Chapter 752: Locked-Room Murder

On the projection screen, Wang Zhaokai zoomed in on the names of the three neighbors of the deceased, Qin Weiwei.

"And the neighbor downstairs got up to use the bathroom, and roughly checked the time, which was around 3:30 AM."

"However, the time of death of the deceased was 5 AM."

"So, if the cry for help was real, why is there a one-and-a-half-hour gap between the time of the cry and the time of death?"

Wang Zhaokai not only questioned the deceased Qin Weiwei’s neighbors across, above, and below but also asked all the residents in the apartment building.

Regarding Qin Weiwei, the people in the building said everyone had seen her, but weren’t particularly familiar with her.

"The deceased Qin Weiwei bought a second-hand apartment in this community two and a half years ago."

"She wasn’t very familiar with the neighbors in the building."

"Most impressions of Qin Weiwei were that she was very pretty and knew how to dress up, but nothing more detailed."

Wang Zhaokai operated the projector, showing the surveillance footage at the entrance of the community.

"We retrieved the surveillance video from the entrance of the community."

"This community has two entrances and exits, both with surveillance cameras."

"We focused on reviewing the footage from 3:30 AM to 7 AM."

"During this time, 18 people entered the community."

"Only two people exited."

As Wang Zhaokai introduced the situation, he manipulated the projector to change the footage.

"We specifically investigated the two people who left, one regularly exercises in the morning, going out for a run at 5 AM every day."

"The other works at the airport and leaves quite early every day."

Everyone knew why Wang Zhaokai was investigating this video.

The deceased was murdered at home.

If an outsider committed the crime, they would have left the community after 5 AM.

But the surveillance video shows that during the 5 AM interval, the two people who left were one who exercises in the morning and another who goes to work at the airport.

In all likelihood, neither is the murderer.

So...

"The murderer is within the community? At least after killing, they didn’t leave by dawn?"

Chen Jiang frowned and said.

Wang Zhaokai nodded: "It’s possible."

"Of course, it’s also possible that after committing the murder, the perpetrator wasn’t in a hurry to leave and decided to act after dawn; we can’t say for sure."

"However, because time is tight, the brothers are still sifting through the footage after dawn without any results yet."

This is quite a time-consuming task.

Theoretically, as long as the murderer isn’t someone from within the community,

then they would surely appear in the footage at the two entrances.

If so, by having the Criminal Investigation Team screen a segment of the video and compare it with the community’s residents, it would be possible to identify unfamiliar personnel entering the community.

"I think we should focus on investigating people known to Qin Weiwei."

Sun Biao voiced his opinion.

"There are no clear signs of assault found on the deceased indoors, and no signs of the drawers being rifled through in her home."

"We even found ten thousand yuan in cash in the drawer of the deceased’s coffee table."

"The deceased’s jewelry, gold ornaments, weren’t stolen."

"So motives like robbery can basically be ruled out."

"Therefore, it’s highly likely to be a crime committed by someone acquainted with her. Moreover, everyone should notice, the words discovered on the bathroom mirror of the deceased’s home by Captain Lu, what does this signify?"

"It implies the perpetrator had been in the deceased’s bathroom; if it wasn’t someone she knew, how could they have left words in her bathroom?"

"I agree with Old Sun’s opinion."

Wang Zhaokai pointed at the projection, on which were related acquaintances of Qin Weiwei.

"I think we should conduct a key investigation into the neighbor opposite Qin Weiwei’s apartment."

"According to the neighbor downstairs, shouts and cries for help emanated from Qin Weiwei’s apartment at around 3:30 AM."

"It’s curious that at such a late hour, the opposite neighbor was still awake."

"What was he doing?"

"I’ve been to the opposite neighbor’s house; although the soundproofing of this building is average, it’s not easy to clearly hear the situation next door."

"Furthermore, I checked the identity of Qin Weiwei’s opposite neighbor; he doesn’t have a legitimate job."

"In his thirties, without a proper job, staying awake for more than half a year, eavesdropping on the young girl’s wall next door."

"Moreover, this person even knocked on the door to inquire about the situation, doesn’t everyone find this strange?"

"Normally, if one hears someone shouting for help, especially in the dead of night, would you choose to call the police or go over to check?"

The crowd looked at each other.

Only a fool would go over to check.

"I think we need to investigate Qin Weiwei’s boyfriend."

Chen Jiang expressed his opinion: "Although Qin Weiwei’s boyfriend is currently not in Haizhou City."

"The time he left was at 8 AM this morning."

"Qin Weiwei died at 5 AM; her ex-boyfriend left Haizhou City at 8 AM this morning. I think it’s not a coincidence."

"Based on my investigation, Qin Weiwei and her boyfriend did not break up amicably during the Spring Festival."

"This boyfriend even visited Qin Weiwei’s advertising company to cause trouble twice."

"Also, according to Qin Weiwei’s close friend, this boyfriend had been to Qin Weiwei’s house and blocked her door."

"There are entanglements between the two; I think this person should be thoroughly investigated."

After both voiced their opinions, others also offered their viewpoints.

However, the possibility of murder for financial gain was mostly ruled out.

Lu Chuan listened to everyone’s reports while jotting down notes in his notebook.

An hour later, the group discussion was mostly concluded.

"Has everyone finished expressing their opinions?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright," Lu Chuan set down his ballpoint pen, "then I’ll say a few words."

Everyone straightened up and turned their attention to Lu Chuan.

Though Lu Chuan had not been in the position of Criminal Investigation Team Captain for long, he had solved quite a few cases in the meantime.

"First, it can be determined this is a criminal case."

No one opposed this point, the writing discovered on the bathroom mirror by Lu Chuan was proof enough.

Additionally, the deceased’s body was moved after death, from the bathroom floor to the bed, which also indicates this.

"Besides, this case is unusual; from the current clues, it looks like a locked room murder case."

Hmm?

Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised.

A locked room murder case?

How did it come to this?

"Perhaps everyone hasn’t closely observed the lock on the door that was pried open at the crime scene by the property management."

"Li, play the Crime Scene Investigation photo on the projector, look at number 12."

"Yes!"

The technical investigator Li operated the equipment, and a photo of a pried-off door lock appeared on the projector.