Lin Yiyan's phone remained in the killer's possession. Yu Hanjiang had considered using the IP address to locate the killer, but the killer was very cunning and had turned off the phone's location function. Sometimes the killer would even use a computer to scan a QR code to log into WeChat, making it difficult to pinpoint the killer's exact location.
The killer sent messages to Ye Lan, just like he had sent messages to others before, in order to create the illusion that Lin Yiyan was still alive.
Upon hearing the devastating news of her senior sister's death, Ye Lan's face turned even more ashen: "How...how did she die?"
Yu Hanjiang stated bluntly, "Murder. The killer is still under investigation."
Ye Lan's entire body began to tremble violently: "How...how could this be?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "She likes to confide in you. From what you know, who does she have a grudge against?"
Ye Lan, her eyes red, said, "All I know is that she has a grudge against Teacher Liang. Teacher Liang slapped her several times backstage, and Lin Yiyan has never given up on Xie Yuan. I thought it was her..."
Clearly, Ye Lan thought Liang Ting was killed by Lin Yiyan; but unexpectedly, Lin Yiyan also died. Could it be that Liang Ting killed Lin Yiyan?
Two people killing each other is too fantastical; after all, this isn't a ghost story.
Ye Lan lowered her head and said in a weak voice, "What my senior sister confided in me was just some unpleasant things in life, such as being too tired from filming, the director being very fierce, and not knowing which man is worth marrying because she is getting older... I really don't know if she has any grudges with other people."
The girl was clearly terrified by the news of the two deaths; her hands were trembling. It was understandable; she was a well-behaved girl from a scholarly family, and had never seen anything like a murder case before, especially two people she knew who had died at once.
Yu Hanjiang continued to interrogate Ye Lan, but couldn't get any information out of her, so he let her go.
I got two pieces of information from Ye Lan. First, Liang Ting knew about her husband's affair with Lin Yiyan and slapped Lin Yiyan backstage. Second, the murderer was still using Lin Yiyan's phone to send messages everywhere. I don't know if he was confident that Lin Yiyan's body hadn't been found by the police, or if he knew the police were investigating but still continued to act on his own.
After seeing Ye Lan off, Yu Hanjiang continued to interrogate Liang Ting's makeup artist and hairstylist.
Makeup artist Xiao Su, whose full name is Su Shanshan, said she has been working with Liang Ting for over three years. Teacher Liang really likes her makeup and always brings her along to important events. She got married earlier this year and has a loving husband. She also recently found out she's pregnant, and her husband accompanied her today.
Yu Hanjiang checked her phone orders.
Last night at 8:30, she ordered two takeout meals. The meals were delivered around 9:00. Her phone had a record of her answering a call from the delivery guy. At that time, Liang Ting was about to go on stage to perform, and Su Shanshan left backstage to pick up the takeout.
Yu Hanjiang called the delivery driver to verify this. The driver said that a pretty woman did come out to pick up the food and politely thanked him for his hard work. After taking the food, the woman turned around and went into the back office.
Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, "After she entered, did she walk to the left or the right?"
The delivery driver thought for a moment and said, "Go to the right!"
The left is west, and the right is east. The break room where the two were eating takeout is due north, so the distance is about the same whether you go left or right. If Su Shanshan wanted to poison Liang Ting, she should have gone west, but she went east instead.
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Why go east?"
Susan said, "I went over there because I heard cheers. It sounded really lively, so I went over to take a look out of curiosity. It turned out that Ye Qi was singing on stage. I stopped and listened to a bit of it, and she sang pretty well. Then I took the takeout to find Ah Kim."
Yu Hanjiang said, "You're not very familiar with Ah Kim, are you? He said it's his first time working with Teacher Liang."
Susan said, "We're not familiar with each other. I only met Teacher Liang for the first time last week when the manager asked us to come over for a makeup and hair trial."
Yu Hanjiang asked, "Then why did you order takeout for him?"
Susan replied, "Because we stayed together all night, we were so busy backstage that we didn't have time to eat dinner. I thought he must be hungry too, so I asked him what he wanted to eat and then ordered two portions."
Yu Hanjiang said, "You were together all last night? You weren't together when you went out to pick up the takeout."
Susan paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Yes, I really didn't know where he was for those two minutes. When I went back with the takeout, he was already waiting for me in the break room."
Yu Hanjiang then interrogated Ah Kim.
He asked the other person to show his ID. Kim looked embarrassed and said with a dry laugh, "Officer, my real name is Jin Xiaoyong. Well, it's because my real name is too old-fashioned that I chose a more trendy English name."
It's common for hairdressers to have English names, like Tony or Kim... These names are too common to be traced. He said his real name is Jin Xiaoyong. Yu Hanjiang looked closely at his ID card—the photo on the ID was taken when he was in college, wearing sportswear, looking young and naive, only about 60% similar to the boy in front of him. And now, Ah Kim is over 30 years old.
Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice and whispered in Xiao Lou's ear, "Find a way to collect his fingerprint information and verify it against the database."
Xiao Lou nodded.
Yu Hanjiang then asked him, "When Su Shanshan went out to pick up the takeout, did you go to Liang Ting's lounge?"
Kim replied innocently, "When Xiao Su went to pick up her takeout yesterday, I waited for her in the break room. I didn't go to Teacher Liang's break room. I was tired and hungry at the time, and all I wanted to do was eat as soon as possible."
Yu Hanjiang: "Did you hear any other footsteps passing by?"
Ah Kim said confidently, "No."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Let me ask you these questions first, and then you can sign your name on the notepad."
Xiao Lou took the transcript and inkpad, and after the other party signed it, Xiao Lou said gently, "Press your fingerprint on your name."
Ah Kim pressed his handprint and smiled, "Can I go now?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Wait outside for half an hour. There are still a few people who need to ask questions. If you can leave, I will send someone to let you know."
Ah Kim looked helpless: "Officer, isn't this disturbing the peace? I still have work to do today..."
Before he could finish his complaint, Yu Hanjiang's sharp gaze swept over him, and the other man immediately shut his mouth in fright.
Xiao Lou quickly took the fingerprint he pressed and compared it with the fingerprint database.
When everyone applies for an ID card upon reaching adulthood, their fingerprints are recorded. This fingerprint database contains the most complete information. A person can have plastic surgery or obtain a fake ID card, but they can't replace their fingers.
Yu Hanjiang asked Xiao Lou to verify the fingerprints, clearly suspecting that the information provided by Ah Kim was incorrect.
Although Xiao Lou didn't know why Yu Hanjiang suspected the other party's identity, he still unconditionally trusted Captain Yu's judgment. He compared Ah Kim's fingerprints with the database, and the result left Xiao Lou speechless.
This Ah Kim is not actually named Jin Xiaoyong.
The person in the fingerprint database whose fingerprint matches his 99% is named Jin Xiaoyue, and is female.