[Detective L]
[Episode 7] [Higanbana: A]
[Xiao Lang's assistant - Xiao Lu]
Mr. Xiao
Mr. Xiao, wake up!
[Pianist - Xiao Lang]
Stop!
Put it down!
The victim pounced on the bed
and wanted to pull out a pistol from under the pillow
The suspect fired his first shot into the pillow
When the victim turned his body,
the suspect fired the second shot
Again
Turn over
The feathers on your body
match the ones at the scene
But the suspect said
the victim fired the gun first
That's why he fired a shot
If that's the case,
the feathers on the victim's body
wouldn't be like this
So, the suspect was lying
It wasn't self-defense
but murder
Can I get up?
Sure
Thank you
What next?
Clean it up
That's all?
That's all
I mean
besides acting like a corpse and cleaning up the room,
isn't there anything more important
I should be doing?
No need
Cleaning doesn't require a brain
It suits a brainless person like you very well
Is Mr. Luo Fei staying here?
So sorry
You didn't lock the door
So I came in by myself
Sorry
It's okay
I've admired you for a long time
You're the master sleuth of Shanghai Beach
Luo Fei, right?
Every mystery fiction lover knows you
Sorry to disturb you
and your girlfriend
I'm not his girlfriend
What brings you here?
My name is Xiao Lu
My grandma passed away last month
She left a diary with a number combination lock
But I couldn't open it
So I wanted to ask for your help
to crack the combination
So sorry
I can't help you with this
You always say you're a master of deduction
but you can't even open a diary?
There are 4 numbers
Your grandma must have used
a set of meaningful numbers
Have you tried her date of birth?
I have tried date of birth, year of birth
and wedding anniversary
Did she have any habits
or maybe a favorite expression?
No
My grandma was old
and had Alzheimer's
She always talked nonsense with people
What kind of nonsense?
She always said, "ready hand"
Ready hand?
Did she like mahjong?
Yes, she liked to play\mahjong in the past
The neighbours used to call her "Queen of Mahjong"
That's a nickname from the South
Mahjong has a Northern and Southern variant
The highest scoring winning hand in the North
is called "full flush one to nine"
In the South, they use the term "four-sided wait"
Detective Luo
You know a lot about mahjong, huh?
What was her house number?
Route Ferguson, 123, 45-505
There's no 0 in mahjong
If we rule out 0,
it will be 1 2 3
4 5 5 5
The ready hand will be
1
4
3
6
Win!
I'm afraid that this diary
doesn't belong to your grandma
You really deserve your reputation as a master detective
Why did you come to us
with an empty notebook?
He wanted to test my skills
I think
he came to me
to solve another case
The conductor, Xiao Lang, died in his house suddenly last night
My real identity
is Xiao Lang's assistant
I'm here to request
your help in investigating
the cause of his death
But didn't the article say
the cause of death was a heart attack?
That's right, but that's not all
Everything
is related to a mysterious song
"Higanbana"
Who was the sender?
Why is the sender's name not here?
It's a prank
It must be a prank
Why would someone send you a music score as a prank?
Because it's not just any song
Have you heard it before?
"Higanbana"
is the Flower of Hell
It's said that a curse rests on this song
Whoever plays it,
will suffer an inexplicable death
Really?
Of course not
How could you believe it?
Someone is trying to curse me with this
How childish
I also wasn't too concerned
Higanbana
about it
But the next day, I went to see Xiao Lang
I heard the sound of a piano
coming from his room
Mr. Xiao
Mr. Xiao, wake up!
Mr. Xiao
According to the doctor,
he died because of a heart attack
So, you believe
the song caused his death?
Did you tell the police about it?
No
I know it sounds ridiculous
and no one will believe it
That's why I came to you
Because you are a detective,
you might be interested in it
I think you should look for a witch
We're not interested
in those superstitions
No
I'm interested in it
I came across a similar news story
in a foreign magazine
There's a song in Hungary
that has such a sad melody
Everyone who has heard it has committed suicide
And all the musicians that have played it
have quit performing since then
How can you believe in these kinds of
tabloid stories?
