Chapter 43: Process of Elimination
"Yes," Chu Jiang nodded firmly, "First, the criminal kidnaps A, then kidnaps B, and finally takes A to meet B."
"If A is fake and it disappears forcibly, the criminal can figure out that B is the real Sun Xiaoman because a living person cannot just disappear."
"The same goes the other way around, if B disappears, then A is the real one, so the imposter must not disappear, they can only meet you."
"There is a key point here, if A and B are free, they can run away whenever they want; it's only when they are restrained and unable to move that they cannot disappear."
"The second point is the same, in principle, when you are with the criminal, the imposter won't appear, but if it doesn't appear, it will be exposed, so it has to appear."
Sun Xiaoman listened and felt a little dumbfounded, "Does this imposter also have OCD? It refuses to expose itself no matter what?"
"You can understand it that way, then let me ask you, how did the villain die?" Chu Jiang was like a kind and persuasive teacher at this moment.
"The villain, it was killed by a dummy." Sun Xiaoman answered instinctively.
Then she realized something was wrong, "Since they wanted to kill someone, why didn't they just start by killing the villain? Why bother acting with him?"
"No, the imposter wanted to imitate me. I am just a weak woman, with hardly any opportunities. Being controlled by someone else, it could only defend itself and kill others."
"So, the imposter acted with the villain until the end."
"As for why it killed the villain, it's because the villain killed it first. It had already been exposed, so it had nothing to lose and wanted to kill."
"Yes," Chu Jiang clapped his hands, encouraging his student. "In a way, you should thank this villain. He could tell who was real and who was fake between the two of you."
"As for the method, it's very simple and brutal: first, force the two of you together; second, through process of elimination, kill one of you."
"If the one who was killed turns into a dummy, then she is fake; if the one who was killed remains completely motionless and lifeless, then she is real."
Chu Jiang explained, and Sun Xiaoman finally understood why the other person had to use such a violent method of kidnapping.
Then she looked at Chu Jiang's eyes, and something was immediately wrong. She struggled and almost fell to the ground.
This made Chu Jiang speechless, "Stay calm, do I look like a violent person?"
"Although I doubt you now, I won't kill you. What if I kill the wrong person? I'm not a criminal."
Hearing him say this, Sun Xiaoman calmed down a bit. She stopped struggling excessively, but she still felt scared.
Because now her life was in the hands of a man she had barely known for two days. If Chu Jiang made the wrong judgment, her fate would be terrible.
Chu Jiang ignored her and simply glanced at his phone, then said, "Since we have a little time, let's talk about what happened during the day, shall we?"
"Actually, when you told me the truth in the morning, I couldn't tell if you were telling the truth or lying."
"Normally, a suspect wouldn't willingly reveal their secrets. But this suspect is a ghost, not a human, so it's entirely possible for it to tell the truth."
"Originally, I wanted to use some small actions, like being thirsty and drinking soy milk, to determine if you are a living person."
"But such detailed evidence is too weak. If a ghost can imitate well, it would still instinctively drink soy milk."
"So after the conversation, I simply gave up on these small pieces of evidence and started to create a new plan."
Chu Jiang pointed to his chin while speaking, "The idea of kidnapping both of you took shape right at that moment."
"Then I went out to perfect the plan in my mind, and at the same time, rented or bought some things."
"Including the projector, screen, textbooks that you see now, as well as ropes, tapes, and so on."
"Wait," Sun Xiaoman couldn't help but interrupt him, "Are those stacked books really textbooks? Are you trying to teach ghosts?"
Chu Jiang smiled, "Why not?"
"Let's not talk about that. I also bought a mini camera that can be connected to the internet. This thing is valuable, and it's hard to find through regular channels. I had to go to several electronic stores before someone sold it to me in secret."
"After buying it, I secretly placed the camera on the sofa while I was moving things into the hotel room, so that I could easily observe your every move."
Sun Xiaoman's eyes suddenly lit up when she heard this part!
She not only didn't get angry, but also said, "In that case, you should be able to know that I am genuine."
"Because the real Sun Xiaoman is busy with business and can't just wander around. More than 80% of the time, the real Sun Xiaoman stays at the front desk. When she gets tired of sitting, she will stretch and move a bit."
"Then, you can watch the playback of the camera. It should clearly show that the real Sun Xiaoman called you at 8:30 and left the front desk at 9 o'clock, coming up to find you with a baton."
Unexpectedly, Chu Jiang spread his hands, "You think I haven't seen it before?"
"Forget it, I'll show you the playback."
Chu Jiang fiddled with his phone and then turned the screen towards them.
On the bed, Sun Xiaoman could see that in the footage, she did make a phone call at 8:30, but no one answered.
After that, she quickly fast-forwarded and at nine o'clock, she closed the door, hung a sign, carried a club, and walked out of the camera's view, as if heading towards the elevator direction.
Next, things started to get strange. As soon as she left the screen, within a few seconds, she turned around and walked back with the club.
This change was very natural. She had a doubtful expression as she walked back and forth in the frame.
In the final shot, Sun Xiaoman put the club back, took off the sign from the glass door handle, and finally opened the door.
Chu Jiang then withdrew his hand and said, "Did you see? Based on the information I saw, it's entirely possible that Sun Xiaoman was afraid of ruining my plan, so she ultimately gave up coming to the fourth floor."
"You can also ask yourself this question honestly. If time could go back, are you certain you would make the same choice?"
Sun Xiaoman opened her mouth slightly, but in the end, she closed it...
Because the answer in her heart was uncertain.
Before pressing the elevator button, Sun Xiaoman did have a final moment of hesitation. Ultimately, whether she went up or not, it was a fifty-fifty chance. She wasn't a very decisive person to begin with.
Otherwise, when Chu Jiang asked her why she was crying, she wouldn't hesitate for so long before speaking.
So Chu Jiang's suspicion is reasonable. Just by watching the video, it's impossible to tell what's true and what's false.
