Chapter 6

(The way you deceive people for information, is quite amusing.)

On the half-open balcony, Gu Liang, who was still bent over, turned to look back at Yang Ye. Surrounded by an array of colourful flowers and glistening jade green leaves, a warm and harmonious scenery was formed; it softened his cold and hard expression slightly, giving the impression that he was not as alienating as before.

Yang Ye’s lips hooked up. After observing Gu Liang for a long while, he finally said, “It’s fine, you can search. I’ll guard the entrance and take pictures of you.”

“It’s enough if you take pictures of the evidence. What are you photographing me for.” Gu Liang looked at him in askance from the corner of his eyes. Then, he lowered his head again and continued to search.

Sure enough, something was concealed in the flowerpots. Gu Liang pushed aside the clustered flowers one after another, eventually gathering several shreds of paper.

When all the fragments were collected, he pieced them together. It was the front of a pillbox, and the description written on it was: “I am not your white moonlight.”

Seeing that, Gu Liang sifted through the other flowerpots nearby and collated the torn pieces that made up the back of the pillbox. It wrote: “Death will occur three hours after ingestion.”

Despite having pieced the two faces of the pillbox together, he did not allow Yang Ye to photograph it for the time being.

Yang Ye was not in a hurry either; taking out a few pieces of tissue paper, he offered it to Gu Liang.

Before Gu Liang could even react to his actions, Yang Ye pointed at his shirt cuffs.

It was only then that Gu Liang noticed that both his shirt cuffs were damp.

“Thanks,” Gu Liang took the tissue to wipe the edges of his sleeves. “There was a lot of water on the petals and leaves, it was probably soaked through when I was shifting through the flowerpots.”

Yang Ye gave his shirt cuffs a few more pensive looks, and he appeared to be on the verge of saying something when a series of thumps travelled from the stairway. Someone was walking downstairs.

Pursing his lips, Yang Ye no longer opted to speak.

When Gu Liang looked over his own shoulder, he saw that the person coming down happened to be Son Bai. It was estimated that he had just combed through the rooms upstairs, and he was searching the first floor now.

Gu Liang seized the opportunity to call him to a stop. He asked: “Son Bai, were you the one who used the white moonlight poison? I haven’t found all the pieces, and there are some points I’m not sure of. How long does it take for this poison to work?”

Glancing at him, Son Bai scratched his head like he was trying to recall the details. Then, he replied, “It should be three hours.”

“And this was the poison you used in the afternoon?” Gu Liang queried.

“Yeah,” Son Bai nodded. “When I was delivering the food to Boss Bai, I deposited the white moonlight into the rice and dishes at the second-floor corridor. After I delivered the food, I went back to my own room, tore up the pillbox and threw it outside my window, allowing the shreds to land inside the flowerpots on the first-floor balcony. Once I was done with everything, I rushed back to the dining hall to join the rest of you.”

“Okay, I got it.” Gu Liang said.

Son Bai hesitated for a moment before he spoke again: “Which means to say that the suspicions on me can be removed, right? For one, the portion of food didn’t look like it was touched, and Boss Bai did not eat it. Furthermore, even if he ate it, the white moonlight poison takes three hours to act. When I delivered the food, it was already after 12:30. If my poison was the cause, he should only die after 3:30. However, the maid already found him dead at 3:10…”

“Mn,” Gu Liang responded, “The maid admitted that she used a poison called cinnabar mole on that portion of food as well. If the instant death cinnabar mole was the cause, the deceased should have a cinnabar mole in the space between his brows, but Boss Bai didn’t bear the corresponding mark. From the flip side, it also points at the fact that he didn’t consume that portion of food.”

Son Bai let out a long sigh. He could not help but ask: “He didn’t drink your chicken soup, he didn’t eat the food the maid and I poisoned, then… that only leaves Brother Bai? Is the murderer Brother Bai?”

Gu Liang did not reply, and some uncertainty could be perceived from his expression.

Son Bai gave him a hesitant look. “If it’s not him, who else could have done it?”

Gu Liang returned him a question: “What do you think was Brother Bai’s modus operandi then?”

