Chapter 126: Armchair Detective Work

Xiao Fen and Fang Si Ting chose to meet here not because they wanted to quarrel, but because the library was on the first floor of the detention block. They didn’t need Ulysses or other vice squad officers to escort them out.

Unfortunately, no matter how close literature got, it couldn’t enter these prisoners’ minds. Few people came here to read books.

But this made it convenient for the two to talk in private.

At the table in the corner, Xiao Fen had just sat down when Fang Si Ting squeezed in. He had no choice but to scoot his chair inward, sitting right against the wall.

What was wrong with this guy? There was so much space across from him, yet he insisted on squeezing in next to him.

Two grown men sitting on the same side made the double table feel instantly cramped.

Arm against arm, Xiao Fen jabbed his elbow into the other’s arm, shoving him away.

Less than a minute later, Fang Si Ting slowly pushed back.

“Hiss—”

Xiao Fen shot him a slanted glance and pettily shoved him away again.

The two shoved back and forth several times. Seeing that neither intended to yield, they tacitly chose temporary peaceful coexistence.

The light in the corner was dim. Fang Si Ting pulled a glasses case from his briefcase, along with a thick stack of newspaper clippings and printed news articles downloaded from the internet.

“These were all collected by Professor Peng. She’s very meticulous; there shouldn’t be any omissions.”

“I thought you’d do it personally.”

“Given our current relationship, is it worth me getting my hands dirty?” Fang Si Ting’s mouth twitched as he sneered.

【Why lie about this? Didn’t you and Sister Xiaoxiao stay up all night collecting these?】

【Fang Yama’s being modest here.】

【Modest my ass. I’ve never seen that quality in Fang Yama. He was just squeezing Brother Fen’s space a minute ago. Brother Fen, I’ll remember this grudge for you.】

【They’re either fighting or bickering. If they don’t stir up trouble a couple times a day, I start feeling weird.】

【There was a period earlier when they actually calmed down. I thought they really got together and was shipping them hard.】

【Wasn’t that around the third episode? Brother Fen was busy holding in a big one back then and had no time for Fang Yama.】

【Don’t remind me—painful memories. Let them keep ripping into each other; we’ll find our own sugar to munch on.】

Fang Si Ting put on his glasses and deftly shook a cigarette out from a metal case.

Beside him, Xiao Fen’s head hung low, exposing his porcelain-white neck.

No traces remained on it, as if nothing had ever happened.

The snow-white, slender cigarette flipped between his fingers a couple times—like he was toying with it, or perhaps desecrating it—but he never lit it.

Xiao Fen’s attention was completely captured by the news articles.

They had been sorted chronologically, and stripping away the sensational wording, the general situation was as follows:

On February 21, 20XX, Jiang Kangsheng came to N City in P Country to attend the World Medical Forum and stayed that night at the home of his university classmate Claude.

Surveillance footage from inside the restaurant that evening showed the two entering Sherry Restaurant at 7:22 p.m. to dine with their mentor, Felimon.

Around 8:10 p.m., Claude drove home first.

Around 10:38 p.m., Claude’s ex-wife, having called him multiple times with no answer, personally brought their son over. She found the house doors and windows locked tight, with a figure collapsed on the ground inside, so she called the police.

At 10:44 p.m., nearby patrolling vice squad officers arrived, broke the door lock, and discovered Claude, who had been dead for some time. Jiang Kangsheng lay passed out drunk on the living room sofa, dead to the world.

【Who’s this dead guy? Brother Fen seems really concerned about him.】

【Don’t tell me it’s some relative of his who got murdered, and he’s here for revenge.】

【Could be. This time, talk it out properly—don’t go jumping off buildings again. Little Fire Seed’s heart can’t take a second shock.】

It wasn’t until Xiao Fen pulled out another newspaper, with half a page taken up by one person’s photo, that…

【This face looks H Country. That wise hairstyle—one look and it’s obvious he’s Brother Fen’s relative. All so smart.】

【Brother Fen must be here for this guy.】

【But the news says he killed someone?】

【Jiang Kangsheng? He’s a famous expert in our country’s medical field. How’d he get arrested?】

