Less than 500 meters from the Pedagogical University, there is a secluded grove. In the middle of the grove, there is a detached farmhouse.

This was originally a peaceful place, but at this time, the silence was broken by a large crowd of onlookers. Three police cars stopped in front of the farmhouse with flashing lights, and the crowd had been separated from the farmhouse by a cordon set up by the police.

A middle-aged man with a big belly and a very handsome young man are being questioned by the police in a panic. It turned out that this middle-aged man was the owner of this farmhouse. Because he ran a small supermarket in the town, the farmhouse was left unused and, like many of the unused farmhouses next to the university, became rented by many teachers and students in the university.

It's a two-storey farmhouse, and unlike other cottages, it's quietly located in a small forest, so it's very quiet, and of course, the rental cost is much higher than other cottages.

Zhao Shengli, a professor of fine arts at the Normal University, naturally likes a quiet environment, so he fell in love with this farmhouse and rented it at a high price.

In the afternoon, the owner of the farmhouse came back from the town, because this day was the day when Professor Zhao's rent expired for half a year, and overnight, the owner of the farmhouse, Guo Dong, made an appointment with Professor Zhao to discuss the renewal of the house this afternoon.

When Guo Dong rushed back to his hometown, he found that it had exceeded the agreed time by more than ten minutes, but the strange thing was that Professor Zhao did not call to urge him.

Guo Dong took out his mobile phone and dialed Professor Zhao's number, but although the phone was turned on, no one answered.

Guo Dong smoked a few cigarettes, and he was already impatient, he took out the key on his body and opened the door of the farmhouse.

Looking at the yard that he was familiar with, it was well organized by Professor Zhao, and the yard did not have the atmosphere of an ordinary farmhouse at all, but was more like a small garden. Guo Dong was full of joy, and secretly congratulated himself that he rented it to a professor who taught art, and took care of the courtyard so poetically, even if Professor Zhao didn't want to rent it, he would rent it to others in the future, and he could still use it to increase the rent.

Just as Guo Dong was enjoying the beautiful scenery in the courtyard, a figure appeared at the gate and asked very vigilantly, "Who are you?" How could it be in Professor Zhao's courtyard? ”

Guo Dong was very unhappy in his heart, and said very arrogantly: "I haven't asked who you are, but you actually talk to me like this." I am the owner of this house, and I am here to talk to Professor Zhao about the renewal of the lease of the house today. ”

The figure quickly flashed into the courtyard, and it was a rather handsome young man, and he smiled politely: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were the master here." Let me introduce myself, I am a junior in the Department of Fine Arts, and my name is Xu Xin. Professor Zhao is my godfather, and I came here today to buy a bag of rice from the supermarket for Professor Zhao to deliver. ”

Xu Xin smiled and said, "I haven't asked your surname yet, why don't you go upstairs when you come?" Are you fascinated by the scenery in my godfather's yard? ”

Guo Dong was happy: "Yes, you cultural people, you know to make some mood, this courtyard is about to be transformed into a Suzhou garden by Professor Zhao." My name is Guo Dong and I am the owner of the house. I've been here for a while, but I haven't seen Professor Zhao, and I don't answer his phone. ”

Xu Xin hurriedly put down a small bag of rice on his shoulder, took out his mobile phone and dialed Professor Zhao's number, but sure enough, no one answered.

Xu Xin said strangely: "This is impossible, today is Sunday, and my godfather is not in school." By the way, Guo Dong, aren't you the owner of this house? Then you should have the key, you open the door, let's go in and have a look, maybe my godfather is asleep. ”

Guo Dong thought about it for a while, and said, "Oh, I have the key, otherwise I wouldn't have opened the courtyard door and came in." It's just that the house is rented to Professor Zhao, and I can't open the room inside without his permission. Since you are his godson, you said to open the room, then there is no problem. ”

Guo Dong smiled while feeling out a large number of keys, picked them for a while, found the key, and opened the security door of the house.

"Is Professor Zhao at home?" , After Guo Dong opened the door, he roared at the top of his voice.

No one answered, everything around seemed so quiet, there was no movement. Xu Xin put down the rice bag and looked a little puzzled: "No, Professor Zhao has never been in the habit of sleeping when he is close to evening, could it be that he has something outside and hasn't come back yet?" ”

Xu Xin said to himself: "Let's wait, put the rice in the kitchen first." ”

When Xu Xin carried the rice bag around the hall and came to the kitchen, he suddenly screamed and stumbled out of the kitchen with a pale face.

