Chapter 753

Schiller snapped his fingers, and the lights dimmed once more. He and Gordon stood face to face; Gordon turned around, and Schiller thrust a sword into his chest.

The subsequent process was no different from the previous deduction, but the reason they had to do it again was that they wanted to know under what circumstances a victim would turn around.

"In my experience, the vast majority of murder cases where the deceased is attacked from behind are committed by acquaintances," Schiller said, crossing his arms. "If it's a stranger or someone meeting for the first time, it's difficult to be in a completely turned-away state. People only expose their backs to others when they hold a high degree of trust in them."

Gordon nodded and said, "That is indeed the case. In head-on confrontations, the deceased are mostly shot in the chest, which is very common in gangland shootouts."

"Conversely, if it's members of the same gang fighting for power, especially between fathers, sons, or brothers, the wounds in sudden attacks are often on the back."

"If it was committed by an acquaintance, it means the killer might be someone from the theater troupe. Who do you think is the most suspicious?" Schiller asked.

Gordon paced back and forth, thinking, "It's hard to say. Both crimes of passion and revenge are possible. Although the troupe owner said Vicky was well-liked, you can know a person's face but not their heart; no one knows what the others are really thinking."

"The problem now is the location of the murder weapon," Bruce said, stepping forward. "Such a penetrating wound cannot be caused by an ordinary sharp weapon. To cause a complete penetration, the blade part must be at least two to three feet long."

"Currently, long daggers on the market, even long ones, don't exceed one foot," Schiller continued. "According to my observation of the wound profile, the weapon is straight and long, about three fingers wide, and almost equal in width from front to back."

"A longsword," Bruce replied. "Only a longsword close to those used by medieval knights could fit these characteristics."

"This is a theater troupe; it should be reasonable to have such a sword," Gordon said, then called over an officer and said, "Go find the troupe owner, have him call the prop master over, and ask if any props are missing from the troupe."

After a while, the troupe owner brought the prop master in. The prop master was a young girl in her early twenties.

Before the others could ask, the troupe owner introduced, "This is Miss Molly, the prop master for the Angelica Troupe. Originally, her aunt held this job, but some time ago, her aunt had health issues, so she took over."

Molly looked very shy and somewhat timid, not daring to answer. Gordon stepped forward and asked proactively, "Have you checked the prop inventory? Did you find anything missing?"

"Yes... yes." Molly nodded, showing a fearful expression. The troupe owner glared at her, and Molly moved to the side, saying, "Just now, when I went to the prop room to take inventory, I found that the sword that should have been part of the knight's armor set was missing."

"What are you doing?" the troupe owner scolded. "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on the prop room? How could someone steal something?"

Schiller reached out to soothe the troupe owner, then looked at Molly and asked, "Do you know when that sword disappeared?"

Molly shook her head and said, "I... I don't know, but that armor set is meant to be worn at the opening of the Macbeth performance."

"Is there armor in the opening of Macbeth?" Schiller asked with a frown.

At this moment, the troupe owner spoke up, "Our troupe has adapted the four great tragedies to a certain extent. Of course, the plot hasn't changed, only the scenes and character costumes have been redesigned to alleviate people's aesthetic fatigue with classic plays."

"To highlight Macbeth's heroic image in the early stages, we designed a set of armor for him. Oh, right, it's currently being worn by Alex." The troupe owner seemed to remember something and said to Molly, "Quick, go call Alex over and ask if he took the longsword."

After a while, Alex walked in, wearing a suit of armor and looking dejected. Schiller examined him and found that the armor on him was indeed newly made; the wear marks on it were very faint, and the metal parts were mirror-bright.

"Alex, where did the longsword that goes with this armor go? Do you know?" the troupe owner asked.

Alex reacted for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "No, I didn't see it..."

"Then when you put on this armor, didn't you have a sword?" the troupe owner asked again.

"I... I don't remember... at that time..." Alex closed his eyes, trying to shake off that state of sadness, and spoke in a low tone:

"When the rehearsal started today, I was late. Plus, today's rehearsal was the first full-prop rehearsal, so I rushed to the backstage and started changing clothes."

"Molly told me Macbeth had new armor and told me to go to the prop room to get it. As soon as I entered the prop room, I saw this new armor set, so I intended to put it on."

"However, putting on the armor was a bit complicated, and I was in a hurry, so I couldn't put it on for a while. At that time, the troupe's makeup artist happened to pass by the door of the prop room, and with his help, I managed to put it on."

"As for the longsword... it was my first time wearing this costume, so I didn't know I had to carry a sword at all," Alex said with a dazed expression.

"The makeup artist?" Gordon put his hands on his hips and looked at the troupe owner, saying, "Then, please invite the makeup artist over as well."

After a while, the makeup artist also came over. He was a man wearing a pink jacket. After he entered, he crossed his arms and snorted coldly, saying, "I didn't see any longsword in the prop room at all. Maybe it was Molly's carelessness again, and she doesn't know where she put it."

