The Genius Female Forensic Pathologist, The Psychological Anatomist - Chapter 49: Reversal of Judgment: Case Replay

Chapter 49

Fang Rui decided to reenact the case. He called Chen Dongdong and Xu Qin to describe the incident again, while he and Zhang played the roles of the deceased Lin Qianjie and Wang Xiaoya.

“We were sitting around this table, in this order: Lin, me, Wang Xiaoya, and Xu Qin,” Chen Dongdong recalled.

Fang Rui and the others sat down according to this arrangement.

“At first, Xu Qin went to get four glasses, then I went to the liquor cabinet and got a few bottles of rum. After the alcohol arrived, I poured the first round for everyone,” Chen Dongdong said. “Later, Xiaoya took the bottle and kept enthusiastically pouring drinks for us. We continued drinking until about 11 o’clock.”

“Did the seating positions change at all?” Fang Rui asked.

“Yes, they did. Later, we played a dice game where the person with the highest roll could make the person with the lowest roll do something. Xiaoya rolled the lowest, and Xu Qin the highest. Xu Qin made Xiaoya feed Lin alcohol mouth-to-mouth,” Chen Dongdong described. “During the feeding, Xu Qin and Xiaoya switched places.”

Fang Rui looked at Xu Qin, “Wasn’t Lin Qianjie your boyfriend? Why did you make Wang Xiaoya feed him alcohol?”

“When Wang Xiaoya was pouring drinks, she was practically clinging to Lin Qianjie. Since she was so eager to get something going with Lin Qianjie, I figured I’d just let her,” Xu Qin shrugged and said.

Fang Rui asked Chen Dongdong again, “Did Wang Xiaoya use Lin Qianjie’s glass to feed him directly?”

Chen Dongdong shook his head, “At first, Xiaoya took a sip from her own glass, then fed it to Lin. Lin probably thought this way of drinking was interesting, so he picked up his glass and fed Xiaoya a sip too.”

“Did anything unusual happen after that? Like someone leaving?”

“Yes, Xu Qin went out for a bit.”

“I went to the bathroom,” Xu Qin quickly explained.

Chen Dongdong continued, “Afterwards, we kept drinking together. We didn’t continue the game because Lin was in a bad mood. Shortly after, Lin collapsed on the ground, convulsing. Less than a minute later, Xiaoya fell too. About ten minutes later, we realized they had both stopped breathing.”

After simulating the entire process, Fang Rui realized that the most likely person to have poisoned them was actually Wang Xiaoya. She poured the drinks and even kissed Lin Qianjie, making her the most probable suspect.

But paradoxically, Wang Xiaoya herself had died.

“Boss, could it be that Wang Xiaoya wanted to die together with Lin Qianjie? Maybe the poisoned glass wasn’t Lin Qianjie’s, but Wang Xiaoya’s? This way, she could kill Lin Qianjie and also make his lackeys suspects, causing them to turn on each other?” Zhang speculated.

Fang Rui thought this was unlikely, given that Wang Xiaoya probably wasn’t clever enough to devise such a scheme.

“Don’t you remember Mu Mian saying that Wang Xiaoya’s poisoning was less severe? If that poisoned glass was her own, she should have been more heavily poisoned. That poisoned glass must have been Lin Qianjie’s.”

“Then the murderer must be Xu Qin! She deliberately made Wang Xiaoya feed Lin Qianjie, so she could kill two birds with one stone and poison both of them at once,” Zhang continued to guess.

“If the killer wanted to kill Wang Xiaoya too, they could have just poisoned her glass directly. Why go through such a roundabout way? The killer also couldn’t be sure that Lin Qianjie would finish his own drink before feeding Wang Xiaoya.”

After watching their reenactment, Mu Mian realized that it was unlikely the poison was administered by any of the four people present. If the killer had added rat poison powder to the glass, it would have been quickly discovered; if they had added a liquid, it would have been impossible to do so discreetly.

Fang Rui helped Mu Mian with the search and asked, “Mu Mian, do you think it’s possible the killer wasn’t among them?”

“That’s highly likely,” Mu Mian said confidently. “In poisoning cases, the killer rarely stays at the crime scene waiting to be arrested by the police.”

“Then how could the killer have poisoned them so precisely?”

“The killer probably took advantage of some habit of the victims,” Mu Mian said. “A very specific habit.”

“Are you saying that the method of poisoning is still related to that bottle of aphrodisiac?” Fang Rui guessed.

“Why are you all so focused on that aphrodisiac bottle? It’s just an ordinary medicine.”

Fang Rui looked at Mu Mian and asked, “Mu Mian, do you know how the killer administered the poison?”

Mu Mian didn’t answer. She pointed at the refrigerator on the yacht that held food, “Fang Rui, can you help me bring all of this back? Everything inside, including the refrigerator.”

Fang Rui remembered Mu Mian saying yesterday that the poisoned drink had been diluted, and he suddenly understood what Mu Mian wanted to verify.

Mu Mian thought for a moment and added, “Fang Rui, even if we figure out how the killer administered the poison, we might still have trouble catching them. Because we may not be able to find evidence to arrest her.”

When Mu Mian returned to the station, Chen Xue was on a video call with someone.

“Look, Mian Mian is back. She just went out on duty,” Chen Xue said to the person on the phone, turning to pat Mu Mian.

“Dr. Mu, long time no see!” It was Lu Tian on the other end of the video. Her emotional state seemed much improved.

She was currently traveling abroad, with a background of azure sea – the scenery was beautiful.

“Lu Tian, it’s been a while,” Mu Mian greeted her.

“The scenery here is really beautiful. Next time I’ll bring you all here!” Lu Tian noticed that Mu Mian looked busy and asked, “Dr. Mu, what are you busy with? Why aren’t you chatting with me?”

Chen Xue explained, “We’re investigating a poisoning case! I told you about it, remember? That scumbag Lin Qianjie was poisoned to death. We’re working on this case now. Who knows which good Samaritan poisoned him. You have no idea, when I saw he was dead, I almost laughed out loud.”

“Have you caught the killer yet?”

“Not so fast! We have no leads at all right now. Oh, I’ve got to go now, I need to get back to work.”

After hanging up, Chen Xue saw Mu Mian looking at her seriously. Chen Xue asked, “Mian Mian, what’s wrong?”

“Chen Xue, we need to keep our work confidential.”

“Oh come on, Lu Tian couldn’t possibly be the killer,” Chen Xue thought Mu Mian was being overly cautious.

“It’s not impossible! This is a poisoning case.” Mu Mian opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. The ice tray that should have been full of ice cubes was empty.

“Mian Mian, have you forgotten? That night, we were all drinking together. Lu Tian can’t be in two places at once, how could she possibly kill Lin Qianjie?”

Mu Mian didn’t say anything. She took the empty ice tray to run toxicology tests.

“Mian Mian, you don’t really suspect Lu Tian, do you?”

“The current situation is that anyone who has been on Lin Qianjie’s yacht is a suspect,” Mu Mian explained. “I’m not just suspecting her. I only trust evidence.”