The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 9

Where am I? What happened?? Why am I the one solving the case???

No, no, no, Tang Yuran is dead?

Jian Jing stood still for three seconds, and Zuo Xin called her to enter the restroom together.

This building has four floors, with only one restroom on each floor. The restroom on the first floor is for men, the second floor is for women, the third floor is for men, and the fourth floor is for women. They were shooting on the fourth floor, and at the end of the corridor was the women's restroom.

Outside the restroom, there were two sinks separated by a door. Inside, there were three squatting toilets in a unified cubicle. The locks on the first two doors were green, but the one on the innermost toilet was locked.

"Tang Yuran, are you in there?" Zuo Xin knocked on the door.

No response from inside.

Jian Jing squatted down and saw a pair of snow-white legs.

"Go get a chair," she told Zuo Xin, "there's someone inside."

"For number one or number two?" Zuo Xin asked with a puzzled expression.

Jian Jing said, "It seems like they're sitting on the floor, maybe they fainted due to low blood sugar."

Zuo Xin was startled and quickly went to get the chair as requested.

In the meantime, Jian Jing quickly observed the crime scene.

The door between the restroom and the sink area was open, anyone could come in, but the door to the cubicle was locked from the inside, making it a locked-room murder (assuming she's really dead).

Of course, calling this a locked-room murder with a restroom door lock is a bit of a stretch... it's not exactly airtight.

Ahem, that's not the point.

There was blood inside.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard at the entrance. Director Hu came over with a chair, and there was no one else around. He went straight into the women's restroom and placed the chair in front of the partition, urging, "Jian Jing, take a look, should we call 120?"

Others also came to see what was happening. "Is she okay?" they asked.

Jian Jing climbed onto the chair and peered inside.

A few seconds later, she turned around and motioned for them to leave. "Step outside, and don't touch anything," she said. Then she jumped down from the chair, took out her student card from her pocket, and wedged it into the door crack, slowly lifting it upward.

Click.

The door opened.

Jian Jing had some knowledge of forensic investigation and didn't need her hands. She used her student card to push the door open.

Blood was everywhere.

"Tang Yuran is dead," Jian Jing turned to the other members and said, "We should call the police, right?"

"Dead??" The others had a bewildered expression, as if asking, "What are you talking about?" They approached one after another to check.

Zuo Xin, who was closest, saw it clearly and her legs went weak. She staggered and leaned against the wall. "Oh my god, is this real?"

"How did this happen?" Director Hu was dumbfounded. "What happened? Was it one of us?"

Wang Cameraman swallowed hard and reacted quickly. "Today, there are only a few of us in this building. No one from other clubs came."

The surprise and grief on Luo Male Lead's face turned into shock. "Are you suggesting that the murderer is among us?"

"That's a rather irresponsible speculation," Zuo Xin shook her head, her face pale.

"Stop arguing," Deng Props hesitated and asked, "Is she really dead? Is there no breath left?"

Jian Jing reached out and felt for her breath. She was already dead.

She kept an eye on the expressions of others while taking out her phone to send a text message to Officer Ji Feng. The system required her to solve the case, and if an unfeeling police officer came who wouldn't tell her anything, it would be troublesome. It would be better to find someone she knew.

"Officer Ji, one of my classmates died in the restroom. The address is the fourth floor of the old teaching building at X University. Please send someone over as soon as possible. Thank you."

Ji Feng replied quickly, "Suicide or murder?"

Jian Jing sent a photo of the scene.

Ji Feng said, "Preserve the scene. I'll be there in two hours."

Jian Jing couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at the time: two hours? Even wilted vegetables would have gone cold by then.

Fortunately, he immediately provided an explanation, "We have limited manpower. We are currently searching for a serial killer and can't spare people to go there temporarily. Please organize things on our behalf. Thank you very much."

Jian Jing: "..." Ah, this damn crime rate!

Wang Cameraman noticed her and asked sharply, "Jian Jing, who are you texting?"

"A police officer I know. They'll be here soon," Jian Jing replied. She didn't like Wang Cameraman, but she agreed with his earlier judgment that the killer was likely among these few people. Otherwise, in such a vast crowd, how could she possibly pinpoint the real culprit?

Her mind raced, and she looked around at everyone. "Before the police arrive, no one can leave. However, considering that all of you have left individually before, while I've been in the classroom the whole time, I'm the least suspicious. I hope everyone can follow my arrangements."

"You were alone here just now," Wang Cameraman retorted.

Jian Jing asked, "Zuo Xin only took half a minute to move the chair. Do you think I could have done so much work in such a short amount of time?"

"There's so much blood here, but Jian Jing is clean. It couldn't have been her," Zuo Xin, who was good at writing detective dramas, immediately spoke, "Are you overreacting because you feel guilty? You were away the longest today."

Wang Cameraman sneered, "Nonsense, I've been downstairs filming the whole time. Don't believe me? See for yourself."

"Stop arguing," Jian Jing made a gesture and spoke firmly, "Everyone, let's go back to the classroom first and organize everyone's timeline."

Hu Sheng, the president, agreed, "Yes, let's go back and corroborate each other's alibis."

They returned to the classroom and began to check their movements for the day.

Jian Jing looked at her phone. "My takeout was delivered at 9:58 PM, and by the time you brought it up, you finished filming, so the approximate end time of the shoot was 10 PM. And we discovered Tang Yuran's body at 11:20 PM."

She opened her memo app and took notes. "Let's confirm everyone's departure time. I remember Deng went first?"

"I was organizing props, which took about 10 minutes, then I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. Before leaving, Tang Yuran was still with you, right?" Deng Props asked.

Luo Male Lead said, "Yes, about 5 minutes later."

