Wan Lilang was stunned and suddenly understood: "Sir Lin, did you think of it because the keyhole was black?"
"Alas!" Lin Chuang sighed and said, "Details determine success or failure.
I was confused earlier, and my thoughts were always on several major investigation directions, and I never thought about what caused the black keyhole.
I also visited this kitchen in the morning and found nothing wrong.
But when I saw a pack of matches placed on the east window sill just now, I suddenly felt something was wrong.
Why?
Because the white phosphorus on the match head has a very low ignition point, it is understandable that it should be exposed to the sun to prevent moisture. If it is exposed to the sun for a long time, it is easy to spontaneously ignite, especially at noon when the sun is at its strongest.
This is common sense in life. We all know that Wu Zhongcheng is a careful person. Look at the orderly yard he has tidied and the clean kitchen.
Such a meticulous person wouldn't think of taking the matches to a shady place aside at noon, right? Director Wan, why do you think this is?"
Wan Lilang thought for a while and said: "The kitchen is in the West House. When the sun is at its strongest, the window sill is no longer under the sun, so the possibility of spontaneous combustion is reduced. Isn't that right?"
"That's true." Lin Chuang shook his head and said, "As long as the match is dried in the sun, it may spontaneously ignite even when the sun is at its worst.
In other words, it is not safe to leave it on the windowsill for a long time, and Wu Zhongcheng must know this.
I think the reason why he didn't take it away was because he left in a hurry and didn't have time to think of this detail."
Having said this, Lin Chuang glanced at Li Shiqun meaningfully: "He must have been arranged to leave."
Li Shiqun said: "Yes, I asked them to leave. I didn't want you to mess up my plan."
Lin Chuang smiled and did not say anything, but continued to discuss the situation with Wan Lilang: "Also, the reason why this pack of matches did not spontaneously ignite is because it has not been exposed to the sun for a few days. In other words, it was most likely that it was exposed to the sun yesterday morning.
superior."
Wan Lilang nodded and said: "Yes, I agree. If it takes a long time, it may spontaneously combust."
"Yes. I thought about this question, and then I thought, why did he expose this pack of matches? Could it be related to the assassination of Tian Chuncai?
As soon as this thought came to my mind, I suddenly thought about the black keyhole.
Yes, doesn’t the black stain on the keyhole look like it was blackened?
Thinking of this, it is not difficult to deduce the following.
One match will not burn the lock, nor will it form such a deep black stain, but what if it is the match heads of many matches? Stuff the white phosphorus on the match heads into the keyhole, and use the space in the lock to seal the lock.
Characteristics, if ignited, what is the difference between it and a small explosion? Can the impact of such a small explosion open the lock? "
Having said this, Wan Lilang completely understood. He looked at Lin Chuang with great admiration and said, "Sir Lin's eyes are as bright as a torch and his thoughts are electric. He is very unparalleled. He is sincerely convinced of his humble duty!"
"Director Lin, you just considered it a scientific experiment, right? It can only prove that this is a way to unlock the door. How can you prove that Wu Zhongcheng is the murderer?" Li Shiqun asked with a sullen face.
"Director Wan, where is the matchstick I gave you just now? Show it to Deputy Director Li." Lin Chuang said.
Wan Lilang handed the matchstick to Li Shiqun, and Li Shiqun understood immediately.
The matchstick showed no traces of burning and did not turn black, just like the matchstick after the white phosphorus had been scraped off by thousands of miles of waves.
"Who knows..." As soon as Li Shiqun said these three words, he immediately shut up.
What he wanted to say was: "Who knows if you have already prepared it?"
But suddenly he thought that Lin Chuang had picked up the matchstick in front of everyone, and he didn't even keep it in his own hands, so he gave it to Wan Lilang for safekeeping.
It turned out that at that time he had thought of avoiding suspicion.
He shut up, but Lin Chuang continued to speak.
"We can imagine a scene like this. When Wu Zhongcheng scraped enough white phosphorus from the matchstick, he threw the matchstick into the stove hole. As long as it was burned while cooking, the traces were erased. However,
Because there are so many matchsticks and they are thin, if you are not careful, one of them will fall into the pile of miscellaneous firewood and garbage.
Maybe he didn’t look carefully to see if there were any missing ones, or maybe in his opinion, even one or two missing ones wouldn’t be enough to expose them, so I was lucky enough to find such one in the trash.”
The reasoning was reasonable and consistent, and everyone felt there was no problem.
But Li Shiqun was different. He always felt that Lin Chuang's inference and conviction were a bit mysterious and there was insufficient evidence.
What happened to an unburned matchstick? Maybe there happened to be a defective one. Wu Zhongcheng found it while cooking and just threw it away. How could it become evidence of a crime?
So, he shook his head and said: "The inference is reasonable, but the evidence is insufficient. Director Lin, it is a bit far-fetched to conclude that Wu Zhongcheng is the murderer based on such a matchstick."
Lin Chuang was not angry, but nodded and said: "What Deputy Director Li said is so right. It is indeed a bit far-fetched."
Then, he looked directly at Li Shiqun and said: "Deputy Director Li, assuming that my inference just now is true, Wu Zhongcheng used white phosphorus to open the lock. Then, as you just heard, there will be a 'bang' when the lock is opened. Although the sound is not loud,
Big, but at two or three o'clock in the night, it will definitely wake up Chen Yifei and Hu Yafu, and even Liu San on the first floor may hear it.
Then, if these three people are not allowed to faint, his whereabouts will be exposed immediately, and the subsequent killings will be out of the question."
Li Shiqun's eyes lit up and he said, "Yes, then how did he make Rang faint?"
"It's very simple."
After Lin Chuang finished speaking, he walked into the kitchen and motioned for Li Shiqun and Wan Lilang to follow him. He pointed at the vinegar jar and the jar containing alkaline noodles and said, "Is this where the life gum is?"
Li Shiqun and Wan Lilang looked at each other and sneered: "What kind of evidence is this? Could it be that Wu Zhongcheng can make people faint with jealousy? Director Lin, is this too much?"
Wan Lilang also looked puzzled.
Lin Chuang smiled and asked: "Deputy Director Li, where does Wu Zhizhong live?"
"Beiping."
"Yes, Wu Zhongcheng said that his fellow villagers are all from Peking, not Shanxi. As far as I know, people in Peking are jealous, but they are not very jealous. For Peking people, jealousy is just a bias.
The dish needs to be garnished with some vinegar, which is not the main ingredient and is much less than the amount of soy sauce.
So may I ask, why does Wu Zhizhong put such a big jar of vinegar? I have never heard that vinegar can pickle pickles, nor have I heard that vinegar is a commodity in short supply and needs to be hoarded."
Wan Lilang opened the vinegar jar and looked at it. Even if it could pickle pickles, there were no vegetables in it.
Yes, why?
There is such a big jar of vinegar in the kitchen. At first glance, it doesn't seem like much, but when you think about it carefully, it is indeed very strange.