Red Heart 3 Escape Room, Day Two.
When Xiao Lou woke up, Yu Hanjiang was standing by the corridor window, his deep eyes fixed on the distance, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
Xiao Lou walked over and asked, " Captain Yu, any new discoveries?"
Yu Hanjiang pointed to the maple forest and said, "There was a strong wind and rain last night, and several maple trees over there were blown down."
Following his gaze, Xiao Lou saw that in the distance, within the maple forest, countless maple leaves had fallen under the rain, carpeting the ground like a thick red maple leaf carpet. At the far end of the maple forest, several newly planted saplings had been blown down by the wind. The flower beds below the teaching building were askew, many flowerpots were broken, and the entire campus was in a mess, as if a typhoon had passed through.
The rain had stopped by 6:30 in the morning.
At this time, the two should have been staking out the school gate, hoping for new clues in the new day. However, their investigation of Shuxiang Building last night alerted the security guards, who then locked the building's doors.
Xiao Lou didn't sleep well last night. He rubbed his temples, his head aching, and said, "Class is about to start, how are we going to get out?"
Yu Hanjiang remained calm and pointed to the air conditioning duct outside the window: "Climb out."
Xiao Lou: "..."
In the heart room, Yu Hanjiang adopted the same attitude he would use to clear the Spade survival escape room. He decisively opened the window, leaped down, accurately grabbed the air conditioning duct with both hands, and climbed down the 10cm-wide windowsill with his feet.
Xiao Lou's heart was in her throat.
It's so high, if he misses a step, he'll fall and be done for!
But as it turned out, Xiao Lou's worries were unnecessary. Yu Hanjiang seemed to do this kind of thing often—climbing and jumping. The man was familiar with all kinds of buildings and quickly chose the most convenient path, landing steadily on the ground and looking up at Xiao Lou.
Xiao Lou peeked out and looked down. Of course, he didn't dare to climb down from the fifth floor onto the windowsill... He didn't want to fall and become paralyzed.
Yu Hanjiang gestured for him to come downstairs and wait for him, then quickly walked to the entrance of Shuxianglou.
Captain Yu somehow found a wire and, after fiddling with it for a moment, opened the lock. Xiao Lou was waiting at the door, and seeing Captain Yu open it, he couldn't help but think—thank goodness Yu Hanjiang is a policeman; if he were to become a master thief, probably no one could stop him, right?
Yu Hanjiang seemed to sense Xiao Lou's confusion. While restoring the door lock, he explained, "When I was in police academy, a senior taught me how to pick locks. He really enjoyed studying these gadgets."
Xiao Lou nodded, asked no further questions, and turned to walk with Yu Hanjiang to the school gate.
Students began arriving at school one after another starting at seven o'clock.
Xie Xinghe arrived very early today, and strangely enough, he had a black veil tied over his school uniform—a black veil is meant to commemorate the deceased, and the person he was commemorating was clearly Ying Xiaoya, who fell to her death yesterday.
Xiao Lou was puzzled upon seeing this. Judging from Xie Xinghe's testimony, his relationship with Ying Xiaoya was quite ordinary. Yet, the fact that he was wearing a black veil today at least indicated that he was deeply concerned about Ying Xiaoya's death.
Not long after, Yi Ru and Yu Hui arrived, also wearing black armbands.
The three met at the school gate and were momentarily stunned.
Yu Hui frowned and stepped forward, glancing at Xie Xinghe's arm, and said, " Xie Xinghe, what are you wearing this for? Our Xiaoya doesn't need you to come and pay respects!"
Xie Xinghe said expressionlessly, "I know it's hard to dispel your hostility towards me. But, I was with Xiaoya for three years, and her death... I was also very saddened."
Before Yu Hui could say anything more, Yi Ru said, "Stop arguing. Do you want people to gather around at the school gate?"
Yesterday, Yi Ru had an emotional breakdown and cried for a long time in front of the police. After a whole night of adjustment, she has returned to normal. However, she has dark circles under her eyes and looks tired, clearly indicating that she did not get enough rest.
Yu Hui walked forward with a cold expression.
The three of them entered the Chongwen Building, the senior high school building, one after the other, in silence.
The other students were probably not involved in the case, and the content of their discussion was not of any value. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang still could not recognize the faces of the thousands of students, but the two did not leave the school gate.
They were waiting for the chemistry teacher of Class 3, Grade 12 to appear.
