Not Suicide

Han Fei thought it would be better to let Xu Mo finish eating before telling him. They could talk after the meal.

But Xu Mo's curiosity had been thoroughly piqued by Han Fei. He was eager to know what Han Fei wanted to tell him.

He asked directly, "What is it? Just tell me. I'm almost done eating anyway."

"There might be another case," Han Fei said. "I'm not entirely sure, but something seems fishy... Did you see the trending topic in our city? About the guy who committed suicide after losing money in stocks."

Xu Mo recalled the trending topic he had seen earlier.

The trending post said that the person had jumped to his death after losing money in the stock market.

For Han Fei to specifically call about this, could it mean that the person didn't commit suicide but was murdered?

So, had Han Fei discovered something suspicious?

"You suspect it's not suicide but homicide?" Xu Mo asked while opening the trending topic again.

"Yes," Han Fei explained briefly: "I know the deceased. He comes from a very wealthy family. A few hundred thousand wouldn't be much to him. He's not the type to impulsively commit suicide over losing that amount."

Xu Mo unconsciously repeated Han Fei's words.

"Very wealthy..."

He glanced at An Youyi.

Among the people Xu Mo knew, only An Youyi could be described as coming from a very wealthy family.

Coincidentally, An Youyi had also lost a few hundred thousand in stocks today.

Her situation was almost identical to the deceased person Han Fei described.

Xu Mo observed An Youyi.

He saw her holding her empty bowl, peering intently into the hot pot. She seemed to be debating whether to have another bowl of soup...

She was probably torn between worrying about gaining weight and wanting more, caught in indecision. She looked completely carefree.

The rich were indeed so down-to-earth, as if losing 300,000 meant nothing to her.

Judging from An Youyi's various reactions, it was hard to tell she had just lost 300,000. She didn't even look slightly dejected.

Xu Mo suddenly understood Han Fei's perspective.

He realized why Han Fei suspected this wasn't suicide, but homicide!

If, as Han Fei said, the deceased came from a wealthy background and a few hundred thousand meant nothing to him, then his reaction to losing that money should have been similar to An Youyi's.

Even if he felt bad about losing money, it would only be temporary, a slight mood drop. It wouldn't escalate to jumping off a building in a moment of despair.

"Should we go to the scene and take a look?" Xu Mo suggested. "Now that you mention it, I also feel something's off. The deceased might not have committed suicide at all."

As soon as he finished speaking, Han Fei replied, "I received the report early this morning. I'm at the scene now. I'll send you some photos. See if you can spot anything."

Han Fei suddenly went silent on the other end.

About a minute later, Han Fei spoke again.

"Check your WeChat. I just sent you some photos I took. Take a look and see if you notice anything unusual."

At the same time, Xu Mo's phone chimed a few times.

"Okay," he responded, opening WeChat to check the photos Han Fei had just sent.

No wonder he wanted me to finish eating first, Xu Mo thought. Brain matter splattered everywhere. Good thing I'm almost done, or I wouldn't be able to take another bite... Xu Mo examined the photos Han Fei sent very carefully.

After a while, he came to a conclusion: "Time of death was about four hours ago. We can confirm he died from the fall, not killed elsewhere and thrown down to fake a suicide scene. But whether he jumped voluntarily or was pushed, I can't determine. One thing's for sure though, the deceased didn't engage in any physical struggle before death."

This was all Xu Mo could deduce from the photos Han Fei sent.

Because without an autopsy, that's all the information one could gather.

After Xu Mo finished speaking, Han Fei pondered, "Cause of death is falling from a great height, no signs of struggle before death... So there's still a possibility it was suicide?"

"It's possible, but not certain," Xu Mo replied. "We can't rule out the possibility that the killer was someone familiar to the victim. In a case of murder by an acquaintance, there wouldn't need to be a struggle. They could simply push the victim off when he wasn't paying attention."

"So in your opinion, is suicide or homicide more likely?" Han Fei asked Xu Mo again.

Xu Mo answered without hesitation: "Homicide!"

When he first saw the trending topic, Xu Mo didn't think much of it, assuming it was a common suicide case.

But when Han Fei called to discuss it, Xu Mo realized... this incident was now connected to him.

He had a Conan-like constitution when it came to these matters.

If this type of incident was linked to him, it definitely wouldn't be simple.

Suicide was impossible. It had to be homicide!

Besides, Han Fei had mentioned earlier that he knew the deceased, who came from a wealthy background.

How could someone from a wealthy family impulsively commit suicide by jumping off a building just because they lost a few hundred thousand in stocks? It's impossible!

There must be something fishy going on.

Based on the crime scene photos Han Fei sent, Xu Mo had gathered some useful information.

First, the cause of death was falling from a great height. He indeed died from the fall, not killed by other means and then pushed down to fake a suicide scene.

So, the rooftop was the primary crime scene. They could collect fingerprints or hair samples for biological evidence, which might become crucial evidence.

Second, the deceased showed no signs of struggle before death, indicating he wasn't forcibly pushed off the building.

This suggested that the killer was likely someone familiar to the victim, or at least an acquaintance. It definitely wasn't a stranger.

When Han Fei first received the report, he thought it was a straightforward suicide case.

If it were suicide, handling it wouldn't be too complicated.

They would seal off the scene, disperse the crowd, then transport the body back to the police station and notify the family to claim it.

But upon arriving at the scene, he discovered the deceased was a friend of his. Han Fei began to suspect things weren't that simple. He started to doubt it was a simple suicide, but it was just a suspicion at that point.

However, after talking with Xu Mo, Han Fei was no longer just suspicious.

He also realized that this was likely a murder case.

It was probably committed by someone familiar to the victim, and the primary crime scene was on the rooftop.

"You few, stay here and secure the scene. Don't let any unauthorized personnel approach. The rest of you, follow me up!" Han Fei decided to go up to the rooftop, to the primary crime scene, to see if they could find any useful clues.