I was criticized on a dating reality show, but I retaliated and became an internet sensation.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Su Yanhuan quickly spoke up to ease the tension:

"Alright, alright, we've gathered enough clues. Now let's go through them."

"Manager Zhao died of poisoning, the source of which was his cup of tea. Based on the existing clues, there are two people who have the best motive to approach that cup of tea."

"One is Miss Niantang, who was the last person to see him, and the other is the accountant who is in charge of the accounts and has a financial dispute with Manager Zhao."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the crowd:

"But with the account books burned and the note pointing to the accountant, the most suspicious person is the accountant."

Fang Yutong raised her head, her tone calm but tinged with coldness:

"Detective, you've identified me based on a note of dubious origin?"

"The note was found on the third floor, and I spent the entire afternoon in the accounting office, as Secretary Yu can attest."

"What if someone deliberately left the note there to target me?"

Jiang Yunyou interjected at the opportune moment:

"But you did burn the ledgers. The accounting office is usually locked, and only you and Manager Zhao have the key."

"Manager Zhao is dead, the account books were burned, who is the biggest beneficiary?"

[Wow! Jiang Yunyou's question hit the nail on the head. There are only two keys, and Manager Zhao is dead, so the one who burned the account books must be Fang Yutong.]

All the clues point to Fang Yutong, but the more this is the case, the more I feel it's not that simple. The real killer is often the one least suspected.

Fang Yutong looked at him, her tone unchanged:

"Burning the account books does me no good. The accounts are clear and transparent, so why would I burn them? Burning them would only make me look guilty."

"It's not impossible that someone would sneak into the accounting office, burn the ledgers, and then frame me."

Yu Shize stood in the corner and suddenly spoke:

"She did spend the entire afternoon in the accounting room and didn't leave, but if she didn't poison the books and only burned the ledgers, then at most she was destroying evidence, not the murderer."

Su Yanhuan frowned:

"Who poisoned it? Only two people had the opportunity to come into contact with Manager Zhao's teacup: Miss Nian Tang and the accountant."

"If the accountant didn't leave the accounting office, then the only person who could have poisoned her was Miss Niantang."

All eyes turned to Shuzi again.

Shu Zi gently waved the fan in her hand, her tone calm and unhurried:

"Detective, if I were really the murderer, would I be stupid enough to poison my own turf and then openly tell you that I brewed the tea and served the cups?"

"I could easily say that Manager Zhao never came to my room and completely absolve myself of any responsibility."

"I said it because I have a clear conscience."

Fang Yutong sneered:

"A clear conscience? Nian Tang, you've been at Paramount for so many years, you know perfectly well how Manager Zhao has treated you."

"He treated you like a top star, giving you the best rooms and the highest commission. What motive would you have to kill him?"

Shu Zi covered half her face with her fan, her gaze peering through the edge of the fan at Fang Yutong:

"Miss Accountant, you seem to know Manager Zhao much better than I thought. You even know the exact percentage of profit he gives me. It seems you've been looking through the ledgers quite a bit."

Fang Yutong's smile froze.

[Exactly! You're just a bookkeeper, yet you remember the top courtesan's commission percentage so clearly. Who would believe you weren't checking the accounts?]

Fang Yutong keeps emphasizing that Shu Zi has a motive, but she herself hasn't cleared up her own accounting dispute with Manager Zhao.

At this moment, Gu Yan, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke:

"I've seen Manager Zhao's cup a few times. There's a tiny crack on the inside of the rim. If the poison was applied there, it wouldn't be easy to see or wipe off."

"Manager Zhao was poisoned at 3 p.m., and Miss Nian Tang left Manager Zhao's office at around 2:15 p.m., which can be confirmed by the waiters in the corridor."

"If the poison was put in the tea, the onset of the poison wouldn't be delayed by almost an hour, unless—"

He paused, then looked up at the crowd:

"The poison wasn't put in the tea, but on the rim of the cup."

"If the poison is on the rim of the cup, then no matter who pours the tea for Manager Zhao, he will be poisoned."

"The only people who had the opportunity to come into contact with that teacup, besides Manager Zhao himself, were the accountant who tidied his office every day."

[Gu Yan's reasoning here is brilliant! The poison was on the rim of the cup, not in the tea! This clears Shu Zi of suspicion by more than half, because she was only there to make the tea at the last minute and had no opportunity to tamper with the rim of the cup beforehand.]

[Fang Yutong, who tidies up the office every day, has plenty of opportunities to smear poison on the rim of a cup; this is the true meaning of killing without leaving a trace.]

[Gu Yan hadn't said much before, but it turns out he was holding back a big move; the moment he opened his mouth, he immediately turned his attention to Fang Yutong.]

Han Jingxue then spoke up, her gaze fixed on Fang Yutong, her tone flat:

"When Manager Zhao last came to my shop to get medicine, he casually mentioned something. He said he had discovered a problem with the accounts and was investigating it secretly."

He said, "There are ghosts around me."

"At the time, I thought he was just being paranoid and didn't pay much attention. Now it seems that the 'ghost' he was referring to was probably the accountant."

Fang Yutong's face turned completely cold:

"You're all throwing dirty water on me!"

"The note was found by Nian Tang, and the account book was found in the stove by you. I didn't leave the accounting room the whole time, so how could I have poisoned it? How could I have burned the account book?"

"Give me a reasonable explanation."

Yu Shize was silent for a moment, then spoke:

"You certainly didn't leave the accounting room, but is it possible that you applied the poison to the rim of the cup beforehand?"

"As for the account books," he paused, "you don't need to burn them yourself; you can have someone else do it."

Fang Yutong looked at him, her eyes filled with disbelief: "You—"

Yu Shize did not avoid her gaze, but simply added, "I was just stating a possibility."

[Yu Shize has actually turned against her! He was previously vouching for Fang Yutong, but now he suddenly says, "You can order others to do it." This is an attempt to completely destroy Fang Yutong's reputation.]

Is Yu Shize genuinely deducing the truth, or is there some unknown grudge between him and Fang Yutong? It seems to be tinged with personal emotion.

Su Yanhuan nodded and snapped her fingers:

"The situation is now very clear: opportunity, motive, and evidence all point to accountant Fang Yutong. Let's vote."

Fang Yutong: "..."