"Then it was Wang Cameraman, going downstairs to film," Zuo Xin pointed out, "He was gone for a long time."

"The camera has a timestamp. No need for you to say," Wang Cameraman impatiently flipped through the footage and said, "I went downstairs at 10:30 PM, called Lao Hu down at 10:40 PM, and finished at 11:15 PM."

Zuo Xin said, "Yes, Lao Hu received a call from his mother when he went down, at 10:40 PM."

President Hu said, "I came back up at 11:05 PM."

Luo, the male lead, said, "Then I also went to the restroom at that time."

"No, you went out earlier," Deng Props suddenly spoke up. "At that time, it was just the three of us when Zuo Xin made a phone call, and you went to the restroom."

Luo immediately responded, "Oh, now that you mention it, you also went out."

"I went after you came back," Deng Props didn't deny it.

Jian Jing listened and mentally cursed: What's going on with everyone? Did they all leave separately? This way, everyone becomes suspicious.

After sorting through the information, the timeline of everyone's actions is as follows:

10:00 PM - End of filming, supper begins.

10:10 PM - Deng Props goes to the restroom to wash his hands.

10:15 PM - Tang Yuran goes to the restroom to touch up her makeup.

(During this time, Deng Props returns to the classroom.)

10:30 PM - Wang Cameraman goes downstairs to shoot some footage.

10:40 PM - Wang Cameraman asks Hu Shuzhang to go downstairs, and Zuo Xin goes out to answer a phone call.

(During this time, Luo and Deng go to the restroom one after the other, with no overlapping time.)

11:05 PM - Hu Shuzhang goes upstairs.

11:05 PM - Luo, the male lead, goes to the restroom.

11:15 PM - Everyone returns to the classroom.

11:20 PM - Tang Yuran's death is discovered.

Jian Jing left with a headache and asked tentatively, "During this hour, when everyone went out separately, did anyone see each other? Wang, were you and Hu together the whole time shooting footage?"

Wang Cameraman said, "Of course not. Hu was looking for locations, so I was filming everywhere."

There was no way to reason it out.

Jian Jing tried a different approach, "What kind of relationship did all of you have with Tang Yuran?"

Zuo Xin said, "I wasn't very close to her, just saw her during club activities."

Hu Shuzhang said, "She joined the club this year, it seems Deng introduced her?"

Deng Props said, "Yeah, our dormitory and theirs had a gathering, and she seemed interested when I mentioned the club, so I introduced her. We didn't have any personal relationship, but we were somewhat acquainted."

Jian Jing asked, "During the gathering, did she have a boyfriend?"

Luo, the male lead, said, "She was my ex-girlfriend."

Others: "??!!"

Luo, the male lead, smiled, "Why else would I come here to help you guys? She said they needed a male actor, and since I study drama, I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice, so I came."

Zuo Xin said, "You're still willing to come even after breaking up? Don't you find it awkward?"

"When I agreed, we hadn't broken up yet. We only broke up a few days ago," Luo, the male lead, explained. "I actually wanted to find an opportunity to tell you guys that I won't act anymore, but I couldn't find the chance. Then I thought about it, and since I don't have many scenes, there's no need to bring it up."

Jian Jing couldn't help but ask, "Why did you break up?"

"For no reason, we couldn't get along, so we broke up. You're not a police officer, why are you asking so many detailed questions?" Luo, the male lead, didn't want to answer directly.

Jian Jing glanced at him. She noticed that after the roles were reversed, many things became apparent—Luo, the male lead's counter-questioning resembled how she looked when Ji Feng caught her off guard. Not only did he evade the questions, but he also counterattacked, clearly showing resistance.

It's intriguing.

She made a mental note and asked Wang Cameraman, "And what about you?"

"It's nothing," Wang Cameraman scoffed, "You're really acting like a police officer."

Zuo Xin keenly said, "Your attitude is problematic."

"This is a normal attitude. Being unreasonably treated as a suspect, by cooperating like this, do you want people to think that you have no suspicions?" Wang Cameraman retorted.

Seeing that the two of them were about to start arguing again, Jian Jing interrupted them in time. "I'm not forcing you to speak if you don't want to, but sooner or later you'll have to talk when the police arrive."

Having experienced two missions before, she had calmed down by now and started thinking about how to solve the case. "The rain outside is getting heavier. If there are any footprints or other traces, they might disappear quickly. So, before the police come, we should take a look around for any suspicious clues. The killer may not be among us; they might have already escaped."

"Now, like this," Jian Jing scanned the faces of everyone and called out, "Luo and Deng, go nearby and see if there's anything suspicious, especially footprints. Take pictures if you find any. But you mustn't act alone; you have to stay together."

Then she pointed at Hu Shengchang, Wang the Cameraman, and Zuo Xin. "Could you three please carefully review the footage we shot? There might be unexpected clues."

Wang the Cameraman was somewhat displeased. "Why should we listen to your arrangements?"

Deng Props also seemed reluctant. "You're not planning to go through our things while we're gone, are you?"

"Why would I?" Jian Jing smiled faintly. "I just think that Tang Yuran was a member of our reasoning club. She was killed for no reason. It's only right for us to do something for her, both morally and logically. Don't you agree?"

Her method of appealing to their sense of justice was executed beautifully. Each person present had their own thoughts, but they were ultimately just college students. No one would be heartless enough to refuse to help even with such a small matter.

After all, just over an hour ago, Tang Yuran had been joking and working with them.

Everyone accepted her arrangement by default.

Only then did Jian Jing have the opportunity to return to the scene of the crime. Previously, her first thought when she saw the partition wasn't "Tang Yuran died a horrible death," but rather "there's something wrong here."

Now, she had to find that incredibly intriguing problem.