35: Chapter 35 The Real Culprit

Uncle Zhang continued in a deep voice.

"Because the master always likes to keep his room very messy, and he always loses his sleeping pills, so he has always let me keep them for safekeeping."

"I deliver the sleeping pills to the master every night before ten o'clock."

So that's how it is, Li Ming nodded.

Qin Mo walked up, looked at Zheng Tian, and said indifferently: "May I ask where you were around four o'clock this morning?"

After hearing this, Zheng Tian looked at Qin Mo in disbelief.

"You don't think I killed my father, do you? How is that possible?"

Li Ming frowned immediately and asked seriously: "Where were you at four o'clock in the morning?"

Zheng Tian sighed and said.

"Last night, Liu Wen and I went to sleep very early, probably around eleven o'clock."

"Are there any eyewitnesses?"

"No, because there is only Uncle Zhang, my father, and the two of us in this villa."

Qin Mo nodded and turned to look at Uncle Zhang.

"What about you? What were you doing around 4 o'clock this morning?"

Uncle Zhang said expressionlessly: "I got off work around twelve o'clock last night, then I hailed a taxi on the side of the road, returned home, and stayed home all night."

Li Ming gave a look to Officer Hat standing on the side.

Officer Hat immediately took out Uncle Zhang's phone and started looking through it.

Then he said: "Captain Li, there is indeed a taxi record."

Li Ming nodded upon hearing this.

Qin Mo turned around and looked around.

"Do you have surveillance cameras here?"

Uncle Zhang looked up at Qin Mo and continued: "There are two surveillance cameras in this villa, but one has been broken for the past few days, and the other can only see the main gate."

Everyone heard this and immediately went to the surveillance room to check the footage.

Everyone checked all the footage from ten o'clock to nine o'clock in the morning. Except for Uncle Zhang leaving the villa at twelve o'clock, no one else was seen.

At this moment, Qin Mo fell into deep thought again.

If suicide is ruled out, then Uncle Zhang has a complete alibi, and the surveillance footage also rules out the possibility of a break-in. Then, the testimonies of these two people must be false.

Immediately, Qin Mo cast his gaze towards Zheng Tian and Liu Wen.

But he immediately dismissed this idea, because there was no motive.

Judging from everyone's statements, this Zheng Dong is a bank manager, and he lives in a villa, so he certainly isn't short on money.

Moreover, he only has one son, Zheng Tian, and his wife passed away decades ago, so there is no motive to fight over the family fortune.

Usually, they all got along very well, and Liu Wen and Zheng Tian were relatively filial. If there was a possibility, it would be that their filial piety was faked, but that's impossible! Why would they do that? There's no reason!

Assuming Zheng Dong committed suicide, how did he wake up after taking sleeping pills? Moreover, why would he commit suicide?

At this moment, Qin Mo felt he was trapped in a dead loop. Despite the super insight granted by the system, he was still clueless at this moment.

"Captain, I discovered something very strange."

Just then, a deep voice interrupted Li Ming and Qin Mo's deep thought, and they looked over curiously.

Officer Hat walked over holding a mask.

Li Ming frowned and asked: "What's strange about it?"

"Captain, I just checked all the masks at the scene. There are two hundred masks in total, but only this one is covered in bloodstains."

Li Ming heard this, took the mask, examined it carefully, and then said helplessly.

"It's just an ordinary mask, isn't it? Maybe blood just splattered onto it."

Something is wrong!

Qin Mo's eyes narrowed; he felt like he had grasped something.

Then he looked at the three of them, Zheng Tian and the others, and said in a deep voice: "Has this mask always been in the deceased's room?"

Uncle Zhang stepped forward and said: "No. Since two months ago, when I took the master to a mask exhibition, the master has been particularly fond of masks, so he bought many to collect."

"But usually, these masks are kept in the storage room, and I have always held the key to the storage room. Last night, the master was in high spirits, found me, and asked for the key, and he didn't return it. I think it must have been at that time that the master took the masks to his room."

Qin Mo heard this and walked into the crime scene room. Li Ming saw this and followed him in.

At this moment, the room was still in a mess, with various masks scattered around the corpse.

Qin Mo looked around.

This was a completely sealed room. According to the three people's testimonies, when they arrived in the morning, the door was completely locked from the inside, and there was no way to open it from the outside.

And there was only one window inside. Outside the window was the garden, and the window was also locked from the inside. Security bars were installed around it, and there were no signs of tampering.

Looking at this room, in any case, there was no possibility of a second person entering, unless that person could walk through walls.

Looking at the surrounding architecture, Qin Mo always felt that he had grasped something, but he just couldn't think of it.

Assuming it was murder, how exactly did the killer leave?

Wait!

A mask!

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Qin Mo's mind, and he immediately turned his head to look at the railing above the door.

Li Ming watched Qin Mo frowning one moment and having a sudden realization the next, then looked at the door, feeling a bit confused.

Qin Mo found a stool, placed it on the ground, and began to examine the top of the door. Upon checking, he indeed found clues.

"Qin Mo, what are you doing? It's so small up there, how could the killer possibly exit from there?"

Li Ming reminded him helplessly.

Then Qin Mo jumped down from the stool and sneered.

"Officer Li, I think we have been stuck in a misconception. Who said the killer must enter to kill the victim?"

"You mean the killer killed the victim from outside the door? How is that possible? It's at least three meters away from the door. How did the killer kill the victim? Did he eat a Devil Fruit?"

Li Ming looked at Qin Mo with confusion.

Qin Mo revealed a mysterious smile.

"Of course, the killer couldn't have killed the victim, but a mask could!"

Li Ming immediately frowned: "Qin Mo, we are materialists; we can't believe in ghosts and gods!"

Qin Mo smiled slightly without explaining.

He was thinking about a question: who exactly is the killer!

He had already figured out the modus operandi, but he hadn't found the killer yet.

If Uncle Zhang has an alibi, then the person who killed the victim must be either Zheng Tian or Liu Wen, or both together.

Charlotte Holmes once said, when you have eliminated all that is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

After figuring it out, Qin Mo was about to turn and leave, when he inadvertently glanced at the air conditioner above and was suddenly stunned.

Qin Mo picked up the air conditioner remote control from the floor and quickly turned on the air conditioner. Immediately, a gust of cold air blew out.

"What are you doing?"

Li Ming asked, somewhat confused.

Qin Mo didn't answer him, but stared blankly at the air conditioner on the wall.

Suddenly, an unexpected spark of inspiration flashed through his mind.

That's it! It must be that!

I understand!

Qin Mo was immediately overjoyed. Everything made sense now. Then, the culprit must be him!