Chapter 231: Ghost’s First Move, Lan Cai’er Silenced

At least seven days ago, her mouth had already been forcibly silenced.

That was the beginning.

Lan Cai’er’s heart and spirit finally buckled under the pressure, and she willingly placed her neck beneath the sharp butcher’s knife.

It was clear.

The reason for employing such a troublesome and complicated method was to completely conceal their identity and avoid giving the police any chance to trace them.

In terms of attention given to homicide cases, Dragon Country places far more importance on them than the United States. Coupled with K’s usual caution, once it was confirmed that Lan Cai’er wouldn’t reveal that crucial piece of evidence, there was no urgency to permanently silence her. Instead, Ghost could take their time to find the most opportune and secure moment to act.

……

At this moment.

Through sorting and analyzing the relevant information, Su Ming had already roughly identified the details he needed to focus on next, as well as the most likely breakthrough point for uncovering Ghost.

He looked at Chen Sheng in front of the projector, gently rubbing his chin as he asked seriously:

“Chief Chen.”

“You’re very familiar with this hotel water tank drowning case, and you’ve most likely done a deep dive into Lan Cai’er’s personal records.”

“Based on your understanding, when do you think Lan Cai’er was truly silenced, and when did her mental state begin to show signs of extreme stress?”

“I want to pinpoint the time and her general condition as accurately as possible, in order to determine what method Ghost used to make Lan Cai’er keep quiet out of fear.”

Upon hearing the question.

Chen Sheng gave a slight nod, then narrowed his eyes as he began seriously recalling when exactly Lan Cai’er started showing abnormal behavior and mental strain.

After pondering for a few seconds—

Chen Sheng’s eyes suddenly widened. He immediately picked up the mouse for the multimedia computer and brought up several investigation transcripts saved from six months ago, projecting them onto the screen.

Pointing at the screen, he spoke clearly and with certainty.

“Nine days ago.”

“Unless something went completely off course, Ghost had already silenced Lan Cai’er nine days before she was drowned in the hotel water tank.”

“Team Leader Su, take a look at these transcripts on the screen.”

“They all have one thing in common: they’re from staff at Jia He City Television Station—colleagues and superiors Lan Cai’er interacted with regularly before her death.”

“In each of these transcripts, there’s a consistent statement: five days before the incident, Lan Cai’er had already taken leave and stopped coming to work.”

“This suggests that Lan Cai’er’s emotional state shifted dramatically five days before her death.”

Su Ming nodded thoughtfully, then immediately ventured a bold hypothesis.

“Chief Chen.”

“The first person from Lan Cai’er’s graduation project team to be silenced was actually killed seven days ago, not five.”

“Logically speaking, if fear had made someone unable to work, it would most likely have occurred when the first teammate was killed—seven days ago.”

“But now, it was five days before the incident that Lan Cai’er became too frightened and stressed to even go to work. That clearly suggests…”

“The first member to die must have been the one trying to blackmail the criminal organization. The other three either implicitly accepted the risk or had been warned that he would pay with his life.”

“But then, five days before her death, when another team member was also killed, Lan Cai’er finally realized that the criminal organization never intended to let any of them go.”

“They were all going to be silenced—to keep their mouths shut.”

Chen Sheng nodded, eyes full of admiration, surprised at how quickly Su Ming’s mind worked.

But he didn’t waste time. He immediately clicked the edit option and highlighted two lines of the transcript on the projector in red before continuing.

“Team Leader Su, your reasoning is exactly right.”

“According to what the Criminal Investigation Technology Section uncovered, the first person in the team to be killed was indeed the reckless fool who dared to blackmail the criminal group.”

“The second person was one of the others—someone who knew what had happened but didn’t dare expose it, let alone try to blackmail the organization.”

“It was precisely this kind of member—one who should have been able to escape because they weren’t directly involved—being killed that pushed Lan Cai’er’s emotions into complete disarray, fearing for her own safety.”

“Take a look at the two statements I’ve highlighted in red.”

“They came from Lan Cai’er’s immediate supervisor and the cameraman she usually worked with.”

“Six months ago, I already felt something was off and investigated these two details, but due to a lack of leads and evidence at the time, I couldn’t take the analysis any deeper.”

“Now… things are finally starting to make sense.”

At this moment—

Su Ming looked toward the projector and saw the two statements Chen Sheng had highlighted:

【Roughly nine days ago, during a small community interview, Lan Cai’er made a serious work-related error that halted the shoot. Fortunately, it was a recorded segment and not a live broadcast, or it would’ve been a major issue.】

【Nine days ago, while interviewing a model community party member, during a break in the interview, Lan Cai’er seemed to receive a text or a call. She froze, her expression changed, and she walked away to make a call. The call lasted less than ten seconds, but when she returned, her emotions had shifted, her eyes were red, and she appeared deeply distracted. She even broke down crying during the interview.】

……

Reading these two highlighted statements.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, then gently tapped the table and spoke in a low voice.

“It seems…”

“Lan Cai’er had already been silenced by Ghost nine days before she was killed, bearing immense psychological and emotional pressure, yet still too afraid to reveal that critical evidence.”

“Then, on the fifth day, after hearing of the second team member’s death, her mental breakdown worsened, but she still didn’t dare expose the truth.”

“Why? Why, knowing death was inevitable, didn’t she drag that criminal organization down with her?”

“Doesn’t this suggest that during this time, Ghost must have been sending her other signals—or some kind of terrifying threat?”

“Is that why, even when cornered with no way out, Lan Cai’er didn’t dare completely give up and expose the key evidence, instead choosing to bear it all alone?”

“The safety of her family? Could that have been the first thing Ghost used against her?”