Detective L Episode 20 Recap
> Detective L Recap
Benjamin completed the autopsy on Charlie Wang's body, identifying an injection pinhole on his left inner ankle. He concluded that Charlie Wang died from asphyxiation caused by a blood and air embolism, confirming a premeditated murder without any signs of external trauma. Qin Xiaoman, after interrogating all the guests, discovered that only Lawyer Liu Ming Xu did not have an alibi. Luo Fei took over his questioning.
Lawyer Liu claimed that at 11:00 PM the previous night, he had gone to deliver documents to Charlie Wang but was intercepted by a heavily intoxicated Wang Da Shan. Wang Da Shan, who had just been harshly scolded by his brother, insisted that Charlie Wang was unwell and already asleep, advising Lawyer Liu not to disturb him. Luo Fei, noticing Lawyer Liu's pronounced dark circles and his constant need to smoke, accurately deduced that he was lying about having slept.
Confronted, Lawyer Liu confessed that he had spent the entire night with the courtesan, Jin Miao Ling, after they had a romantic encounter during the dance. Detective Sha Wei allowed Lawyer Liu to leave for the moment but planned to verify his alibi with Jin Miao Ling later. Next, Lin Zai Chong was interrogated. He stated that he had remained in his room throughout the night.
He explained that he and Charlie Wang typically held a meeting before Charlie retired for the night, a routine established two months prior for work communication. However, Charlie Wang had explicitly canceled last night's meeting due to Wang Da Shan's disruptive behavior at the dinner party, instructing Lin to prepare documents for an art foundation instead.
Lin also revealed that Charlie Wang had long expressed a desire to establish an art foundation and had wanted Lin to lead it, an offer Lin had tried to decline due to his perceived inexperience, almost incurring Charlie's wrath. When Luo Fei inquired about the legendary famous painting, Lin admitted he had once asked about it when Charlie was in a good mood.
Charlie Wang had only responded cryptically, "Only because one is on this mountain," and offered no further details. Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman obtained a detailed blueprint of the villa from Security Captain Huang, who expressed deep self-reproach over Charlie Wang's death. The villa was designed in a triangular layout, with Charlie Wang and Wang Da Shan each owning a private wing, and the guests accommodated in a third building.
Luo Fei, believing the famous painting was key to the murder, aimed to locate it using the map. He recalled seeing a copy of "Xu Xia Ke's Travels" in Charlie Wang's study, alongside a notebook filled with riddles and poems, suspecting these held clues to the painting's whereabouts. While they were in Charlie Wang's study, a sudden noise outside prompted them to give chase, but the person quickly vanished.
Luo Fei inferred that the perpetrator was deliberately guiding him, wishing him to uncover the famous painting's location, and decided to cooperate with this hidden agenda. Through a meticulous analysis of the villa's layout, Luo Fei identified an unmapped, triangular-shaped space, a secret room situated at the highest point connecting the three main buildings. Inside this hidden room, they discovered a safe.
Leveraging Charlie Wang's personal diary, which was styled as a travelogue mimicking Xu Xia Ke's and contained numeric clues corresponding to specific entries, Luo Fei successfully decrypted the safe's combination. As they were about to open the safe, Chen Shuang entered the secret room. Qin Xiaoman swiftly apprehended him. Chen Shuang vehemently denied killing Charlie Wang. He explained that he had proposed buying the famous painting from Charlie Wang, even offering a 50-50 profit split, but Charlie had refused.
That morning, intending to approach Charlie Wang again, Chen Shuang witnessed Lin Zai Chong hastily exiting Charlie's room. Upon entering, he found Charlie Wang already dead. Seized by greed and believing them to be keys to a hidden treasure, Chen Shuang took a string of keys from Charlie Wang's neck. He then searched the drawers for a map before fleeing when he heard noises in the hallway. Chen Shuang handed the retrieved key to Qin Xiaoman.
Luo Fei then opened the safe, but to their disappointment, it contained only an ordinary painting of an island, clearly not the legendary masterpiece. Luo Fei realized that the key found on Charlie Wang's neck was unrelated to this safe. This indicated that the killer's true motive was not the famous painting, but rather to specifically take Charlie Wang's life. Luo Fei decided to re-examine all the evidence and reconsider their approach.
As Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman continued their investigation, they encountered the landlady, Su Su. She complained bitterly about the villa's many broken items, specifically mentioning a wall clock that was perpetually stuck at 11:30, making it impossible to tell the correct time. Su Su's frustration sparked a crucial realization for Luo Fei. He immediately inspected the clock outside Charlie Wang's room and confirmed it had been tampered with.
Luo Fei deduced that when Butler He had initially checked on Charlie, it was actually before 11:00 PM, and Charlie Wang was still alive. However, the clock had been manually advanced to 11:30, misleading Butler He about the actual time. After Butler He departed, the clock was reset to the correct time. When Lawyer Liu arrived punctually at 11:00 PM, he was turned away by Wang Da Shan, who claimed Charlie was asleep.
Luo Fei theorized that by this point, Charlie Wang was already dead, making Wang Da Shan the primary suspect. Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman immediately rushed to Wang Da Shan's room, which reeked of alcohol and was in disarray. Qin Xiaoman discovered a syringe and needle in the trash can. Soon after, Butler He urgently informed Luo Fei that Wang Da Shan had gone to the rooftop and appeared distressed.
Fearing the worst, they hurried to the rooftop, where they found Wang Da Shan dead, with a suicide note beside him confessing to Charlie Wang's murder. However, Luo Fei quickly observed that the ink on the suicide note was completely dry. This indicated that the note had been prepared well in advance, suggesting that Wang Da Shan's death was not a spontaneous suicide but another meticulously orchestrated murder, with him being framed.
Benjamin, upon examining Wang Da Shan's body, revealed that while Wang Da Shan had a large tumor in his abdominal cavity that would have eventually been fatal, his immediate cause of death was poisoning. With both Wang brothers now deceased, their entire fortune would be transferred to the art foundation. This made Lin Zai Chong, who was slated to be the foundation's head, the biggest beneficiary and a highly suspicious individual.
Just as Luo Fei decided to locate Lin Zai Chong, he learned from Detective Sha Wei that the cable car had been repaired. Before anyone could react, Butler He revealed that Lin Zai Chong had already taken the repaired cable car and descended the mountain.
