I am in Mihua, and the ladies all like me

"Yes, from what we can see now, it is very likely that the deceased scratched something on his hands after the blood stains them, but so far we have not found anything that the deceased scratched on his hands before he died."

"Then keep looking. Don't miss any spots under the stage."

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, on the steps on the other side of the stage.

Yukiko patted Serabelle's shoulder and leaned close to her ear to lower her voice.

"You just said that the criminal was most likely Miss Rose, but Miss Rose was lying on the ground at the time, and wasn't the beam of light we saw coming down from the second floor of the performance hall?"

"…This is basic common sense, my dear sister Yukiko."

Serabelle sighed softly.

"First, the effective range of a pistol is about fifty meters. Although it doesn't mean you can't kill someone if you shoot beyond fifty meters, your accuracy is basically not guaranteed. Moreover, even within the effective range, it doesn't mean you can hit the target 100%. It's just that you can hit the target in theory if you aim like this. Whether you can actually hit the target depends on the situation at the time."

"Secondly, even an ace sniper wouldn't randomly shoot at a target holding an umbrella or even just standing in the shade of a tree with leaves covering his head, because it's easy for the bullet to miss. And when we heard the gunshot, the dry ice smoke on the stage was expanding. At that time, let alone in the audience, even on the stage, they couldn't see each other clearly. You fired directly with a machine-scoped pistol. Do you think you are a suited gentleman from the Rainbow Team? Even the Mao sniper is not as arrogant as you."

"Third, a self-defense pistol usually weighs about one kilogram, and the stage is at least forty meters away from the second-floor stands. Even if you are a real athlete with amazing arm strength, what does it mean for you to throw the gun so far after firing it? I've only heard of people who are confident in double the speed, confident in slashing the floor with a knife, and confident in collecting the gun, but I've never heard of people who are confident in throwing the gun."

Uh……

After hearing this analysis, Yukiko felt a little embarrassed.

It seems that this is indeed the case?

"Then the criminal can only be one of the three people on the stage at the time."

Chris seemed to understand after hearing this and looked towards the four actresses on the other side of the stage.

Serabelle shrugged. "Well, we'll know if we ask her a little more about that."

As he spoke, he walked straight to the other side of the stage.

Yukiko originally wanted to follow, but before she could take a step, the blonde beauty behind her called her.

"Yukiko."

"Eh?"

Hearing the sound, he turned his head subconsciously and felt a little dazed for a moment.

Exactly the same voice, 90% similar faces, and facial expressions that were as if they were carved from the same mold, as if they were just a little younger, and even the feeling they gave was exactly the same.

After blinking her eyes and regaining clarity of mind, Yukiko asked back.

"What's wrong, Miss Chris?"

"Nothing, I just feel——"

The blonde beauty had an inexplicable smile on her face and turned her gaze towards the figure slowly walking towards the other side of the stage.

"This brother you brought here seems to be very capable."

On the other side, Serabelle had come in front of the four actresses.

"Sorry to bother you, Baldy... Sheriff Radishu is busy with his work, so he asked me to help him understand the situation."

"Uh, you coming?"

Lila, who seemed the most outgoing of the four, looked Serabelle up and down, her expression blank for a moment.

No matter how you look at it, he's still a high school student. The police asked a high school student to help with a case. Are you serious?

“Because I have a good image.”

Serabel said confidently: "A good image can help calm the emotions of the person being questioned."

"..."

That simple sentence was met with silence from the four people.

Well, indeed, I have to admit that this guy's image is quite good. Except for the fact that he always has a determined look on his face which looks lifeless, he is excellent in other aspects.

"So, what do you want to ask?"

Iberis, who was playing the role of Eris, the goddess of misfits, asked as she lit a cigarette.

Serabelle didn't hesitate and went straight to the point: "Did you notice anything strange on the stage at the time of the incident?"

"Speaking of strange things..."

Lila thought about it seriously.

"I'm not really sure, because according to the plot we had to close our eyes, and the whole place was filled with smoke from dry ice, so I couldn't see anything clearly. I heard what sounded like a gunshot, and then I opened my eyes and saw that Keith was in trouble, and there was also a pistol falling from the sky."

"That's it."

Selectively ignoring the last sentence about the pistol falling from the sky, Serabelle nodded.

"It seems that all of you ladies are not suspected, but in order to ensure the legality of the process, I would like to trouble you to cooperate with the gunpowder smoke test later, especially on your hands."

"It's just a smoke test. It doesn't matter." Asian actress Akani said nonchalantly.

"But it's not just your hands. Your gloves will also have to undergo a gunpowder smoke test when the time comes."

Serabelle pointed to the long gloves that each of them wore, covering their elbows.

"Could you please give me the gloves first?"

"Well, of course."

The actresses looked at each other and began to take off their gloves.

Lila and Akani handed over the gloves very quickly. Although Ibelise found it a bit troublesome, she still took off the gloves and handed them to Serabelle.

But when it was Rose's turn, the blonde actress' expression suddenly changed.

Chapter 94 Poor excuse

"Miss Rose?"

He stretched out his hand as if to receive the glove, but nothing came into his hand. The boy tilted his head.

"Excuse me, Miss Rose, could you please hand me your gloves?"

"I……"

The blonde actress hesitated for a moment.

"I-I can do it later. I need to go to the bathroom now."

"Rose?"

Now, not only Serabelle, but even the other actresses felt something was wrong.

After all, this excuse is really too poor.

