Xiao Lou was deeply impressed by Zhang Qing, who was the first teacher to appear in the locked room storyline.
I remember she was wearing a suit dress and high heels, looking every bit the professional businesswoman. If she were to change her shoes to push Ying Xiaoya down the rooftop, the suit dress and canvas shoes would look out of place, unless she changed her entire outfit.
The school's office building has a changing room for male and female teachers respectively. Theoretically, after Zhang Qing finished her first morning reading class, she had plenty of time to change clothes and prepare for the crime.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and analyzed in a low voice: "The key points we need to investigate now are, firstly, the relationship between Zhang Qing and Xie Xinghe. Why do they both have a copy of ' The Count of Monte Cristo '? What does this book represent? Secondly, her relationship with Si Han. Was Si Han's fall from the building five years ago related to her?"
At this point in the investigation, the suspicions against students Yi Ru and Yu Hui have been completely eliminated.
There are four remaining key figures—
Class monitor Xie Xinghe's presence in his backpack remains unexplained, and he might also have taken the reagents from the lab. Even if he was playing basketball on the playground when Ying Xiaoya fell and has an alibi, it's still impossible to rule out him as the poisoner.
English teacher Zhang Qing had read the original book many times, indicating that she really liked this revenge story. Moreover, the drawer where the book was kept was locked, suggesting that she didn't want others to know that she had the book.
Lin Yueran, the Chinese teacher of the class next door, once taught Ying Xiaoya Chinese in the first year of high school. There are still two students' composition books in her drawer. It is impossible to be sure if they are her copies of the suicide note, but it is very likely.
Physics teacher Si Qi shares the same surname as Si Han, who fell to his death five years ago. Their relationship still needs further investigation.
Yu Hanjiang asked, " Professor Xiao, where can I find information on all the teachers in the school?"
Fenglin High School has more than 20 classes per grade and more than 300 teachers. The school must have a place to store the teachers' information. They must find out the family background of these three teachers as soon as possible.
Xiao Lou said, "The Academic Affairs Office is responsible for managing teachers' teaching tasks and plans. They should have archives of all the teachers' information. When I was in university, I had to submit a work plan to the Academic Affairs Office at the beginning of each semester. If I changed my home address, contact information, or other information, I also had to report it to the Academic Affairs Office."
Yu Hanjiang nodded, winked at the door, and said decisively, "Let's go check it out."
The two went up to the fifth floor.
This floor houses all the school's functional departments, including the Youth League Committee, the Trade Union, the Network Center, the Supervision Department, and so on. The Academic Affairs Office is at the end of the corridor. Yu Hanjiang walked quickly over and gently pried open the door lock with a wire.
Upon entering the office, I indeed saw rows of folders in the filing cabinet next to me.
Senior Three Teachers' Information...
Yu Hanjiang pulled out the folder. There were over a hundred teachers in the senior year, and the materials were a thick stack. He gave half to Xiao Lou, and the two of them turned on their flashlights, shielded their eyes from the light, and quickly looked through the documents.
Soon, they found information on three key targets.
Siqi, a physics teacher, is 33 years old. Both her parents are university professors, and she is an only child. No other family members are listed. She attended elementary and middle school in this city, studied at a teacher's college, and returned here to teach after graduating with a master's degree. She was among the first group of teachers to come here when Fenglin High School was established five years ago.
Lin Yueran, a 31-year-old Chinese language teacher, has parents who are both company employees. She also has a younger brother who is currently in university. She is a local, but she has a bachelor's degree and was a free teacher trainee. After graduation, she was assigned to her hometown and went directly to Fenglin High School. She came here five years ago when the school was founded.
English teacher, Zhang Qing, 29 years old.
Yu Hanjiang narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed to the data sheet, saying, "Look at Zhang Qing's family members section."
Xiao Lou immediately came over and saw that in Teacher Zhang Qing's information sheet, the father and mother's information under the "Family Members" column both said "died unexpectedly." Her resume was very impressive; she attended key primary, secondary, and high schools, achieved excellent results in the college entrance examination, was admitted to a prestigious foreign university, and even received a full scholarship.
She earned her master's degree abroad, returned to China after graduation, obtained her teacher's qualification certificate, and changed careers to become a teacher.
She came to this school three years ago.
Yu Hanjiang scanned the resume again from beginning to end, and suddenly said, "We've fallen into a cognitive bias." He placed the three teachers' resumes side by side and said, " Those who are connected to Si Han, the victim in the fall case five years ago, did not necessarily enter this school five years ago—revenge can be postponed."
