3 The Garden of Death

"Huang Ting plays Bai Che. The system is loading."

…

Bai Che stood by the window, watching the raindrops hit the glass, feeling uneasy.

He had just received a phone call from his lady's father, asking him to come to his office immediately.

He didn't know what had happened, but he felt a sense of foreboding.

He put on his coat, grabbed his umbrella, and walked out of his lady's villa.

He was his lady's tutor, and he had been working here for more than half a year.

His lady was a seventeen-year-old girl named Lin Waner, the heiress of Lin Group.

She had been spoiled since childhood, arrogant and willful, ignorant and lazy. She also treated Bai Che with disrespect.

Bai Che was strict with her, hoping to change her bad habits and make her a polite and cultured lady.

Bai Che hailed a taxi and soon arrived at Lin Group's headquarters building.

He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

He knew that his lady's father Lin Zemin was a powerful business tycoon who controlled billions of wealth and various industries.

He also knew that Lin Zemin loved his daughter dearly but also expected her to be talented and capable.

He had met Bai Che several times and expressed his appreciation and trust in him.

The elevator reached the top floor. Bai Che stepped out of it and saw a man in uniform waiting for him.

That was Lin Zemin's personal secretary Li Minghua, a middle-aged man with a serious face and sharp eyes.

"Mr. Bai, please follow me." Li Minghua said.

"What happened?" Bai Che asked.

"You'll find out soon." Li Minghua didn't say much more. He led Bai Che to Lin Zemin's office.

Bai Che felt a stifling atmosphere. He followed Li Minghua into the office.

He saw Lin Zemin sitting behind his desk, pale-faced and depressed.

Next to him stood two men in police uniforms: one was Wang Gang, the chief of police; the other was Zhang Xiaodong, the captain of criminal investigation team.

They were both people that Bai Che knew because they had worked with him on several cases before.

Bai Che was a famous detective who had studied various criminal psychology and forensic knowledge during his travels around different countries. He also had keen observation skills and logical reasoning abilities

He had helped the police solve several difficult cases before. He won their trust and respect

"Mr. Bai, you're here." Wang Gang saw Bai Che. He walked up to him and shook his hand

"Hello." Bai Che nodded then looked at Lin Zemin asked "Mr. Lin why did you want to see me?"

Lin Zemin raised his head looked at Bai Che with mixed emotions

"Mr. Bai I have some very unfortunate news to tell you." Lin Zemin said

"What news?" Bai Che asked

Lin Zemin took a deep breath and then said something that shocked Bai Che:

"My daughter, Lin Waner, she… she was killed."

Bai Che felt dizzy when he heard this news.

He couldn't believe his ears. He had just been with Lin Waner, giving her a math lesson.

Although he and Lin Waner didn't get along well, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

He suppressed his grief and asked:

"What happened?"

"I don't know much." Lin Zemin said. "I left home this morning and she was still sleeping. I thought she would wait for you to come and teach her. But then I got a call from the police. They said they found her dead in the garden of the villa."

"Who is the killer?" Bai Che asked.

"That… we're still investigating." Zhang Xiaodong said. "We can only confirm that she was stabbed with a knife and died around ten o'clock in the morning."

"Do you have any evidence?" Bai Che asked.

"We found the murder weapon at the scene, a kitchen knife. There were also some fingerprints and bloodstains. We're doing identification." Zhang Xiaodong said.

"How do you know she was killed?" Bai Che asked.

"Because we found a note on her body," Zhang Xiaodong said. "It said: 'I killed Lin Waner because she was too annoying.' This is a clear motive for murder."

"When and where was she killed?" Bai Che asked.

"According to our preliminary deduction, she was killed around ten o'clock in the morning, in the garden of the villa. We think she met the killer when she went downstairs to take a walk in the garden after waking up. The killer could be a stranger who broke into the villa, or someone who lives there. We are interrogating and checking all possible suspects." Zhang Xiaodong said.

Bai Che listened to Zhang Xiaodong's words and felt some doubt.

He thought this case was not simple. There were some things that didn't make sense.

He asked:

"Did you find any witnesses?"

"No." Zhang Xiaodong said. "There was no one around the villa who saw any suspicious people or vehicles coming in or out. And today is Saturday. The servants in the villa were all on vacation. Only Lin Waner was at home."