Especially for those who make a living in the performing arts industry, managing their physical condition is the most basic fundamental skill.

This is not just about managing your body, but also about managing your physical health.

For example, if someone suddenly says they need to go to the bathroom to ejaculate in the middle of a performance, that is absolutely not allowed.

If we follow the normal stage play process, the performance may be just halfway through, but you can't help but have to go to the bathroom. How can this be possible?

"I really just needed to use the restroom!"

Noticing the change in atmosphere, Rose became a little agitated, as if she was arguing.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Lila quickly stood up to smooth things over.

"Well, maybe Rose just felt a little uncomfortable today. Besides, we have already said that we are not suspects. And if we really count, Rose should be the least suspicious one. After all, didn't Chief Radisciu say that the bullet penetrated the chest at a 40-degree angle? In this case, the criminal must have been standing higher than Keith at the time and shot from above. You know, Rose was lying on the floor at the time. How could she have hit Keith at that angle?"

"Can't I?" Serabel asked back.

"Indeed, Ibelise exhaled a puff of smoke and shook her head. "According to the procedure, Keith was standing behind the mirror at that time, and Rose, who was lying on the floor, could only see his ankles at most."

"Really? I thought it was hanging in the hole on the stage."

Serabelle turned her head and looked at the two people and one camera standing horizontally and vertically in the center of the stage.

"After all, I think he's taller than the mirror. If he stands behind it normally, his head will stick out, right?"

"what?"

Ibelis was stunned for a moment.

"That's impossible. This mirror was custom-made for our troupe to match Kishi's height."

That's what she said.

But soon the other two expressed different opinions.

"But after hearing that..."

"It seems that the mirror has indeed become shorter?"

Eh?

Hearing this, Ibelis turned around and looked carefully.

After all, an opera troupe is like a circus. They may perform the same show many times all over the world, so the placement and use of every prop on the stage has long been ingrained in their bones and is like a memory engraved in their DNA.

You might not notice it if you don't pay attention, but once you compare it carefully with the appearance in your memory, you will find... it seems to be true?

Just at this moment, a staff member in charge of stage lifting and lowering operations who had just been taken away to record his testimony walked by and was stopped by Serabel.

"Hello, may I ask if Mr. Keith will still be standing behind the mirror during the rehearsal tonight as usual?"

"Uh……"

As if he had some concerns, the staff member hesitated when he heard this, and subconsciously glanced at Rose among the four actresses.

So Serabelle added, "This is what Sheriff Radishu asked me to help find out."

Upon hearing the second half of the sentence, the staff member's attitude instantly changed 180 degrees. He shook his head quickly and blurted out everything.

"That wasn't the case this time. This time, Mr. Keith was hung in the opening in the floor behind the mirror and waited for the dry ice smoke to fill the air before being lifted up. Because Miss Rose had discovered a crack on the top of the mirror, and considering how much importance the entire troupe attached to that mirror, in order to avoid causing a commotion, we took the initiative to cut off the cracked part and then rewrapped it with wood. However, this made it shorter, so in order to avoid being discovered, Mr. Keith was not arranged to stand behind the mirror during this rehearsal."

"And among all the actors on the stage, only Miss Rose knew about this." Serabell added the last sentence.

"Yes, yes." The staff nodded quickly.

"What was the approximate height of the floor before it rose?" Serabelle asked again.

"Almost... here."

The staff drew a horizontal line on the upper chest.

That means only one head is above the floor.

At the same time, Sheriff Radishu, who had finished questioning the stage staff, also came over. Seeing that there were many people around Serabelle, he asked curiously.

"What's the situation?"

Serabelle glanced at him and nodded as if she understood.

"From what I can see so far, there were only three people on the stage besides the deceased at the time of the incident. Miss Lila and Miss Akani were on the left and right sides of the front of the mirror respectively. The only person who could have shot the deceased in the chest at close range was Miss Rose, who was lying in front of the mirror and was able to pass her hand under the mirror to shoot."

"So again, Miss Rose, could you please take off your gloves and hand them over to the police for a smoke reaction test?"

"..."

Still silent.

The bald sheriff raised his thick eyebrows and said "oh" in a low voice.

In fact, at this point, no matter how stupid one is, he should have seen that there was a problem. He had not thought of the smoke test before and was purely misled by Yukiko.

After all, he is a policeman by profession. Moreover, he lives in the free America. He has touched a gun before and has some knowledge about pistol target shooting.

Even if you are shooting from high and low, if you want to fire several shots in a short period of time from a distance of forty or fifty meters and accurately hit the target in the smoke without damaging the surrounding environment, let alone the New York Police Department, even if you call all the sharpshooters from the police force and special forces in the United States for an on-site test, there may not be one who can achieve this result.

Then there is only one answer, the deceased could only have been shot dead at close range.

Thinking about what the Forensic Department had said before, that the deceased seemed to have grasped something with his bloody hands before dying, Sheriff Radishu felt a little more certain and turned his head slightly to signal the black assistant who was accompanying him.

Immediately understanding what Rose meant, the black assistant stepped forward and said in English, "Please cooperate with the police investigation." Without waiting for Rose to do it herself, he helped her take off all her gloves.

When the glove on the right hand was taken off, a bloody handprint was seen on the inside, surrounding the wrist.

It seems that this is the place where Kiji grabbed with his bloody palm before he died.

As for why it was on the inside, it must be because Rose had been wearing it backwards before going on stage, and only changed it back after firing the gun under the cover of dry ice smoke, which led to her not being discovered.