I exchanged a glance with Liu Yuning at Qiao Xiao's words, suspecting Qiao Xiao had been misled by the television plot. In reality, hypnosis wasn't as mysterious or magical as depicted in movies and novels. It required several steps, multiple preparations, and a subject with a generally average psychological state.
Of course, Qiao Xiao wouldn't understand if I explained this to her. Since she couldn't discern anything, we had to find out ourselves. As before, I asked Liu Yuning to keep Qiao Xiao engaged in conversation while I proposed to search Qiao Junfeng's room. Qiao Xiao didn't refuse; she appeared perfectly normal throughout, acting like a grieving family member. I maintained this perception until I entered the room.
However, after searching Qiao Junfeng's room, I found some signs of movement next to a nightstand. Although something had been covering it, faint scratches were still visible underneath. I pushed it aside forcefully, revealing several strange impact marks in a corner of the wall. The angle suggested they were below the knees of an adult, and there were also traces on the floor indicating someone had knelt there. As I discovered this, Qiao Xiao entered the room, and I noticed her expression was a little unusual.
"Officer He, how did you find this?" Qiao Xiao asked, staring at me curiously, as if seeing these signs for the first time. I let out a cold laugh. "How did I find it? Don't you know?"
"Of course, I don't know. What do you mean, Officer He?"
"This was pushed aside. There's long hair on the floor that looks very similar to yours. You might say you left it here accidentally when you visited before, but the hair is under the nightstand, meaning you pushed the cabinet aside. Combined with the impact marks on the wall, your brother must have been kneeling here at the time. You were watching your brother smash his head against the wall!"
"Don't talk nonsense. How could I possibly do something to harm my brother like that!"
"I deduced this from these signs. You can deny it, but we will investigate thoroughly, and then we'll see how you explain yourself!"
I glared at her fiercely, trying to force her to tell the truth. At this point, I was certain Qiao Xiao was involved. I even suspected she was connected to the hypnosis incident. Only hypnosis could explain the current situation; otherwise, why would Qiao Junfeng be kneeling here? If you argued he was punished by his sister for some other reason...
I glared at Qiao Xiao. "Aren't you going to talk? Given the current circumstances, we can take you in at any time! Once we get there, even if you explain clearly, the nature of the offense will be completely different! Think carefully!"
"I... I admit it, but I didn't force him. I found him behaving that way at home for some reason. I was trying to stop him, which led to this. It wasn't me, it was him himself!!"
"What? He wanted to do this himself?" Liu Yuning, who had just entered, couldn't believe it. But Qiao Xiao nodded vigorously. "That was before he had the accident. But I didn't think about hypnosis then; I thought he was just..."
"Didn't you notice such abnormal behavior? Did you take him to see a doctor or something?" Liu Yuning questioned.
"Of course, I did, but it was too late by then because he had the accident the next day. I was planning to take him to see a psychologist."
"It seems this hypnosis might not have lasted long. Do you know if your brother had any close friends?"
"Officer He, other police officers have asked me this question. I told them about someone named Cuo Tiancheng. I assume those officers are investigating him?"
I wasn't aware of this. It was likely that the other officers hadn't reported it yet. I asked Qiao Xiao to recall the situation further. This time, she explained in detail: "I didn't tell the previous police officers these things because I didn't think they were relevant to the case. But now that you've mentioned hypnosis, I realize the situation is not as simple as it seemed. That night, he came home later than usual. By the way, we live together, and we're both single now. After he returned, he told me strangely, 'Sister, be careful. Don't go out for a while, okay? Perhaps I can no longer protect you.'"
I was curious at the time, wondering what he meant. I teased him, asking if he had watched too many crime movies. But he said very seriously, "No! Sister, I feel disaster is imminent, but... I can't explain. Sister, please, just live well..."
Actually, I was a little scared then because my brother had never spoken to me like that before. So, I grabbed his shoulders. "Junfeng, are you in some kind of trouble? For years, we've relied on each other. We've always confided in each other. But this time, you're being so vague and won't tell me. The more you're like this, the more I want to know. What's wrong with you? You were fine yesterday!"
"Sister, it's time for me to go. Allow me to atone tonight. I will draw Amen's symbol on the wall and kneel to repent, you know? Perhaps tomorrow I won't have to die!"
"What? Brother, don't scare me. What major event have you encountered?"
"Don't worry, perhaps my prayer will work. Sister, help me. Push aside this nightstand."
That nightstand was actually very light. I didn't know why my brother needed my help at the time. But seeing how nervous he was, I helped him push it. Then I noticed the marks of someone kneeling there, and I realized that my brother...
Before the day of the accident, he was the same as before, kneeling on the ground, and then he pulled aside a curtain on the wall. I didn't know when he started this behavior, but the prayer symbols that appeared behind the wall looked like some kind of ritual. That's right! My brother believed in Jesus. He had held this belief for many years and attended mass every Saturday. This seemed to have been going on for a few years...
Speaking of a few years ago, my brother was a bit strange. Before, he was a burly man. After going to a certain place and returning, he was a completely different person, very polite and cultured. His work also improved considerably. However, I noticed he wasn't very diligent, but he had a constant stream of income and even bought me things. All the jewelry I'm wearing now was bought by him!"