Chapter 10

After Luo Fei finished speaking, Gu Changzheng poked his head out from the balcony and looked down, saying, "If I were the murderer, since I had already prepared rubber gloves, to avoid leaving footprints, I naturally would have prepared shoe covers as well. Since the victim's door could be pried open by Shu Jiaqing, why couldn't it be pried open by me? Or, without going to such trouble, if I had found or known that she had a spare key, then wouldn't it be very convenient for me to enter and leave her home? Why would I risk falling, dying from a fall, or being discovered on the spot by jumping out of a window to escape?"

"Therefore, when I discovered that there were other people in the living room, I quickly climbed over the window, passed through the balcony outside the bedroom to reach the bedroom, and came here." He pointed to the row of wardrobes in the bedroom. "I hid inside temporarily. Because the wardrobe door opens outward, in my haste, I used a bit too much force. The wardrobe door caused the indoor air to flow, and it actually pushed open the ajar bedroom door. I hurriedly slipped inside and hid."

As he spoke, Gu Changzheng signaled for Luo Fei to leave the bedroom door ajar, then stood in front of the wardrobe door himself and pulled it open with force. Luo Fei truly felt a gust of air surge, and the ajar door was pushed open more than halfway!

"You go to the living room and stand at the position where Ge Ge Manli took off her clothes at the bathroom entrance!" Gu Changzheng pointed outside and said. Luo Fei was stunned for a moment, suddenly understood his meaning, trotted out, and left the door ajar.

He arrived at the place where Ge Ge Manli's clothes were, the spot directly facing the bedroom door at the bathroom entrance. Then, suddenly, he saw the bedroom door open. He looked inside quickly. Because the bedroom door opened toward the direction of the wardrobe, it blocked part of his line of sight, and he only saw a faint shadow flash by!

"Captain Gu, it really is hard to see clearly!"

"Think about it again. Shu Jiaqing saw it unintentionally while in a panic, making it even harder to see clearly. Plus, he was anxious to escape the scene, so it's normal that he couldn't see clearly!"

"Then do you believe that everything Shu Jiaqing said is the truth?"

"As of now, he is still the prime suspect, but I always feel that the murderer is someone else, and the other party is quite cunning! We are reconstructing the crime scene now precisely to find the truth!"

"What kind of murder weapon could the killer use to leave no traces, and how did they subdue the victim within a few minutes?"

Gu Changzheng came to the side of the bathtub, thinking hard.

With a splash, Gu Changzheng suddenly jumped into the bathtub. He stood in the tub and shouted, "Luo Fei!"

Luo Fei hurriedly ran in, looked at Gu Changzheng standing in the bathtub, and asked, "What is it? Captain Gu!"

"Come, put water in here, quickly!" As he spoke, he began to take off his clothes. "Captain Gu, you this..."

"Don't talk nonsense, fill it! Use hot water!" He frowned. "If a person in a state of extreme relaxation is suddenly pushed backward from behind into a bathtub full of hot water, what would happen? I think I know how to simply drown someone in this bathtub!"

Luo Fei watched him take off his clothes. Gu Changzheng said, "If I don't take them off, how will I go back later? Wear a set of wet clothes?"

Luo Fei chuckled; he hadn't expected that Captain Gu, who usually paid no attention to his image, would become so particular.

"This bathtub is 1.7 meters long with a capacity of about 300 liters. Ge Ge Manli was 170 cm tall and weighed only 50 kilograms. I am 175 cm tall and weigh 70 kilograms, so the time I take to reach the water level Ge Ge Manli was soaking in will be a little less..."

Gu Changzheng spoke to Luo Fei during the intervals of filling the water. Luo Fei understood his intention, rubbed his chin, and said, "Looking at this state, if it's filled with water, it will take at least half an hour. During this time, would Ge Ge Manli stay by the bathtub watching?"

"There is still a glass of red wine on the white coffee table at the scene. During this time, she would go to prepare red wine, face masks, and such things."

He looked at the wine glass in front of him. "It seems this Ge Ge Manli really liked to drink, though she should have preferred red wine."

"Right, especially if one drinks wine they don't like in an occasion they don't enjoy. If it were me, upon returning to an environment where I could be particularly relaxed, I would have some wine I like. Even if I couldn't drink much, psychologically speaking, it would be a comfort to myself."

Luo Fei continued after Gu Changzheng's words. Gu Changzheng gave him an approving look. "Tell me, is it possible that the murderer was already waiting in Ge Ge Manli's home, just waiting for her to return, and then killed her by creating an accident while she was soaking in the tub?"

"That is indeed a very bold idea! If that were the case, this person must be very familiar with Ge Ge Manli and her husband, and also very clear about their habits and schedule! The most terrifying thing is that even Ge Ge Manli's impromptu itinerary was mastered so clearly..."

Luo Fei felt a chill! He withdrew his thoughts, returned to the scene, and following Gu Changzheng's habit, imagined himself as the criminal to simulate the crime scene.

"Outside this bathtub, there was originally a frosted glass partition. A person in this position couldn't see outside at all. Coupled with the heat of the hot water, even in the summer of June, it was still full of mist inside. I would first hide in the bedroom wardrobe. I checked; because Ge Ge Manli liked to soak in the tub, her bathrobe and bath towel were in the small cabinet by the bathtub. Plus, with my understanding of her, she wouldn't come to the bedroom, so at this moment, I was safe hiding in the wardrobe. After she entered the bathtub, there were two places I could enter: first, climb in from the bathroom window; second, enter directly from the bathroom door. I chose to enter from the bathroom door. Sure enough, just as I expected, at home, she was fully relaxed, and the bathroom door wasn't locked at all."

"I drank quite a bit of wine at noon, and my head was already dizzy." After 20 minutes, the water in the bathtub was full. In the steam-filled bathroom, things were already a bit blurry. Gu Changzheng squinted his eyes, his head resting on the headrest. "Having drunk another half glass of red wine at home and applied a face mask, at this time I was already a bit sleepy. To sleep more comfortably and also to prevent myself from sliding into the bathtub, I took a bath towel and cushioned it under my head..."

"Luo Fei!" Gu Changzheng suddenly opened his eyes. "Quickly see how many bath towels she has left in her home?"

Luo Fei immediately pulled open the bathroom cabinet. Inside, two white bathrobes and one white bath towel were neatly placed! "Right! Quickly take the bath towel out and cushion it under my head."

Luo Fei did as he was told. After cushioning the bath towel, Gu Changzheng said, "You come in from outside."

Luo Fei first left the bathroom and closed the door, then gently turned the lock. The door opened without a sound. He walked to the partition on tiptoe. Seeing there was no reaction inside, he crept into the partition, and a person's head was the first thing to come into view!

Luo Fei did not hesitate; he placed both hands directly on Gu Changzheng's shoulders and applied a light force. Gu Changzheng's body slid forward. He was shocked, and just as he was about to open his mouth to shout, a mouthful of warm water poured into his mouth. Luo Fei reached out and picked up the bath towel from the bathtub headrest, spread it out in one motion, and happened to wrap Gu Changzheng's entire face!