At 7:25, with 5 minutes left before the morning reading session, a tall female teacher strode into the school gate.
She had a neat, short bob, wore black pencil pants and a white shirt, paired with a khaki long trench coat and high heels. Her posture was elegant as she walked, as if she had studied dance professionally. Her slender and upright figure looked very classy.
The security guard greeted her: "Ms. Qin, you're here for work?"
The female teacher smiled and nodded to the security guard before quickly walking into the Zhilou building.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert.
Ms. Qin, the security guard greeted her specifically, seemingly to remind Challenger that this was the chemistry teacher from Class 3 who had asked for leave yesterday.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance and quickly followed her.
She went straight to the chemistry office on the third floor of Xingzhi Building. As soon as she entered the office, a colleague said to her, "Weiwei, you're really lucky. It's a good thing you took the day off yesterday. You don't know, do you? A student from Class 3 committed suicide by jumping off a building!"
Qin Weiwei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around: "What? Who jumped off a building?"
A colleague said, " Ying Xiaoya came in last place in the entire grade in this monthly exam."
Qin Weiwei's face was filled with shock: "How could this be? I remember that girl studied very hard. It was just an accident that she didn't do well on the test. I even wanted to encourage her. There's no need to commit suicide by jumping off a building just because she didn't do well on one test, is there?"
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang pretended to be teachers passing by, and saw clearly what was happening in the office.
Chemistry teacher Qin Weiwei is either cunning and a master of acting, or she is genuinely innocent and unaware of Ying Xiaoya's suicide attempt—it's too early to tell which is true, but the police will definitely be investigating her today.
Today's morning reading session for Class 3 was a Chinese class, and the homeroom teacher had everyone memorize the text on their own for half an hour.
The first class at 8:10 was chemistry. Qin Weiwei prepared her textbooks and walked out of the office toward the senior three (3) class. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came out of the restroom opposite the office. Looking at her back, Yu Hanjiang whispered, "You go with Qin Weiwei. I'll wait for the police at the school gate and come back to find you later."
Xiao Lou nodded and followed Qin Weiwei quietly.
During class, many teachers were coming and going in the sky corridor, and she did not notice Xiao Lou behind her.
Qin Weiwei walked into the classroom with her textbooks. Whether it was because she hadn't experienced Ying Xiaoya's fall yesterday, or because her mental fortitude was truly exceptional, she taught the lesson very diligently. Even though many students were inattentive, she fulfilled her duties as a teacher and finished the lesson.
Xiao Lou, also a teacher, commented from a peer's perspective that Ms. Qin's teaching was top-notch. Her chalk handwriting was neat and elegant, she never talked nonsense in class, and her lesson preparation was thorough—her 45-minute lesson was clear, well-organized, and presented the key knowledge points clearly, making it almost ready to be used as a demonstration lesson.
Xiao Lou touched his chin in confusion... Could such a teacher really be a cruel murderer?
***
At this moment, Yu Hanjiang was standing behind a tree, staring in the direction of the school gate.
The police did indeed arrive!
The four officers who came today were the same as yesterday. Apparently, after the Forensic Doctor took the body back yesterday, he performed an autopsy, confirmed the cause of death, and told all the information he knew to the Criminal Police Officers. These officers came with a lot of clues.
They first went to the principal and set aside an office in Xingzhi Building. Then they called over the PE teacher of Class 3 and the security guard who was on duty yesterday to ask questions.
As the office door was about to close, Yu Hanjiang immediately put on his Invisibility Cloak and went inside to listen in.
The police officer, with a recording device on, asked the PE teacher, " Who called you during yesterday's PE class, around the time Ying Xiaoya had her accident?"
The PE teacher was taken aback for a moment, then quickly replied, "It's Teacher Qin. Didn't she switch classes with me? She called to check on the students, and when I asked her where she was, she said she was taking her father to the hospital for a checkup."
Are you familiar with Teacher Qin? Did you see her yesterday?
"We know each other very well. We were assigned to this school together five years ago, and we've always taught the same class. When she has something to do, we switch classes." The PE teacher paused and said, "She took the day off yesterday, so I didn't see her."
What kind of person do you think she is?
"She is very cautious and meticulous, and also beautiful. Ms. Qin is very popular at school."
The police then called the security guard over and asked him some questions: "Did you see Teacher Qin yesterday?"
The security guard looked puzzled: "I've never seen her before. Didn't she take leave? I did see her come to work this morning."
