The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 364

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)

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."

"Miss Terauchi's room is the one I searched," Jian Jing introduced. "In addition to the aforementioned items, I also found burned paper in the flower pot on the balcony."

She pressed the page turner, and a photo she had taken as evidence appeared on the large screen.

"I was quite curious about the content, so I burned it again." She played a video clip of her burning the destroyed paper on a candle, with a fleeting glimpse of the text.

Wataru Kojima: "The Murder on the Orient Express."

"Correct answer, but no points awarded." Jian Jing froze the video to allow everyone to see the words clearly.

dear, when that old man dies...

Kumiko Terauchi gasped in dismay, then smiled bitterly, "You really are too amazing."

"You had a lover, and either you were planning to kill, or you knew someone was going to kill," Jian Jing said. "But to be honest, who doesn't have a motive for murder? What intrigues me more is the hidden room in your walk-in closet. Sorry, the traces on the floor were a bit obvious; hardwood is just so hard to keep clean."

She complained in a Versailles manner, then got to the point: "This is a Buddhist altar, where you secretly worship a Buddha statue."

Kumiko Terauchi revealed a helpless expression, only able to admit, "Yes."

Wataru Kojima wanted to say something but held back.

Jian Jing interrupted him, "Let's hear the last one, then everyone can summarize."

He nodded silently.

Suspect #8: [Korean] Ran-er Kim (character identity: wife's younger sister)

There are many luxurious dresses, and the walls are plastered with posters of famous actresses from the 1980s. The books include "How to Become an Actress", "Hollywood Stories", "What You Don't Know About Hollywood", etc.

Some letters from various film companies, some rejections, some notifications, and invitations to fashion magazine events.

Her wallet is flat, with only a pitiful amount of savings in her bankbook.

The calendar has multiple "dates" written on it, with different potential dates crossed out in red for each page.

"A girl dreaming of Hollywood," Valeriya summarized.

Ran-er Kim wrinkled her nose, looking cute: "Also a girl who hates blind dates."

It seemed to be a topic that resonated easily, as the usually quiet Zhang Xue'er also spoke up: "Who's forcing you to go on blind dates?"

Ran-er Kim: "Of course, it's my brother-in-law. He wants me to marry his chosen protégé."

"So that's your motive for murder?" Liu Sau-chi joked.

"You guess."

Min-cheol Park flipped through his notebook and spoke: "Based on what we have so far, some people have obvious motives for murder, while others are still unclear. Let me summarize the search results for each person:

"The wife seems to have a lover, and we can't rule out the possibility of killing her husband for inheritance and being with her lover. The sister-in-law dreams of the entertainment industry and hates the blind dates arranged by the deceased.

"The eldest son and his wife have been unable to conceive, and Dan seems to want to modify the will. The husband has a mistress on the side and a suspected child, but he did a DNA test with an unknown result. The eldest daughter-in-law has been constantly praying to Buddha and taking medication.

"The second daughter is pregnant and places great importance on her child, and she knows about the eldest son's infertility issue. Her husband is deeply in debt and in dire need of money, and he also has a secret.

"The third son harbors resentment toward his father due to his mother's death and wants to take revenge. His fiancée is greedy and promiscuous, seemingly lacking deep feelings for her fiance, but her own background is unclear and she intentionally conceals her origins."

"My brother-in-law is a lawyer, but his career and finances are not going well. He desperately needs a sum of money, and he also has a child with a serious illness that needs treatment. My nephew has been envious of Dan's two sons since childhood. He secretly recorded audio, with unclear intentions, hoping to become Dan's heir.

"My cousin is unemployed and a compulsive gambler. He has repeatedly asked the deceased for money and valuables, but the result was not as he wished. The nephew is a photography enthusiast with poor financial circumstances, but nothing unusual has been discovered about him.

"Dan's friend Hiroto Ishikawa secretly loves another friend, Linnaer. Linnaer likes Dan, but they never got together because of Yu Meng's scheming, which caused Linnaer's career to plummet. The doctor's father used to be friends with Dan, Hiroto Ishikawa, and Linnaer, and the cause of his death seems questionable. I suspect it may be related to Dan. The doctor wants to investigate the situation from back then."

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?