Family Portrait

The group arrived at the villa where the deceased was discovered.

They crossed the police tape and entered the villa.

On the way there, Xu Mo had already conveyed the tasks assigned by Han Fei to the police officers.

So as soon as they entered,

They put on gloves and began searching.

The officers didn't overlook anything that could potentially be poisoned - cups, bowls, plates in the house, snack wrappers in the trash can, half-empty milk tea cups - everything was collected.

All items were sealed in plastic bags, ready to be taken back to the police station for analysis to check for any residual toxins.

While the officers were searching, Xu Mo wasn't idle either.

However, he wasn't looking for food or water, but rather for medicines and health supplements.

Anything that could be ingested could potentially be poisoned.

Medicines and health supplements were, of course, no exception.

Notably, while searching for medicine, Xu Mo accidentally knocked over a book on the desk.

As the book fell to the floor, a photo that had been tucked inside slipped out.

It was a family portrait of three.

A couple stood on either side, with their son in the middle.

When Xu Mo saw this photo, his eyes immediately lit up.

The main reason was that he was all too familiar with the people in this photo!

The boy standing in the middle of the photo, who appeared to be about 12 or 13 years old, wasn't he the childhood version of that big-nosed security guard who had hastily resigned from their residential complex just today?

The security guard with the big nose looked almost the same at 12 or 13 as he did now, especially that distinctive large nose, which was so memorable that Xu Mo could recognize him at a glance.

Xu Mo had seen the man in the family portrait in the case files for this incident.

That man was Ji Gaolang, Guan Yiliu's wealthy husband who had passed away long ago.

As for the woman on the side,

Xu Mo guessed this must be Ji Gaolang's first wife.

Was Ji Gaolang remarried? He had a son? And his son was a security guard in one of the residential complexes he owned?

Thinking about this, Xu Mo suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

Just by guessing, he could probably figure out what had happened.

The security guard was the son of the wealthy Ji Gaolang.

He killed Guan Yiliu, perhaps out of resentment for this woman breaking up his family.

Or perhaps to fight for the inheritance.

Or possibly, it was a combination of both reasons.

To commit the murder, Ji Gaolang's son had specifically applied for the job as a security guard in the residential complex.

This also explained why the police couldn't find anything unusual when checking the surveillance footage.

The killer had access to the surveillance system!

As a security guard for the complex, deleting surveillance footage would be simple, wouldn't it?

There was another point that aligned with Xu Mo's previous speculation.

The reason the killer chose to use ricin to commit the murder was that he knew using conventional methods to kill Guan Yiliu would inevitably attract police attention.

And since he was Ji Gaolang's son, it would be fine if the police overlooked the connection to Ji Gaolang.

But once they investigated Ji Gaolang's background and discovered he had a son from before his marriage to Guan Yiliu, and if they traced this son to him, they would certainly suspect him.

Once he became a suspect, he would be finished.

Because with just a simple investigation, they would discover that he had a clear motive for murder, as well as the opportunity to commit the crime, having recently been hired as a security guard for the complex just before the incident occurred.

So he needed to mislead the police, making them believe the deceased had died accidentally from the flu rather than being murdered, thus abandoning the investigation.

After briefly sorting through his thoughts,

Xu Mo believed his speculation had some probability.

He immediately took out his phone and called Han Fei, who was at the station.

"Captain Han, I think I know who the killer is."

"Who?" Han Fei asked immediately.

"The deceased's husband, Ji Gaolang, had a son with his ex-wife. From this relationship, he has a motive for murder. This person recently applied for a job as a security guard in the residential complex, so he not only has a motive but also had the opportunity to commit the crime. Moreover, he resigned early this morning, reportedly in a great hurry. I think it might be because he's afraid we'll find out about him."

"Ji Gaolang and his ex-wife had a son? And he was working as a security guard in your residential complex?" Han Fei reflexively repeated.

With Xu Mo's explanation, he also began to suspect Ji Gaolang's son.

Having worked in criminal investigation for so long, he had handled all kinds of cases and had a strong ability to unravel clues from the tiniest threads.

Moreover, Xu Mo had already explained it so clearly, there was no reason for him not to understand.

"Look into this Ji Gaolang!" Han Fei immediately ordered his officers to investigate Ji Gaolang.

Soon, Ji Gaolang's information was available.

From the life history shown in Ji Gaolang's profile,

Ji Gaolang was originally just a poor working-class man, but he was quite lucky, benefiting from a demolition and relocation project, which instantly turned him into a nouveau riche. He made his fortune from the compensation for the demolition.

The first thing Ji Gaolang did after getting rich was to abandon his original wife, even forsaking his son.

He found Guan Yiliu, who was younger and prettier than his original wife, and married her.

Han Fei briefly explained Ji Gaolang's life history to Xu Mo.

He also found Ji Gaolang's son in the population database.

He sent the photo to Xu Mo: "Take a look, is this the person?"

"That's him!" Xu Mo said decisively. "The person in this photo is the security guard who resigned this morning."

Because the police had initially focused their investigation on Guan Yiliu,

They were looking into her social relationships and whether she had any business competitors, hoping to find the killer from these aspects.

But they just hadn't investigated her deceased husband, Ji Gaolang. In fact, the police didn't even know that Ji Gaolang had been married before, let alone that he had a son before marrying Guan Yiliu.

So from the beginning, the police had fallen into a misconception, overlooking the possibility of Ji Gaolang's descendant fighting for the inheritance.

They had been investigating for so long, but in the wrong direction. No wonder they couldn't solve the case.

Unexpectedly, when Xu Mo came looking for other clues, he accidentally saw that family portrait.

And just by association, he completed the puzzle. The crucial point was that Xu Mo's associations were all correct.

The little boy in the family portrait was indeed the security guard! He really was Ji Gaolang's son!

Combined with his hasty resignation early this morning,

Xu Mo believed there was a high possibility that he was the killer.