On the seventeenth of July, twenty- twenty, a man was captured for having murdered his wife with a single stab on her vertebrae, in the kitchen. He was immediately sent to the interrogation room and Lin Aiguo, who was a forensic investigator and psychologist, questioned him as Xiao Yin, who was Lin Aiguo’s friend, kept watch with Zhang Wei, who was both Lin Aiguo and Xiao Yin’s friend, from behind the mirror.

“What happened?” Lin Aiguo.

Wei Li, the victim’s husband and also first suspect of the murder, who was hunched over the table, leaned back in his chair and didn’t answer. Lin Aiguo tried again, “Do you like to gamble?” Wei Li stared at Lin Aiguo for a second and then gave a slight nod. Lin Aiguo walked out of the room and then came back in again, with six dice that he had borrowed from Zhang Wei’s Monopoly set. “I’ll place the bet, once we’ve played three rounds beforehand.” Wei Li stared at Lin Aiguo and gave a slight nod again.

The rules were set that if either one gets the same number on all three dice, wins and the other who gets different numbers on his dice loose.

Wei Li won all three of the first rounds.

Wei Li smiled at his success. Lin Aiguo looked upset and nervous, “So… uh… Let’s start the real gamble. If I win, you answer one of my questions, that is the bet. Do you agree?” “What if I win? Are you then going to release me?” Wei Li asked. “Are you not certain that you’ll win?” Lin Aiguo inquired. Wei Li cleared his throat, “I’ve won three times already, there is a hundred percent certainty.”

The gamble started again. On the first round Wei Li won, the second round was won by Wei Li as well. Then came the final round. Wei Li looked at his dice and his lips parted slightly. Lin Aiguo took a look at his dice and his right eyebrow went up. “Go on. Show me,” Wei Li demanded, hoping to implement another round, after having revealed his dice. “Do you know that there is a principle called behaviour consistency? If you don’t… I’ll tell you. It means that a person won’t be unlucky all the time,” Lin Aiguo said. Wei Li glanced at Lin Aiguo, looking worried. Lin Aiguo produced his dice and smiled. He had gotten all twos.

Li Wei, leaned back on his chair again and spoke, “This is a group murder caused by a gamble. Can I be left alone now?” Lin Aiguo didn’t leave his chair. “Please,” Li Wei’s voice cracked. “You’ve answered a question, true. But you did not answer my question,” Lin Aiguo smirked, placing both hands on the table and leaning forward. Wei Li was speechless.

Lin Aiguo continued with the question, “You said this was a group murder, but we haven’t caught the others. I also have a feeling that they are already trying to flee the country. The others in the group must be your friends, which is why you won’t tell me who they are. The gamble had probably been that, if they or he won, he would have a chance to kill your wife-“ Lin Aiguo paused and noticed that Wei Li’s throat showed signs of swallowing. Lin Aiguo then proceeded, “-due to some rivalry. If you won, you would just earn money. In the end, you lost and your opponent, snuck into your house to kill your wife, a few days later, after knowing for sure that you thought what he said in the bet was just for showing off. When you realized what had happened you were shocked to the core, because you loved your wife dearly and would never kill her. I know that because when I mentioned your wife before, you swallowed, which happens when someone is trying their best to hide or has intimate feelings for someone. Although you were shocked, you still liked your friend, which is a really rare thing for someone to do, so you are now covering up for him. Now… My question is, where is your friend? I know for sure that he is not escaping through an airport because then the police would already have located him, but instead a port, by ship. But… Which port?”

Wei Li started to fidget. He kept clenching his knuckles and scratching the back of neck. Lin Aiguo observed these traits carefully and noticed that there were no rashes on Wei Li’s neck and he was just fidgeting out of fear and worry.

“Is it… Qingdao…”

Wei Li’s left foot began to tremble rapidly and he was bouncing it fast, on the ground.

“Wrong,” Lin Aiguo attempted again, “Shenzhen?”

Wei Li’s foot was still shaking.

“Wrong… Tianjin?”

Wei Li’s foot stopped shaking. His eyes showed looks of horror.

Lin Aiguo immediately pulled out his phone and gave instructions for Xiao Yin and Zhang Wei, to capture the murderer at Tianjin Port.

Soon the murder was caught and imprisoned for the rest of his life. Wei Li was fined a huge sum of money, for having supported his murderous friend.

Once the capture had taken place, Zhang Wei patted Lin Aiguo on his back and said, “You did great acting in there.”