This is not a story,
but a psychological phenomenon
A sad melody
can make people feel depressed
and start to have suicidal thoughts
Nothing mysterious about that
Where is the music score now?
It should be on the piano
So,
let's go to Xiao Lang's house
It's so crowded
They're all fans of Xiao Lang
They organized a memorial service
The musicians are all Xiao Lang's colleagues
and members of the Municipal Council Western Orchestra
[Violinist - Guan Er]
He is a violinist, Guan Er
He is a cellist, Guo Rong
[Cellist - Guo Rong]
[Violist - Zheng Dong]
He is a violist, Zheng Dong
The man in the white shirt is the concertmaster and conductor
[Concertmaster - Liu Zhi Min]
He is the brother-in-law of the Chairman of the Municipal Council
Seems like the orchestra has strong backing
Xiao Lu, you're here
These are...
These are my friends
This is Uncle Cao, logistics staff of the orchestra
Hello
[Logistics Staff - Uncle Cao]
Hello
Please help yourselves
Come on
Let's go
to the piano room
You stay here
Keep an eye on them
Xiao Lang died in this room
The music score was on the piano
Why is it gone?
This one?
Exactly
After Mr. Xiao fell down,
I went to help him
but I never touched the music score
Did someone steal it?
Who's the sender?
Don't know
When I opened the mailbox,
it was already there
It said "To Xiao Lang"
Someone must have personally put it there
Stop playing!
What's wrong?
I'll go look
What are you doing?
-Now... -What do you mean?
Why did you stop me? What now?
In this last section you definitely made a mistake
It's you that was off tempo
How can you blame me?
Obviously you weren't paying attention
and skipped a measure
I don't know what you were thinking
What do you mean?
What am I thinking?
You'd know that better than us
Alright, two of you didn't make a mistake
It's all my fault
Let's continue
You stop being so careless
You were off tempo too
Zheng Dong! Enough is enough!
We shouldn't argue during this memorial service
What do you mean memorial? So what!
I can't perform this song anymore
Are you satisfied now?
Only people with a guilty conscience would be satisfied
No...
Don't go! What's wrong?
I feel guilty, I'm leaving too
Too bad...
Don't go!
How can we perform with everyone gone?
Hey!
Uncle Cao, quickly get them back!
I'll go and persuade them
[Reporter - Zeng Shuai]
Excuse me
Hey, aren't you Detective Luo?
Zeng Shuai
What brings you here?
Xiao Lang was a playboy
So I came here to dig up some gossip
Let me tell you
I uncovered some sensational news
What news?
Let's make an equivalent exchange
Tell me
the entire story of the Chamber of Commerce case
Then, I'll tell you
the exclusive scoop behind Xiao Lang's death
How about it?
Deal
Everyone in this house
is suspicious
Look at that girl
She's Xiao Lang's ex- ex- ex-girlfriend
She hates him because of love
and has wanted to kill him for a long time
The concertmaster who just left
Xiao Lang owed him a lot of money
And the guys who were fighting just now
Although they usually rehearse together,
they have a lot of arguments
Please come over
Dear all
my apologies
for the incident that happened just now
Mr. Xiao Lang just passed away
All members of the orchestra
are feeling out of sorts
which caused them to have a minor disagreement
I ask for your understanding
This is a memorial service for Mr. Xiao Lang
So many friends are gathered here
As the concertmaster of the Municipal Council Orchestra,
I feel touched
I remember
when I first met Xiao Lang,
he was having financial difficulties
And yet
he often went to the cinema
to play the accompaniment for silent films
and he would never neglect the musicality
but always play beautiful movements
Are they still fighting?
I couldn't get anyone to come back
Like rats abandoning a sinking ship
lit. "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter"
If Xiao Lang was still here,
they wouldn't be like that
What about you?
Did you get anything
from the tabloid reporter?
