Quan Shaoteng who was beside him and waved at him. "It's convenient."

Quan Shaoteng shrugged his shoulders. "I'll get to work right away then!"

"Mm." Bai Muchuan reminded him, "Be careful!"

…

Xiang Wan took her mobile phone and walked into her bedroom as she wanted to keep this conversation private.

She said her first sentence in a definite tone. "I feel that Xuan Yue killed Shiliu deliberately!"

Bai Muchuan was not too surprised to hear that from her.

But he immediately raised his doubts. "How do you explain the surveillance footage then? Everyone saw that Shiliu was the one who started it first!"

"It's very simple actually. The two besties were just joking around with each other. After they watched the movie, the psychological effects of the plot are still there. Xuan Yue deliberately led Shiliu to bite her like the zombies in the previous cases. Shiliu had thought that she was just joking… She's just in her early twenties, how would she know that she should be more careful around people?"

The way Xiang Wan put it was as though she was very much older than her age.

Bai Muchuan did not argue about that. He just smiled and continued to raise another doubt. "What about the teeth marks on Xuan Yue's neck?"

"This is even simpler to explain," said Xiang Wan affirmatively and confidently, "All of us overlooked one detail. When we saw Shiliu displaying the zombie behavior, we had subconsciously judged her as the one attacking Xuan Yue. In turn, when Xuan Yue strangled Shiliu's neck, we classified that as a defensive measure and Xuan Yue was just trying to defend herself.

"The surveillance footage was without sound. We could only see Shiliu's face and didn't know what Xuan Yue had said to her. It could totally be that Shiliu was unable to breathe due to the strangle and heard Xuan Yue telling her that she wanted her dead. Under such circumstances, Shiliu might have chosen to bite her so as to free herself from Xuan Yue. Unfortunately, she got pushed down the stairs instead when she did that…"

Very well.

It was a reasonable explanation.

Xiang Wan let out a mocking sneer. "Such a method of killing someone certainly belonged to the intelligent type of criminal."

She felt a chill in her body as she was almost certain of her own inference.

Sir Little Bai raised his doubts one after another.

"But the drug tests proved that the 'zombie drug' was found to be inside Shiliu's body…"

"It takes time for a drug to take effect, which is the same for every medication out there. Take Wang Xinggui for example, she didn't know how she consumed the drug but she was different with the other perpetrators in this case for she was clear-headed when she bit Feng Min out of self-defence, it was not because of the 'zombie' drug. She did that purely to defend herself."

Bai Muchuan kept quiet.

Clearly, he was unable to refute her.

Xiang Wan's sense of logic was getting steadier.

"Bai Muchuan, I've thought about it earlier. When Shiliu bit Xuan Yue, the drug had not taken effect. When the drug took effect, Shiliu had already become a corpse. It was because Xuan Yue did not want to risk her life and she must have known when the drug would take effect. Hence, I suspect that Xuan Yue was the one who made Shiliu consume the 'zombie' drug!"