This Guess is Spot On

"Do you want to take revenge on him?" Han Fei asked, "How would you do it?"

Gou Hao gave a bitter smile.

"I thought about hitting him from behind when he's not paying attention, but I wouldn't dare. I just thought about it, that's all."

Xu Mo kept staring at Gou Hao's face.

From his facial expressions, Xu Mo could tell he wasn't lying.

Whether it was his earlier statement about wanting revenge on Lu Yu, or his current admission that he didn't have the courage to do it - neither was a lie.

So, could this Gou Hao really be the killer?

He didn't even have the courage to hit someone from behind, let alone commit murder.

Besides Xu Mo, Han Fei had obviously realized this too, seeing that Gou Hao wasn't lying at all.

The two exchanged glances, both somewhat puzzled.

After a few seconds, Han Fei asked again.

"Where were you after 10 PM last night?"

"Ten o'clock last night?" Gou Hao thought briefly before answering: "I was in my dorm room writing notes for Ideological and Political Education since 8 PM, then I took a shower and went to bed."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"Yes, my roommates were all in the dorm. We were all catching up on our notes."

Hearing this, Han Fei and Xu Mo exchanged another glance.

Although Gou Hao had a potential motive for murder, he was too timid - he probably didn't have the courage to kill someone. Moreover... if what he said was true about studying vocabulary at eight and then showering and going to bed, he had a solid alibi.

Both Han Fei and Xu Mo could tell that Gou Hao wasn't lying to them - he really was in his dorm room last night, with no opportunity to commit the crime.

Besides, there would be no point in lying about this since the police could easily verify it with his roommates.

"Alright," Han Fei nodded, "We'll verify what you've said with your roommates."

Then, Han Fei printed out Gou Hao's statement.

He handed it to him: "These are your statements. Please check if everything is correct, and if so, sign it."

Gou Hao carefully read through the statement.

"It's correct," he said, then signed his name.

The reason he had been so forthright about admitting his resentment toward Lu Yu was simply because he wasn't the killer.

He had nothing to hide.

Even if the police suspected him of killing Lu Yu because of what he said, he wasn't worried because he had a solid alibi.

Moreover, Gou Hao was quite timid and wouldn't dare lie to police officers.

He also believed that lies told to the police would definitely be exposed, which would only increase their suspicion of him.

Rather than that, it was better to just tell the truth.

After all, he had nothing to hide.

Han Fei called for Wang Dachuan, who had brought Gou Hao to the police station.

"Take him back, and privately verify the situation with his roommates. Ask if he really didn't leave the dorm after 8 PM last night."

Although Han Fei didn't think Gou Hao would lie,

Out of caution, he still wanted Wang Dachuan to ask Gou Hao's roommates to see if he had been truthful.

"Yes, Captain Han!"

After Wang Dachuan left with Gou Hao, Han Fei let out a long sigh.

Well, that was a waste of time.

They had finally identified a suspect, but he turned out not to be the killer.

They'd have to start from scratch again.

...

Even by 10 PM that night, the police hadn't found any other suspects.

Lu Yu's social connections were easy to investigate, and they could quickly identify suspects because he was still a student.

Students' social networks are simple and easy to untangle.

But the social connections of the other two victims were much more complex.

The first victim, Zhu Xingde, was a financial company executive who was extremely skilled in social networking.

He could best be described as smooth-talking - he knew exactly what to say to different people. His social circle ranged from business elites, company owners, and corporate executives to various drinking buddies.

He could even chat comfortably with most of the masseuses at various foot massage parlors.

Finding a suspect among so many people was no easy task.

As for the third victim, Yang Meng, she was even more socially connected than Zhu Xingde...

She was an internet livestreamer with countless devoted fans in her streaming room.

She was quite experienced at getting money from her fans.

Many fans had emptied their family's savings and even borrowed money just to send her virtual gifts.

All this just to hear her say: "Thank you, brother, for the rocket! Mwah! Send me more gifts, won't you~"

This had caused countless family conflicts, with many ending in divorce.

Looking at it this way, how could there not be many people who hated her?

Obviously, there were many.

The police officers were shocked when they investigated.

There were at least dozens of people who held grudges against Yang Meng, considering her a homewrecker who had destroyed their families!

Any of these people could be the killer...

Seeing that progress was slow and it was already 10 PM, Han Fei decided not to make everyone work overtime and told them to go home.

After the officers left one by one, Han Fei stayed behind to continue piecing things together by himself.

...

As soon as Xu Mo got home, he heard four women shouting.

"Footsteps! Someone's coming! Don't move, we'll be discovered! Stay low, don't shoot..."

The four women were sitting straight up on the sofa, intensely focused on their phones.

They were playing a game called Peace Elite, commonly known as "chicken dinner."

Looking over, Xu Mo couldn't help but laugh - they were all playing like cowards!

By now, most players in the game had been eliminated.

But these four hadn't killed anyone, purely surviving by hiding. They'd been hiding until now, conservatively estimating, for at least half an hour... maybe even longer!

Their hiding strategy was to lie prone on the roof of a villa. Clearly, they had no intention of engaging in direct combat, only wanting to use the height advantage to snipe others.

How persistent were they? Hiding on the roof like cowards for so long, making it to the final circle without a single kill...

"You're back! There's some soup in the kitchen. I'll get you a bowl - can you play for me for a bit?" Zhou Qiaoqiao handed her phone to Xu Mo and went to the kitchen.

Xu Mo accepted her phone with a wry smile. Instead of going down to fight, he inherited Zhou Qiaoqiao's strategy - continuing to hide like a coward!

Looking at the roof view in the game, Xu Mo suddenly remembered the rooftop at the crime scene.

I think I know how the killer 'avoided' the surveillance cameras. Wang Dachuan's earlier guess might be right! Xu Mo's eyes lit up.

Perhaps the killer had gone up to the roof far in advance and hidden there, and after pushing the victim off the roof, they had stayed hidden on top of the small building housing the stairway entrance, only leaving the roof much later.

Because of the long time interval, and because the police hadn't checked the surveillance footage from that far back, they had overlooked the killer who had gone up to the roof before the victim.

As for why they hadn't found anyone else on the roof at the time, it was because the killer was lying on top of the small building housing the stairway entrance, and the police hadn't checked that small roof, simply overlooking it...