Lin Qiupu mumbled, “Li Min told me that the deceased gave him 100,000 yuan over multiple payments this month. Could it be that he lied to me? Go and check Li Min's bank balance tomorrow.”

Peng Sijue came in and threw down a report. “The time of death was around 1:00PM. There was alcohol and some drug residues in the stomach, and the deceased's right index finger was stained with tongue hair. He tried to vomit the poison up by inducing himself with his finger. The direct cause of death was suffocation caused by the rupture of the diaphragm, which overlapped with the toxicosis. I don’t know if it was intentional by the killer. The three knife wounds were struck into the lungs and diaphragm, perfectly avoiding the ribs. The victim suffocated for over a minute before he died. In addition to his sexual organ being cut off, the body also had several scars and bone fractures left after being killed. It seems like the murderer had performed a series of angry assaults against the body.”

“What was the type of poison used?”

“Diazepam. It can calm the person and inhibit the central nervous system. It’s also used in clinical anesthesia. Although it’s a prescribed drug, it’s not difficult to obtain. Diazepam itself requires a large dosage for it to be lethal, but if it’s mixed with alcohol, it would be lethal just by using a few grams[1].”

Chen Shi said, “Comedy master Chaplin died after taking this drug[2].”

“It seems that the killer was well prepared,” Lin Qiupu said, “They were more professional than expected.”

Peng Sijue went on to say, “The bottle of vodka that was meant for the killer also has some ingredients that have not been tested yet. My gut feeling says that it’s an aphrodisiac or sleeping medication. That’s why the deceased poured vodka for the killer but drank brandy instead.”

“The praying mantis hunts the cicada, but the Eurasian siskin follows behind[3].” Chen Shi commented.

“Shouldn’t we say that the cicada is the Eurasian siskin in this scenario?” Lin Dongxue said. “If you look at it this way, it’s unlikely that the deceased would pour medicated alcohol for Li Min, so Li Min probably has no reason to be suspected?”

“Not necessarily. What if it's for Li Min's daughter? She's fourteen years old this year.”

“Pouring a glass of alcohol in front of Li Min?”

Chen Shi explained, “I understand something now. I understand why there was alcohol on the doorknob. The killers are two people, A and B. A went into the house first. While the victim was unaware, they poisoned the alcohol and stirred it with their fingers. The victim struggled violently when the poison took effect. At this time, A opened the door for B to come in. The murder weapon might have also been brought in by B. The possibility that A is a young girl is quite large. They used the victim’s lust to lure him into this trap. This was a carefully prepared plan to hunt the hunter.”

“Li Min's daughter came first, and then Li Min came later. It makes sense!” Lin Qiupu approved. “I have observed Li Min. He’s not very tall. As for the motive, of course it’s because his daughter was sexually assaulted. Instead, he was sued for extortion. That anger and resentment would be the motive to kill.”

Chen Shi warned, “I suggest that we don’t focus on Li Min alone. The deceased lives alone and is suspected of pedophilia. It seems like he is a recurring offender. Maybe it was a girl who he’d harmed in the past that’s taking revenge on him.”

“We’ll approach this from both angles! I’ll continue to follow the line towards Li Min.” Lin Qiupu thought that his hunch may be wrong again, but it didn’t matter. Ruling out the wrong choice, the correct option would naturally surface.

He wasn’t like how he was when he first met Chen Shi where he was arrogant and prideful and always trying to best Chen Shi. Nowadays, he understood Chen Shi’s ability. He’d rather do some trial and error work so that Chen Shi could utilize his abilities to a greater extent.

Chen Shi said, “Tomorrow, I will go and find Attorney Bai. I think he may know about the 'good things' that the victims had done previously.”

The next morning, Lin Qiupu went to the bureau. They didn’t hold a case discussion meeting that day. The focus was on investigating the surveillance videos before and after the case and screening out the people who entered and exited the community. They particularly focused on groups of two entering and leaving around the time of death.

