The director remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "Before I answer your question, make a judgment first."
The camera emitted a mechanical sound, "Please tell us, who is the murderer?"
The staff handed each person a writing tablet.
"Please give your answer when the hourglass runs out."
The eight guests’ gaze turned to the hourglass, the vintage-style hourglass with white sand slowly flowing through, about half an hour left by estimate.
No matter how the young woman, the middle-aged male entertainer, or the Rock Band members pressed, the director remained silent, offering no further hints.
Ji Guang asked, "Is it because the answer in my heart is correct that you delay and do not answer my question?"
The director sighed, "It’s very hard to continue filming the show ."
The young woman repeated Ji Guang’s earlier question, "So the case ended up with insufficient evidence and acquitted without guilt, and both were released? That’s Ji Guang’s question. The director delays and is unwilling to answer because in the end, both were released."
The director walked away directly, plainly unwilling to answer the question head-on.
Little Taotie scribbled on her writing tablet.
But she couldn’t give a correct answer.
Without evidence, any speculation was just that, speculation.
She took out her toy pipe, her eyes downcast, her little brows tightly furrowed.
From beside her came Little Cutie Sister’s complaint, "How could my agent sign me up for this kind of program? Do I look like I’m smart? This is just making things difficult."
The middle-aged male entertainer leaned over to look at her writing tablet, "Just write something random, take a guess."
The young woman said, "Isn’t it obvious, given the director’s reaction; neither of the two was judged to be the murderer! Both were released without charge! Why do we still have to write down a murderer? Why bother us with a verdict that has been judged by the courts?"
Ji Guang asked, "Can the phones access the internet?"
The young woman was startled, shaking her head, "Our phones were confiscated."
Ji Guang looked helpless, "I held onto my phone, but my card was taken away."
They looked towards the others.
The middle-aged male entertainer shook his head.
The Rock Band members shook their heads.
At the moment when everyone else was disappointed, Little Taotie pulled out her phone, "I have a phone that can go online."
"The director thought you didn’t have a phone, so he didn’t take it away, right?" the young woman asked.
Little Taotie shook her head, "He took away my phone-watch, probably thinking that was all I had."
"This one slipped through the net!" the middle-aged male entertainer said with a grin, "Isn’t it said that these are all based on real cases? Let’s search online; we’re sure to find similar cases and maybe even learn the truth."
The director, seeing all this through the camera, was asked by his assistant, "Should we stop them?"
The director waved his hand, "Let them look, it won’t hurt."
Ji Guang played a video. In it, the victim’s wife held her young daughter, crying her heart out, while the victim’s mother knelt on the ground, shouting at the sky, "Heaven is blind!"
The victim’s father was very silent, staring in one direction with gloomy eyes.
The direction he was looking in was where the just-released two were.
The teenager showed a look of apology, "Sorry, I can’t help you; they don’t believe my testimony."
The man pointed at the teenager and shouted angrily, "You’re the murderer; my word is the truth!"
Beneath the video was an article stating that both had been suspects, but with no evidence, they were ultimately released in court.
And so, the case turned into an unsolved mystery.
The young woman looked at the young child, her voice hoarse, "Did it just end ? No murderer was ever found!"
Ji Guang’s voice was somber, "Too many cases end up sealed and becoming unsolved mysteries, without the victims or their families ever seeing the truth."
Little Taotie looked at the video of the young girl, even younger than herself, then at the cold pupils of the apologetic youth, and at the seemingly angry man, catching a flash of a cold smile in his eyes.
Suddenly, Little Taotie picked up her writing tablet and quickly wrote down her judgment.
Everyone crowded around to see.
It read: Both conspired, the youth masterminded, the man accomplice.