I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 110 Novel, Readers, Source of Negative Reviews
At nine o'clock in the morning, Han Ling and Tong Feng arrived at Qingchang People's Hospital again.

Xiao Yuxuan's health is gradually recovering. She is very fortunate that she does not have pneumonia, respiratory failure, or multiple organ dysfunction. Considering all aspects, the doctors have begun to consider removing the ventilator.

After being taken off the ventilator, Xiao Yuxuan can be transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward in three to seven days, which means that she is completely out of danger.

The police can extend the interrogation time beyond the original fifteen minutes.

During their second meeting, Tong Feng mainly talked about Dai Bin, something he hadn't mentioned during his last visit, but he needed to ask about it properly this time.

"Did you...did you talk to him?" Xiao Yuxuan asked cautiously. Having not seen her husband for so long, it was clear that she was feeling a little guilty.

She asked her parents, but they didn't seem to want to discuss the topic.

Tong Feng replied, "He's not answering the phone, and our people have already set off to look for him."

For now, we can only use white lies to prevent Xiao Yuxuan's condition from worsening. We will tell her everything slowly after she is transferred to a regular ward.

"Let's talk about Dai Bin. Does he have any enemies?" Tong Feng continued.

This question puzzled Xiao Yuxuan, who was lying in the hospital bed: "Enemies? You mean, my husband's enemies have come looking for revenge, and they've come after me?"

Tong Feng: "Our time is precious, so please try to answer my questions, okay? Thank you for your cooperation."

Xiao Yuxuan hummed in agreement: "Okay, sorry, Dai Bin... he shouldn't have any enemies, right? I haven't heard him mention them."

Tong Feng: "Thinking about it carefully, is it really not true?"

Xiao Yuxuan recalled, but ultimately shook her head: "I really don't know."

Tong Feng: "Before he went out into seclusion, were there any abnormalities in his emotions or behavior?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yuxuan said helplessly, "Didn't I say yesterday that we had a fight because of Wang Mengqi? Of course, he wasn't in a good mood."

Tong Feng: "Is everything else normal?"

Xiao Yuxuan: "Everything is normal."

Tong Feng: "Do you have any physical illnesses?"

"Huh?" Xiao Yuxuan became more and more puzzled by Tong Feng's question. "Physical illness...no, he's very healthy. He has a physical examination every year, and I read the reports carefully every time."

Tong Feng inquired about Dai Bin's health because of the will. Generally speaking, it is extremely unlikely that a healthy young person would make a will, so illness is a relatively reasonable explanation.

Knowing that his days were numbered, he made a will.

From this perspective, Dai Bin's death leans towards the possibility of suicide.

The task force determined that it was most likely a homicide, but they could not ignore the possibility of suicide. They still needed to investigate and ask questions.

Twenty minutes later, Tong Feng looked at Han Ling, who shook his head slightly, indicating that he had no problem.

The two didn't want to disturb her any longer, so they let Xiao Yuxuan rest and recover before taking their leave.

Today, they will conduct an in-depth investigation into Xiao Yuxuan's interpersonal relationships, going through her contact list, call logs, QQ chat history, and all other records of those she has maintained contact with.

Time quickly came to 9 p.m., and the second case discussion meeting of the task force began. Each investigation team reported in detail on the progress of the investigation and integrated the information.

The first step was to investigate urban villages.

The visits to villagers, homeowners, and surrounding shops are still ongoing. The results so far are the same as before: Dai Bin was parachuted into the urban village from the city center within two months. He lives a secluded life and has not developed any new interpersonal relationships in the urban village.

The fourth missing water glass was also not found.

Secondly, it involves investigating debtors.

Everyone has been identified, and their alibis are all valid.

Third, an investigation was conducted into Dai Bin's writer friends.

This direction is quite complicated; we've only investigated about one-fifth of it. Writers communicate more online and only meet in person when there are offline events.

There are occasional gatherings, but Dai Bin rarely attends them unless the location is nearby or there are familiar friends among the attendees.

Fourth, an investigation was conducted into Wang Mengqi's siblings and their interpersonal relationships.

The siblings had no opportunity to commit the crime, and their known motive is rather far-fetched.

If Dai Bin's death was related to Wang Mengjie, the motive could only be to help his sister shorten her long-term pain, because Dai Bin was indeed very good to Wang Mengqi, and there was no motive of venting his anger.

If Dai Bin's death is related to Wang Mengqi, upon closer examination, it can only be because of the hidden will, provided that Wang Mengqi knew of the will's existence and wanted to obtain the inheritance in advance.

However, Dai Bin is clearly very dependent on Wang Mengqi. Would the latter do something short-sighted like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
The investigation team in charge of this area is suspicious of the possibility that Wang Mengqi and her brother committed the crime. They have ruled out the possibility of the crime, and whether it was a hired murder or a collaborative murder, the possibility is so low as to be negligible.

Fifth, is the investigation into the plagiarism scandal.

The relevant personnel have been contacted, and their alibis are sufficient.

Dai Bin died in the afternoon, and on a weekday. Anyone with nothing to hide could provide an alibi, which greatly reduced the difficulty for the police to rule out suspects.