Xiao Lou's eyes suddenly lit up: "That's right! The male protagonist of The Count of Monte Cristo also returned to the side of those who framed him many years later, disguised as someone else, to settle old scores one by one."
A gentleman takes his revenge, even after ten years.
Once the seeds of hatred are planted in the heart, even if no trace is visible at the time, one day they will grow into an astonishingly towering tree.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Although Siqi's surname is Si, judging from her resume, she grew up in a very good environment. She has had a smooth life from childhood to adulthood, and both her parents are professors. Such people generally do not develop serious psychological distortions, so she is the least suspicious."
To determine whether someone is capable of murder, one must indeed consider their...
Family background, upbringing, and early education all play a role. Children raised in a warm and loving family environment are unlikely to suddenly become brutal killers.
Siqi's parents are both university professors, and as an only child, the possibility of her suddenly committing murder is extremely low.
Xiao Lou said, "This teacher's name is similar to Si Han's, but there is no other indicative evidence. It should be a deliberate distraction set up in the locked room."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and said, "Lin and Zhang are both very suspicious, especially Zhang Qing. She studied abroad, and not in a teacher training program. Someone with such a high level of education could find many better jobs after returning to China. Why would she choose to take the teacher qualification exam and come to teach English at a high school?"
Xiao Lou stroked his chin and said, "Considering the books in her drawer, I think she's most like that Avenger."
Having received an advanced education abroad and obtained a master's degree in economics from a prestigious university, she returned to China with a dazzling image and had plenty of job opportunities. Instead, she took the teacher qualification exam on her own and applied for a job as an English teacher at a high school—what was she after?
The fact that her parents had passed away raises further questions—what happened to her parents?
As the two were pondering, a flash of light suddenly appeared downstairs—the patrolling security guards had returned. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou immediately switched off their flashlights, locked the drawers and office doors, and quickly left the office building in the opposite direction.
The streetlights on campus were on, and to avoid being spotted by security guards, the two deliberately chose to proceed through dark areas.
They walked along, discussing in hushed tones.
Yu Hanjiang said, "The clues are almost all connected. If Zhang Qing is related to Si Han, who fell to her death five years ago, then everything can be explained—her most beloved relative or friend fell to her death. At the time, she was studying abroad and did not know the reason for Si Han's fall. So, after graduation, she returned to the school as a teacher to investigate the murderer related to Si Han's fall and began to take revenge."
Xiao Lou keenly noticed a crucial point: "So, the murderer in the Si Han case... has very likely already been killed by Zhang Qing?"
Yu Hanjiang stopped and looked thoughtfully at the maple forest in the distance: "Do you remember the rumors the students were talking about? The curse theory started five years ago. The Si Han fall case was said to be a vengeful spirit seeking revenge, and it was obviously the murderer deliberately covering up the truth... In the years that followed, some people from the school mysteriously disappeared, and the students also called this the curse effect."
Xiao Lou paused, a chill suddenly running down her spine.
Oh, right, missing!
He immediately pulled out the note he had picked up that day, which the students had been passing around. It did indeed read: "People have gone missing in recent years."
Xiao Lou followed Yu Hanjiang's gaze to the maple forest: " Captain Yu, you don't actually think the missing person is buried in the maple forest, do you?!"
Yu Hanjiang's gaze was deep: "The reason why maple leaves are so red is because they have absorbed too much blood."
Xiao Lou: "......"
This was the last message that popped up in the floating window when the two entered the Red Heart 3 escape room.
A cold wind blew by, plunging the area outside the maple forest where the streetlights were broken into complete darkness. A few red maple leaves were blown away by the wind, drifting from the darkness to where there was light, and under the streetlights, they looked like they were stained with blood.
Xiao Lou got goosebumps all over!
In the middle of the night, this was terrifying; he couldn't imagine that a corpse was buried beneath the students' favorite maple forest.
However, Captain Yu's analysis was very reasonable.
The hint upon entering the secret room—that the maple tree has absorbed too much blood—is not meant to create a terrifying atmosphere, but rather to directly point to the important clue of "maple forest."
Why did Zhang Qing return to China three years ago, and why did he come to this school? It's very likely that he was investigating the Si Han fall case.
Where did the people who went missing in the past three years go? It's very likely that Zhang Qing killed them and buried them in the maple forest.
If that's the case, then the wooden skewers that string together all the candied hawthorns are not from the Ying Xiaoya fall case, but from the Si Han fall case.
The theme of this escape room is revenge!
******