"Me? Afraid? What do I have to be afraid of? " The middle-aged man's expression turned unnatural. He did not understand where Chen Ge's confidence came from.
"I'm helping everyone find the killer, but you keep trying to change the subject. Could it be that you know something that you're not telling us?" Chen Ge narrowed his eyes. "At the time, the killer had just left through the sixth-floor window. He couldn't have gone far. He should be hiding on the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors. If we had started our search from these three floors, there's a high chance that we would've found the killer, but you told us to go find the landlord first."
Chen Ge used a trick here. The middle-aged man only suggested that they go find the landlord, but Chen Ge cut him off and said that it was the middle-aged man who wanted them to go find the landlord.
"The landlord lives on the ninth floor, far away from the crime scene. I suspect that you're purposely luring us away to buy time for the killer."
"Bullsh * t! Don't believe him! "
"You led us to the ninth floor, and you seemed to know that the landlord had been murdered, so no one would open the door for us. To open the door, we wasted another half an hour. That was more than enough time for the killer to clean up the blood on him. " Chen Ge's every word cut into the middle-aged man's heart like a knife. "I don't want to suspect you, but this is too much of a coincidence. It's so much of a coincidence that it feels like you're purposely buying time for the killer."
The way the neighbors looked at the middle-aged man slowly turned unfriendly.
"Listen to me! I have no idea that the landlord has been murdered! If I did, I wouldn't have said that! " The middle-aged man tried his best to argue. Chen Ge stood to the side and watched. He did not care what the middle-aged man said. He just wanted to find a reason to enter the middle-aged man's home.
None of these madmen were clean. As long as Chen Ge entered their home, even if there was no evidence, Chen Ge would try his best to 'find' the evidence.
"I've known Brother Man for many years, and I know his character very well. I don't believe he would do something like murder." Auntie Ding suddenly said. Just as the middle-aged man thought that Auntie Ding was defending him, Auntie Ding suddenly changed the subject. "But this is too much of a coincidence. Why don't we go to Brother Man's home first? I firmly believe that Brother Man is innocent. This can also solve the unnecessary misunderstanding. "
On the surface, Auntie Ding appeared to be speaking up for the middle-aged man. She claimed that she believed the middle-aged man was not the killer, but the truth was that she wanted the middle-aged man dead. As an old tenant of the building, she should have some understanding of the middle-aged man's secret. She knew that the man had something that could not be exposed.
After hearing Auntie Ding's words, the middle-aged man's face turned very pale. He did not expect that the person who stabbed him in the back at such a critical moment would be Auntie Ding.
With a dark gaze, the middle-aged man stared at Auntie Ding and clenched his fists.
Chen Ge did not say anything. His eyes wandered between Auntie Ding and the middle-aged man.
Auntie Ding was the first to notice that the spare key in the closet had been stolen. Her reaction was very strange. From Chen Ge's perspective, Auntie Ding was most likely related to the landlord's death. She was probably one of the murderers who killed the landlord.
That would also explain why she spoke up at this time and wanted to make the middle-aged man the scapegoat for the landlord's murder.
Of course, the middle-aged man deserved it. If he did not mention the landlord, nothing would have happened to him. Now that everyone knew about the landlord's death, the murderers naturally would not let him go. The best way to deal with it was to make the middle-aged man the killer.
Chen Ge understood this, so he went with the flow and pushed the middle-aged man to the killer's seat.
He only needed to push the middle-aged man to the killer's seat, and someone would definitely step forward to pin the middle-aged man down so that he would not be able to turn the tables.
The tenants who had been cleared of suspicion and the tenants who had not been cleared of suspicion started to split up. The tenants who had been cleared of suspicion also started to split up. If this continued, Chen Ge would be able to get closer to his goal without even making a move.
"We cannot afford to split up among ourselves. The most important thing now is to find Qu Gui's killer!" Chen Ge saw the split among the tenants, and he could not have been happier. However, his lips kept reminding everyone to stay united. "Everyone, calm down! Let's go back to our initial speculation. Xiao Sun said that the electrician on the eighth floor had an argument with Qu Gui and threatened him. The electrician has a motive to murder, so we will start our investigation with him. "
Chen Ge did not have Auntie Ding lead everyone to target the middle-aged man. He wanted to keep the middle-aged man around to create more division.
