Chapter 60: Suicide Note (Part 2)
Wendy has been sent home by the bodyguard. Bobby accompanies Liang Xi in the detective agency, eating hamburgers and reading materials. Bobby knows that Liang Xi is doing handwriting identification, but he doesn't know how Liang Xi does it and what is needed for handwriting identification. The police evidence identification personnel and the experts of the third-party identification agency unanimously identified the handwriting as Wen Xi's. Does Liang Xi think he is more professional than the experts?
The materials included books, notebooks, diaries, and doodles. Liang Xi slowly flipped through each file, occasionally comparing it carefully with the suicide note. Liang Xi was completely immersed in his work, while Bobby felt bored in less than five minutes and started to wander around the detective agency .
The detective agency also has a back door, which is a corner iron staircase, and the entrance is at the back door of the cafe. Bobby untied the iron chain, pushed open the iron door, and stood at the iron staircase to breathe fresh air. At the entrance of the iron staircase downstairs, two standing bodyguards looked up at Bobby and continued to stand. Bobby was very confused, why did the detective agency install an iron door that was sealed from the inside?
Who can't reason? Bobby observed the back door and found that there was no camera. After careful speculation, he concluded that the back door was sealed to prevent someone from entering the detective agency from the back door. A new question arises: why leave a door? Is it for fire protection?
Liang Xi poured the tea and saw Bobby stroking the iron door in a room across the corridor. He asked, "Do you still have this hobby?"
Bobby asked, "I don't understand why this door is left open?"
Liang Xi pointed to the stairs: "It's too narrow to carry things."
The answer was so simple. Liang Xi said, "Don't touch anything. There is an escape mechanism in that room."
Liang Xi took the hot tea and went back to his desk to continue working. He had promised Bobby that he would not come back to disturb him in the short term. As expected, Bobby fell for it and started looking for the non-existent escape mechanism. Only after getting rid of Bobby could Liang Xi get back to work.
Handwriting identification is very interesting. Until now, computers have not been able to completely replace human handwriting identification. Under normal circumstances, computers can do a good job and can distinguish the handwriting of ordinary people. However, it is difficult for computers to distinguish the fake handwriting made by professional experts, such as professional handwriting identification experts. The reason is that there are many variables in handwriting, such as writing posture, writing tools, pads, light, sound, mood, etc. When there are two similar handwritings, both computers and humans have a certain error rate.
It is more difficult to prove that a suicide note is fake than to prove that it is real.
Liang Xi's idea is: assuming the suicide note is real, whether the ex-boyfriend killed Wen Xi or Wen Xi jumped down by herself, it is none of his business. Although the ex-boyfriend will not get a medal for bravery and helping others commit suicide, it is still a help after all. The key point is that the suicide note may be fake. Judging from the description of the case, it is unlikely to be a premeditated murder. The police got the suicide note 12 hours after the incident , which means that the suicide note was forged within these 12 hours. It is very difficult to forge a suicide note that can be authenticated by a third-party expert in 12 hours, and there is only one possibility.
…
An hour later, Bobby came back: "There is no mechanism at all."
Liang Xi didn't even raise his head: "You just can't find it."
Bobby: "Then I won't look for it anymore. Have you found anything?"
Liang Xi looked through Wen Xi's 12th grade homework book, which was equivalent to the second year of high school. "You can see the obvious changes in Wen Xi from this homework book. The homework was very neat at the beginning, and then the amount of homework decreased, mainly for coping. I found that Wen Xi's handwriting has two types. The first type is this homework book, which is all written by himself. The second type is this one."
Liang Xi picked up the 13th grade homework book: "The handwriting is even more sloppy, but that's not the point. The point is that she copied the 13th grade homework. Look at the handwriting, it seems very irritable and messy. The handwriting of the suicide note is neat and clear. After , Wen Xi hardly wrote anything. If the suicide note is fake, then the forger's reference information must be the text before the 12th grade."
Liang Xi said: "I need you to sort the remaining information."
Bobby refused: "I paid the detective fee."
Liang Xi said: "Do you know why I only offered one hundred?"
"Why?" Bobby asked.
Liang Xi said: "Let me ask you a question first, are you doing this for Wendy or Wenxi or for justice and truth?"
Bobby thought for a moment and said, "Justice and truth, of course."
Liang Xi laughed: "You don't believe the conclusions of the police and the appraisal agency, but believe the one-sided statement of the eight-year-old girl. Is this what you understand as justice and truth?"
Bobby chuckled: "It has something to do with Wendy. It's hard to bear to see her sitting outside your door wiping tears. Since she trusts you, I hope you can give her an explanation."
Liang Xi said: "I can answer you now. The reason I offered a hundred is because you have humanity. If I am wrong, you don't have to help me."
Bobby pointed to the meter-high pile of materials on the desk: "Are these unorganized?"
Liang Xi said: "Thank you." Hehe!
So Bobby joined the work of sorting out the information, which also puzzled him. Liang Xi flipped through the information very quickly, spending only three to five seconds on each page before turning it over. Bobby asked, "Are you looking for something distinctive?"
Liang Xi: "Yes! Do you know why I am so serious?"
Bobby spread his hands: "Because you want me to praise you for your professional detective spirit?"
Liang Xi said: "No, this suicide note is most likely a forgery."
Bobby was curious: "Why? The experts didn't doubt the suicide note. Why are you so sure?"
Liang Xi took out a ruler (one millimeter equals 10 millimeters) and a magnifying glass from the drawer, and then took the suicide note. Bobby walked over to Liang Xi and leaned over to check. Liang Xi measured the distance between the first word of the first line and the third word of the second line, which was about 1.7 mm, the distance between the middle word of the first line and the middle word of the second line was about 1.9 mm, and the distance between the last word of the first line and the last word of the second line was about 2.1 mm.
Although the value is small and there are errors in the measurement, one can visually tell with the naked eye using a ruler that each row of Wen Xi's words is slowly slanting upwards.
Bobby didn't understand: "What does this mean?"
Liang Xi said: "The spacing between each line of the suicide note is the same. There are twelve lines in total, and the spacing between each line is exactly the same. It is impossible for a human to be so precise. Only a computer can be so precise."
Liang Xi said: "Look at the most common words with 'me' and words that contain 'me'. There are 8 'me's in the suicide note, and there are three different kinds of me. The first kind of me has a heavier m. The second kind of me has the edges of the e and m touching each other. The third kind of me has the e slightly tilted. If you list the 8 me's separately and divide them into three groups, you will find that they are exactly the same and can even overlap perfectly."
Liang Xi said: "I am almost certain that a computer scanned the handwriting and used a robotic arm to write such a fake suicide note. However, I can't find the three types of me in the data. Speaking of this, I must tell you a bad news."
Bobby asked, "What's the bad news?"
Liang Xi said: "Those who can do such a delicate thing must be professionals . It is impossible for them to leave the original text for scanning. Therefore, I can only tell you that the suicide note is fake, but I can't provide evidence to prove that it is fake."
Bobby said: "You can explain me and spacing to the police."
Liang Xi said: "The ex-boyfriend's defense lawyer does not need to explain why the spacing is the same. The work of finding evidence of the original text must be done by the police. Let's take an analogy. I am a criminal, and I took a copy of Wen Xi's homework book to scan it on the computer. Do you think it is possible for me to return this homework book to Wen Xi's home after completing the work?"
Bobby thought for a while and said, "Maybe the criminal just likes to add unnecessary details. While hiding the suicide note in Wen Xi's house, he also put the homework book back."
Liang Xi sighed and said, "Since there might be such a stupid criminal, we have to read all the text materials."
