Clown Game
Chapter 249 - 236: Simple, Yet Perfect Murder Case (Part Eight)

Chapter 249: Chapter 236: Simple, Yet Perfect Murder Case (Part Eight)

Old Xing furrowed his brow, "Why do you keep harping on his wife with all these questions? There’s no reason to suspect that woman!"

Chen Xiao shrugged his shoulders, "Not everything needs a reason. Every time you take a shit, you always want to look back at it. Do you really expect to see something in that pile of crap? It’s just a subconscious habit. And under the premise that almost everyone has no possibility of committing the crime, my habit is to suspect everyone, which also doesn’t need a reason. So, starting with the person closest to him is quite logical. I never thought I had to find something specific. Even if one day you suddenly drop dead, I’ll also take a close look at your wife... Oh, sorry, I forgot you don’t have a wife... That’s really pitiful," said Chen Xiao with utmost seriousness.

After listening to this lengthy speech, Old Xing felt a strong sense of suffocation and panic. He couldn’t catch his breath. He knew this little bastard was insulting him, but the angle of the insult was very clever, making it hard for him to curse back. He just wanted to send this little bastard packing... But he couldn’t chase him away. There’s a saying, ’It’s easy to invite gods, hard to send them away.’ After all, a lot of people were watching this case. They couldn’t mess up. If it turned out like he said and there was a fuss in front of the media afterward, who knows what chaos could arise.

So... The best temporary solution was to endure it, wait until the case was closed, then come back and deal with this little bastard.

Old Xing’s face was full of displeasure as he swallowed his anger, "Hey, you know this is just an accident. Why do you insist on making such a fuss and wasting so much time and effort?"

Hearing this, Chen Xiao exclaimed, "Ho, so you also realize this is all pointless fussing, huh? What do you suggest we do, then? Want me to just sit around until tomorrow morning? No way, this baby can’t stay put!"

Old Xing massaged his head, "How about this; we go back, finish the paperwork, and then you head home."

"Ah? Go home? What do you think I am? A call girl from those flyers at the doorway, who comes with a phone call and leaves after you’ve had your fun? No way! I’m not leaving!" Chen Xiao declared, waving his hand dismissively.

Old Xing’s face looked as uncomfortable as if he had eaten shit. In all these years, he had never seen someone like this, almost like a damn lunatic.

"Looks like it’s going to be a tough night..." Old Xing lamented inwardly.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiao kept talking as he walked to the balcony...

Since it was an old building from over a decade ago, its structure was rather retro. The balcony connected to the very corner of the kitchen, with a small door separating the two, and the balcony had only this door as an entrance and exit.

The space inside was very small – so cramped that you might not be able to turn around holding something. Luckily, there was no clutter stored there, as it was designed with an open structure. This meant it would suffer in rain or snow... Such a design, other than looking nice from the outside, had very poor practicality, even worse than an enclosed balcony that could at least be used as storage. And with the building’s lousy layout, not facing the sea but other buildings, it was inconvenient enough without going onto the balcony to get one more glimpse after getting off work – why add to your own trouble? Lastly, and most dangerously, the design was unsafe... Like I said earlier, because of its open design, no matter the weather, this place was no different from being outside. Forget handrails – even a flagpole left outside for a decade would be pitted and rusting.

Chen Xiao reached the edge of the balcony... As the railing was already damaged, with only part of it hanging off the outside of the building, the whole balcony lacked any protective measures. Combined with the night breeze, it created a vertigo-inducing sensation.

Chen Xiao stretched his neck to look down and, sure enough, there was nothing obstructing the fall path. Moreover, the corruption at the junction of the fence was very apparent. It couldn’t have been sawed through or forcibly broken by human action.

Directly opposite the balcony was a glass wall. Looking through it, one could see into the living room. The glass was fully sealed, ruling out the possibility that the deceased was pushed from behind through the glass. Above, just a bare ceiling was visible with nothing but a light bulb, and an old-fashioned cover around it, probably to protect the bulb from getting shattered by wind and rain... The balcony had no decorations whatsoever, not even a coat of paint on the wall—and even if it had been painted, the harsh conditions would have ruined it within three months.

In a nutshell, it was bare, without even a place for setting traps or pulling tricks. So, it was really just as Old Xing said, the likelihood of the deceased having accidentally fallen was the greatest.

Chen Xiao nodded noncommittally, "Okay... who’s the next person with a motive..."

Upon hearing this, Lao Xing curled his lips in disdain, "So, you’ve finally given up, huh."

"It’s not about giving up, I just don’t want to waste an entire night’s time," Chen Xiao responded.

"Come on, same old rhetoric, having a motive is useless. If a person gets struck by lightning and dies in the street, you can’t just call it murder and then scour the world for someone with a motive. Even if the victim had just desecrated someone else’s family grave before getting struck, can you really sentence the grave owner for the death?"

As if he hadn’t heard, Chen Xiao mumbled with his head slightly lowered, "Hmm... what did he come to this balcony for? There’s nothing here. Did he come here to get some air because the business deal failed or because he was feeling bad? An emotional man? There are many possibilities, but did he just fall off by coincidence?"

Muttering to himself, Lao Xing saw that the other man was completely ignoring him and, quite displeased, said, "Hey, hey, what are you mumbling about over there!"

"Oh, just talking to myself..." Chen Xiao replied seriously.

"Talking to yourself about what?"

"Nothing much, just makes our conversation seem a bit more intelligent... Now, tell me about the other suspects."

Lao Xing took a moment to realize that the scoundrel was mocking him again. However, he could only hold back his anger, thinking that once the hype had died down, he’d certainly deal with this guy, "Ah! There’s another department that might make less money because their investment proposal was rejected. But that can’t count as a motive. Moreover, that person had a social engagement today and was so drunk at the dinner table he couldn’t tell men from women, you think he could commit murder?"

Chen Xiao closed his eyes and said briefly, "Go on."

"Ah... there’s also another investor, who developed a business conflict over a project. But those conflicts occur in almost every project. And in their circle, it’s all about interest; there are no permanent enemies. If the two had a disagreement this time, they might just allow each other to make a big profit next time, so this motive is too far-fetched. Besides, that person lives in a suburban villa, his alibi is rock-solid."

Chen Xiao still had his eyes closed.

"Alibis can almost be disregarded, it’s not like in a detective novel where the killer has to do the deed personally. For people of their level, hiring an assassin is ridiculously easy..."

Lao Xing looked annoyed.

"Stop kidding, you saw the crime scene, just this tiny room, not even a second person, tell me how this person could have killed!"