Walking out from Room 901, Chen Ge stood at the front of the corridor with a smile on his face. Behind him were the tenants of the building. This was quite a sight to behold.
"Is anyone there?"
With Xiao Sun leading the way, the group came to the door of the electrician's room.
Knocking came, and it broke the silence on the eighth floor. Everyone stared at the door before them.
The tenants were also curious about the electrician's secret. This feeling of spying on someone else was hard to describe.
After knocking about ten times, footsteps finally came from inside the room. The door slowly opened a gap.
"How can I help you?" A man with a beard appeared at the door. He did not like to talk, and his eyes were bloodshot like he had not had a good night's sleep for a long time.
"There has been a murder at this building. We wish to warn you."
"Understood." The electrician was about to close the door, but Chen Ge grabbed the door.
"What do you want?"
"It's not that I want to do anything. This is the unanimous decision of everyone." Chen Ge pointed at the tenants behind him. "This is for everyone's safety."
"Now, we suspect that the murderer is related to you. If you have no ulterior motives, please step aside. We will not touch anything that belongs to your family. We just want to confirm some things." Xiao Sun was not that cunning. He revealed the purpose of Chen Ge's visit directly.
"I am related to the murder at this building?" The electrician slowly raised his head. His bloodshot eyes scanned Chen Ge's left side like he was communicating with someone through his eyes.
Chen Ge knew that Auntie Ding was standing behind him, and he felt like things were getting more and more interesting.
When the electrician was in trouble, the first person he turned to look at was Auntie Ding. This meant that he and Auntie Ding were both hiding something.
Combined with the earlier speculation, if Auntie Ding was related to the landlord's death, then wouldn't that mean that the electrician was also related to the landlord's death?
When he saw the complicated circuit inside Room 901, Chen Ge suspected that the murderer was the electrician because the electrician was most likely the first person to discover the landlord's secret.
Chen Ge was facing away from Auntie Ding. He had no idea what kind of hint Auntie Ding had given the electrician. He only saw the electrician's face turn uglier after the eye contact with Auntie Ding.
"I've been staying inside my room tonight. I haven't gone anywhere. You've got the wrong person." The electrician refused to move away no matter what, and the group stayed in the corridor. Chen Ge felt like this could not continue. If he gave in to the electrician, then his plan would be even harder to execute.
These tenants were each smarter than the last. Other than Xiao Sun, no one was willing to lead the way. Chen Ge had no choice but to do it himself.
"The murderer has threatened everyone's safety. If you refuse to let us in, then that means that you're hiding something." Chen Ge's tone became more forceful. "We're not asking for your opinion; we're informing you."
"Informing me? We're all tenants here. What gives you the right to barge into my home? This is ridiculous! "
"We've patiently helped you reconstruct the whole story, but you still refuse to let us in. Looks like you're indeed related to Qu Gui's death, and you're purposely hiding something from us!" Chen Ge's patience was wearing thin. His hands that gripped the door kept increasing in strength. "Everyone, let's go in together. There has to be something wrong with this room!"
With Chen Ge leading the way, the neighbors who did not usually get along with the electrician also started to help. With so many people pulling at the door, the electrician was unable to close it at all.
"You!"
The front door was finally pulled open, and Chen Ge was the first to rush in.
His nose twitched, and Chen Ge smelled a burnt smell. "What's burnt?"
The room was very messy. It was littered with various things, and there was not even a place to stand.
The neighbors squeezed into the room, and they trampled on some of the items on the floor. The electrician did not seem to notice them. He leaned against the front door and kept his head lowered. He did not want anyone to see his expression.
"Qu Gui was stabbed, and the murderer had a lot of blood on him. Other than that, we have to pay attention to one thing. The murderer's actions are very meticulous. He probably started this plan a long time ago, so his notebook will probably contain information related to the murder. "
The tenants who followed behind Chen Ge started to rummage through the room. Throughout the whole process, the electrician stood at the door with his head lowered, and he did not say a word.
"His muscles are very tense. He's afraid."
The tenants searched for a long time, but they could not find any clues related to the murder. Auntie Ding walked to stand before Chen Ge. "Have we wronged him? Even though this room is very messy and dirty, there is no trace of blood. He does not appear to be a reader, and there are no books or notebooks in the room. "
"Looks like he really is not the murderer." Xiao Sun walked out from the bedroom with a frown. He was a very innocent child, and he had not experienced the cruelty of society. After realizing his mistake, he ran to the electrician's side. "I'm sorry, but we're just trying to catch the murderer as soon as possible. If there's a chance in the future, I'll treat you to a meal as an apology."
