Solving the case: Wu Song travels back 97 years and becomes a detective

With doubts lingering in my mind.

Wu Song and Cao Dahua immediately went to the detention center to interrogate Liu Jianshe.

"Officer Cao, Officer Wu, please, I really didn't kill anyone!" Upon seeing the two officers, Liu Jianshe pleaded with a mournful face, "You can't wrong an innocent person!"

"Whether you killed her or not, we will find out." Wu Song opened the interrogation record. "The night before your wife Li Ailian disappeared, did you hear any noises at home?"

"No! That day I drank 1.3 jin of baijiu, the 45-proof kind. When I got home, she made me a small bowl of vinegar, and after drinking it, I went to sleep. How could I hear anything after drinking 1.3 jin of liquor? Right, Officer Armed?"

"..." Wu Song disagreed. To him, 1.3 jin was just an aperitif. However, now was not the time to compare who could hold their liquor. Wu Song continued, "You just sleep like that?"

"Yeah! I was probably too tired that day. I didn't get up until almost noon the next day, and then I found that the coffee table was broken and my wife was gone."

What time did you go to sleep?

"Around eight or nine o'clock, I went home after drinking, drank a bowl of vinegar, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow."

"You slept for at least fifteen hours?" Wu Song asked again. "When you usually drink that much, what time do you get up?"

"Hey! It's strange! I have a pretty good alcohol tolerance. I usually drink about 1.3 jin (650ml) and can wake up around 8 or 9 o'clock. But that day I slept until the sun was high in the sky."

"Um!"

Wu Song nodded, a question mark popping into his mind.

Why did Liu Jianshe wake up three hours late?

What did he eat?

Is that all the vinegar you have left before going to sleep?

Is there something wrong with the vinegar?

Is there something wrong with Li Ailian?

An idea that surprised Wu Song, and could even be described as audacious, suddenly popped into his head.

If we follow this line of thought, many other lines seem to make sense.

If Liu Jianshe committed murder through an exchange or by hiring someone to kill, why would he bury the body in his family's ancestral grave?

If someone else had broken in and killed him that night, why didn't they use a knife or mechanical asphyxiation, but instead pushed him against the corner of a table, causing his head to stick out and his tongue to protrude?

Why did the murderer bury Li Ailian in Liu Jianshe's ancestral grave?

Let's consider it from a different perspective, from the standpoint of mutual interests.

In the case of Li Ailian's murder, who suffered the greatest loss?

That must be the deceased, since the person is dead.

what's next?

This is Liu Jianshe, who is almost certainly considered a murderer. Even if he doesn't get the death penalty, he will likely spend at least twenty years in prison.

But what if the deceased wasn't Li Ailian at all?

Did Li Ailian find someone who looked like her and switch places with them?

Therefore, she became the person who reaped the greatest benefit in this case.

The husband who frequently abused her was imprisoned with the stigma of a murderer, and she could finally stay away from him, instead of having to be sent back to her parents' home by her family as before.

But if he dies, no one will suspect him.

However, this plan is rather audacious. Could she really have come up with it?

Wu Song looked at Liu Jianshe and asked, "Is Li Ailian intelligent?"

"She's smart!" Liu Jianshe affirmed without hesitation. "I married her because I thought she was smart enough that my children wouldn't inherit my brain, which makes me sleepy as soon as I start reading. Who knew she'd be infertile?"

"Don't change the subject." Wu Song tapped the table. "Just how smart is she?"

"Most people can't beat her at poker. She can figure out all the cards. I remember she was a well-known good student in town and had the opportunity to go to university."

However, she failed the college entrance exam, and her family didn't want her to retake it. Her three older brothers were also reaching marriageable age, especially her eldest brother, who was already thirty. If he didn't find someone soon, he'd be a bachelor for life. My family offered a generous dowry, so her family agreed to marry her off to me.

"I see!"

After the interrogation ended, Wu Song walked out of the detention center, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and felt that the cigarette was good, but the flavor was not strong enough. He adjusted the cigarette in his mouth, with the filter facing out, and lit it!

"Whoosh!"

A flame ignited.

Wu Song took a deep breath!

"Hmm, this cigarette has power!"

With a sigh, he took the cigarette out of his mouth and said, "Master, I have a bold conjecture."

"What conjecture?"

"That body might not be Li Ailian. Li Ailian is the mastermind behind this case, or at least someone who knows about it."

"Hiss, cough cough cough!" Cao Dahua, who was smoking, suddenly inhaled sharply upon hearing Wu Song's words, coughing violently. His eyes widened in shock. "Isn't your guess a bit too audacious?"

"Master, tell me, is this even possible?"

"There's absolutely no way that's possible. If the deceased wasn't Li Ailian, then who was it? All the physical characteristics match, the crime scene matches, the clothes match, the ring matches, and the deceased, like her parents, had type O blood. Tell me, who else could it be?"

"But what if she's the mastermind behind all this? Then she could easily have done it all," Wu Song said seriously. "I think we should also have the corpse and Li Ailian's mother undergo DNA testing."

……

Third Squadron Office.

Wu Song explained his analysis, saying, "Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that Li Ailian found someone who looked similar to her and was of similar age, killed him, and buried him in Liu Jianshe's ancestral grave. In that case, she would become the biggest beneficiary of this case."

"But the blood types match!" Xu Bin said.

"Nationwide, 40% of people have type O blood. We can't send Li Ailian to find someone who happens to have type O blood. In short, I propose that we conduct DNA testing on Li Ailian and her mother!"

"Oh dear, I must say, this possibility does exist." Lin Wenshu pushed up his glasses. "If this were true, it could be the subject of a whole crime novel."

"Wu Song, do you still think Liu Jianshe doesn't have a murderous look on his face? Or are you mistaken this time?"

"The key question is, is our bureau's funding sufficient?" Ma Dazhi asked worriedly. "A single DNA test costs 20,000 yuan. Will the higher-ups allocate funds for a conjecture like Xiao Song's, where the probability is only one in ten thousand? 20,000 yuan is enough to pay half of our team's salaries for a year."

"If the higher-ups won't allocate the funds, I can contribute the 20,000!" Wu Song stood up and said firmly, "I, Wu Song, never wrong good people. Perhaps Liu Jianshe isn't exactly a good person, but a crime like murder shouldn't be made to bear the blame while the real murderer goes unpunished."

Knowing that Liu Jianshe was most likely innocent, Wu Song simply couldn't bear to see the case closed like this.

Moreover, after working so hard for so many days, not even a single incense stick could be lit. How could he accept such an ending?

"Xiao Song, do you stick to your judgment?" Xu Bin looked at Wu Song very seriously.

"I insist!"

"Alright!" Recalling that Wu Song's killing intent perception hadn't had any problems in the previous few times, he should trust Wu Song this time, even just for the sake of those cases.

Even for the sake of his master, he should give Wu Song a chance.

Xu Bin immediately said, "I'll apply for DNA testing right away, and it should be approved. However, no money is no money, and the funding will most likely not be allocated. I'll cover the shortfall with you for now."

"What kind of talk is that?" Cao Dahua curled his lip. "I'm the master, and I'll take the bait too."

"Count me in!" Liu Shutong raised her hand.

"You're all from the Third Squadron, this is so selfish of you! Count me in!"

"Many hands make light work. If we split the cost this way, each person will contribute less, and with me included..."

"Thank you all, but I still have a lot of the prize money I received last time. I insisted on doing this DNA test, so I'll cover it for myself," Wu Song said.

"Enough with the nonsense!" Xu Bin slammed his hand on the table, his voice leaving no room for argument. "There's no room for discussion."

"That's right! This case isn't just yours alone."