Chapter 285: Rich Lady's Happy Ball

At first Han Fei still thought Xu Mo had discovered some clue, which is why he so confidently said it was homicide rather than suicide.

But it turned out Xu Mo hadn't found anything; he considered it homicide rather than suicide solely because of his intuition…

"Why don't you think about what kind of person would commit suicide, or rather, what traits most suicides share?" Xu Mo asked, staring at Han Fei and the others.

What kind of person would commit suicide? Chen Ke thought for a moment, then blurted out, "Someone trapped by love."

"Besides being trapped by love, what else?" Xu Mo continued to ask.

"Being broke, living a miserable life… or having a terminal illness with little time left…" Chen Ke looked at Xu Mo: "There are countless reasons for suicide; the most common basics are extreme lack of money and lack of love."

Xu Mo nodded, stretched out his hand and pointed at the corpse.

"Right, suicide always has a reason. Look at this person—what do you think she would have killed herself over?"

The others all followed Xu Mo's pointing direction and glanced at the body on the ground.

On that point, Xu Mo was correct.

Suicide must have a cause; no one would kill themselves for no reason.

And the reasons for suicide, Chen Ke had just basically listed them.

The most common are extreme lack of money, lack of love, severe illness, and so on.

The deceased lived in a villa district, her home filled with high‑end furniture; one can infer she wasn't short of money, at least she wouldn't be driven to suicide because of poverty.

As for lack of love, that's even more nonsense.

A fifty‑something rich lady lacking love? Committing a love‑driven suicide?

"So perhaps she killed herself because she was suffering from a terminal illness?" Wang Dachuan initially hypothesized, but quickly he overturned his own assumption: "No, a rich person with a serious illness would go to a hospital, spend money to keep alive, and even if they die, it would be in the hospital, not at home."

Thinking that, Wang Dachuan's expression instantly grew solemn.

"If we put it that way, she didn't commit suicide—she was murdered? The victim died in the bedroom, yet the bedroom's doors and windows were all locked from the inside; is this still a locked‑room murder?"

As soon as the words fell, Chen Ke drew the gun he had applied for and brought out before the investigation.

"What locked‑room murder? That's a TV drama trope; how could such a thing happen in reality? With doors and windows locked, the killer must still be hidden inside—watch me find them."

Chen Ke didn't believe in any locked‑room murder; he thought such a thing was absurd.

If the doors and windows are all locked, could the killer not be inside the house?

One must know that locking from the inside can only be done from within, and if there's only one corpse inside, the doors and windows could not possibly be in a locked‑inside state.

Unless the killer can walk through walls!

Or the corpse can be resurrected!

But, is that possible?

Obviously not!

At present, the most likely scenario is.

The killer is still hiding in the room…

Chen Ke, holding the loaded gun, began searching the bedroom.

The bedroom's layout isn't very complex.

Places where a person could hide are only a few.

Under the bed, behind the curtains, the Restroom, the wardrobe.

Before checking each spot, Chen Ke would shout, "Come out, stop hiding, I've already seen you!"

He said that to lure the person out and also to warn the killer not to do anything foolish, to reduce unnecessary casualties.

But it never really worked.

Because under the bed, behind the curtains, and the Restroom had no one hiding; his shouts were in vain.

The only remaining place in the house that could hide someone, which Chen Ke hadn't checked yet—the wardrobe.

Chen Ke stood before the wardrobe, raised his pistol at its door, and said,

"Stop hiding, come out, I've seen you! Come out honestly with your hands over your head, don't act rashly—my gun isn't a toy!"

After more than ten seconds, there was still no movement inside the wardrobe.

Chen Ke stepped forward and opened the wardrobe.

There was no one hidden inside.

But he saw the wardrobe packed with all kinds of clothes.

At the bottom of the wardrobe, some small toys were neatly arranged.

Rich Lady's Happy Ball, Golden Hoop Staff, Small Whip, and so on…

Chen Ke: "???"

Han Fei: "???"

Xu Mo: "???"

Wang Dachuan: "???"

Xiao Zhang: "???"

The several of them first widened their eyes, staring at the clothes in the wardrobe.

Then, simultaneously, they turned to glance at the corpse on the ground.

This deceased really knew how to have fun…

At this point, they were even more certain that the victim died from homicide, not suicide.

After all, the sheer amount of clothing and toys in that wardrobe shows she was someone who enjoyed life and had a strong sense of entertainment.

How could such a person possibly commit suicide?

Her death must have something fishy about it!

Of course, the clothes and small toys in the wardrobe aren't the main point.

The point is, Chen Ke just searched every place in the house where a person could be hidden; the wardrobe was the last one.

The wardrobe also didn't hide anyone, indicating the murderer isn't in this bedroom.

"Where's the person?" Chen Ke scratched his hair. "The murderer isn't in the house… then why are all the doors and windows locked from the inside? Could it really be the kind of locked‑room murder you see on TV? How did the murderer manage to leave the room while still ensuring the doors and windows remain locked?"

At that moment, Han Fei suddenly spoke up.

"Don't overcomplicate things, and it might not be a locked‑room murder. Didn't Xu Mo say the victim likely died from poisoning? One possibility is that the poison was taken outside, acted slowly, and only manifested after she returned home, leading to her death."

Han Fei's words instantly brightened Chen Ke's eyes.

"Exactly, exactly, that's possible. If the victim was killed by a chronic poison, then the fact that there's only one corpse in the house while the doors and windows are locked can be explained—perhaps she locked the doors and windows after returning, and then the poison took effect, killing her."

"I'm just guessing," Han Fei said, noting that her statement might not be right: "We won't know the specific outcome until the forensic doctor conducts a test."

Han Fei pulled out her phone, called both the forensic doctor and the Forensic Inspection Section staff, and told them to come over quickly.

…

The forensic doctor and the Forensic Inspection Section personnel arrived promptly.

After carefully examining the corpse, the forensic doctor spoke.

"The time of death is roughly four to five hours ago. The victim's body shows no fatal external injuries. From the state of death, it's not a common cause; the cause may be poisoning, but I can't tell what poison was involved. That requires professional instrumentation for testing."

Han Fei merely nodded.

"Alright, then let's test it and see which poison it is."

The forensic doctor's statement was almost identical to what Xu Mo said not long ago; Han Fei had already heard it once, so she remained very calm, showing no hint of surprise.

After circling the house very carefully several times and collecting Xu Mo's biological data,

The Forensic Inspection Section staff walked up to Han Fei and said,

"Han Team, collection complete. We found many fingerprints, hairs, and footprints in the house. Preliminary assessment: they all belong to the same individual, a male, and based on foot length, his height is roughly between 174 and 177 centimeters."

"Take them back for testing and comparison, see if the database has a match for this person," Han Fei instructed.