A single, unexpected person appeared on the surveillance footage. One hour before the crime, Li Min arrived alone. He was wrapped in clothes, as if he was hiding something and he looked very cautious.

And when he left again, it was 1:30 in the afternoon!

Li Min's bank account was also investigated. He did receive a total of 100,000 yuan from the deceased in smaller payments one after another within a month. However, this morning, Li Min deposited another 100,000 yuan in cash.

Li Min was absolutely concealing something. Lin Qiupu immediately brought a few police officers to look for him. At this time, Li Min was still working in the supermarket. When he saw the policemen in uniform who were looking for him, he froze on the spot. Lin Qiupu asked, “Mr. Li, may we go somewhere else to have a chat?”

When they got to the emergency staircase, Li Min took out a cigarette and his fingers shook. He acted calm and asked, “Didn’t you come to find me yesterday? Is there anything else you wanted to ask?”

Lin Qiupu took out the detailed statement issued by the bank and instructed, “Explain. What’s going on with the 100,000 yuan?”

“Oh, my bonus? Why are you checking my accounts?”

“This is a legal investigation. Did you say it was a bonus? Coincidentally, the deceased also withdrew 100,000 yuan yesterday.”

“...” Li Min smoked silently with his head down.

“If you’re not willing to talk about it here, I'll ask you to go back with us and talk in detail.”

“No, no, no!” Li Min looked at other policemen. “Can we speak alone?”

“No, you can rest assured that we will keep it secret if it proves that you have nothing to do with the case. What did you do at the victim’s community at noon yesterday?”

Li Min was so scared. “Talk... I wanted to try and have a talk with him!”

“What did you want to talk about?”

“About the matter regarding the compensation.”

“Did you two end up meeting?”

“No!”

“Really?”

Li Min was frightened by Lin Qiupu's sharp eyes and said frankly, “Really! I called the bastard Zheng to crawl down, but he turned off his phone. At that time... At that time, I hid a fruit knife on my body, ready to give him a piece of my mind, but I really didn’t end up doing it. I just thought about it. You wouldn’t think that I was the one who killed him, right?”

“Why did you do it?”

“I didn't do it! I just thought about it. I really just paced around downstairs for a while. When I couldn’t see him, I angrily cut a tree in the community with the knife.” Li Min took out a folded fruit knife. “If you don’t believe me, you can check it.”

“I want to know why.”

“Because... Because... This beast of an animal, he...” Li Min was so angry he trembled. “He ruined my daughter, wrote down a million in IOUs, and then he squeezed out a tiny bit of money as if it were a bottle of toothpaste! The day before yesterday, he came to me with 100,000 dollars and I was quite happy thinking that this guy had found his conscience. But when he opened his mouth, it really wasn’t like anything a human would say. He told me that he had already popped my daughter’s cherry anyway, so there wasn’t a difference between one and ten times. He asked me if I thought my daughter was a celebrity and whether I thought one time with her would be worth a million yuan. He said he would give me 100,000 a month if I asked my daughter to accompany him again. He then said he wouldn’t treat her poorly and said he’d pay me in ten installments. Apparently that way, neither of us loses out.”

“Motherfucker, this animal then forced the 100,000 yuan on me and asked me to think about it. I really wanted to kill him at the time. When I went home, the longer I thought about it, the angrier I got. I couldn’t believe I met this scum of the earth. So, I grabbed a knife and wanted to kill him to rid our society of this evil. When I heard that he’d been killed, I was so happy. The sky has eyes and wicked people meet wicked ends!”

1. I tried researching this medication and some sources say that as it’s a type of benzodiazepines, when mixed with alcohol, the person would just be extremely sleepy, however, some sources mention the lethality of it. Here’s an example of the latter https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12170103

2. It used to be a rumor that circulated around, although his death was publicly reported as something different.

3. The hunter is unaware that they are also getting hunted.