After listening to everything, I asked, "My eyes can see through every lie. Why didn't you slip up when you were in front of me that day? Were you professionally trained?"
Jin Baoshan chuckled and said, "Young detective, that was your oversight. I was actually very nervous with you staring at me that day. If you had asked me right then if I was the murderer, I might have cracked."
I see, so it was my mistake. Not only me, but Huang Xiaotao and Wang Yuanchao didn't expect the murderer to be the one selling the house either.
In cases related to real estate, people are usually motivated by self-interest. Who would have thought the murderer's motive was actually vengeance? We were all misled by our preconceived notions.
Huang Xiaotao asked, "Was Ren Facai your accomplice?"
Jin Baoshan took a puff of his cigarette and said, "No, no, no. I didn't know him before. He was just a local hoodlum who bought the house from me because it was cheap. I thought it would be good - he could divert the police's attention from me."
Huang Xiaotao said, "You sold a $300,000 house for just $50,000. You must be loaded! Tell us about your rags to riches story!"
Jin Baoshan's answer shocked all of us. He said, "That house was only worth $50,000!"
"What?" We couldn't help but be shocked.
"I was just waiting for someone to take a swing at me with that house. It really was haunted - no one dared to live there! I listed it for $300,000 but I wasn't actually selling it for that much. The $2,000 deposit was a few months of my salary that I had to put up. Of course I had to pay that when I broke the contract," Jin Baoshan explained.
I thought to myself that this guy was extremely sly. Fortunately, he just wanted revenge instead of indiscriminately killing people. Otherwise, a highly intelligent criminal like him could have harmed countless more.
Huang Xiaotao took out her handcuffs and tossed them over. "Put these on yourself!"
Jin Baoshan laughed coldly. "I don't want to go to jail!"
"You don't have a choice," Huang Xiaotao glared fiercely.
"You've just been listening to me talk this whole time without noticing anything happening behind you, have you?" Jin Baoshan casually stubbed out his cigarette.
We looked back and saw bullet ants crawling out from the crevices in the furniture, surrounding us completely. Jin Baoshan flipped his palm and suddenly produced a small glass bottle with an enormous ant inside. Its belly was swollen like a silkworm - it was the queen.
Jin Baoshan sneered sinisterly and crushed the bottle and ant in his fist. His hand was covered in blood, and the queen was naturally crushed to smithereens as well.
In her dying moments, the queen released an intense distress signal. Bullet ants from all directions crawled over frantically as if maddened. Huang Xiaotao cried out in alarm, "Killing the queen means you'll die too!"
"Doesn't matter. As long as I can take a few of you with me, especially a certain pretty policewoman, it's worth it," Jin Baoshan said without regret.
"Wishful thinking! Did you think we came unprepared?" I said, then pulled out a small black claw from my collar. We four each wore one as a protective charm.
Jin Baoshan was shocked. "What is that?"
"A pangolin claw. It's the natural nemesis of ants. Pangolins are the mortal enemies of ants. As long as we have this on us, the ants won't dare touch us!"
These things were hard for ordinary people to obtain. Fortunately, Huang Xiaotao knew a veteran detective who had just raided a truck smuggling pangolins from the mountains a few days ago. There was a reason why the former Inspector Ma wore one in the past - because burrowing and digging could easily uncover an ant's nest. Wearing it kept the ants away.
We brought an extra one for Jin Baoshan. Wang Yuanchao forcibly put it on him and cuffed his hands.
Jin Baoshan instantly deflated. Dejectedly, he said, "As expected of the boy detective, I've lost fair and square to someone surnamed Song!"
Wang Dali cheered, "Awesome! We got the murderer without shedding any blood. Let's go eat supper!"
I called out, "Wait! We can't open the door now, there are still residents outside!"
We quickly called the pest control company to come clean up the scene. While waiting, we sat on the sofa. The scene was terrifying - bullet ants crawling eagerly but not daring to approach us.
If these things got out, not only would they harm people, they could also cause an invasive species catastrophe and potentially kill off large numbers of birds and beasts in Nanjiang City. Although they were just innocent small creatures, they had to be killed.
When the pest control workers arrived, they used insecticides to completely eliminate the bullet ants. Huang Xiaotao paid them and asked them to drop by the murder house sometime later to clear out the bullet ants there as well.
With the true culprit finally captured, I heaved a long sigh of relief. Huang Xiaotao spent two days tying up loose ends, then we went to the murder house together.
In the living room, I burned three stacks of paper and recited a Buddhist sutra for the afterlife, hoping the family of three who died here could transcend and reincarnate soon. Huang Xiaotao asked, "Does that really work?"
"Whether it works or not, it's just to show good intentions," I replied.
Leaving the murder house, Huang Xiaotao sized up the building. "Ren Facai bought this house with dirty money. Now that it's been seized, why don't we buy it? I heard they're building a subway here in a couple years. By then, property values will definitely skyrocket. What do you think?"
I shook my head. "Let's not. So many previous owners had the same idea to profit from future appreciation, but it just rotted in their hands. Aren't you afraid of repeating their mistakes? ...Wait, what do you mean let's buy it?"
Huang Xiaotao's face turned red. Stuttering, she said, "I was just speaking casually, why do you have to overanalyze everything I say!"
We gazed at the house in silence for a long time. This was already the second time Huang Xiaotao and I survived life and death together. I suddenly felt that this line of work was truly dangerous, and one day we might really be separated by life and death.
We both spoke at almost the same time. "Ummm..." "Oh right..."
"You go first!"
"You go first!"
I steeled my resolve, grasped Huang Xiaotao's shoulders, and turned her to face me. Her cheeks were flushed as she looked at me, her eyes shining. Her face was especially enchanting in the glow of the setting sun.
I summoned my courage and leaned in. Huang Xiaotao closed her eyes expectantly. Just then, a Maserati blaring loud music drove up from afar. All the courage I had barely drummed up instantly evaporated.
The car stopped nearby and two people got out - Ye Shiwen and Zhang Yan, hand in hand. Turns out these two really got together!
Ye Shiwen called out, "Hey Song Yang, fancy seeing you here! What a coincidence!"
Zhang Yan exclaimed excitedly, "Is this policewoman your girlfriend? She's so pretty, just like a model!"
"Who's his girlfriend!" Huang Xiaotao snapped irritably, then turned and left before I could stop her.
Ye Shiwen slapped me on the shoulder. "Hope we didn't interrupt anything. Come on bro, let us treat you to a meal and tell us about how you cracked the case!"
Zhang Yan chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! It was in the papers already. I can't believe someone from our university has become a famous detective! I'm so thrilled, you definitely have to give me an autograph later!"
I was furious but had to force a smile. I thought to myself, why don't you two just go die.
Some words really shouldn't be spoken lightly. I absolutely did not expect that a few weeks later, a bizarre and perplexing case would occur at our school.