【Holy shit, I just searched P Country news—it’s blowing up overseas. They’re saying he got jealous of a fellow disciple and killed him. Might get life in prison.】

【What’s going on? Why no news on our side?】

【Probably deliberately suppressed. Wasn’t this what Brother Fen and Fang Yama were whispering about in the infirmary?】

【Off we go—let’s chat on Weibo. Too many foreigners here.】

【Happened just over a week ago, but trial’s about to start.】

【Since when is P Country this efficient?】

【Dr. Jiang looks like such an honest guy. How could he kill someone? Must be framed.】

【Crime evidence is right here—how could he be innocent? Your scientist’s a murderer.】 Quite a few foreign netizens gloated.

H Country viewers didn’t buy it. They downloaded local news and papers, posting them on their own platforms for group discussion.

Ever since following this show, their detective skills had improved dramatically.

At the same time, Xiao Fen also flipped to the N City police’s released clues, with news reports inferring evidence pointing to Jiang Kangsheng as the killer.

According to the P Country vice squad officers’ investigation, Jiang Kangsheng and Claude had a good relationship during university, but the three got into a conflict during that evening’s meal.

The gathering ended unpleasantly, and Claude went home first. Due to the conflict at dinner, Jiang Kangsheng vented to their mentor Felimon, chatting in a nearby park for over two hours until around 10:15 p.m., when they parted—Felimon went home, and Jiang Kangsheng returned to Claude’s house.

The coroner’s autopsy showed Claude died within an hour, meaning the crime occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. that night.

Bruises on the back of his head and body indicated he had been pushed from the second-floor stairwell, knocking him unconscious and triggering a sudden myocardial infarction. He died in under two minutes.

Jiang Kangsheng’s skin flakes were found under the victim’s fingernails.

Scene clues showed wear on the heels of the victim’s shoes from being dragged, confirming he was pulled to the kitchen fireplace after falling down the stairs.

A large black bag hung by the kitchen back door, with abrasion marks on the bottom from the muddy ground and Claude’s biological traces inside.

The house’s first- and second-floor windows and front door were locked tight, keys inside. Media reports called it “a locked room in its entirety.”

Everyone at the scene besides Jiang Kangsheng was ruled out.

Based on these clues, major news outlets reconstructed the night’s events.

Conflict arose at the evening gathering, broken up by the mentor.

Claude went home early; Jiang vented to the mentor.

Back at Claude’s house, the two fought again on the second floor.

Jiang pushed him down the stairs, watched impassively as Claude clutched his chest begging for help, and waited for him to die.

The back door led to a park with a grove of trees, then a lake—Jiang Kangsheng clearly planned to bag the body and dump it there.

On the way to the back door, drunk as he was, he couldn’t move a 200-plus-pound adult man, so he gave up, planning to handle it the next day. He dragged the body back inside and passed out on the sofa like nothing happened.

Unexpectedly, Claude’s ex-wife brought their son back and spotted the lifeless Claude through the kitchen window.

When vice squad officers woke Jiang Kangsheng, his groggy brain spat out, “Is this Claude’s funeral? Why all the noise?” This became fodder for media attacks. Xiao Fen counted—seven or eight major mainstream outlets quoted it, branding Jiang Kangsheng the “cold-blooded mad scientist,” with wording emphasizing exactly that.

To stir public sympathy and outrage, some shady media interviewed the first patrolling vice squad officer to discover the body.

He described the house as pitch black inside, heavy snoring mixed with thick alcohol stench. With the heater and fireplace on but no windows open, the smell was overpowering. When he turned on the lights, he saw drag marks from the first-floor stairwell to the kitchen.

Following them to the kitchen, he found Claude without vital signs. He tried calling emergency services and performing aid, but the body’s joints were already stiffening, with faint purple livor mortis spots on lower parts—clearly dead for hours.

Such descriptions made people deeply uncomfortable, fueling greater public resentment.

