Chapter 137: The Missed Ship

Linlang and Du Yunzhang followed Yin Chuan's gaze and saw that he was staring at the wrist of the severed arm. They could see a faint horizontal mark there, and when they turned it over, they saw that the mark circled the wrist.

"Maybe this is the mark of the child being handcuffed?" Du Yunzhang guessed.

"Really? Isn't that right?" Yin Chuan recalled, "I remember there was no such mark on the other left wrist that Doctor Yun examined."

"Also," Linlang squinted her eyes and looked at her wrist, "there are some faint patterns here..."

"Hey, that's easy to explain. Maybe this kid was difficult to discipline, so they handcuffed him. The other kids were more well-behaved, so they didn't use handcuffs."

"But there's no sign of handcuffs on this child's other hand?" Linlang looked at his left wrist.

"Generally, when handcuffing someone, it is enough to handcuff only one hand, and the other handcuff to the iron ring on the wall. Don't forget, I am a police officer, and I am the best at handcuffing people." Du Yunzhang was full of confidence.

This explanation did make sense, so Yin Chuan and Lin Lang didn't raise any more objections.

"You two, would you like to hear my reasoning?" Du Yunzhang said to Yin Chuan Linlang with a smile.

"Oh, it seems that you have figured out the truth of the whole matter?" Yin Chuan was a little surprised.

"I've certainly thought about it. Whether it makes sense or not is up to you to judge." Du Yunzhang coughed solemnly. "Gentlemen, based on the results of our comparison, the severed limbs scattered across several locations are undoubtedly from the children kidnapped by the cult. Therefore, the cult must have murdered these children. But why did Clark refuse to admit that they were the ones who killed them? There is only one possibility: they really weren't the ones who killed them, and Clark and the other cultists were completely unaware of the murders.

"But you might ask, you say the cult killed the child, but you also say Clark and the cult members were completely unaware. Isn't that a contradiction? Don't jump to conclusions, because it's not contradictory.

"Hey, I guess you're going to ask again, how can there be no contradiction? Ha, I have to remind you that Clark and the other believers who have been trapped in the church by us these days are not all members of this cult. Don't forget that there is another person, that is Father Douglas, the church priest who has never appeared!"

Listening to his self-questioning and reasoning, which sounded like someone setting up a stall to sell magic pills, Yin Chuan almost burst out laughing. He coughed twice and then asked cooperatively, "Oh? Douglas? Why do you say that?"

"Think about it, since Clark has already broken off relations with us, why would he deny this? The local officials are all bribed by them anyway, so even if he reports the case to the authorities, he won't face any punishment. Furthermore, since their evil god, Satan, has a history of accepting human sacrifices, Clark's rebuttal is completely weak. Maybe Clark and his followers didn't kill the man, but Douglas is entirely capable of such a dastardly act of human sacrifice."

"What evidence do you have?" Linlang asked.

"Isn't the evidence obvious?" Du Yunzhang raised an eyebrow. "When they were moving the bodies in the secret passage, that man's escape was clearly premeditated. Now that the cult has been wiped out by us, he's the only one who escaped. Is there any doubt about it? He's the priest Douglas. He ran away simply because he was afraid that we would punish the ringleader and ignore the accomplices, so he took all the blame. That's why he escaped so easily."

“Nonsense!”

Suddenly, someone behind him shouted harshly. Startled, Du Yunzhang turned around and saw that it was Luo Mei who walked into the awning from outside.

"What are you doing? Why are you contradicting me again!" Du Yunzhang said angrily.

"I tracked him down personally. The man who escaped was definitely not Father Douglas."

"How do you know?"

"Because 'he' is a woman!"

As soon as these words were spoken, both Du Yunzhang and Yin Chuan Linlang were surprised.

"Is it a woman? But why didn't you tell us when you came back?" Linlang asked.

"I was so hasty chasing her at the time, I was only worried about being discovered. Afterwards, I carefully considered the person. She had a slender figure and was not tall. Although she was wearing a long robe and her appearance was unclear in the dark, judging by her walking posture and the tone of her voice when speaking to the person she was meeting, she must be a woman."

"What other characteristics does she have?" Yin Chuan asked.

Luo Mei thought for a moment, "Other characteristics... Oh, yes, her legs seem a little stiff when she walks, not that natural."

Yin Chuan frowned slightly and thought for a moment, then whispered, "I think I know who she is."

Half a day later, Linlang and Yinchuan arrived at the Jushuitun Ferry, where a passenger ship was raising its sails and preparing to leave the port.

"Do you think there's something wrong with Du Yunzhang's reasoning?" Linlang asked.

"Haha, a problem? It's a huge problem." Yin Chuan said with a smile, "The so-called 'evidence' he mentioned does not constitute any basis to support his reasoning. Moreover, the woman Luo Mei is tracking is even less likely to kill and dismember those children."

"Is that woman really Nie Rumeng?"

"There's no doubt about it. She's been pretending to be disabled in Luyuan Village for so long, not to mention she's barely holding on to pretend to be two other people. How could her legs bear the strain? It's normal for her to have such a disability."

Linlang stamped her foot and said, "If I had known it was her earlier, I would have acted with Luo Mei and would never have let her escape so easily."

"She was able to escape unscathed under such unfavorable circumstances. She's truly an extraordinary person. Furthermore... I think Yu Zhenzhu's followers came here to inform her that the organization was about to face an emergency and that she needed to rush over to join them. That's why she risked her life to escape."

"Oh right, speaking of Yu Zhenzhu, I remember who Yu Zhenzhu's subordinate was. It was one of the three nurses that Doctor Yun mentioned—Tess! Doctor Yun asked two female nurses who were familiar with her to deliver the two severed limbs, but she didn't mention Tess at all. This means she had just arrived here not long ago, and Clark and the others arranged for her to be a nurse in the hospital. I wonder what conspiracy these people are brewing again."

As the two were talking, the sails of the ferry had been raised, and the sailor called to the boatman on the shore, asking him to remove the planks and untie the ropes.

At this moment, a pleasant sound of musical instruments came from the passenger ship, as if someone was playing something.

"It's a harmonica! And it's a Scottish harmonica!" Linlang seemed to have thought of something. Without waiting for Yin Chuan to ask in detail, she jumped over the fence at the ferry and chased after the passenger ship.

Unfortunately, she was still a step too late. When she arrived at the ferry, the passenger ship was already dozens of meters away from the shore, and it was impossible to catch up.

"What's going on?" Yin Chuan came late and asked Linlang, who had been staring at the passenger ship for a long time.

"There's no doubt about it. The real murderer of those children is on that ship!"