With a single glance, I knew she was dead. Our classroom was located on the top floor of the teaching building, meaning we would need to access the rooftop to bring her down.
My hand felt damp. I lowered my gaze, noticing water stains on the window ledge that hadn’t been there before.
‘It shouldn’t have rained today,’ I mused. ‘Where did this water come from?’
Turning to Bingying, I asked, ‘Bingying, could you please call the police first?’
‘Ah, yes, of course,’ she stammered. ‘Hey, Luo Tianlian, where are you going?’
‘Just a small matter,’ I replied, running out the door without looking back, ignoring Bingying’s shouts. I sprinted to the rooftop door, trying the handle, but the iron door remained stubbornly shut.
There were no signs of forced entry. Pulling out my key, I pushed open the iron door and located the railing with the rope tied to it, intending to haul her up from below.
‘…Wait?’
The rope was severed.
A thought struck me, and I abruptly leaned over the railing. The girl lay supine on the dark green lawn, scarlet blood splattering outwards in a radial pattern, blooming like a gruesome flower.
‘What in the world happened here?’
****
‘The deceased is named Li Qiqiao, seventeen years old. Her father is the general manager of a small company. Her grades were average, making her one of the most ordinary students in your school. However, she was quite popular among girls due to her makeup skills,’ Xia Luohua began.
‘We gathered this information from her student ID and clothes, as her face was beyond recognition from the fall; further identity verification is still needed. We also found a suicide note she wrote, stating that she was bullied by some hooligans, lost her virginity, and felt she had let her parents down, leading to her suicide. Was she known for scandals at your school?’
‘Well, the student council did receive reports about her involvement with boys from other schools and unsavory individuals, but we didn’t take them seriously at the time,’ I said, shrugging. ‘Now, it seems those reports might have been true.’
‘So, what’s your take on this case? Was it truly suicide?’ Xia Luohua pressed. ‘You mentioned that only you should have the rooftop key, didn’t you?’
‘No, to be precise, it’s a backup key,’ I corrected her. ‘Our five student council members each hold backup keys for five distinct areas. For instance, Ye Siya has the key to the old teaching building, I possess all rooftop keys, Bingying manages the dormitory keys, Ye Dieyu has the science building keys, and Yang Mingzhi holds the library keys.’
‘Beyond our backups, the school’s main keys are kept by the administrators of each building, and borrowing them always leaves a record.’
‘Before you arrived, I checked and found that only Li Qiqiao borrowed the rooftop key today. The key itself was also discovered, tucked inside her backpack. Based on the evidence we currently have, suicide indeed appears to be the most likely explanation.’
After Bingying called the police, officers immediately arrived at the scene. Due to the school’s request, only a few plainclothes officers were dispatched, with Xia Luohua naturally among them. At her insistence, I was kept on as a ‘witness.’
To be honest, the school was initially quite reluctant. Unlike me, Luo Tianchen, my sister, with her exceptional talent, was a treasure they couldn’t afford to lose. However, once I volunteered to stay, the school had no choice but to concede.
Xia Luohua then dispatched the other officers to gather evidence and process the scene. The girl had fallen in the school’s backyard, an area rarely frequented by students, so her body was unseen by anyone other than Bingying and me—a small mercy amidst the tragedy.
Consequently, Xia Luohua and I found ourselves alone on the rooftop.
After a brief search, we quickly discovered the deceased’s backpack on top of the rooftop shed. Inside, we found the girl’s student ID, wallet, books… and various adult toys. Honestly, as a male, I felt utterly mortified, yet Xia Luohua continued to pull out item after item from the bag without a flicker of emotion. I could only marvel at the openness of foreigners’ s*x education.
Finally, we unearthed the decisive piece of evidence: a pregnancy test report.
‘Hmm, the report indicates she was over a month pregnant, and the name is indeed Li Qiqiao… It seems our suspicions were correct,’ Xia Luohua stated. ‘The handwriting analysis of the suicide note also confirms it’s Li Qiqiao’s script. It looks like we can close this case.’
‘Is that truly the case?’ I murmured, cupping my chin in thought.
‘Oh? Do you have a different opinion?’ Xia Luohua’s interest was immediately piqued.
