Chapter 179: Another Mind-Gamer

What had happened in the coming year?

Yu Dazhang stared at the butler before him, feeling this case was a little strange.

He didn't harm Liu Zhengyang, so why would he run?

He even sent Liu Siyuan a video, admitting he did it.

Taking the blame for someone else?

Not right.

Even if this case dragged on another year, it would still be in cold-case status; the perpetrator hadn't shown any slip, so the butler had no need for this superfluous move.

Taking the money and running would at most be theft, but if he admitted to murder, that would be a serious crime.

Seeing Yu Dazhang standing in place in a daze, the butler couldn't help but ask:

"Officer, what's wrong? Is there something not quite right?"

"Oh, nothing." Yu Dazhang came back to himself, looked at him and said:

"Thank you for your cooperation. If there are any developments in the case, we'll come back."

He didn't use vague words like "if" or "suppose," but spoke this sentence in an affirmative tone.

As a result, after hearing it, the butler not only showed no particular reaction, but replied very seriously:

"If there's anything you need cooperation on, you can contact me anytime. If Mr. was really harmed by someone, I also hope the killer can be caught."

Looking at his utterly sincere and solemn expression, Yu Dazhang's headache only worsened.

Solving a case is a process of finding clues and verifying them, but here, the moment they arrived, the clues were already cut off.

On top of that, this case had already been over a year, and many of the details from back then could no longer be traced.

Yu Dazhang and the two others then left the Liu family villa.

Compared to their chest-out, head-high bearing on the way here, now they were all somewhat dejected.

Out of trust in Yu Dazhang, Ma Jian and Liu Miao had thought coming here would yield new clues, but unexpectedly nothing had been drawn out.

Back at the detachment, Yu Dazhang stood by the corridor window, his eyes unfocused as he gazed out at the street.

Truly worthy of a cold case — it really wasn't simple.

He had noticed this when reading the case file earlier.

Although Liu Zhengyang's autopsy report said natural death, the officers who handled the investigation didn't take this case lightly; on the contrary, they investigated very carefully and thoroughly.

They checked every person related to it, and even made annotations on the statements.

Showing they had carefully analyzed the content of each statement.

Which parts were unreasonable, which could draw attention.

Places like these were all specially marked.

Precisely because the earlier statements had been done in great detail, Yu Dazhang didn't question Liu Siyuan and the butler too much at the Liu residence.

One hypothesis after another surfaced in his mind in turn, only to be rejected by him one by one.

Later on, Yu Dazhang let out a disdainful cold laugh.

Someone is laying out a board here~

"Another one who plays mind games." He muttered unconsciously.

If he hadn't known in advance that the butler would run, he would most likely have been deceived by everything before his eyes as well.

Natural death, no main suspect, no problems found in anyone's statement, not even a motive for the crime could be found.

It seemed this case was nothing but a farce.

A farce stirred up by Liu Zhengyang's daughter, Liu Qi.

Without her report, this case wouldn't even exist.

After the police investigation ended, she was also the one who firmly refused to close the case.

Could it be that Liu Zhengyang really told her, half a month before his death, that he would be harmed?

He had read Liu Qi's statement many times; the officers handling the case before had asked her similar questions.

She answered very affirmatively.

And she also asked Liu Zhengyang who wanted to harm him, but didn't get an answer from Liu Zhengyang.

It seemed even Liu Zhengyang himself didn't know.

That's a bit of a stretch… Yu Dazhang considered this an obvious logical loophole.

Unfortunately, with the dead unable to testify, Liu Zhengyang had already turned to ash, and the words he spoke could not be verified.

Is there a perfect crime in this world?

No.

Because perfect crimes are never discovered.

Since this case has surfaced, there must be a flaw.

Thrilling, thrilling… Yu Dazhang's smile grew colder and colder.

Back at the police academy, a teacher once said: when a case stumps everyone, it means the suspect is smart enough, and cunning enough. Put bluntly, you can't outplay them — you've been crushed in IQ.

Since that's the case, finding clues and verifying them is no longer important at this stage.

The other side has taken all of this into account, and has set the police up in a dead end.

"Then all that's left is a battle of wits."

Yu Dazhang grew more and more excited.

When one's attitude toward something changes, one's mindset naturally changes with it.

Using existing investigative methods to crack the case would of course give a headache.

But if you look at this case like playing a game, that's a different story.

"Throw away all those rules and conventions, and use my own way."

Yu Dazhang narrowed his eyes slightly, a glint of cunning flashing in them, and murmured softly:

"If I were the killer."

Not a single error—one chapter—one shot—one interior—content—right—here—read!

"To kill him inside Liu Zhengyang's villa, the methods one could think of…"

"One, sneak in and poison Liu Zhengyang's food and water."

"Two, exploit Liu Zhengyang's heart condition and tamper with his medication."

"Three…"

"No, the first two methods wouldn't work!"

Yu Dazhang's eyes suddenly flew wide open.

Liu Zhengyang died of a sudden heart attack, not poisoning, and there were surveillance cameras both inside and outside the villa.

The officers who investigated at the time had reviewed the surveillance footage and found no suspicious persons.

Tampering with his medication was even less possible.

If it wasn't done by an outsider, then only someone close to Liu Zhengyang could have had access to his medication.

But after the investigation, his children, the butler, and even the servants had all been cleared of suspicion.

Moreover, Liu Zhengyang's autopsy report showed nothing amiss.

If Liu Zhengyang had died from taking some other drug, the forensic examiner would certainly have identified it.

When it comes to drug testing, forensic examiners are even more experienced than professional doctors.

"There's no surveillance in the study—could it possibly be…"

Recalling Liu Zhengyang's attack, Yu Dazhang suddenly noticed a detail.

The video conference!

He just happened to suffer the attack while holding a video conference at home.

Was it a coincidence?

No.

Since this was a setup, that timing must have been deliberately arranged by the other party.

The purpose was to make the executives attending the video conference eyewitnesses.

The other party had even factored this in.

Meticulous to the finest detail!

Yu Dazhang silently made his assessment in his heart.

But this also gave him a direction for the investigation.

Since the case file contained no inference or investigation in this regard, it proved that the officers who handled it before hadn't thought of this layer.

Thinking of this, he took out his phone and began searching for the butler's phone number.

When he had left the Liu residence earlier, Yu Dazhang had specifically asked the butler for his contact information.

After dialing through, he asked directly:

"When Mr. Liu Zhengyang holds video conferences at home, how long do they usually last?"

"Well…" The butler on the other end of the line hesitated for a moment, then replied:

"At the shortest it still runs over half an hour, and when there's a lot of meeting content, it can last over two hours."

Averaging out to just over an hour… Yu Dazhang silently did the calculation in his heart.

"Oh, right." The butler added:

"Mr.'s passing happened not long after the video conference had just begun—I remember it was only about ten-odd minutes after it started."

(End of chapter)