The prop master Molly mumbled, not daring to speak, seemingly a bit afraid of this makeup artist, but she still shook her head vigorously, denying the makeup artist's claim.

Schiller stood to the side, watching these people. They were shifting responsibility to each other: prop master Molly said the last one to leave the prop room was Alex, so he should know where the longsword was; Alex said the prop master didn't tell him there was a longsword, so he didn't pay attention; the makeup artist said there was no longsword in the prop room at all, and maybe the prop master lost it.

At this moment, Bruce stepped forward proactively and said, "According to what you're saying, the play will definitely be delayed. I was originally planning to invite a few friends to watch it together, but now it seems, forget it."

As he spoke, he shook his head and started to walk out. The troupe owner hurriedly stopped him. The troupe owner wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "No, Mr. Wei En, the play will go on as scheduled. Vicky not participating in the Macbeth performance won't affect the subsequent performance at all..."

"Forget it!" Bruce raised his voice and said, "You've only been here for a few days, and a lead actor has already died. Who knows if there's some murderer lurking in your troupe? If I come to watch the performance, will I die here too?"

He snorted coldly and said while walking out, "I have to have my butler tell the other butlers not to come to such a dangerous place. In case they lose their lives, hum..."

The troupe owner's face had visibly turned pale. He couldn't possibly not know the famous Bruce Wei En.

In today's era where movies and television shows are popular, traditional theater has already become a hobby for a small group of people, and among this small group, the vast majority are wealthy people, especially those who have been rich for decades.

The Wei En family is the leader in this circle. If Bruce Wei En spreads bad words about their troupe in the circle, then they probably really won't be able to survive in this circle.

"Molly! Didn't I tell you long ago? Every prop must have a record when it enters the warehouse. Where is your record book?!" the troupe owner asked, glaring viciously at Molly.

"I..." Molly showed a terrified expression, and at this time, the troupe owner pressed on step by step. He said, "If you can't produce the record, then it must be you who took the longsword! Officer, you should take her to the police station; don't let her endanger our safety here!"

Just as Molly was about to say something, the troupe owner said rapidly, "Don't think I don't know, you've always been jealous of Vicky, jealous that she could be the female lead on stage, while you could only hide behind the scenes as a prop master!"

Molly's face became paler and paler. Gordon originally wanted to step forward to ask what was going on, but Molly seemed to think Gordon was coming to arrest her, so she immediately turned and ran toward the door.

It would have been better if she hadn't run; running only confirmed her status as a suspect. The two police officers at the door immediately surrounded her and pinned her down.

Molly was just a thin, small girl and couldn't resist at all, but she screamed loudly in a breakdown, "Andwo! You scumbag! It was clearly you who wanted to kill Vicky! Because she wanted to leave the troupe and go to Hollywood to develop!"

【To be honest, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to catch up on books recently. The source switching is good, and there are many reading voices. Both Android and Apple are supported.】

"It was you who asked me to bring that longsword to you! You also burned the prop book and even hinted for Alex to wear that armor set, just to frame him! You black-hearted owner! Murderer!"

"Officer, she is framing me!" the troupe owner immediately stepped forward to explain. "She wants to clear herself, so she needs to find a scapegoat. How could I possibly kill Vicky? She is our female lead here!"

"It was you! It was you!" Molly shouted, "You eavesdropped on Vicky and Alex's whispers and learned that Vicky not only wanted to go to Hollywood to develop herself but also wanted to take Alex with her. You hated her to the core, which is why you wanted to kill her!"

"Officer, you have to believe me. Doesn't the Angelica Troupe's good reputation over so many years guarantee me?"

The troupe owner was clearly a bit anxious. He walked to Gordon's side and said to him, "Our family has operated the troupe for so many years and has dealt with many celebrities. They all know that I couldn't possibly do such a thing..."

This was clearly putting pressure on the Gotham Police Department, but it only exposed his guilty conscience more. At this time, Bruce stopped his departure, turned his head, and said to Gordon, "I believe this owner more. What do you think?"

Gordon didn't quite understand what he meant, but looking at his expression, he echoed and nodded, waved his hand at the officer, and said, "Take this young lady to the police station first and let her wait in the interrogation room."

Schiller gave Bruce a wink and said, "Now, the most important thing we need to do is find the murder weapon."

Bruce left the room. Before leaving, he said, "It's a bit late now; I'm going back to rest. You guys investigate slowly."

Then, Schiller turned his head again and said to the troupe owner, "Don't mind it, sir. Please go call the actors who were rehearsing together over now; we need to ask them about some details."

The troupe owner said nothing and immediately left the room.

Three minutes later, the troupe owner was pinned to the second-floor floor by Bruce, who was holding a longsword with blood that hadn't been wiped clean yet.