Xiao Lang snatched Guo Rong's girlfriend before
Guan Er was jealous of Xiao Lang's status in the orchestra
Zheng Dong is cowardly
He was always mocked and teased by Xiao Lang in public
All of them hated Xiao Lang
Thus, they all had a motive to kill him
All of them had a motive?
So we're back to square one
What did you find?
I heard...
Listen, the sound of an instrument
a violin
"Higanbana"
Upstairs
Guan Er
He's dead
Is this the missing music score?
Yes
Is this his violin?
He always has it on him
All the windows have guardrails
You can't escape through them
Did he die because of a heart attack?
No, this is likely a serial murder
He can be considered the second victim
Xiao Man briefed me about it earlier
My guess is that it's just a coincidence
and the result of psychological effects
Luo Fei
Don't go on a wild goose chase
lit. "drill into a bull's horn"
It's getting late
Let all the guests go home
No way
I must question
every one of them
Do you know what kind of people they are?
The Prime Minister's son and the wife of an ambassador
It's exactly because they all have a high status,
if you let them go now,
it'll be hard to question them later
Who is the superintendent? You or me?
Let them go
Dismissed
Music can cause certain psychological phenomena
It can affect a person's emotional state
When negative suggestions appear,
our brain will secrete a chemical
that causes an increased heartbeat and shortness of breath
But for music to cause organ failure
and kill a person?
It's very unlikely
How did you know we're here about a murder?
I heard the rumors
The musical murder
Since a piece of music can't kill a person,
we'll be off
Apologies, Dr. Huo
Sorry to disturb you
It's alright, I'm always willing to help
See you
Since a song can't hypnotize someone into committing suicide,
it might...
I thought you hated Huo Wen Si
and didn't put any stock in his opinion
I don't like Huo Wen Si
but I'll consider the opinions of a professional
Oh right
I once read
a mystery novel from England
The room where the victim died
was a locked room
The only entrance
was a vent that led into the next room
The murderer used this
to train a poisonous snake
to kill the victim through the vent
I've read it too
To control the snake,
they used the sound of a bell as an attack signal
Do you think "Higanbana"
is some kind of signal too?
When someone plays the music,
it will attract a mysterious killer animal
But,
how could we prove it?
No way
It's too dangerous
It's fine
According to the previous situation,
the murderer will only attack the musician
You won't be attacked
Nobody is attacking anybody here
I can't stand by and watch
you become snake food
Well...
Close your eyes then
Xiao Lu, bring me the music score
Wait
It seems we won't be able to crack
the secret of music score tonight
It's getting late
I'm heading back
Okay
Can you leave the music score with me?
I'll look into it again
Okay
See you
Bye
Aren't you going to bed?
As a police detective,
I have the responsibility
to ensure your safety
Where are you going?
To bed
Don't lock the door
Okay
Luo Fei
Luo Fei, are you still alive?
It can't be...
Get out
I think
it's safer if we stay
in the same room
Where are you going?
To file a police report
stating that a female detective
is harassing her male neighbor late at night
You...
Are you ready?
It will be more exciting today
-My brothers! -Luo Fei
-Brothers! -Bro Fei
It's been so long How are things?
I've brought you something
Come on, brothers!
I have one for every one of you
This is for you
For you
Hey!
Look at this
Smell it
How?
-How does it taste? -Not bad
Not bad
Look
Look at this
So many ants here
Does that mean
it will rain soon?
Seems a bit far-fetched...
When you see colony of ants,
why else would they move except to avoid rain?
Do you want to know
which one is the ant's father, mother
and son?
Let me try and deduce
You...
Look at me
I just learned a new magic trick
1
2
3
What do you think?
Hold it and test it
I'll get out of your hair now
Luo Fei is acting strange today
So strange
Weird
Brother!
Any complicated cases today?
Not really
I see
You've been working hard
I'll buy you coffee someday
Thanks
Wait
Sir
Get back to work
Wait
What is that?
