183: Shocking speculation: poisoned alcohol was not the cause of death

Troubled?

Indeed, there are troubles!

Gao Ze did not deny this, nodding, "The breakthroughs in this case have all met with obstacles, which puzzles me."

"To solve this case, we still need to go to Spring and Scenery Bar to take a look!"

"No problem. I haven't been able to crack the case of the deceased Zhu Zhirong these past two days. I was already planning to find you, and now that Brother Gao are interested, it's even better."

Liu Wenzhong's face revealed a joyful smile as he had a Police Officer take Li Hao to Spring and Scenery Bar.

This guy sensed that someone wanted to kill him, and even the two detectives staking him out felt like they were being watched. It was safer to bring him along to minimize the security risk.

More than half an hour later.

After navigating through Donghai City's dense evening rush hour traffic, Gao Ze, led by Liu Wenzhong, arrived at Spring and Scenery Bar.

Normally, after nightfall,

places like bars, with their dazzling and changing neon lights, would be bustling with people coming and going.

But at this moment, the bar was deserted, with only a few employees inside. It seemed that the murder case had dealt a devastating blow to the bar.

"Turn on the lights, this is the outer area of the bar!"

Liu Wenzhong motioned for the staff to turn on all the lights. The moment the light source roared to life, it illuminated the entire outer area of the bar as brightly as day.

Gao Ze could see all the decorations and arrangements in the outer area of the bar.

The area was not as large as a nightclub, more like the size of a medium-sized restaurant, with a small dance floor, a singing stage, and scattered bar booths arranged in groups of two or three. The edges of the booths were covered with silver film, shimmering under the lights.

"This is the bar's main hall. Before and after his death, the deceased Zhu Zhirong came here from a private room to drink, sing, and even dance intimately with girls."

As he spoke, Liu Wenzhong led Gao Ze around a corner and said,

"Spring and Scenery Bar has a total of three private rooms. This sealed private room is the one where the deceased Zhu Zhirong and Li Hao stayed the night before yesterday."

"At that time, the only occupants of the private room were Zhu Zhirong and Li Hao. During that period, the bar owner Fan Wenhao, bartenders, waiters, resident singers, and atmosphere crew all entered the private room."

After speaking, Liu Wenzhong pointed to the surveillance camera diagonally above the private room door and said,

"The footage of these people entering and exiting was seen on the bar's surveillance cameras, but there was no surveillance installed inside the private room. We could only investigate through Li Hao, the bar owner Fan Wenhao, and the statements of twelve other individuals."

Gao Ze nodded, looking at the seal on the private room door, and asked, "When you Police arrived at the private room and sealed off the crime scene, did anyone touch anything inside the private room?"

Only a well-sealed crime scene has investigative value.

Otherwise, there would be many misleading clues.

"After we arrived and sealed off the crime scene, no one touched any objects inside; everything was preserved intact."

Liu Wenzhong said, "However, we cannot determine whether the suspect or murderer tampered with the private room or cleared some clues before we arrived!"

"Understood."

As he finished speaking, Gao Ze put on latex gloves, tore off the seal on the door, and walked into the private room where the deceased Zhu Zhirong had been before his death.

The private room was similar in size to a KTV room, with three sofas, a glass table, and a giant screen. On top of the glass table were five beer bottles, with the sour and stinky remnants of beer inside, two Ace of Spades cards, and a bottle of red wine, with half of the wine remaining inside.

There were trash cans on both sides of the glass table, filled with many tissues and miscellaneous items.

In addition to that,

a human outline was drawn on the sofa with white marker lines, indicating the position where the deceased Zhu Zhirong had collapsed.

"This is the situation inside the bar!"

As Liu Wenzhong spoke, he took several photos from a Police Officer and handed them to Gao Ze, saying, "At that time, the deceased Zhu Zhirong was lying on the sofa, no longer breathing. Li Hao, the bar owner Fan Wenhao, bartenders, waiters, singers, and others all gathered around."

Gao Ze scanned through the photos one by one but found nothing unusual.

"You discovered ricin in the bar owner Fan Wenhao's private collection of wine. Which bottle was his private collection, and was it in the private room?"

"It was right in the private room, this red wine!"

Liu Wenzhong pointed to the red wine bottle on the private room's glass table and said, "The forensic doctor extracted all the alcohol and beverages inside the private room, and also tested the vomit in the trash can. Ricin was only found in the liquid of this bottle of red wine."

"We asked the bar waiter, and he said this was a private collection of wine that the bar owner Fan Wenhao specifically brought when he came to the private room to toast, specifically to resolve a dispute with the deceased Zhu Zhirong.

Li Hao also said that he saw Fan Wenhao bring his private red wine to apologize and toast Zhu Zhirong."

"Toasting to apologize?"

Gao Ze picked up the red wine bottle, looked at Liu Wenzhong, and said, "Since it was an apology, besides the deceased Zhu Zhirong, Fan Wenhao must have drunk from this bottle of red wine, right? And Li Hao must have also drunk red wine, right?"

"Li Hao didn't drink red wine, but the bar owner Fan Wenhao did."

Gao Ze's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "Why didn't Li Hao drink it?"

"According to Li Hao, he hasn't liked drinking red wine since college. He only likes beer, or craft beer, or a small amount of baijiu. When it comes to red wine, he likes to force others to drink it."

Gao Ze: "........."

Sounds like something Li Hao would do.

"Then I have a question: since the bar owner Fan Wenhao drank the red wine, why is he fine?"

"We don't know either. Perhaps Fan Wenhao tampered with it when he toasted with the deceased Zhu Zhirong. At that time, Zhu Zhirong had already drunk a lot and might not have been clear-headed, so he didn't notice."

"This explanation makes sense!"

Gao Ze smiled slightly and said, "But the premise is that this is based on the bar owner Fan Wenhao being the murderer. What if he isn't the murderer?"

"Then the real culprit framed him!"

Liu Wenzhong's eyes lit up, and he said, "In that case, the real culprit might be someone who had visited the deceased Zhu Zhirong's private room at that time. He took advantage of everyone's attention on Zhu Zhirong to poison the red wine during that interval."

"But ricin was detected in the stomach of the deceased Zhu Zhirong, proving that Zhu Zhirong ingested the ricin-containing alcohol through consumption.

Why is ricin only found in the red wine liquid among all the alcoholic beverages and drinks in the private room?"

"Moreover, it's not just the alcohol inside this private room; we've tested all the alcohol and beverages throughout the entire bar and haven't found any alcohol containing ricin."

This confusion indeed posed an obstacle.

Gao Ze lowered his head in thought, his mind racing, as numerous clues anddoubt points flashed like slides.

"Is there a possibility that the ricin ingested by the deceased Zhu Zhirong was not present in the alcohol?"

A flash of inspiration, Gao Ze thought of a bold hypothesis.

Since the problem couldn't be solved through conventional methods, he decided to bypass the obstacle and forge a new path.

"Instead, was it consumed by the deceased Zhu Zhirong in other ricin-containing foods?"

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