Chapter 364

Chapter 364

Suspect #9: [Thai] Linnaer (character identity: famous singer)

Search result as follows:

The wall is plastered with her own posters, titled "Asia's Number One Female Singer" and "Eternal Rose". There is a box of music tapes and a closet of lavish clothing. On the bedside table is a photo of her with Dan at a birthday party.

There is a scrapbook carefully arranged with evaluations of herself from newspapers around the world, covering most of her life: born into poverty, her father died young, her mother remarried, she entered beauty pageants from the age of 12 or 13, and struggled in the music scene. She released many well-known songs, but due to someone deliberately luring her, she became addicted to alcohol, ruining her voice and damaging her liver, hitting rock bottom in her life.

Yet ten years later, she not only overcame her alcoholism, but returned to the music scene and reached the top again.

"What a legendary life," Jian Jing remarked.

Min-cheol Park: "It seems there's no problem, except for that setback at 30. Who made you end up like that?"

Linnaer said, "It was my rival, Yu Meng."

"Miss Yu?" they echoed in unison.

"You two were rivals?"

"She was my opponent," Linnaer gave an affirmative answer.

Wataru Kojima asked, "How is Miss Yu doing now?"

Linnaer: "She's dead."

"Who helped you quit drinking?" Jian Jing asked curiously. "Hiroto Ishikawa, or Dan?"

Linnaer said, "They both helped me."

Jian Jing pondered, "Mr. Ishikawa, it's your turn."

Suspect #14: [Japanese] Hiroto Ishikawa (character identity: Dan's friend)

The room has many books, with the logo of XX University on many items, as well as a library borrowing card identifying him as a folklore professor at XX University.

He has published some books on folklore, such as "The Spiritual Influence of Witchcraft on Southeast Asia", "Evil Spirits are Everywhere", and "The Century-Long Impact of Superstition on Families", etc.

The clothes in the closet are exquisite, paired with expensive watches and belts.

His wallet contains a precious photo of him and Linnaer, but it is incomplete, with what appears to be a cut-off portion on the side.

"You were infatuated with Linnaer," Kumiko Terauchi said.

Ran-er Kim: "But Linnaer liked Dan, right? Wait, if you and Yu Meng were rivals, does that have something to do with Dan? Could Jian be the fourth child from a different mother?"

Jian Jing glanced at her, thinking: It's clear she hasn't starred in a few Korean dramas.

Hiroto Ishikawa said, "I did harbor feelings for Linnaer."

"Dan helped me a lot when I first debuted," Linnaer said. "Now, I only see him as a good friend."

Finally, the young wife and sister-in-law pair remained.

Suspect #6: [Japanese] Kumiko Terauchi (character identity: wife)

Search result as follows:

The room is filled with countless luxury jewelry and expensive dresses. In a drawer, there is a wad of cash carelessly stuffed in, along with many fashion magazines and letters.

The drawer also contains several similar medical examination reports, about one every six months, all checking for pregnancy.

Under the mattress, there are a few strange pieces of paper, claiming to be letters but without a header or signature. The content is also bizarre, full of romantic and dreamy tones - "When my house is decorated, with the sound of flutes and laughter echoing, let me forever feel that I have not yet invited you."

Min-cheol Park finished his summary.

Connor Lee added, "In my opinion, the wife, three children, brother-in-law and his son, and the cousin all had motives related to money, specifically the inheritance and who would be the heir. The situations of the two friends and one friend's child are unclear, including the unmarried partner. Perhaps they are entangled in a feud from the previous generation, which would be revenge."

"Money and revenge are eternal themes of murder," Kumiko Terauchi sighed. "So complicated."

"Not quite," Wataru Kojima said. "There's another key factor: witchcraft. Many people's rooms contained items related to witchcraft - Buddha statues, notebooks, books, amulets, paper dolls..."

"Indeed," Hiroto Ishikawa pondered for a moment, agreeing. "Beyond the clues already discovered, there are deeper undercurrents, and behind the masks, there is another layer of mystery."

Wataru Kojima nodded and looked at Jian Jing. "Miss Jian, do you have anything to add?"

Jian Jing said, "Although everyone's clues vary in quantity, in the end, everyone has a motive for murder. It's just a matter of how urgent it is."

He nodded in agreement. "There are three key points in deduction: why, who, and how. Are you more interested in how?"

"This is a headless corpse, after all," she said.

Wataru Kojima understood deeply. "Indeed, it's very important why the killer decapitated the victim."

"Has the autopsy report come out?"

"It just came out." The AI assistant Raji took out a small paper slip and began reading the results. "The victim's body did not have any obvious wounds. The blood was dark red, the internal organs were congested, the lungs were edematous, and urine was discharged. The initial determination is that the cause of death was asphyxiation."

"Asphyxiation?"

This was a great surprise to everyone present.

Jian Jing immediately asked, "Was the deceased really Dan?"

"According to fingerprints and physical characteristics, the deceased is Dan," Raji answered.

"What was the time of death?" Jian Jing asked.

"Between 11 PM yesterday night and 2 AM this morning."

"I have a question," Zhang Xue'er raised her hand and asked. "If the person died of asphyxiation, as mentioned earlier, why decapitate them?"

Wataru Kojima said, "There are many possibilities, the most classic being that the identities of the perpetrator and the victim are reversed. But in this case, we can confirm the victim's identity through fingerprints. The killer must have had a more compelling reason to do this."

"Such as?"

Jian Jing gave an example, "There may have been something on the head that would directly reveal the victim's identity."

"What could be on the head? Hairstyle?" Jiang BaiYan was full of questions.

She said, "The victim died of asphyxiation, and there are many ways to asphyxiate: disease, drowning, choking, smothering, strangulation, hanging... Assuming the victim was smothered, the murder weapon might have been a special item, such as a shawl that only a certain person owns. The killer may have been afraid that the victim's mouth and nose would leave clues, so they chose to cut off the head and take it away."

"The head was severed by the fruit knife in the study, with a rough, blurred cut surface," Wataru Kojima added. "It's also possible that the killer wanted to destroy the neck area - because the killer left a distinctive mark when strangling Dan."

He paused, then continued, "Of course, we also can't rule out the possibility that the killer hated the victim so much that they had to decapitate them, perhaps as part of a ritual."

It was Jian Jing's turn to add to his perspective. "In different cultures, decapitation has different symbolic meanings: the honor of a victor, the punishment for a crime, a superstitious belief to prevent the deceased from being resurrected, or a science fiction concept that decapitation is necessary to truly kill someone."

Connor Lee asked, "...Are you talking about zombies?"

"The concept of zombies originated from voodoo in the first place," Wataru Kojima said. "Of course, without more evidence, this is just speculation. But I believe we can't limit ourselves to a certain line of thinking."

"Yes, and a headless corpse has another interpretation - that the victim committed suicide, and someone staged it as a murder afterward. The killer wanted to create the impression of a serial killer case, using this case as a cover-up," Jian Jing said. "It's too early to draw conclusions now."

Everyone: "..."

Then why did you say so much?