-Specimen -Female corpse
Sir
The Chairman of the Municipal Council is on the line
That's right
-Take your time -Sir
Thank you for your hard work
-Take it easy -Take your time
Thank you
See you
Quick
The deceased's face is dark purple
He bled from the nose
There are cyan and dark red spots between the fingers
and his toes were swollen and deformed
All these are symptoms of
metabolic poisoning caused by hypoxia
hypoxia is oxygen deprivation at the tissue level
Look here
The deceased's stomach is swollen
an obvious sign of fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity
All this points towards
death from sudden cardiac arrest
Any leftover poison in his stomach?
No
What about his blood?
It contains a high level of protein
which might be caused by general inflammation
Could he have been injected with drugs?
I checked the whole body
and couldn't find any injection sites
Feel free to check again
Luo Fei
Luo Fei!
You!
Guan Er
Xiao Man
Can you do a shave?
Shave?
Yes
It's done
But why did you
ask me to do this?
Look
Excuse me
What did you find?
The injection site
What kind of poison can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack
and is hard to detect
when it is injected into the bloodstream?
Hard to say
Did you notice any special symptoms when he died at the scene?
His expression was happy,
but there were tears in his eyes
I just thought of something
I have done the relevant pharmacological test
and found some residue of "Tears"
"Tears"?
A new type of high-purity drug
in the form of white powder
When people take it,
it will produce an illusory sense of happiness
An overdose
will cause death due to the heart going into sudden cardiac arrest
without exception they will shed tears right before they die
Would someone choose
to inject this drug?
Impossible
Unless he wanted to commit suicide
Commit suicide?
If he had committed suicide,
why would he hide
the injection site?
Go to the funeral home
to get a blood sample from Xiao Lang
for lab testing
Okay
Aren't you coming with me?
I have something more important to do
Why did you call me here?
Don't you want to know
the cause of death for Xiao Lang and Guan Er?
Before Guan Er's death,
he was playing this violin, right?
Yes
Xiao Lang collected many records
But he didn't allow
people to touch them
This record is a compilation
of "Higanbana" played by
all kinds of instruments
It has a violin version too
That means
when Guan Er died,
what we heard
was the record
When I was here before,
I noticed the gramophone
But there was no record on it
Ben Jie Ming
Here, Xiao Lang's blood sample
Let me tell you
It's lucky that I went there early
Otherwise,
he would have been burned to ashes
Why do you want to test Xiao Lang's blood?
"Tears"
What's that?
If you hadn't fallen asleep,
you wouldn't be asking this stupid question
You should blame Luo Fei, he went crazy
-last night... -Open your mouth
What's that?
Mint candy to refresh your mind
It's your reward for protecting Luo Fei for the whole night
Thank you
What are you doing?
reconstructing the scene locked-room scene
Did you discover something?
Only some scattered clues
But, if we could link all those clues together,
we might see the complete picture
What's wrong?
I saw this case
and thought there might be something inside
This is Xiao Lang's music score case
It seems it's not his first time
receiving the music score of "Higanbana"
Someone has been sending the music score to curse him
He couldn't resist playing the song for a bit
As a result,...
A secret compartment
Did he bring this case along
to every performance?
Yes
He never let people touch it
and always said the case would bring him good luck
What about the others in the orchestra?
Do they have their own music score case too?
No
He never let people touch it
[Preview]
Did you get Xiao Lang's blood sample?
Yeah
Ben Jie Ming found the drug, "Tears"
in his bloodstream
We found residue of "Tears"
in Xiao Lang's music score case
as well as Guan Er's violin case
Why did Xiao Lang and Guan Er
play the same score before their death?
I once read a spy novel
The spy syndicate in the story
used the music to convey messages
It doesn't seem like a simple music score
You like Xia Lu Na too?
You know her?
Stop!
She was good at piano and beautiful too
In the night before her death,
piano music was heard
coming from her room
It was "Higanbana"
Xiao Lang, Guan Er
Zheng Dong, Guo Rong
Yes
Why didn't I think of that?