Chapter 1 After Twenty Minutes

Twenty minutes later, in the study.

Feng Bujue was sitting behind the desk, casually flipping through the booklet that Officer Mark had used to record the statements. Detective Schofield was sitting on a chair beside the desk.

The two of them had “requisitioned” the room to individually question the suspects one by one.

“Based on the confirmed criminal evidence and relevant information in this case, we can try to create a logical portrayal and judgment of the perpetrator's criminal psychology. From collecting data to summarizing analysis to inferring results, these three steps are basic. Specifically, it is using deduction…” Feng Bujue was enthusiastically telling (flaunting) Schofield the theory of criminal psychological analysis.

“Oh! Deduction! I’ve heard of it.” Schofield finally heard a clear word, and he continued, “Is it a concept from the *Sherlock Holmes* novels?”

“No, ‘deduction’ is just a way of saying it, and the word can have many meanings.” Feng Bujue shook his head. “In this case, we need to use not so much the Sherlock Holmes style of deduction, but rather the deduction in the so-called ‘criminal profiling’.”

“Uh… what is that…” Schofield asked.

“Inferring the psychological characteristics of the perpetrator, and then sketching out some of his/her physiological characteristics, personality traits, daily habits, etc., in order to reduce the number of suspected objects and narrow down the scope of suspects.” Feng Bujue explained, “This is not a science in the strict sense, but it is indeed a rather advanced detection concept.” He licked his lips, “The deduction in criminal profiling is divided into two steps. The first step is to obtain the main basis by communicating with the suspect. These bases can be behavioral elements or traces of criminal psychology; the second step is to start from the general principles of criminal psychology, forensic technology, and investigation, and associate the criminal behavior or traces of criminal psychology with specific suspects, and draw a profiling conclusion.”

“Of course, the specific profiling steps have five steps and more than a dozen key points, so I won’t go into details. I can’t finish it in a short time anyway… Anyway… I estimate that… these courses will be moved to police academy tutorials in ten years… In the future, it will be the world of academics, and people who can write reports will get promoted faster.”

Knock knock—

Just as Feng Bujue was getting further and further off topic, a knock sounded on the door, and Officer Dumpty said outside the door, “Mrs. Carroll has been brought in, sir.”

Schofield and Jue-ge looked at each other, and the latter quickly nodded. Then, the detective turned his face and shouted outside: “Please let her in.”

The door opened, and Mrs. Carroll walked in. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was streaked with tears. Most of the expensive cosmetics on her face had been wiped off by a handkerchief, and her face, which was not pretty to begin with, looked even more haggard at the moment.

“I’m sorry to bother you repeatedly at this time.” As Feng Bujue spoke, Dumpty closed the door behind Carroll from outside the study.

Carroll replied, “It’s okay… it’s your duty.” Her voice was low and slightly hoarse when she replied, which was also a sequela of crying for a long time.

“Well… please sit down first.” Feng Bujue gestured to the seat opposite him.

Schofield stepped forward in a timely manner, helped the lady adjust the chair, and let her sit down.

“Thank you.” Carroll said softly to the detective, and sat down in the seat directly facing Feng Bujue.

“I’ll get straight to the point.” As soon as the other party sat down, Feng Bujue said, “The murderer is someone in this villa, right here among us.”

Carroll was somewhat mentally prepared for this. No matter how sad she was, she couldn't be so clueless as to not be able to deduce such an obvious thing.

“Who… is it?” Carroll asked tremblingly.

“I do have some hypotheses.” Feng Bujue said, “But before I’m completely sure, I’d like to hear your opinion first.”

“Me?” Carroll asked suspiciously.

“Yes.” Feng Bujue asked, “I would like to ask you, who do you think the murderer is?”

Carroll's eyes flickered, her eyes uncertain, and she was obviously thinking about something in her heart, but she still replied, “I… I don't know… Why are you asking me?”

“Hehe…” Feng Bujue smiled, “Since you don’t want to say, then I’ll just explain my own inferences.” He leaned back in his chair and said in a relaxed tone, “I think… the person who killed Dennis Lovecraft is you, Mrs. Carroll.”

“What!” Carroll was shocked and angry, and her voice rose involuntarily, “How dare you say that! I love my husband so much! My heart is broken by his death, and you actually accuse me of being the murderer!”

“According to the testimony you gave…” Feng Bujue was not affected by the other party’s agitated attitude at all, and continued on his own, “Before you opened the door, the door was locked. And after you opened the door and saw the body, you didn’t even enter the room, and were directly frightened and collapsed in the corridor.” He shrugged, “But when we arrived at the scene, all the windows in the room were locked from the inside, and there was no other exit at all. Who else could the murderer be besides you who has the key?” He deliberately fabricated, “I see… you killed the person first, then locked the room, went out to dispose of the murder weapon and washed the blood off your hands, and then returned, pretending to be the discoverer of the body, in order to clear your suspicion.”

“You… you’re talking nonsense!” Carroll was so angry that she couldn’t speak smoothly, “Why would I kill my husband?”

“Motive… I think it’s love turned to hate…” Feng Bujue raised the booklet in his hand and waved it gently, “According to the situation obtained from Officer Mark’s questioning… you and Dennis don’t have any children, do you?”

“Yes! So what! Is that against the law?” Carroll retorted.

“A couple around forty years old, the man’s family is well-off, and the woman’s family is even more wealthy. Under the premise of no life pressure, if the husband and wife are in love, why wouldn’t they have children…” Feng Bujue murmured, “Although it’s not against the law… but it’s very strange, don’t you think?”

“That’s our private matter!” Carroll said angrily.

“Private matter… hehe…” Feng Bujue continued nonchalantly, “Then I, an outsider, can’t help but continue to guess… Does your husband love you as much as you love him… Did he marry you with some other purpose in mind? You also know that although the Lovecraft family is considered wealthy in the eyes of ordinary people, compared to your family…”