The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 368

"Cut the chatter, let's move on," the director instructed.

So everyone naturally skipped over the banter and continued with their deductions.

"Now it's quite clear that the culprit (the second culprit) is imitating the true culprit (the first culprit)," Jian Jing said. "The person who killed Linnaer and the one who killed Dan are not the same individual."

"Why not?" Jiang BaiYan chimed in to keep the conversation going.

"Their modus operandi are completely different. The first culprit was meticulous in their planning; aside from the telephone call, they left behind almost no clues. The second culprit seemed more frantic, didn't even check if Linnaer was truly dead before dismembering her body, leaving the scene in total disarray. Generally speaking, culprits tend to be more nervous during their first crime and more composed during subsequent ones - these two cases are the opposite."

Jian Jing explained her reasoning, which was unanimously accepted.

- Though dissent was meaningless at this point, as the new gameplay mechanic of an accomplice had already been triggered, confirming there were two culprits.

With the premise established, the analysis continued.

"Since this is a case of imitation, we must analyze the two cases separately," she pondered. "First, we can rule out the possibility that the culprit chose the victims at random out of admiration for the true culprit - the true culprit only killed one person, at least that's all we know of so far, and they haven't displayed any particularly charismatic personality. They killed Linnaer for their own motives."

Wataru Kojima asked, "Who would have a motive to kill Linnaer?"

"Hard to say. Raj might have resented her because of his father's death. Kumiko might have discovered Linnaer's relationship with Dan. Ishikawa might have wanted to conceal some truth. I might even harbor resentment toward Linnaer because of Yu Meng," Jian Jing said nonchalantly while twirling her pen. "Expanding the scope further, Wu Lie and Andrei might have known something and blackmailed her."

Wu Lie immediately spoke up, "I had no contact with Linnaer."

Andrei echoed, "Neither did I."

Kumiko, however, said, "Although I knew Linnaer liked Dan, I had no reason to kill her. The one I love is not Dan, and she couldn't have taken away my inheritance."

Given her established lover, this reasoning seemed sound.

Raj defended himself, "I still don't know the circumstances behind my father's death, but based on the evidence so far, it seems more likely to be related to Dan."

Ishikawa added, "If I wanted to kill Linnaer, I could have done so much earlier. There was no need to kill her now."

It was Jian Jing's turn.

"Yu Meng died due to a backfiring ritual. I don't think 'I' had a motive to kill, as Linnaer's death doesn't benefit 'me' in any way. Most importantly... I think the culprit is quite easy to guess."

Everyone turned their gaze toward her.

"The culprit brought a butcher knife to Linnaer's room - there's no doubt about that, right? If they had gone to retrieve the knife after the fact, Linnaer would have had enough time to wake up or call for help. So the culprit's intent to kill was clear, not a confrontation or a threat, but a determined motive to end her life."

Jian Jing continued, "Now look at the victim. Linnaer died in her own room, which means she willingly invited the culprit in - a very obvious signal. Given that someone had already been killed, it's unlikely she would have been alone with an unfamiliar person. So for now, we can rule out Wu Lie and Andrei, the two unfamiliar adult males who pose a potential threat."

Wu Lie and Andrei both nodded in agreement, relieved to have their suspicions cleared.

"As for Kumiko and myself, although we're not well acquainted, we're of the same gender, so she might have let us in, or she might not have. The suspicion remains. Raj is the child of a good friend, a junior; Ishikawa is a long-time friend. As long as there was a legitimate reason, she could have allowed them in as well.

"You all saw the scene. Linnaer struggled with the culprit before her death - isn't that strange? Dan died on the 8th floor, no matter how the culprit made him suffocate, they could be certain no one would hear. But Linnaer's room is right next to ours. The culprit came up and attacked her directly, not afraid of the commotion being heard next door?"

Min-cheol Park reacted swiftly, "Yes, that's crucial. Why did the culprit choose Linnaer's room to commit the act?"

The other guests: Of course, it's because the non-culprits couldn't leave after 10 PM.

Scratch that.

"The culprit made a mistake," Wataru Kojima had already understood. "The broken glass at the scene."

Those two sentences were disjointed, leaving the others utterly perplexed. But he didn't seem keen on stealing the spotlight, his gaze indicating for Jian Jing to continue.

Jian Jing rolled her eyes but proceeded with her explanation, "To kill silently, the best approach would have been to knock her unconscious, either by catching her off-guard and striking her head with a heavy object, or by slipping her something to drink."

The others exchanged glances.

"Actually, when I first saw the scene, I thought we were dealing with a decent ruse." Unexpectedly, she made a tangential comment before continuing with something seemingly unrelated, "Why behead her? Was it merely an imitation, or could the bloody scene be an attempt to fabricate the first crime scene? I was quite disappointed to find out the truth."

Wataru Kojima nodded in agreement, their brainwaves in sync, "A headless corpse would have echoed yesterday's events more effectively. It was rather wasteful."

The others: "..." No, we don't think so.

Jian Jing explained, "Fortunately, the culprit had a flash of brilliance and provided us with a classic move - hiding in plain sight. There was a lot of broken glass on the floor, making it seem like the result of a struggle. However, unfortunately for the culprit, I searched Linnaer's room yesterday and distinctly remember that the tray holding the glasses wasn't on the coffee table. The culprit moved the six glasses to conceal the fact that Linnaer had used one of them."

"The glasses... so, was poison involved?" Ran-er Kim asked.

