I Asked You To Simulate A Crime, And You Pulled Off The Perfect Crime? - Chapter 23

“What is montage? Someone smart, please explain.”

“It’s a filmmaking technique that creates new meaning by editing and sequencing shots together.”

“Sounds deep. I don’t get it.”

“Even Captain Wang doesn’t see the connection between the montage and the case, so I guess I’m on the same page as him.”

“Let’s just hear Su Haoran’s explanation.”

“We were wrong before. I thought Chen Shu went to the countryside to find someone to give false testimony. But now, I see this is far more complicated!” Su Haoran’s voice echoed in the office.

At first, he didn’t take Chen Shu, a mere civilian, seriously. But now, his expression was grave. Yet, Wang Zheng and Qin Min still looked confused. They didn’t understand.

“Qin Min, did you have beef noodles last week?” Su Haoran suddenly asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I did,” Qin Min nodded.

“What day?”

“Umm… Monday, I think. Wait, no, maybe Tuesday? I mean, I was just eating noodles. Who keeps track of the exact day?”

“If someone kept telling you, over and over, that you ate them on Monday, what would you think?”

“Then… I’d think I really ate them on Monday.”

Qin Min answered instinctively. Then his eyes widened, as if he had just realized something huge!

“I… I think I get it now!” His voice trembled with excitement.

He grabbed the witness testimonies and started flipping through them, each statement was crystal clear. 

“April 2nd, Chen Shu and his sister visited the countryside. I thought they were a couple, so I remember them well.”

“April 2nd, the Chen siblings bought a lamb from me. Chen Shu even helped slaughter it.”

“April 2nd, they attended the ancestor-worship ceremony and chatted with me for a long time. They seemed very interested in our village traditions.”

Qin Min felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn’t even remember what day he ate noodles last week. Yet these people recalled every single detail about the Chen siblings perfectly.

They weren’t lying. Chen Shu hadn’t bribed them. They were simply telling the truth!

But because Chen Shu had subtly repeated the date over and over, their memories had unknowingly adjusted. So much so that they believed it as fact!

“Chen Shu, Su Xiaoxiao, the witnesses… None of them lied.”

“They really did go to the countryside. They really did see the scenery, eat lamb, and attend the ceremony.”

“But…”

“The date was wrong.”

“It wasn’t April 2nd.”

“It was April 3rd!”

“Chen Shu used montage. He cut and rearranged events, stitching them together into April 2nd. Then, by continuously reinforcing the idea, he made sure those people believed it completely!”

“He…”

“Manipulated time itself!”

Qin Min’s hands shook as he held the papers. He couldn’t believe it. A mere civilian had pulled off such a psychological trick and completely misled everyone.

And the worst part?

Before this realization, Qin Min had actually believed Chen Shu was innocent. His alibi had seemed airtight! But now, thinking back…

Qin Min felt a deep, creeping dread, goosebumps covering his skin.

“No wonder… No wonder.”

Wang Zheng finally pieced it all together.

“No wonder Su Xiaoxiao could describe everything about their alibi so perfectly.”

“Because everything really did happen.”

“That’s why, when we questioned the farmhouse owners, they could recount every little detail without hesitation, even the exact weight of the lamb and the discount they gave.”

“They weren’t lying.”

“Chen Shu had deliberately made sure these events stood out in their memory.”

“But like Qin Min just said, while the events were real, the date was fake.”

“Chen Shu edited time itself using montage method!”

To test this idea, Wang Zheng recalled an argument he had with his wife last week. Since he was always working late for the show, she had complained about it. 

But which day had they fought? He couldn’t remember exactly.

Yet if someone repeatedly told him, ‘It happened on Wednesday.’

Over time, he might start believing it.

Genius. Pure genius.

At that moment, Wang Zheng finally realized they weren’t dealing with an ordinary person. They had underestimated him from the start. If Chen Shu weren’t a criminal, Wang Zheng might have actually applauded him.

Meanwhile, the audience was in shock.

Their jaws dropped. They couldn’t believe it. Not only had the villagers been tricked, even they, as viewers, had unknowingly accepted Chen Shu’s timeline as truth!

Unbelievable.

They had thought the investigation team had misjudged the time of death.

But now? They were the fools all along.

“Chen Shu wasn’t just messing around, he was playing the long game!”

“His attention to detail is insane. How did he even think of this?”

“Damn, this episode is pure gold!”

“Turns out the investigation team is still sharp, but Chen Shu… he’s on a whole different level.”

“This battle of wits is making my skin crawl!”

In the production office, Director Zhang Sheng was grinning ear to ear. He jumped up in excitement. “Chen Shu! I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me!”

As a director, he understood montage better than anyone. But he never imagined that it could be used for crime.

This was beyond thrilling!

It meant that the investigation team hadn’t lost their touch. Chen Shu hadn’t slacked off. This episode was about to explode in popularity!

“There are only nine days left in the challenge.”

“Even though the team has seen through Chen Shu’s trick…”

“There’s still no hard evidence against him.”

“Nine days left!”

“Could he really pull off the perfect crime?”