The Book of Death by Heart Poison

The victim Shi Limiao, 32 years old, originally from Wenyi City, now lives in the capital, and is a director of the video website "Fusheng".

"I know her!" Haizi stared at the photo displayed on the screen, "Have you watched 'Guessing Heart Channel'?"

During her lifetime, Shi Limiao was undoubtedly a beautiful woman with outstanding temperament, with wavy long hair reaching her waist, wearing a light gray professional suit, a textured cashmere coat on her shoulders, and a "floating life" job title hanging on her chest. card, discussing something with colleagues.

Her beauty is almost non-aggressive, her eyebrows and eyes are full of tolerance and gentleness unique to mature women, and she has a strong intellectual atmosphere.

The other few photos are of her coordinating work on the set of the show. At this time, she put away her smile and her eyes are focused and serious, which is what a professional woman should look like.

These photos are placed together with the detailed photos of the corpse, which cannot but be embarrassing.

After so many years, Hua Chong's spirit has always been in a state of tension. Before that, it was because of investigating the cause of An Ze's death. Later, he took over the burden of the criminal investigation detachment from Chen Zheng. The pressure was on his shoulders, and he hardly had time to relax and have fun.

But that's not necessarily accurate.It is impossible for a human being to keep spinning endlessly. When there was no Liu Zhiqin, Hua Chong used to care for flowers and plants to relax himself. With Liu Zhiqin, all the little free time was dedicated to her boyfriend.

So whether it is "Guessing Heart Channel" or "Sincerity Channel", Hua Chong has never watched it.

But this did not prevent him from inferring from the cause and effect and Haizi's tone, and asked, "Is it a variety show?"

"A real-life suspense variety show. Sometimes it's to solve a case, sometimes it's to escape." Liu Zhiqin remembered that he met Ying Zheng in the stairwell before, and that he was watching the "Guessing Heart Channel" when he was fishing during work hours.

Haizi clicked on the phone, "Yo, the third season has been officially announced. I watched this show when I was on vacation last year, and I remember the name Shi Limiao."

Liu Zhiqin has already switched to the official website, and sure enough, he found Shi Limiao on the staff list.

Pei Qing leaned over to take a look, and sneered: "Student, do you think the usual investigations are not exciting enough, or are you just stupid enough to watch this kind of program?"

Haizi immediately argued, "It's my freedom to watch what I want, it's better than some people watching live broadcasts and cooking all day long."

Members of the special operations team each have their own hobbies. Forensic doctor Pei's hobby is to watch people cook.

Pei Qing: "Oh."

Haizi: "Heh! Heh!"

"Okay, don't make noise." Liu Zhiqin said, "Hai Zi, tell me what you understand."

Before Haizi opened her voice, she did not forget to give Pei Qing a glance, "Since everyone here is ignorant of variety shows, I will talk more if I know how to say it."

Pei Qing was impatient, "Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

Hua Chong tapped his finger on the table, releasing the captain's aura for a while, Haizi immediately became honest, "Hey, that's right, most variety shows favor the people in front of the stage, the 'Guessing Heart Channel' is quite special, In addition to the participating stars and amateurs, the five directors also have their own fan bases."

This has nothing to do with the characteristics of suspense variety shows.

No matter how popular or smart the guests are, they still have to work on a given puzzle.The director is not their opponent, but their creator, standing directly on top of them.

"Guessing Heart Channel" has been aired for two seasons so far. The most popular director is Lu Ge. This person graduated from the top five prestigious schools in China and once went overseas to study musicals. Although his appearance is not as good as a star, he is absolutely outstanding among amateurs.The several episodes planned by him were rated as the best plots by most audiences because of complex clues, numerous reversals, and humorous expressions.

This is an era that depends on talent as well as appearance.A single man who is both talented and handsome easily has a group of fans.

Compared with Lu Ge, Shi Limiao's popularity is much lower.In the last season, she was the busiest director, planning a total of six episodes, and the response was mixed, triggering speculation of "looking for a gunman".

Especially in her last episode, the click-through rate ranked second to last in the whole season. At that time, there was even news that the top management of "Fusheng" was dissatisfied with her and might replace her.

"But she is still on the list of directors for the third season." Hua Chong rested his temples and scanned the screen again, "The third season is about to start, but Shi Limiao came to Qishu Town at least 10 days ago. Did she Shouldn't they stay in the capital?"

Haizi smiled and said, "Flower Team, it seems that you really don't watch variety shows at all."

Hua Chong put on a look of wishing to hear more about it.

