Pandora’s Box

Sixuan took a deep breath and continued speaking. "Jing Haozhi had said to Zhang Xuejian that he liked somebody else, and the one he meant was Lin Jing'er. When he found that Lin Jing'er want to kill him, he was so confused why his beloved was trying to kill him. He had not figured out the reason was related to Zhang Xuejian. He originally thought that Lin Jing'er had discovered he had insured her and she killed him for the insurance benefit.

"Thinking of this, all of his hopes were dashed to pieces. He assumed that there was nothing worth for him to cherish in the world, as his beloved tried to kill him. Therefore, he decided to commit suicide. In addition, although he thought Lin Jing'er did not love him anymore, he was still in love with her. So he wanted the police to consider his suicide a murder, and in this way, Lin Jing'er could get the insurance benefit.

"Look at all these photos," Sixuan continued. "Jing Haozhi had cleaned his home to an almost spotless condition. In my opinion, before committing suicide, people always tidy up their stuff and clean up the surroundings."

"Correct," Officer Zheng said, nodding at my words. "Your guess is reasonable; however, do not forget that Jing Haozhi was shot twice."

"I am getting to it," Sixuan said.

Officer Zheng looked at Sixuan and listened to him without saying anything. 

"Jing Haozhi opened the window first and then he tied a rope to it, giving the illusion that the murderer had escaped through the window. If you think about it, if Jing Haozhi was murdered, why did he not take away the rope after he escaped?

"After everything was ready, he shot himself in his temple. At this time, there was somebody who just walked into his home, and that was Zhang Xuejian, Jing Haozhi's cousin."

"Well, no wonder she was not in the hospital during that time." Officer Zheng seemed to have taken Sixuan's guess as a fact.

"Jing Haozhi might have mentioned it to Zhang Xuejian earlier that he had insured his beloved. At this time, seeing Jing Haozhi was committing suicide, the clever cousin immediately figure out the cause of his suicide, which was leaving the insurance benefit to his beloved. Zhang Xuejian loved Jing Haozhi so much that she wanted to let his last hope come true. She first found a towel, wrapped her hands, picked up the pistol, and shot him in his heart. Then she threw the pistol outside the window and left using the rope before the police arrived. She thought that as long as she wrapped her hand in a towel, she would not leave her fingerprints at the scene, without realizing that she had left the footprints near the window."

Officer Zheng mumbled with a gloomy face. "Unbelievable . . . it is unbelievable. . ."

Sixuan slightly smiled and said, "In fact, there is one more unbelievable thing."

"What?" Officer Zheng urgently asked.

"Think about it. Jing Haozhi did not expect Zhang Xuejian's coming beforehand. If Zhang Xuejian did not come to his home, then she would not have shot him in his heart and thrown the pistol outside the window. In this case, will the police consider it murder?"

Officer Zheng patted his head and shouted, "Right!"

"So, I inferred that it was Jing Haozhi who shot himself in his heart," Sixuan decisively said.

"What?" Officer Zheng was shocked. "How?"

Sixuan slowly said, "He took out all of the bullets of the pistol before the suicide. He shot at his temple, then heart, and he repeated this set of movements many times. His nerve endings had recorded this set of movements. When he quickly loaded the bullets and shot at his temple, att that time, his brain died, but the nerve endings directly led to the next movement according to his earlier memory, which was shooting at his heart. . ."

Officer Zheng was too shocked to open his mouth and could not come back to his senses until after hearing Sixuan's words.

"Of course," Sixuan said, "this is all my inference. I do not know the feasibility of it, nor will I try it. After you go back, you can check Jing Haozhi's body again, and there should be burn marks at his temples. Because at the time that he committed suicide, the muzzle was close to his temple, and the hot air from the muzzle burned his head. The burn marks can make suicide inference more reliable."

Officer Zheng bitterly smiled and said, "Perhaps, we can never verify it."

Sixuan asked with a confused expression, "Why?"

"Because something strange happened yesterday." Speaking to it, Officer Zheng recalled that terrible thing, and his face could not help but change into an expression of dismay.