God's Imitator

The corner of Tang Qing’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly, as though he was mildly surprised.

But he showed no other sign of it, and quickly gave a nod of apparent understanding, ”Lawyer Lin is as perceptive as ever. The General Power of Attorney is indeed problematic.

”That said, this does not appear to affect our earlier conclusions.

”The wife’s asset verification materials and certificate of inheritance are genuine, which confirms that she did inherit her parents’ estate, acquiring property valued at fifteen million along with other assets, and that her personal annual income was broadly in the pre-tax seven-figure range.

”This level of income and assets would indeed qualify her for ten million in insurance coverage.

”The husband’s motive for forging the General Power of Attorney is also not difficult to explain.

”Although the husband had been attempting to use psychiatric medication to control the wife, he evidently could not control her to the point of getting her to sign such a power of attorney.

”So I am inclined to believe this power of attorney was one of several contingency approaches he had prepared simultaneously.

”For the husband, there were multiple ways to extract enormous wealth through the wife: murder her for the insurance payout, murder her and inherit her estate, or murder her and use the forged power of attorney to fraudulently seize her assets.

”These approaches are not mutually exclusive. They could all have been pursued in parallel.”He paused briefly and continued, ”Whatever else is true, the husband was an unemployed gambler with almost no knowledge of the law. Someone who could come up with all of these schemes must have had professional guidance.

”Lawyer Lin, even though this General Power of Attorney is a forgery with no legal force, it is quite obvious that the husband himself was not capable of producing something like this.

”So the truth is plain: you have been the husband’s accomplice throughout.

”Even though you were well aware that the husband’s various plans had very little chance of actually succeeding, you still advised him in private. I imagine he paid you handsomely for that consultation.

”Of course, this is a court of law, and I cannot make a presumption of guilt so carelessly. How deeply Lawyer Lin was entangled in this case will require further evidence to establish, and the final determination of guilt rests with the esteemed members of the jury.

”But in any case, I believe the evidence in this case is substantial and the truth is now clear.

”I ask the esteemed members of the jury to cast their final votes.”

Community 3’s audience section.

Cheng Wen was barely holding it together, ”Sister Xinyi, aren’t you going to say something? You haven’t said a single word in this entire game.

”And speaking of which, is this game even fair? How is the Evidence Room designed? How does Tang Qing always manage to produce exactly the right evidence?

”The overwhelming majority of evidence has turned out to be genuine. Only the tiniest portion has been forgeries. And even those didn’t change the conclusion.

”How is anyone supposed to push back against that?

”Sure, Lawyer Lin is impressive, constantly finding gaps in the evidence. But he’s completely on the defensive. Every issue he manages to raise, Tang Qing just closes off with more evidence.

”And Feng Yuguang is in an even worse position. He can’t even find a moment to get a word in.

”And Wang-zong is clearly up to no good. Producing that medication essentially put a knife to Feng Yuguang’s throat.

”After this Recess, all Wang-zong needs to do is produce one piece of evidence connecting Feng Yuguang to the husband’s supply of that medication, or a diagnosis signed by Feng Yuguang confirming the wife had a psychiatric condition, and that would be enough to establish Feng Yuguang’s guilt.

”Feng Yuguang must have realised this, otherwise he wouldn’t have hesitated so long. But realising it doesn’t change anything, because even knowing it, there’s nothing he can do.

”There are presumably other doctors among the jury members. A Jury Representative could just ask their own community’s doctor what the medication is, then share that with everyone.

”That would only make Feng Yuguang look more suspicious.

”So he has no choice but to explain it honestly.

”Which means he walked straight into the trap himself.”

Lu Xinyi looked at him, ”Stay calm, don’t panic.

”If you’ve already thought this far, why not take one more step?

”Why do some pieces of evidence turn out to be genuine and others false? Is there a pattern behind it?

”And why can Tang Qing and Wang Yongxin always produce exactly the evidence they need?

”Think about it from the Imitator’s perspective. If this were a game where the ’Lawyer’ and ’Doctor’ had absolutely no chance of winning, could it have passed review?

”If you were the Imitator, how would you design it to produce this current effect?

”What is this game’s most fundamental mechanic? Is it about finding evidence to confirm a predetermined truth?

”If not, what is the real mechanic?”

Cheng Wen stared at her, her rapid-fire series of questions completely overwhelming him. He had no idea how any of it connected, and his mind ground to a halt.

Unable to work it out, he turned his attention back to the proceedings.

Lin Sizhi had not pressed the ’Recess’ button, so the voting prompt had not yet appeared on the jury members’ screens.

”Your evidence is certainly substantial. But there is a fatal flaw.”

Tang Qing paused, ”A flaw? Do tell.”

Lin Sizhi walked to the centre of the speaking platform and picked up an item from Wang Yongxin’s table.

It was the piece of evidence Wang Yongxin had submitted before the second Recess: the casino card.

Lin Sizhi held it up again for everyone to see, then looked at Tang Qing, ”Detective, how much do you know about casino card tiers?”

Tang Qing was quiet for a moment, ”Different casinos have their own naming systems and tier structures.

”Generally speaking, most casinos follow something like ’Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Black’ in ascending order.

”Of course, the specific names may vary. Beyond that, I wouldn’t know the details.”

Lin Sizhi continued, ”In that case, do you think this card is sufficient evidence to establish that the husband was a gambler?”

Tang Qing considered briefly. He appeared to sense something, but could only answer based on what he had originally assumed.

”The husband’s financial situation was not particularly good and he was likely unemployed. Even if he found some way to scrape together occasional gambling funds, the amounts would not have been large.

”His casino card would have been no higher than the Gold or Platinum tier at most.

”So I believe this card is consistent with the husband’s profile.”

Lin Sizhi shook his head, ”Unfortunately, while the card is entirely gold in colour, it is not a Gold card.

”Because the face of this card bears the emblem of a crowned lion, and beneath it, a specific piece of English text: a stretched letter A as the background, with the word ’KING’ written across it.

”This is the Lion King Card.

”It is the highest-tier membership card of the highest-tier casino in existence, arguably without equal. In terms of level, it ranks above the Black card.”