"Now, can you leave the house?" The electrician's voice was low, and it was clear that he was very angry.
"No problem." Auntie Ding agreed on her own. The rest of them slowly moved toward the living room door.
"Wait a minute." Standing inside the room, Chen Ge suddenly said, "Do you guys smell something rotten?"
"His room is so messy. Perhaps something has gone moldy?" Auntie Ding was obviously siding with the electrician. "Let's hurry to the other rooms. There's no time to waste."
"Moldy things will not give off a burnt smell." Chen Ge followed the smell to the bedroom on the right. "Do you live alone?"
The electrician lifted his head to look at Chen Ge, and his voice was hoarse. "Yes, I live alone."
"You live alone, and both the bedrooms on the left and right have double beds. You sure are extravagant."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I'm just curious." Chen Ge looked at the new bedding on the bed. "Which room do you usually sleep in?"
"This is my home. I can sleep in whichever room I want. Do I need to tell you that? Does this have anything to do with the murder that you're talking about? " The electrician glared at Chen Ge with bloodshot eyes. He had been suppressing the anger in his heart. There was something wrong with the man's personality. He was easily angered, and he could not control his emotions.
"I assume that you usually sleep in the bedroom on the left because there are many daily necessities there. The bedroom on the right is very simple. It doesn't look like a place to live but more like your workshop." Chen Ge used his foot to kick at some wires on the ground. Some of them were hidden wires that led to the bottom of the bed.
"What kind of workshop would need a big bed?"
Chen Ge grabbed the new bedding and pulled it off without warning. He tossed it to the ground.
The electrician's face paled instantly, and he subconsciously took a small step back.
Underneath the bedding was a thick Simmons mattress. There were many burn marks on the mattress, and that was where the burning smell came from.
"Let's go to another room. There is nothing strange about this room." Auntie Ding glanced at the mattress and then moved her gaze away.
"This mattress is very soundproof and can resist shocks." As Chen Ge said that, he grabbed the mattress and pulled it off. A pungent smell of burnt flesh rushed out, and everyone present could smell it.
There was a hardwood bed underneath the mattress. Without hesitation, Chen Ge pushed the bed to the side.
The scene before them made everyone uncomfortable. There was a boy's body hidden under the bed. His body was connected to many electrodes, and his skin was badly damaged. However, the real fatal wound was on his neck.
He had been strangled to death, and the strangulation marks were very clear.
"Jia Qi!" When she saw the boy, Auntie Ding knelt to the ground. She crawled toward the bed, wanting to hug the boy's body.
Auntie Ding screamed at the top of her lungs, but Chen Ge could see clearly that the woman did not shed a single tear.
"Capture that electrician!" Xiao Sun yelled. When Chen Ge pulled the mattress back, the electrician had already snuck out of the room.
"He killed Jia Qi! He tortured a child like that! I will kill him! Kill him! " Auntie Ding seemed to have been greatly stimulated, and she entered a state of hysteria. She grabbed the fruit knife from the coffee table and rushed out.
She was very muscular, not much weaker than a man, and she was very fast.
"Quick! We've found the killer! We will go over there as well! " Xiao Sun ran out with passion. The other neighbors followed behind him, but only Chen Ge remained standing in the living room.
"Are we not going over there?" Wen Qing asked softly.
"The electrician won't live for long. Auntie Ding will do everything she can to kill him."
"You're right. Auntie Ding has been helping the electrician earlier. Now that she has been betrayed by someone she trusted, she must be in a lot of pain."
"She wants to kill the electrician not because of pain, but because of fear. This boy should be a 'gift' that Auntie Ding gave to the electrician. They are all the murderers of the landlord. The electrician knows many of Auntie Ding's secrets, and Auntie Ding is afraid that the electrician will spill his secrets, so she will definitely kill the electrician. " Chen Ge looked at the boy under the wooden board, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared. He gritted his teeth. "These animals."
Wen Qing mulled over Chen Ge's words. She had been following Chen Ge around, and they had experienced the same thing, but she had no idea how Chen Ge managed to come up with so many theories.
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