Chapter 121: Key Clue in the Cinema Poisoning—It Was a Poison Capsule, Not an Injection!

Although the exact structure of the drug trafficking organization remains unknown, based solely on the time Rose joined the organization and the fact that she knew how to make human-skin masks, her arrest priority was ranked extremely high.

Therefore—

Rather than continuing to dig into other members of the organization, it was better to strike at the heart by targeting Rose directly.

However, in order to prevent Rose from being silenced in advance, it was necessary to create enough of a commotion in Gusu City.

Only then could the attention of the drug ring’s hidden leaders be fully drawn to Gusu, leaving them with no time to focus on or assign people to Liangxi City.

…

At this moment, Su Ming pointed to a code name written on the whiteboard, organizing the information in his mind as he spoke in a calm voice.

“This massive drug trafficking organization named Kill has members stationed in Gusu City to maintain and run their drug distribution chain. These members are codenamed after poisons.”

“Four years ago—”

“In order to pass the organization’s initiation test, or more accurately, to offer a token of loyalty, a member codenamed ‘Poison’ orchestrated what became known as the Private Cinema Cyanide Murder Case.”

“As for the details of the case…”

At this point, Su Ming looked to Liu Yang beside him and gestured with his hand.

“Chief Liu.”

“As the head of the Xiangcheng Criminal Investigation Division, I assume you were already involved in that poisoning case at the time, correct?”

“Now that this drug trafficking organization is being exposed, many old unsolved cases are being brought up again.”

“I figure… you must have reviewed the case file several times recently. So could you give us a rough overview of the case?”

Compared to the others present, Liu Yang, as the head of Xiangcheng’s Criminal Investigation Division, naturally knew more about the case. He gave a light nod and collected his thoughts before speaking.

“The private cinema cyanide poisoning case happened on July 25th, 2018. It’s been nearly five years now.”

“Though it’s been a while, I still remember the general situation quite clearly, because I was the one who led the team to investigate and search for clues back then.”

“The initial call came in around 1 a.m.—that was when the victim’s body was discovered. We immediately drove to the scene after receiving the report.”

“When we arrived, the victim was already beyond saving. His pupils were clouded, he had severe hypothermia, but his face was cherry-red, and he showed signs of muscle spasms. Right then, I already suspected cyanide poisoning as the cause of death.”

“If it had been any other kind of deadly chemical, the victim should have had at least a brief chance to cry out or be taken to the hospital—he wouldn’t have been found already beyond rescue.”

“Speaking of these types of poisons—”

“Medical Examiner Shen should know more than I do. Potassium cyanide is a commonly used poison, right?”

At that, Shen Lin, an experienced forensic pathologist, adjusted her gold-rimmed half-frame glasses and took over the explanation with a serious and assured tone.

“Potassium cyanide is indeed a common poison, also used in euthanasia.”

“Compared to thallium or ricin, it acts faster and is more potent. Just a few milligrams can easily kill an adult. What’s key is that its rapid onset results in relatively little pain.”

“Whether inhaled, ingested, absorbed through skin and mucous membranes, or injected, it leads to cyanide poisoning. Injection is the fastest-acting method.”

“Depending on the dosage, it can cause loss of consciousness and cardiac arrest in as little as ten seconds.”

“Verifying cyanide poisoning is quite simple and is considered a basic requirement in forensic autopsies.”

“Victims of cyanide poisoning usually display cherry-red skin and mucous membranes.”

“As for the blood—”

“It won’t be dark red but bright red, and the time it takes for livor mortis (postmortem staining) to form will also be much shorter than usual.”

“If the victim made no sounds of distress at the time, that strongly suggests they were injected with potassium cyanide.”

“In that case, there would definitely be a puncture wound. The forensic team in Gusu should’ve been able to detect that easily, and the autopsy report would include a description.”

Liu Yang nodded in agreement, then furrowed his brows in confusion.

“But that’s exactly where the problem lies.”

“Based on our initial analysis, for the victim to die that quickly without making a sound, injection seemed like the most likely cause.”

“And after the autopsy—”

“Our forensics team in Gusu did find a puncture wound on the victim’s buttocks.”

“Given the location of the wound, we naturally suspected that the theater seat might be involved—that someone had hidden a syringe or something similar under the seat.”

“This could explain how the victim sat down and accidentally got pricked, and with cyanide’s fast-acting nature, he wouldn’t have had time to react.”

“But after thoroughly inspecting the chair the victim sat on several times, we never found any syringe.”

“No syringe, yet a puncture wound and rapid onset of symptoms—honestly, it was baffling.”

“And there was another major complication in the case.”

“Unlike regular movie theaters, private cinemas don’t install surveillance cameras, so we couldn’t review any footage to see what exactly happened to the victim.”

“That’s why the case was so hard to solve.”

“No murder weapon, no surveillance footage, and no suspicious individuals. The investigation hit a dead end very quickly.”

Listening to Liu Yang’s description, Lin Tian habitually sniffed the tobacco-scented index finger of his left hand, looking slightly puzzled.

“Chief Liu.”

“I understand why there’s no surveillance in a private cinema, but why were there no suspects?”

“From what you just said, the victim wasn’t alone in that small screening room. Didn’t any of the other attendees have a possible motive?”

Liu Yang let out a helpless sigh, shook his head, and replied seriously.

“Though it was called a small screening room…”

“In fact, that particular theater could hold 20–30 people. It specialized in screening banned or previously removed domestic films.”

“That screening had twelve people in total. The victim had bought a seat in the very last row, while everyone else sat in front of him.”

“It wasn’t until the movie ended and the lights came on that someone noticed something was wrong.”

“After careful questioning and review, we determined that the other eleven people had no connection to the victim. They just happened to be there for the same screening.”

“It’s really difficult. There were so few clues. I feel like the killer may never have even physically interacted with the victim. The case is just incredibly hard to crack.”

As his words fell, everyone present fell into deep thought.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Su Ming narrowed his eyes and looked toward Shen Lin not far away, asking her with implication in his tone,

“Medical Examiner Shen.”

“I’d like to ask—if the potassium cyanide was ingested instead of injected, how large a dose would be needed to kill an adult in a very short time?”

“Would a capsule the size of a common cold medicine pill be enough?”