“This case blew up big in N City,” Fang Si Ting said, withdrawing his gaze before Xiao Fen looked up. He grabbed a newspaper. “The public got misled by the media and overwhelmingly blamed Dr. Jiang. Claude’s ex-wife and son wept nonstop in interviews, and crowds gathered spontaneously outside the courthouse demanding swift, harsh punishment for the killer.”

It felt like an invisible hand was manipulating media opinion to sway the public and influence the trial.

P Country used jury trials, unlike H Country. With the case exploding so big and fast, few in the public had the rationality to think calmly. Jurors were human too—hard not to be swayed.

Not to mention, foreign viewers in the live stream chat immediately started mocking.

【So your guest came under the show as cover to rescue a countryman? Ridiculous and laughable.】

【It’s just a variety show, bro. Don’t think you’re some superhero.】

【He can’t even escape prison himself, yet dreams of saving others.】

【I’ve been following Claude’s case—witnesses and evidence all point to Jiang. No way he’s innocent!】

【Watch out for H Country people using public opinion to pressure us. He killed one of ours—can’t let him go home scot-free.】

【You slandering us? Where’s your witness?】 H Country folks fired back.

【See for yourselves—reports of witness interviews.】

From morning to noon, Xiao Fen read from physical evidence reports to witness interviews. Fang Si Ting followed along while pulling out a sandwich, unwrapping it, and offering it to him.

Xiao Fen didn’t take it. Instead, he leaned over and took a bite, then kept reading.

A helpless smile leaked from Fang Si Ting’s mouth. He took a bite himself, then offered it again.

One bite each, and they quickly polished off a sandwich and a burger.

Xiao Fen chewed with puffed cheeks, grumbling, “I want soda.” He was parched.

No sooner had he spoken than a straw appeared at his lips.

He sucked down half a cup in one go, squinting in satisfaction. Only then did he pick up a printed online interview.

The interviewee was their mentor.

His post-incident account largely matched what Jiang Kangsheng provided: Claude mocked Jiang at the table, calling him stubborn—ten-plus years on a medical research topic with no results. Lucky he switched majors back in university; now he worked at a Fortune 500 company with nearly a million in annual salary, way better than Jiang’s.

Jiang Kangsheng called him opportunistic, brain rotted by money, incapable of real research, saddened that an old friend thought this way.

Their clashing views led to conflict; it nearly turned physical, so he stood to break it up.

After that, it matched media reports: they chatted privately a bit longer until Felimon noticed it was 10:15 p.m. With things to do the next day, he told him to head back and rest.

Felimon even vouched for Jiang Kangsheng at the end, noting he was already drunk by then—unlikely he could push a sturdy middle-aged man down stairs.

Commentators below noted that precisely because he was drunk, Jiang lost his reason. His defense lawyer would surely argue intoxication, but it depended on degree. Performing that series of rational actions suggested he was faking it.

Next came another witness.

Claude’s lab assistant, Joe.

He said he’d gone to Claude’s house around 10 p.m. that night. Claude reeked of booze, sweating, breathing hard, extremely irritable, claiming he’d drunk too much, head spinning, needed rest.

He was used to Claude’s shitty attitude, so he didn’t linger. He left materials for the next day’s forum on the table and said goodbye.

Claude had been conscious and alive then, even walking him to the door.

It was around 10:30 at the time. When he went out, he happened to run into Jiang Kangsheng, who was coming back. Jiang was indeed drunk and staggering along. Jiang even asked who he was. He greeted him and introduced himself. After chatting a few words, he got into his own car.

Sitting in the car, he saw Jiang take out his keys and enter the house.

Afterward came interviews with the neighbors. On the night of the incident, they had not noticed anything unusual.

However, one neighbor recounted that around the time Jiang Kangsheng returned—sometime after ten, though he could not remember the exact time—rustling sounds like wild beasts came from the small grove behind the backyard of their row of villas. At the time, he had suspected it might be a wild bear prowling around, but now he believed it was the murderer dragging the corpse out through the back door. This further verified the media’s speculation that Jiang had indeed planned to dump the body.

After Xiao Fen reviewed all the relevant information about the case, he had a rough idea.

“Jiang Kangsheng is indeed innocent. The murderer is someone else.”