‘It’s simply too coincidental.’
‘Coincidental? Are you referring to your previous classmate’s case?’ Xia Luohua questioned. ‘Aside from both being students at this school, there are no commonalities. Her clothes were intact, and the cause of death was asphyxiation. I’ve examined her; she was just an ordinary person. One could say she coincidentally committed suicide around the time the Witch’s Game began.’
‘However, there are still many suspicious points,’ I countered. ‘Firstly, the bloodstains Bingying and I saw on the window, yet when I first discovered her body, there were no obvious wounds or bloodstains on her. Secondly, why did she fall precisely after I went upstairs?’
‘There’s nothing strange about that,’ Xia Luohua dismissed. ‘From your upward angle when you found her, there would naturally be areas you couldn’t see. She might have accidentally bumped something while hanging herself. Moreover, the bloodstains on the window have been cross-referenced with her medical records, confirming they belong to Li Qiqiao herself.’
‘As for your second point, it’s perfectly normal for a rope to wear down after prolonged friction against a sharp edge. Its breaking just as you reached the rooftop can only be attributed to coincidence.’
‘Could it truly just be a coincidence?’ I pondered.
‘Damn it,’ I thought. ‘If she hadn’t fallen, we surely would have found more clues on her body. But now, with her in such a state, many avenues of investigation are simply closed off.’
‘Ah, I’ve brought the last person who saw the deceased,’ a voice announced. A knock sounded at the door, and after Xia Luohua responded, a plainclothes officer appeared, leading a nervous-looking girl.
Seemingly surprised to find two girls her own age standing before her, the newcomer slightly parted her lips. ‘Um, are you…’
‘Don’t doubt it; we are indeed in charge of this case, despite our youthful appearance,’ I stated. ‘We asked you here because we hope you can tell us about Li Qiqiao. If I’m not mistaken, you were her friend, weren’t you?’
‘Eh? Ah, yes…’ the girl replied, her gaze dropping sadly. ‘I never expected something like this to happen to her so suddenly.’
‘Well, don’t rush to grieve just yet,’ Xia Luohua interjected. ‘We heard her reputation wasn’t very good. Is that true?’
‘…It’s true,’ she confessed. ‘For a long time, I saw her associating with some strange men. I tried to warn her against getting involved with them, but she wouldn’t listen. And now…’
She buried her face in her hands, beginning to weep.
‘See? I told you it was just a simple suicide, likely because a man abandoned her,’ Xia Luohua conveyed with a glance in my direction.
‘Before we continue, could you please tell me your name?’ I asked the girl abruptly, ignoring Xia Luohua’s gaze.
‘Eh? Oh, my name is Ji Zhilan.’
‘Ji Zhilan, how long have you two been friends?’
‘Since kindergarten, I think,’ she answered. ‘Our parents were old acquaintances, so…’
‘When was the last time you saw her?’
‘It… it must have been at noon,’ Ji Zhilan recalled. ‘I saw she looked very unwell and wanted to approach her, but another classmate pulled me away. After that, I never saw her again. I never imagined… It’s all my fault; if only I had stopped her then…’
She began to cry once more.
‘What were you doing between one and three in the afternoon?’ I inquired. This was the estimated time of the girl’s death, deduced from the rope’s wear and tear and the period after Xia Luohua and I had separated.
‘At that time, I was studying in the library with other classmates,’ she explained. ‘Afterward, I returned to my dorm to rest, and then I was called here.’ The accompanying officer nodded, confirming her account.
Her reasons were plausible, and her demeanor showed no signs of deceit. Could the girl truly have committed suicide?
‘Excuse me, may I leave now?’ Ji Zhilan asked cautiously. ‘I have something I’d like to do.’
‘Ah, you’re all done here. You may go,’ Xia Luohua said casually. The officer nodded, escorting the girl off the rooftop.
‘All in all, this is just a straightforward suicide case,’ Xia Luohua declared, observing my continued contemplation. ‘Instead of wasting time on it, we should focus on finding clues about the Witch’s Game.’
‘…I suppose we have no choice,’ I conceded.
‘Compared to this seemingly flawless suicide, finding clues about the Witch’s Game is undoubtedly more crucial,’ I decided.