"Such web dramas like this are all filmed two or three months in advance, and some are more than two or three months old, and some are delayed for half a year." Haizi said: "Especially the first few episodes. After the filming is over, if There is no other job, so Shi Limiao is naturally on vacation and does not have to stay at the company all the time. But you reminded me that the second half of the variety show will be adjusted according to audience feedback. Whether you can get your own script later depends on the previous ratings How about the rate. But any director who is ambitious will not leave at this time."

Hua Chong is good at reading people, a few photos and a narration let him judge that Shi Limiao is definitely not a director without ambition.

Then she left the capital before the official announcement. There are two possibilities. One is that she has fallen into the net of the murderer and is forced to leave, and the other is that she knows that she will not be able to win the show in the second half Opportunity.

"Now that the identity of the victim has been confirmed, let's investigate the relationship first." Hua Chong ordered: "From the scene, the murderer definitely did not seek money and sex, and must have some kind of intersection with Shi Limiao. I believe the relationship investigation will be fruitful. In addition ..."

With that said, Hua Chong turned to Liu Zhiqin, "The time when Shi Limiao came to Xiling City and Qishu Town is very critical. The murderer either came with her, or waited on the sidelines. It's hard work for you and Xu Xiaozhou to monitor this area."

Liu Zhiqin: "Time is very simple."

Hua Chong: "There is also Shi Limiao's family background. 'Floating Life' only released the official announcement of the third season today, which means that the unit where she works has no idea that she is missing. This is very suspicious, she has been missing for at least 10 days , did the people around her not notice at all?"

Haizi raised her hand, "In the behind-the-scenes footage of the second season, she said that she is single and wants to be a career-oriented woman."

Hua Chong shook his head, "It has nothing to do with whether you are single or not. You are also single. If you disappear for 10 days, won't someone notice and call the police?"

Haizi subconsciously looked at Pei Qing.

Pei Qing said coldly: "Look what I'm doing? I won't rescue you even if you've been missing for 100 days."

"Did I ask you to save me?" Haizi choked back, "I was just thinking, if something happened to me, you would be the first to find out that I was missing. It was even faster than my parents."

Pei Qing: "I feel good about myself."

Haizi: "Who says some people are cheap, and they can't get along without arguing with me a day?"

Pei Qing was extremely disgusted, "You should disappear quickly."

Later that day, two clues surfaced—

What was stuffed into Shi Limiao's abdomen and pelvic cavity was not fresh flowers, but processed dried flowers; Shi Limiao had left the capital a month ago, and arrived in Xiling City on March 3.

"Flower team Liu, you really think better than I do!" Haizi put the evidence bag filled with soil on the table, "It's indeed dried flowers, and it's not the dried flowers bought in the market!"

Before he could tell the reason, Liu Zhiqin said, "Of course it can't be dried flowers bought in the market."

Haizi was slightly startled, "Why?"

Liu Zhiqin smiled, "The most famous dried flowers on the market are lavender and roses. There are also baby's breath and chrysanthemums. Have you ever seen rapeseed flowers?"

Haizi: "That's true. But it's not absolute, maybe there are rapeseed flowers?"

"It must be very small." Liu Zhiqin said: "The more small you are, the easier it is to be targeted. The murderer will not reveal himself so easily."

Hua Chong's opinion was consistent with Liu Zhiqin's, "The murderer made dried flowers himself, can you confirm the method of making and the place of origin of the flowers?"

When the murder happened, only a small part of the rape blossoms in Qishu Town were in bloom.The murderer could pick and stuff them into Shi Limiao's body, but adding the process of making dried flowers would be troublesome.

Therefore, it is very likely that the murderer collected it from other places, and after making it, he brought it to Qishu Town.

Qishu Town has a high altitude, and the flowering period is late, while in other low-altitude areas, such as the southern coast, rapeseed flowers bloom as early as the end of February, and the killer has plenty of time to prepare.

Haizi sighed, "I can't find out where it came from, but I know how the murderer made the dried flowers."

Liu Zhiqin: "What way?"

"Microwave with cat litter!" Haizi said, "There is cat litter in the soil. This is the easiest way to make dried flowers. Put the flowers in a bowl, cover them with cat litter, heat them for a few minutes, and you're done."

Hua Chong murmured: "Cat litter...will people who don't have a cat at home choose to use this method?"

Liu Zhiqin opened the webpage and found a post discussing the production of dried flowers. "Using cat litter and a microwave oven is the fastest method. Others can use silica gel desiccant, or even directly dry in a ventilated place."

"If there is a cat at home, it is of course the most convenient to use cat litter. What if there is no cat?" Hua Chong crossed his arms and thought.

Liu Zhiqin said: "Our family only has dogs."