Ultimately, the meeting focused on the will. Why did Daibin suddenly make a will?
The lawyer determined what Daibin might have encountered, and if it was true, whether it was internal strife or an external threat.
"Does sending razor blades count?" Han Ling suggested. "I spent time reading reviews of Dai Bin's novel. It's currently being serialized and is nearing its end. There are a lot of negative reviews. He made a mistake in handling a certain plot point."

"Send razor blades?" Ji Bowei and the others looked over.

They know that "sending razor blades" is a popular internet meme that expresses fans' strong dissatisfaction with the author.

"What kind of novels does he write again?" Ji Bowei asked.

Han Ling: "It's an urban romance with a touch of suspense. He was a representative figure of this genre when he wrote traditional literature, and he was quite well-known."

Upon hearing this, Ji Bowei turned around and wrote new keywords on the whiteboard:

Fiction.

reader.

Negative Ratings.

Then, he extended an arrow over the words "bad review," wrote "extreme fans venting their anger" at the end of the arrow, and drew a question mark.

This is one possibility.

Hu Lihui glanced back at the words and asked, "What's the reason for the negative review? Has Han Ling read the novel?"

Han Ling replied, "I haven't read it yet, but I can get a glimpse from the readers' comments. There's a female supporting character who was killed off by Dai Bin."

This supporting character is clearly very popular among readers. When the chapter about his death was released, the comment section exploded, with over 90% of the comments being negative.

I think this is one of the reasons why Dai Bin went into seclusion to create his work; he hoped to salvage his reputation with the ending.

Hu Lihui nodded slightly: "To kill someone over something so fictional, one must have a personality flaw or have experienced a major life change. If it's really a reader, wouldn't that be like looking for a needle in a haystack? How many real fans does Dai Bin have? Tens of thousands, right?"

“Tens of thousands, I’ve checked.” It was Fang Zhou who spoke. “The problem isn’t the quantity, but how the suspect obtained Dai Bin’s exact location. His home address might be found, but Dai Bin temporarily rented a house in an urban village. Only he and Wang Mengqi know about this.”

Hu Lihui turned his head: "Don't forget that Wang Mengqi is also a reader. Is it possible that..."

He meant that the readers conspired to murder each other, one providing the location and the other carrying out the act.

The police officer in charge of investigating Wang Mengqi then spoke up: "Wang Mengqi's interpersonal relationships are even simpler than Dai Bin's. We've gone through them all and haven't found any suspicious contacts."

Readers' understanding of each other most likely comes from the internet, and the internet has a memory; I think if such a person exists, they cannot be erased.

Upon hearing this, Hu Lihui pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's start from other directions. First, the most aggressive comments from readers, some of which even directly stated the threat of murder and the method of murder. Second, the suspect obtained Dai Bin's exact location by tracking him."

The second option seems more reliable.

This statement was met with nods of agreement from all the officers, including Ji Bowei; it was quite reasonable.

Han Ling also agrees that if this case has nothing to do with Wang Mengqi, then the suspect likely obtained Dai Bin's exact location by tracking him.

Moreover, it involved long-term tracking, because Dai Bin's creative work in rented rooms was a subjective act with a great deal of chance.

“Then we’ll have to check all the surveillance footage near Daibin’s neighborhood, including the places he frequents,” Ji Bowen said. “Two months… most of the surveillance footage has already covered him, which makes things more difficult. We’ll have to focus on interviews.”

After saying that, he looked at Han Ling and Tong Feng: "You are in charge of Xiao Yuxuan, so you can also investigate her. It's a lot of work, so the local police station will assist you."

Upon hearing this, the two police officers from the local police station immediately accepted the order: "Yes, Captain Ji, we will cooperate with Officer Han and Officer Tong."

Criminal investigations are more professionally conducted by the branch bureau or brigade; they can assist, so try to speak as little as possible.

Han Ling and Tong Feng nodded in agreement.

Ji Bowei: "By the way, since we've mentioned Dai Bin's novel, everyone should take a look when they have some free time, focusing on the chapters before and after the negative reviews."

Continue the investigation in other areas. Report any new findings to the task force command center immediately.

After the meeting, all the exploration teams left one after another.

Tong Feng and Han Ling did not leave immediately, but discussed the investigation plan with their colleagues at the local police station.

Even with the assistance of police officers from the local police station, the investigation through visits and surveillance is still a huge workload and will likely take a long time.

However, once other exploration teams have completed their investigations and withdrawn, they may join in, gradually increasing efficiency.

That's how investigations work. At first, there are multiple directions, but as time goes on, those directions gradually narrow down to one or two. You focus on making breakthroughs until you see a dead end or identify the suspect.

"Let's try to assign colleagues who are familiar with the streets to conduct the visits," Tong Feng said. "The goal of the visits is to find out if any suspicious people appeared multiple times before and after Dai Bin left home to find a place to stay in seclusion."

Police officer at the police station: "Understood, we will go back to the station immediately and communicate with our superiors."

Tong Feng: "Thank you for your hard work."

……

P.S.: I'm posting one chapter first. I'm still writing the second chapter, and I'll release it tonight. There are all sorts of things to do during my holiday. I went to a wedding today.

(End of this chapter)