"Was there any surveillance footage?" Bai Che asked.

"Yes." Zhang Xiaodong said. "But it's strange. We checked the footage and found that all the cameras stopped working for an hour between nine-thirty and ten-thirty in the morning. We suspect someone deliberately cut off the power or signal."

"Did Lin Waner have any enemies or grudges?" Bai Che asked.

"That… I'm not sure." Lin Zemin said. "She had a bad temper, but she didn't offend anyone as far as I know. She usually just stayed at home online or went out shopping with some friends her age. She didn't have any romantic interests, at least not that I knew of."

"Do you need my help?" Bai Che asked.

"Of course we do." Wang Gang said. "Mr. Bai, you're a very good detective. You've helped us solve many problems before. We hope you can assist us with this case and find out the truth and the killer."

"Can I go see the scene?" Bai Che asked.

"Yes." Zhang Xiaodong said. "We've sealed off the scene and preserved all the evidence and traces. You can go anytime you want. Maybe you'll find some clues that we missed."

Bai Che nodded, agreeing to help them.

He decided to go see where Lin Waner was killed first. Maybe there he could get some inspiration.

Bai Che said:

"Alright, then I'll go take a look."

"Good, we'll go with you." Wang Gang said.

"Wait a minute, I have one more thing to show you." Lin Zemin said. He took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to Bai Che.

"What is this?" Bai Che asked, taking the photo.

"This is my daughter's photo." Lin Zemin said, his eyes shining with tears.

Bai Che looked at the photo and was startled.

The girl in the photo had long hair, big eyes, a straight nose, red lips, fair skin, and a slim figure. She wore a pink dress and smiled sweetly.

She was Lin Waner, his student and his victim.

Bai Che couldn't help but sigh:

"She was such a beautiful girl."

"Yes, she was my darling." Lin Zemin said. "I don't understand why someone would kill her. She was so young and had so many dreams and hopes. She didn't deserve to die. She didn't deserve to die!"

Lin Zemin said this and started crying.

Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong hurried over to comfort him.

Bai Che looked at Lin Zemin's grief and felt sad too.

He felt that he had a responsibility to find out who killed Lin Waner, to give her justice and an explanation to her father.

He put away the photo and said to Lin Zemin:

"Mr. Lin, please don't worry. I will do my best to help you find out the truth and catch the killer. I believe justice will not be absent."

"Thank you, Mr. Bai." Lin Zemin said.

Bai Che nodded and then walked with Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong toward the garden of the villa.

When they got to the garden, they saw a gruesome sight.

Lin Waner's body lay among a patch of flowers, with a deep knife wound in her chest. Blood stained her dress and the petals.

Her eyes were still open, as if telling her unwillingness and fear.

Next to her was a kitchen knife stained with blood, which was the murder weapon.

There was also a note with a sentence that made one's hair stand on end.

Bai Che watched all this with some shock.

He felt that this case was very strange, and something was wrong.

He began to observe the scene carefully, looking for some possible clues.

Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong were also conducting an investigation at the scene. They used police equipment to test and take pictures of the body, the murder weapon, the note, etc.

They also found some doubts, such as:

Lin Waner's body had no other wounds or signs of struggle, as if she was stabbed to death by someone with one knife.

The murder weapon was a kitchen knife, but there was no missing or moved knife in the kitchen of the villa.

The handwriting on the note was very sloppy, as if it was written in a hurry.

Moreover, there were no fingerprints or DNA traces on the note.

There were no other physical evidence or footprints at the scene, as if the murderer had carefully cleaned up.

Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong looked at each other and felt that this case was very tricky.

They decided to go back to the police station first, sort out all the evidence and information, and then conduct the next step of investigation.

Bai Che didn't go back with them. He felt that there were some things he hadn't found at the scene.

He said to Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong:

"You go back first. I want to look around more."

"Are you sure?" Wang Gang asked.

"Yes, I have my ways." Bai Che said.

"Well then, be careful." Zhang Xiaodong said.

"Don't worry, I will." Bai Che said.

Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong left the scene with Lin Zemin and returned to the police station.

Bai Che stayed at the scene and continued to look for clues.

He felt that this case was unusual and some parts were unreasonable.