“With regards to the other drugs, all of us have admitted to something except Brother Bai who admitted to nothing. But he’s the only one who could have prepared the feigned death medicine. What he used was the feigned death medicine, not poison. Just now—”

Son Bai turned towards Yang Ye, who was busy fiddling with his camera at the side: “Girlfriend Huang, didn’t we search Brother Bai’s room together just now? Back then, we found his train ticket and information on how he had been raised by someone else since his childhood. Therefore, Brother Bai did not grow up with Boss Bai, and his train ticket states that he only arrived at the villa yesterday.”

“That’s right,” Yang Ye nodded his head as he peered at Gu Liang. “Hence, we deduced that while Brother Bai is a relative of Boss Bai, his understanding of Boss Bai is inferior to Maid Liu, and perhaps even to the extent where it isn’t equal to yours. He doesn’t know Boss Bai’s dietary habits, like how he has the tendency to drink chicken soup at a certain time every day. It’s also possible that Boss Bai doesn’t trust him and would never meet him without company, let alone eat something he had prepared. As a result, he couldn’t kill Boss Bai with some kind of poison. In accordance with his character settings, it’s not in his nature to dump poison in all the foodstuff because he doesn’t want to harm everyone else, thus—”

“Brother Bai could only add the feigned death medicine to all the food, and apart from inducing a state of unconsciousness in everyone, the drug will not hurt them. And after everyone had fainted, he was free to retrieve a knife from the kitchen before going upstairs. Then, while taking advantage of Boss Bai’s comatose state, he stabbed him to death. That should be his plan. I have to admit, this plan is well thought out; not only does it ensure that Boss Bai has no chance of retaliating, he accomplishes his objective with one strike. Moreover, he won’t have any disturbances when he’s enacting his murder, nor will there be any witnesses since everyone has been knocked unconscious.”

After listening to those words, Gu Liang frowned imperceptibly, still having some doubts in his heart.

However, he heard Yang Ye supplement with confidence: “In the process of elimination, it can only be Brother Bai. None of the poisoned items were touched by Boss Bai, which means that he has to die by the knife. During the centralised discussion, I’ll deceive Brother Bai a little. We’ll lie to him and say, Boss Bai did not bleed much, which indicates that he was already dead before he was stabbed. We’ll see how Brother Bai replies, and if we can get him to confess that he was stabber.”

Gu Liang: “But it’s undeniable that he bled little. How do you explain this?”

Yang Ye: “If the feigned death medicine can fake someone’s death, their metabolism has to lower to the point where it’s practically non-existent, and perhaps the lack of blood flow is correlated to the feigned death medicine. Or maybe, the knife pierced his lungs or something; there isn’t much blood outflow, but it can suffocate someone to death. In the present game, we neither possess a legal medical expert nor will we receive an autopsy report, everything can only be based on conjecture. The only issue we have now is that we don’t know how Boss Bai managed to consume the feigned death medicine. We’ll have to continue searching for clues.”

Despite his explanation, Gu Liang furrowed his brows, tempted to ask more.

Yang Ye raised his hand and adjusted his glasses.

Sunlight shone into the half-open balcony, reflecting a glint of light on his lens.

Gu Liang’s pupils shrank and he stopped speaking.

Smiling, Yang Ye asked Gu Liang: “Lawyer Zhang, what are your thoughts?”

Keeping his reply simple, Gu Liang uttered, “If we can’t find any other poisons, it can only be him for certain.”

Yang Ye nodded, “That’s right. This scenario is a simple instance; I don’t think each person has two killing methods prepared. After eliminating our options, only he remains.”

The trio debated for a while longer. Subsequently after, Son Bai waved his hands at the pair before he went upstairs first.

Gu Liang glanced at the second floor. Upon seeing him retreat back into his room, he took out the parts of the paper box he had pieced together prior which were meant for the white moonlight poison, and presented it to Yang Ye for documentation.

Yang Ye did not take the paper box immediately, only choosing to smile at Gu Liang.

“What are you smiling for?” Gu Liang asked.

“Nothing really,” Yang Ye propped up his glasses again, “I just felt that your cooperation with me was rather tacit. Additionally… the appearance you put on when you’re tricking someone for information, is quite amusing.”

Gu Liang raised an eyebrow, “Are you here to solve a case or watch a show?”