*WARNING*: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you DO NOT want to be spoiled, please DO NOT read. You have been warned.
A typical photo shooting session had turned into a real murder scene. Lei Gong was there to give advice for a photo shoot related to the crime scenes theme, etc. Yang Qian and Xiao Xin tagged along and watched, feeling quite entertained. Yet Lei Gong was actually outraged, pointing out all the flaws and errors of the setup. He didn’t realize his words rang so true with a murder taking place.
After some initial observation, the victim was believed to be strangled from a scarf. As always, further details would be better known after an official autopsy. Also, Tou Mu discovered some drag marks leading away from the scene, possibly from suitcase wheels. Lin Sir had guessed that the suitcase was used to store the corpse for disposal at the site. That also meant that this was just the disposal scene. The main crime scene was somewhere else. The dressing room was believed to be the main crime scene, because of all the damage left behind.
So while the autopsy was being performed by Professor Yang, Yang Qian and Jing Ling were out asking the model who worked with the victim prior to her death. This could possibly be a crime of jealousy because the victim, Li Zi Ruo (黎子若), was chosen over the other model, Sun Shi Ni (孫試妮), for a certain project. Of course, the latter denied, saying even if she was snubbed by the competition but that didn’t mean she would resort to killing her. Found in the victim’s hand was a button of some sort. It was probably due to her struggling and fighting for her life hence grasping onto the killer’s clothing. What was interesting was how Sun Shi Ni’s coat had the same sort of button as the one found on Li Zi Ruo.
Like the previous case, they tried to reenact the murder out so they could have a better idea of what was going on–based upon all the details and/or marks found at the scene. In addition to the autopsy, that was. So while they were waiting for other developments, they were in search of the suitcase, which Xiao Gao managed to extract the imprint of the zipper from the mark left behind at the crime scene.
When they finally found the right suitcase, it was in the possession of a homeless man. He wanted a large sum of money before handing it over. What was their solution? Luckily, Lei Gong was prepared. He used a brand new, waterproof large suitcase in exchange for that old suitcase.
It wasn’t until Jing Ling used some tactics to push Sun Shi Ni that she finally lashed out. She also confessed the truth regarding what she actually said to Li Zi Ruo that night. She even broke down, crying about how she didn’t have a chance to say goodbye or apologize to Li Zi Ruo for her previous words.
The fake nail found inside the suitcase didn’t belong to either Li Zi Ruo or Sun Shi Ni. They were back to the drawing board with this one. That led Yang Qian to seek out Li Zi Ruo’s manager to ask about her list of enemies. After much hesitation and getting Yang Qian to promise not to spread the words out, Li Zi Ruo’s manager finally told her some useful information. It was related to how Li Zi Ruo had lied about her usage of products not tested on animals. Yet the manager pointed out that she had to lie to reassure others or it would be a disaster with the public.
That little detail had led them into another direction. That also allowed them to set a trap for the killer. They had used the news to inform the public about a certain suitcase and some further developments in the case. So the killer panicked about the nail hence coming back to the crime scene to search for it thus being captured. The killer was Yan Rong (顏容), an animals rights activist.
When Yan Rong previously confronted Li Zi Ruo, she had asked if Yan Rong was using makeup or other items not tested on animals, etc. Yan Rong vouched that she had never used such. Li Zi Ruo had laughed at her and had pointed out that there were sacrifices for beauty, etc. She also gave Yan Rong some BB Cream.
Jing Ling pointed out to Lei Gong that the main motive that led to Yan Rong killing Li Zi Ruo wasn’t to protect animals. Her expression and reaction said otherwise. Back inside, Yang Qian mentioned how Yan Rong knew of Li Zi Ruo’s usage of products tested on animals for eight months already yet hadn’t acted on her anger. The story started five years ago when Yan Rong’s boyfriend had fallen for someone else. Yan Rong had vouched to change her image and seek out beauty secrets, etc. What Li Zi Ruo said to her had triggered emotions from the past, not just regarding wanting to protect the poor animals. She couldn’t live with the fact that her real reason behind the killing so she had to use the animal protection excuse to justify her actions.
After wrapping up the case, Lei Gong and Yang Qian returned to that one center to continue their volunteer work. Indeed a nice touch to wrap up the episode.
*All images were captured by DTLCT