He thought of some questions, such as:

Why did the murderer kill Lin Waner in the garden? Wouldn't that be very easy to be discovered?

Why did the murderer use a kitchen knife as the murder weapon? Wouldn't that be very easy to leave evidence?

Why did the murderer leave that note? Wouldn't that be very easy to expose his motive?

Why did the murderer kill Lin Waner between 9:30 and 10:30 in the morning? Wouldn't that be very easy to be captured by surveillance video?

Bai Che felt that these questions were very strange, and seemed to have some contradictions and illogicalities.

He began to doubt whether there was any hidden truth behind this case, whether there was someone with ulterior motives manipulating behind the scenes.

Bai Che analyzed the whole case, starting from Lin Waner's identity.

Lin Waner, twenty years old, a sophomore majoring in psychology.

She was Lin Zemin's only daughter and Bai Che's student.

She had good grades and popularity at school.

She had a boyfriend named Li Ming, who was also her classmate.

They had been in love for more than a year and had a stable relationship. She didn't have any special hobbies or habits, just liked to read books, listen to music and go shopping.

She didn't have any enemies or foes, nor did she have any bad habits or behaviors.

She looked like an ordinary, happy and cheerful girl.

Bai Che felt that Lin Waner's identity was simple and there was nothing suspicious about it.

He thought of Lin Zemin.

Lin Zemin, forty-five years old, a businessman who ran a large real estate company.

He was a successful person with considerable wealth and status.

He had been divorced from his wife for ten years and had only one daughter Lin Waner.

He loved his daughter very much and regarded her as his life.

He didn't have any other relatives or friends except for an assistant named Wang Li who helped him deal with some company and personal affairs.

He didn't have any special hobbies or habits either. He just liked to play golf, watch TV and sleep.

He didn't have any enemies or foes either. Nor did he have any bad habits or behaviors.

He looked like an ordinary, wealthy and lonely man.

Bai Che felt that Lin Zemin's identity was also simple and there was nothing suspicious about it either.

He thought of Li Ming.

Li Ming, twenty-one years old, a sophomore majoring in psychology.

He was Lin Waner's boyfriend and also her classmate.

They had been in love for more than a year and had a stable relationship.

He was a handsome boy with black short hair, deep eyes and a handsome face.

He also had good grades and popularity at school.

He had an older brother named Li Qiang who was a policeman in charge of criminal investigation.

He didn't have any special hobbies or habits either. He just liked to play basketball, play games and watch movies.

He didn't have any enemies or foes either. Nor did he have any bad habits or behaviors.

He looked like an ordinary, happy and cheerful boy.

Bai Che felt that Li Ming's identity was also simple and there was nothing suspicious about it either.

So that left Wang Li.

Bai Che found out the truth after a careful investigation.

It turned out that the murderer was Lin Zemin's assistant Wang Li. She had an improper relationship with Lin Zemin and wanted to kill Lin Waner in order to inherit Lin Zemin's property.

She used Lin Zemin's trust to sneak into the villa, stabbed Lin Waner with a kitchen knife and then left that note, trying to create a false impression of suicide.

She also deliberately chose the time period between 9:30 and 10:30 in the morning, because she knew that there was no surveillance video in the villa at that time.

She thought she had done it perfectly and left no flaws.

But she overlooked one detail.

That was Bai Che.

Bai Che was a psychology professor who had a deep insight into human psychology and behavior.

He felt that something was wrong with this case from the beginning, so he decided to investigate it himself.

He analyzed the identity, motive, evidence and other aspects of Lin Waner, Lin Zemin, Li Ming, Wang Li and others, and finally discovered Wang Li's crime.

He also found a key piece of evidence, which was the wound on Wang Li's hand.

It turned out that in the process of killing Lin Waner, Wang Li accidentally cut her finger and left a deep wound.

Bai Che found a drop of blood at the scene. After DNA testing, it was confirmed to be Wang Li's blood.

Bai Che told all the evidence and reasoning to Wang Gang and Zhang Xiaodong. They immediately went to arrest Wang Li.

After being caught, Wang Li refused to admit her guilt and tried to resist.

But under Bai Che's psychological pressure, she finally broke down and confessed to killing Lin Waner.

She was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to prison.

…