"You're keeping the key to the rooftop of Xingzhi Building, aren't you? Have you lent it to anyone else?"
"No..." The security guard suddenly remembered something and straightened up, saying, "However, I accidentally lost my whole bunch of keys last month while patrolling the school. Teacher Qin found them and returned them to me."
The two police officers exchanged a glance: "Are you sure it's Teacher Qin?"
Security guard: "Of course, after she returned it to me, I treated her to a meal to express my gratitude!"
After the people involved in the case left, the two police officers began to discuss in hushed tones.
The captain said, "This teacher Qin has a serious problem. We took the surveillance footage back yesterday, and it turns out she happened to be at the school when the victim had the accident, which proves she was lying. She also found the key and returned it to the security guard. Moreover, the poisoning of the victim was organophosphate, and she bought a bottle of organophosphate when she went to purchase medicine last week."
The policewoman said, "The poison in the deceased was found in Yu Hui's chocolate, and Yu Hui is also a prime suspect."
The captain said, " Yu Hui should be fine, but Chocolate has most likely been switched. We'll call them over to interrogate her later."
Just then, a policeman pushed the door open and came in, holding half a bottle of organophosphate and a signature book.
The young Criminal Police Officer said, "Boss, we found the poison in the chemistry lab."
The captain glanced at them and said, "You two, go and stake out Class 3 of Senior Three right now. After class, call over the three suspects, Qin Weiwei, Yu Hui, and Xie Xinghe!"
Yu Hanjiang's cloak time was almost up, so he had to leave the office and quickly return to Class 3 of Senior Three.
Xiao Lou was eavesdropping at the back of the classroom when Yu Hanjiang walked over and whispered in his ear, "The police have arrived. They will interrogate the suspect after class. Go ahead and prepare, listen to their interrogation. I'll cover you outside."
Xiao Lou nodded and returned to Xingzhi Building with Captain Yu.
The two hid in the bathroom, and Yu Hanjiang told him what had just happened.
Xiao Lou briefly recounted what he had heard. After the suspect was brought in, Xiao Lou immediately put on an invisibility cloak in the bathroom and followed the suspect into the interrogation room.
The first person to be interrogated was Yu Hui.
Yu Hui frowned and looked at the police officer: "Officer, didn't you ask me yesterday? Is there anything else you want to ask?"
Police: "This box of chocolate sandwiches you have is full of organophosphate poisons. How do you explain that?"
Yu Hui was utterly shocked: "What?!"
He was stunned for a long time before finally realizing what the police meant: "You don't actually think I wanted to poison Xiaoya, do you?! Damn it! Are you kidding me? I treat her like my own sister! This chocolate must have been switched!"
Police officer: "Since you are siblings, why don't you make your relationship public and avoid people misunderstanding that you are dating?"
Yu Hui scratched his head in frustration and said, "I'm the same age as her, only three days older. This girl has never called me 'brother' since we were little. It's so awkward for our classmates to know we're siblings when we're in the same class, okay? So at school, we always call each other by our first names. I never expected people to misunderstand!"
The police asked, "Has she lived with your family since she was little? What's your relationship like?"
Yu Hui said, "Her parents divorced when she was seven years old. Her parents lived in other places and didn't take care of her much. They left her with us to take care of her. We grew up together and our relationship is closer than that of siblings."
He paused, then continued, "So Xiaoya's suicide note definitely wasn't written by her! 'I'm sorry to Mom and Dad,' what kind of parents are they?! If she really wanted to commit suicide, the people she should be most sorry to are my parents!"
The police then asked, "Has your chocolate been touched by anyone?"
Yu Hui: "I don't know. I bought that box of chocolate at the supermarket last week, and I've had it in my backpack for a week."
Police officer: "Did you give Ying Xiaoya any of this?"
Yu Hui thought about it carefully: "I did give her a chocolate when we were running yesterday."
Police officer: "Why was she late yesterday?"
Yu Hui: "Her mom suddenly came back to see her and bought her a cell phone as an 18th birthday present. She was very happy. She went back and stayed at a hotel with her mom that night instead of going to my house. We used to go to school together. Xiaoya gets up very early every day, so I was very surprised that she was late!"
The police sent Yu Hui back. He had no motive for murder and had not been in contact with any drugs, so although the chocolate came from his hands, he was actually the least suspicious.
Even more suspicious are Xie Xinghe, who checked the signatures of the reagents during the lab, and the chemistry teacher who directly purchased the reagents.
******