"The reason why he chose this method may be because the murderer kept a cat." Hua Chong squinted his eyes, and the light hit his face, with an indescribable calmness, "But this is similar to our previous discussion on anesthetics and sutures." The murderer may use this to mislead the police, making us preconceived in the early stage of the investigation, thinking that the murderer has a cat."

Liu Zhiqin said: "The murderer has enough time to make dried flowers, and the most appropriate way is to dry them."

Haizi hugged her head and said quietly: "To be honest, I'm most afraid of illogicality, and I'm usually the first to be stunned."

"In short, the rape flower is not only of great significance to the murderer, but also must have some kind of deep connection with Shi Limiao." Hua Chong put this aside for a while, and turned his attention to the way Shi Limiao came to Xiling City. "She chose the train instead of the plane?"

"From when Shi Limiao left the capital to arriving in Xiling City, there was a time difference of 8 days." Liu Zhiqin pulled out a time map, "She traveled along the way by train and went all the way south. Before arriving in Xiling City, she also arrived at 3 other cities. This city can also be seen from the dynamics of her circle of friends."

Hua Chong looked at those time points, "She stayed in other cities for at most 2 days, but she stayed in Xiling City for nearly 20 days. What attracts her here?"

Haizi: "Maybe, it's rapeseed?"

"I will continue to investigate these." Liu Zhiqin said: "Including her whereabouts in the past 20 days."

After discussing for a while, Hua Chong closed the notepad, "It's getting late, I'll be here today. Go back and have a good rest. It's been a hard day's work."

At night, small cities are particularly deserted, especially places like Xiling City - most young people leave their hometowns to work hard, and the old and young who stay behind cannot support the night economy.

After 8 o'clock, the restaurants on the street closed one after another, not to mention that it was almost 12 o'clock when Hua Chong and Liu Zhiqin came out of the bureau.

When in Los Angeles, Hua Chong pulled Liu Zhiqin to make strings in the middle of the night from time to time, in the euphemistic name of replenishing his strength.

Liu Zhiqin exposed him once, "You are greedy, you want to eat everything you see."

At that time, he was in the period of passionate love, his brain twitched, and he uttered a sentence that he regretted—"I'm not greedy for everything, but the most greedy thing is your body, brother Xiaoliu."

After speaking, both of them froze.

At this time, Hua, who had eaten two takeaways during the day, unsurprisingly needed an extra meal.

But looking around, from the city bureau to the hotel where he stayed, he didn't see a single open restaurant.

But there are convenience stores.

Hua Chong never picks and chooses. It’s no problem to eat a few hundred seafood buffets at night, and it’s no problem to buy two packs of instant noodles.

"I'm going to buy noodles." After saying that, Hua Chong walked to the convenience store on the street.

But within a few steps, Liu Zhiqin grabbed his hand.

Hua Chong turned his head, "Huh?"

Liu Zhiqin happened to be standing under the street lamp, the bridge of his nose and eye sockets looked very deep due to the polishing of light and shadow.

"Instant noodles?" He said, "Forget it, I'll take you to eat local specialties."

Hua Chongxiao: "Instant noodles are almost enough."

When he was away from home, how could he pay so much attention? When he participated in the special police special training, there was one called survival in the wild, and he didn’t have any food at hand. In order to reserve his strength, he even ate earthworms and unknown insects.

Although he never discussed the diversity of food, he knew that Liu Zhiqin must have tasted the indescribable taste when he was a military student.

"I found a restaurant that is open at night." Liu Zhiqin shook his phone, "Cross the street ahead, it's stewed yak meat mixed with rice noodles, try it?"

Hua Chong immediately gave up the idea of ​​buying instant noodles.

There are few people on the road, making one wonder whether the store with a high rating is really open.

But when you turn around the alley, you can see the warm yellow lights and the tattered but imposing signboard of "Liujia Rice Noodles".

Even though it was late at night, there were still seven or eight tables of people sitting in the simple shop, and the aroma of marinated ingredients blew in with the night wind, seducing the diners who came for the first time.

Hua Chong immediately said, "There is another village where the willows are dark and the flowers are bright."

Liu Zhiqin: "..."

Back when he had just become a member of the Los Angeles City Bureau, he and Hua Chong had acquired the group name "Dark Willows and Bright Flowers". With "Dark Willows and Bright Flowers", there was no case that could not be solved.

However, when the word came out of Hua Chong's mouth, it was more ambiguous.

Liu Zhiqin narrowed his eyes.

Hua Chong raised his foot and walked forward, submerged in the bright light.

Liu Zhiqin sighed.

This person probably has never been self-aware about seductiveness.