Jian Jing readily revealed, "I suspect the culprit spiked the red wine with drugs, thinking Linnaer would fall unconscious, allowing them to kill her. But the drug's effects were weaker than expected, leading to a physical altercation. In the end, the culprit managed to knock Linnaer out but didn't realize she wasn't dead yet, resulting in the bloodshed.

"Realizing things had gone awry, with shattered glasses and possibly spilled wine during the struggle, the culprit had to move the other glasses to conceal these abnormalities and use the blood to cover up any wine stains."

Wataru Kojima remarked, "The culprit went through so much trouble just to hide the fact that they drugged her, so this is the most revealing clue to their identity."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward Raj.

Min-cheol Park flipped through his notebook and announced, "Yesterday, we searched everyone's rooms. Dan and the elder wife had herbal medicines, my room had arsenic, but only you, Raj, had a fully stocked medical kit with all kinds of drugs."

Raj took a deep breath.

"You definitely got blood on you yesterday. Even if you washed your clothes clean, Luminol would still be able to detect a reaction," Connor Lee said. He must have acted in crime drama shows before, as he was quite familiar with this. "Should we look into it?"

"No need," Raj said with a wry smile. "It was me."

Jian Jing glanced at her watch.

The body was discovered at 8:15 AM, and now it was 4:05 PM. The second case had already been solved.

The progress was decent.

She asked with interest, "So, do you choose to defect or continue being an accomplice?"

Raj: "Let me think about it."

"Okay." After sitting for a few hours, her back and waist ached. Jian Jing stood up to stretch her neck and reminded him, "I suggest you figure it out before 10 PM, don't drag it to tomorrow night."

Jiang BaiYan: "Yes, tell us any clues you find right away, don't go investigate yourself."

Zhang Xue'er: "Don't act alone."

Kumiko Terauchi: "And don't talk to anyone alone either."

Liu Sau-chi: "If you get killed, make your last words clear."

Min-cheol Park: "Just write the initials of your surname."

Raj: "..."

--

On the livestream platform, comments:

[Hahaha, they're all veteran detectives]

[Too many inside jokes, it's inappropriate]

[Indian guy: Are you being polite?]

[He won't actually be killed, will he?]

[Please write your will in advance]

...

--

After solving a case, the guests were in a good mood and happily enjoyed a buffet dinner.

At 7 PM, Jian Jing took a plate of fried shrimp and visited the "imprisoned" Raj.

"Have you decided?" she asked. "Which side are you choosing?"

Raj said, "Of course, the side of justice."

He could get paid for helping the real culprit hide, or for catching the real culprit. Naturally, he chose the option with a better grasp.

"Not bad, young man, you're quite sensible," Jian Jing said and called the others.

The guests crowded over, listening to his full confession.

Raj said, "I killed Linnaer to avenge my father."

Kumiko Terauchi: "What happened back then?"

"Twenty years ago, Dan, Linnaer, Ishikawa, and my father went to see the northern lights together in the Arctic. But my father never came back. They said he slipped on the ice and drowned in a crevasse," Raj started recounting an old story.

"My mother always doubted that version, because my father was a doctor and very cautious about safety issues. He also disliked winter and would be unlikely to go ice skating outdoors voluntarily. But we had no evidence.

"Yesterday afternoon, I searched Dan's room and found evidence hidden between the pages of a book. Dan had been paying Ishikawa money, around the same time my father died. I don't think it was a coincidence, so I checked their correspondence and found letters between Dan and Linnaer.

"The letters were written many years ago. Linnaer and Dan said their careers were not going well. They consulted a fortune teller who told them they were bearing the consequences of their sins. Linnaer was very afraid, fearing my father wouldn't let them off. But it wasn't intentional; they just wanted my father to go ice skating with them, a silly idea that went wrong, leading to my father's accident," Raj explained.

Jian Jing: How clichéd.

"Then what happened?"

"The prank was Linnaer's idea, carried out by Dan, while Ishikawa was aware of it," Raj said. "That's why Dan was paying Ishikawa so much hush money, right?"

Ishikawa nodded silently.

Raj: "Since I knew the truth and Dan was already dead, I couldn't let Linnaer off. Yesterday night, I pretended to have found the culprit's traces and tricked her into opening the door. Then, as Jian Jing deduced, I drugged her wine, expecting her to pass out. But an accident happened... In the end, I killed her."

The mystery was solved.

Min-cheol Park asked, "But do you know who the real culprit is?"

Raj shook his head with a wry smile, "I have no idea."

"The real culprit manipulated the doctor," Wataru Kojima said. "Given Dan's cautiousness, he wouldn't have left the letters in his bedroom. It's more likely they were hidden in a secret room. I think the real culprit brought the letters out and let you find them intentionally, using you as the murder weapon."

Jian Jing nodded, "I agree. But Raj found the letters yesterday afternoon, meaning the real culprit had already set everything up on the first night, before we began our initial investigation."

"The real culprit knew about Raj's father all along and was certain Raj would choose revenge after seeing the letters," Wataru Kojima continued naturally. "Who could have known about the doctor's case?"

Everyone looked at Ishikawa.

Jian Jing looked at Kumiko.

Wataru Kojima frowned in confusion, "Jian?"

Jian Jing asked Raj, "Anything else to confess? Like having an affair with a married woman?"

It seems 400 chapters won't be enough to conclude this, damn I'm gonna go crazy.