Chapter 186 - 184: Don’t Tell Me You Really Like Me

Chapter 186: Chapter 184: Don’t Tell Me You Really Like Me

After returning to the municipal bureau, Su Miaoyi stopped by the autopsy room. When she couldn’t see anything from the corpse, she handed her work over to Chu Xingrou and returned to Weiyang Palace.

Since the case involved Cheng Jue, she had to recuse herself.

But after arriving at Weiyang Palace, she stood in front of her whiteboard, a pen in one hand and An’an in the other, and sorted through all the clues.

"Are there any clues we’ve missed?" Su Miaoyi asked.

An’an, nestled in her arms, listened to her speak, glanced up at her, then closed its eyes again.

The voice in her head said, "No, everything we discovered tonight is up here."

"The remote was in the paper effigy’s hand. How was the murder carried out?" Su Miaoyi said.

"There was likely another remote," the voice in her head said.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "But we didn’t find one at the scene today. When I left the bureau, I heard the tech department say the remote’s range is within three meters. There were too many people within a three-meter radius. If there was another one, where could it have been hidden?"

After a moment of silence, the voice in her head said, "What if we start looking for clues from Liu Namo’s side?"

Su Miaoyi’s gaze shifted to Liu Namo’s name.

"Why kill him? This device was clearly meant to take his life, and it wasn’t a crime of passion—it was premeditated. Some people kill in a fit of rage, but for something planned for so long... what kind of hatred is so deep that even after careful consideration, someone would still want him dead?" the voice in her head mused.

Su Miaoyi pondered this as well.

"And Liu Namo’s status is also somewhat special. An investor, acted in many shows, famous, has fans. Killing him was guaranteed to attract a lot of attention. It was a huge risk."

"If the killer in Liu Namo’s case isn’t found, the Liu Family won’t let it go, and the pressure from public opinion will be relentless."

"So... the killer threw all caution to the wind. They were willing to trade a life for a life just to kill him."

Listening to the voice, Su Miaoyi thought for a moment. "And his assistants. One has been with him for five years, the other for seven. But both of them said they didn’t know about Liu Namo hitting people."

"They were his personal assistants, but they didn’t know much about his private life. They knew he’d had many girlfriends, and whenever it came up, the assistants would say he was a great guy—very generous to them and very good to every girlfriend."

"Cheng Jue wasn’t lying," the voice in her head said. "Both assistants mentioned in their statements that whenever Liu Namo was alone with a girlfriend, he made them stay far away. So it’s normal that they wouldn’t know what happened."

Su Miaoyi nodded. "He was on guard, even with assistants who had been with him for so many years."

"He worked in this industry; reputation is everything. He would definitely be careful."

Su Miaoyi fell silent for a moment again. "I have to recuse myself. I might not know about anything they find from now on."

The voice in her head tutted. "Annoying."

"Was Xu Jinlan genuinely scared, or did she scream on purpose?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Probably genuinely scared. The vomiting and fever... those are symptoms of being badly frightened."

"You sure know a lot," Su Miaoyi said.

"It’s just that you know too little."

"What about Meng Yan?" Su Miaoyi’s eyes went to the name on the whiteboard again. "From what she said and didn’t say, it sounds like her relationship with Liu Namo wasn’t a happy one."

"They’ll definitely question her again as a priority. Even if she doesn’t want to talk, they’ll make her."

"The director..." Su Miaoyi looked at the name Wang Youxian. "If it were him, he would have had many convenient opportunities."

"The props team had the most convenience," the voice in her head said. "But they’ve been filming for several days. It wouldn’t have been impossible for the killer to tamper with something."

Su Miaoyi nodded slowly, stroking An’an’s head and listening to its purrs. "This crime is a bit unusual. A murder by device. Even if I could see the event, I wouldn’t see the killer."

"The killer didn’t commit the murder directly. Does that mean the chance of seeing the event through the killer is also very slim?"

"Stop thinking about it. Go to sleep," the voice in her head said.

"You’re going to sleep with me?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Tsk, the way you say that... It’s a good thing no one else can hear you or knows I exist. Otherwise, people might think we’re a pair of narcissists."

Su Miaoyi suddenly froze on the spot, unable to move for a full minute. Then, she let out a sudden scream. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What are you doing in the middle of the night! The soundproofing might be good, but you can’t just scream like that!"

An’an was startled awake, its claws digging into her clothes in fright.

"My only neighbor is out of town on business." Su Miaoyi glanced in the direction of Shen Yanzhou’s apartment.

"You should still scream less." The voice in her head let out a cold chuckle. "Don’t tell me you’re actually starting to like me."

"In your dreams. You should enter that thought into a beauty pageant—it would win first place, globally," Su Miaoyi said.

"Then why such a big reaction?"

"It’s because you’re spouting nonsense." Su Miaoyi stroked An’an’s head. "I really misjudged you. I thought you were some cool and aloof queen, but it turns out you’re just a chatterbox with no filter."

"Your judgment of people is too one-dimensional."

"True." Su Miaoyi placed An’an on the sofa and walked toward the bathroom. Once inside, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Don’t tell me *you’re* the one who’s fallen for me."

"Heh. You’re so weak. You should be thankful I’m willing to tolerate you now."

Su Miaoyi pouted. "I’m the one who finds you annoying."

"Hurry up and get ready for bed. Sleep when you’re done."

"Wait, what about your schedule... If I don’t sleep, you don’t sleep either?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"You’re the one who keeps insisting on talking to me."

"Oh."

...

「The next morning.」

Su Miaoyi was woken up by her phone ringing.

She fumbled for her phone and saw it was a call from Ge Yu.

She instantly became more alert. "Auntie."

"Miaomiao, is it... is it true? Was Cheng Jue arrested?" Ge Yu’s anxious voice was on the verge of tears.

"Huh?" Su Miaoyi tensed. "Arrested?"

"I... I saw the news online this morning. I called him, and he said he’s at the hotel and can’t leave," Ge Yu said.

Su Miaoyi let out a huge sigh of relief. She thought something had happened last night and Cheng Jue had actually been arrested.

It had given her a scare. "Auntie, it’s okay. There was an incident at their film set. It’s not just him; everyone involved in the shoot has had their movements restricted to some degree. Once the case is over, it’ll be fine."

"Is that right?" Ge Yu asked.

"Yes. Don’t worry, he’s fine," Su Miaoyi said. "He’s quite safe where he is. If he were really in trouble, you wouldn’t have been able to reach him by phone."

"Then, will this affect him attending university?" Ge Yu asked again.

"It won’t. It won’t affect it."

"I saw online that it was a homicide. Could he be involved? Will he end up being blamed for it?"

"Auntie, no. The police won’t let a bad person go free, nor will they frame an innocent one. Please just rest easy at home," Su Miaoyi said.

After reassuring Ge Yu for a while, she hung up.

Su Miaoyi opened her phone and checked the news online.

The top trending topics were all about the case, and the discussion was intense...