Detective L Episode 9 Recap
> Detective L Recap
Uncle Cao, bound and confronted by Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman, finally confessed the full story behind Xia Lu Na’s death. He explained that after Xia Lu Na obtained the money from the gang, they considered her a loose end that needed to be eliminated. They went to her house to retrieve the negative. During their search, they discovered a ferry ticket for Xia Lu Na’s younger sister, indicating she was due to study in the USA.
They planned to use Xia Lu Na's sister to coerce Xia Lu Na into handing over the negative. Xia Lu Na desperately tried to protect her innocent sister, pleading with Xiao Lang to leave her alone and offering to return all the money. She cried out to "Xiao Wen" to run and not return, pretending he was outside to draw attention away from his hiding place in the closet.
However, Xiao Lang callously disregarded her pleas, declaring it was too late for her to realize her mistake and mocking a fellow gang member who suggested giving her another chance. Xiao Lang warned the gang member that defying Captain's orders would lead to the same fate as Xia Lu Na, and then proceeded to inject her with "tears," a drug that would supposedly bring immense pleasure rather than pain.
As he administered the lethal dose, he played Xia Lu Na’s favorite song, "Higanbana," for her "last trip." Uncle Cao further elaborated that the drug, "tears," was always supplied by Captain, who never appeared in person but communicated with Xiao Lang via phone calls and later, only through music scores. After Xia Lu Na’s death, her younger sister vanished completely. As Uncle Cao finished his confession, he seized an opportunity to escape from Luo Fei.
Luo Fei pursued him, and their chase led to a struggle on the second floor of the theater. Just as Luo Fei was about to be pushed over the railing to his death, Xiao Lu unexpectedly appeared. Xiao Lu, who had been hospitalized after a car accident while chasing Zheng Dong the previous night and had come looking for Zheng Dong at the theater after being discharged, swiftly pushed Uncle Cao from the second floor.
Uncle Cao died instantly upon impact, saving Luo Fei’s life. With Uncle Cao’s death, all known members of the drug trafficking organization were gone, rendering further investigation seemingly impossible. Luo Fei reassured Xiao Lu that since it was in self-defense to save his life, the police would not press charges, and Qin Xiaoman could also testify. Despite the apparent resolution, Luo Fei remained unconvinced that Captain was the true mastermind behind the current drug operation.
He suspected the real Captain was not the one orchestrating the recent events. Xiao Lu, believing the case to be closed, announced his intention to relax by enjoying Italian operas and French ballets. However, Luo Fei suddenly had a breakthrough regarding the locked-room murder of Guan Er. He insisted that Xiao Lu and Qin Xiaoman accompany him back to Xiao Lang’s house. At the crime scene, Luo Fei explained his new theory.
He asserted that Guan Er was already dead when the music was heard. The music had, in fact, emanated from the gramaphone. The record itself mysteriously disappeared due to an elaborate mechanism. Luo Fei recounted how he had felt something was missing in the room during his second visit. He then pointed to a spring tape as the key to the setup.
He demonstrated the intricate mechanism: a spring tape with a short thread hooked to the gramophone’s stylus and taped to the record’s edge, with the other end of the tape tied to a bookshelf leg. A five-meter fishing line was taped to the door’s latch, and its other end was wrapped around the record’s fixed spindle, with the middle section trailing on the floor.
After killing Guan Er and playing the record, the killer fled while the music provided a diversion. He asked Xiao Lu to step outside the room. Luo Fei explained that as the door closed, the fishing line would pull the latch, locking the door from the inside, while the spring tape would retract, pulling the record away from the gramaphone and into a hidden spot. Once the mechanism completed, the room became a locked room with no record in sight.
Luo Fei then instructed Xiao Lu to kick open the now-locked door, just as they had done on the day of Guan Er’s discovery. He then asked Xiao Lu to retrieve the "missing" record for fingerprint analysis at the police station. Xiao Lu, who had been outside and should not have known the record’s location, immediately walked to a corner and picked it up. This action betrayed him, confirming Luo Fei’s suspicions.
Luo Fei accused Xiao Lu of being the murderer of Xiao Lang, Guan Er, and Zheng Dong, and revealed his true identity as Xia Xiao Wen, Xia Lu Na’s younger sibling. Faced with undeniable evidence, Xiao Lu confessed. He explained that his parents died young, and his sister Xia Lu Na raised him. Because of his delicate features, Xia Lu Na often playfully dressed him as a girl, leading people to mistake him for her sister. Their bond was deep.
He was hiding in the closet on that fateful day and witnessed his sister's murder, experiencing the "terrible melody" of "Higanbana" as a knife piercing his heart. He promised his sister he would survive and avenge her. After leaving Shanghai and studying abroad with money his sister gave him, he returned seven years later, determined to exact his revenge.
He became Xiao Lang’s assistant, secretly observing the gang and learning about their "tears" trafficking and Captain’s use of music scores for communication. He overheard Xiao Lang discuss diverting from Captain's plans, mentioning Xia Lu Na's death and Captain's power. It was then he realized Captain was also involved in his sister's death.
Xiao Lu admitted that his impatience led to Xiao Lang discovering his identity when he was caught trying to look at music scores and Xiao Lang recognized his striking resemblance to Xia Lu Na. Xiao Lang tried to kill him with "tears," but Xiao Lu fought back and killed Xiao Lang instead.
To lure Luo Fei into the investigation and use his intellect to decipher the music score's password, which would give him access to the "tears" to attract Captain, Xiao Lu orchestrated Guan Er's locked-room murder using the gramaphone mechanism. He then killed Zheng Dong after Zheng Dong retrieved the drugs, also to keep Luo Fei involved.
Xiao Lu confessed that his ambush of Uncle Cao at the hall and saving Luo Fei was also part of his plan, as he only sought revenge against those involved in his sister's death and did not wish to harm the innocent. Qin Xiaoman insisted that murder was still murder and prepared to arrest him. However, Xiao Lu refused to surrender, stating he couldn't rest until Captain, his sister's true killer, was apprehended.
Luo Fei, to make Xiao Lu give up his obsession, made a deal with Xiao Lu: he would take him to see Captain, on the condition that Xiao Lu would then willingly surrender. Luo Fei, Qin Xiaoman, and Xiao Lu traveled to the prison. Luo Fei revealed that ten years prior, he and the police had indeed captured Captain and his entire criminal organization.
Captain had been shot in the head while attempting to escape, leaving him in a state of mental incapacitation. Seeing the now elderly, white-haired, and seemingly senile Captain, Luo Fei urged Xiao Lu to release his hatred, emphasizing that his sister wouldn't want him to become a criminal for revenge. Xiao Lu, after a moment of reflection, agreed to surrender, thanking Luo Fei for everything and lamenting that he would no longer have the chance to solve cases with them.
Xiao Lu was then escorted into a police car. As the car drove off, Luo Fei noticed that its license plate number was a new registration, which was unusual for police vehicles. Alarmed, he and Qin Xiaoman immediately gave chase. They found the police car abandoned on the outskirts of the city. Inside, Xiao Lu was dead. Beside his body, written in blood, was the name "Captain."
Luo Fei, puzzled by Xiao Lu’s dying message, began to suspect that the Captain in prison might have been feigning his mental state. Luo Fei reflected in a letter to his aunt about the case, noting how fate can bring misfortune, and how being blinded by hatred only leads to darkness, while a righteous and kind heart helps overcome adversity.