Guo Dong was taken aback by Xu Xin, looking at Xu Xin's dejected appearance, Guo Dong turned to the kitchen with a suspicious face and took a look. It didn't matter if he looked at it, Guo Dong was so frightened that he sat on the ground, and there was a large piece of wet in his pants, and he was scared to pee.

In the kitchen, Professor Zhao hung straight on the hook that was commonly cast on the ceiling to hang things in rural kitchens, and a hemp rope passed under his neck. Professor Zhao's eyes were wide open, bulging out of their sockets, and from his wide open mouth, a long dark red tongue with disgusting mucus hanging from it.

After receiving the alarm, Song Ruian, the newly promoted deputy captain of the criminal police team, immediately rushed to the scene with people. In a short time, the news of the death in the farmhouse spread quickly, and it immediately filled the crowd of onlookers.

After listening to Guo Dong and Xu Xin's description of the circumstances when they discovered the murder, Xiao Song asked them to sign the transcript and put their handprints on it.

After a long period of busyness, the scene of the crime was preliminarily investigated, and Professor Zhao Shengli was very likely to hang himself, but the suspicion of his murder has not been completely ruled out. In addition to Professor Zhao's footprints at the scene, there were also two other reporters, Guo Dong and Xu Xin.

After the criminal police took the footprints, they collected the leftover food that Professor Zhao put in the kitchen, and took Professor Zhao's body back to the bureau for identification.

The next day, the results came out, and Professor Zhao's food did not contain any drugs, but it was suspicious that there were signs of poisoning in Professor Zhao's body. No external injuries were seen on the body, and the height of Professor Zhao's hanging was quite consistent with the height of the chair he stepped on.

More importantly, in addition to Professor Zhao's footprints at the scene, although the footprints of two informants, Xu Xin and Guo Dong, were found, the autopsy results showed that Professor Zhao's time of death was around 2 a.m. on the day of the crime, and both of them had alibi witnesses.

The analysis of the case was confused for a while, and the criminal police discussed it, and the most likely explanation was that the toxin in Professor Zhao's body was not enough to be fatal, and it may have been caused by him accidentally eating something. But no toxic substances were found at the scene, and there was only a small bowl of sesame seeds and half a pot of the famous Northeast dish 'chicken stewed mushrooms' in the cupboard, as well as half a plate of beef. Therefore, Professor Zhao should have died by hanging himself.

From the investigation, Xiao Song learned that Professor Zhao Shengli is a native of Northeast China, born in 49 years when the whole of China was just liberated, born in Northeast China, and is now a professor of the Fine Arts Department of this Normal University.

Professor Zhao died of illness more than a year ago, and his two sons both worked in Northeast China. Professor Zhao likes to be quiet and rarely interacts with people. Only because after the death of his wife, a person felt lonely and lonely, so he recognized his protégé Xu Xin as his righteous son.

Xu Xin usually boarded at the school, but only came here to visit Professor Zhao from time to time on weekends. The night after the incident, Xu Xin received a call from Professor Zhao, asking him to buy him a bag of rice for him to deliver to Professor Zhao's place of residence on Sunday afternoon.

Both Xu Xin and Guo Dong reported that on Saturday, that is, the day after the crime, Professor Zhao did not have any abnormal language, and the tone of voice during the call seemed quite ordinary.

What alerted Xiao Song was that on the Saturday day of the crime, Xu Xin went to Professor Zhao's house and shared dinner with Professor Zhao. Moreover, the mushrooms and sesame seeds in Professor Zhao's remaining meals were given to Professor Zhao by Xu Xin to taste.

But what disappointed Xiao Song even more was that the identification results of those two foods were not poisonous. Xu Xin told Xiao Song that Professor Zhao is from the Northeast and eats his favorite chicken stewed mushrooms every day, and Professor Zhao also pays attention to health preservation, and must eat a small spoonful of black sesame seeds every day.

The results of the investigation of Xu Xin also showed that Xu Xin returned to the school at 8 o'clock in the evening after having dinner at Professor Zhao's house, and the other three roommates in the same dormitory can testify that since Xu Xin came back, he never left the dormitory, because the four of them stayed up all night playing cards that night.

Xiao Song was also quite disappointed, and at the same time felt a little relieved: if he was ruled out, then the nature of the case would not be so serious, but for some reason, Professor Zhao chose to hang himself.

Xiao Song, who was about to reluctantly close the case, received a phone call unexpectedly on the third day of the case, and the case became confusing again.