Chapter 78 A Strange Case
Zhou Yayi's stomach growled, but he had no time to feel embarrassed and impatiently picked up his bowl and chopsticks and reached into the plate.
Fresh! Fragrant! Tender! Mouth-filling with oily aroma!
The dishes tasted just as good as they looked, there was nothing wrong with them, they were delicious!
Zhou Yayi enjoyed the delicious food to his heart's content. His tongue was filled with delight as the food filled his heart. No one cared about chatting and just focused on enjoying the food. Soon, all the dishes on the table were cleared.
After eating and drinking their fill, they finally felt like chatting. After praising the delicious food on the table, they began to talk about business.
"Old Zhou, do you have any ideas about the theft case in Jinyutang?" Zhou the yamen officer was the smartest among them, and he could handle many cases with ease.
Hearing the three words "Jin Yutang", Zhou Yayi shook his head with a worried look on his face. It was obvious that he had no clues or ideas at the moment.
"Oh, it's really strange! The thief just happened to knock the shopkeeper unconscious when the lights were turned off, and stole more than a dozen pieces of jewelry!"
"In my opinion, the thief must have set his sights on Jinyutang and been lurking there for a few days."
"When I was on patrol, I only saw a tall black figure. By the time I reacted, it disappeared in the blink of an eye. That person was agile and should be a tall and strong young man. Unfortunately, I was not as skilled as him and failed to catch him and execute him on the spot!" Tang the yamen officer felt more and more regretful as he spoke. Since he let the thief escape under his nose, it would be embarrassing to tell others about it.
He shouldn't have underestimated his enemy. If he had been faster, he might have been able to catch the thief.
"Old Tang, this is not your fault. Don't blame yourself too much. We haven't seen thieves in Qizhou County for a long time. Let me say, this thief is really rampant! He actually dared to commit crimes at the spot we patrol!" The yamen officer became more and more angry when he spoke. This was obviously a provocation. The thief didn't take them, the yamen officers, seriously at all!
"It's strange, the scene was clean, as if no one was there, without any trace left." This was also the most puzzling thing for Zhou Yayi.
Old Tang saw a black shadow flash by, but they checked carefully there and found no footprints. Could it be that the man could fly over the eaves and walls?
But in Qizhou and several nearby counties, he had never heard of such a master!
"Yes, this is the most puzzling part!" Tang the yamen runner also sighed.
"Perhaps that dark shadow isn't a real person?"
Everyone's eyes fell on the source of the sound. They saw a young man in a black robe standing near them, holding a plate in his hand. He was the owner of the restaurant.
This also piqued Zhou Yayi's interest. He asked, "Boss, what do you mean by that?"
Tang Yayi's face suddenly turned stern. He looked at the man who was talking nonsense and lectured him, "This... How is this possible? I saw it clearly that night. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense!"
"It was pitch dark with only a candlelight, which could easily cause visual dislocation. Besides, if there really was someone there, how could there not be any trace left?"
After Pei Yian finished speaking, he took the plate and went to the kitchen, with no intention of staying to continue discussing with these people.
When Zhou Yayi saw someone about to leave, he immediately said, "Boss, please stay!"
"Old Zhou, you don't really believe what the restaurant owner says, do you?"
"Yeah, how could it not be a human? Old Tang clearly saw a human figure!"
"Nonsense! It's absolute nonsense. I didn't see anyone. Could it be that I saw a ghost?" Tang, the yamen runner, felt it was ridiculous.
Yayi Zhou didn't care what his colleagues said. He stood up and walked to Pei Yian's side, full of curiosity. "Boss, did you see anything? And what did you mean by what you said before?"
"Literally, maybe that black figure isn't a real person, but just a shadow?"
"Shadow..." muttered Zhou, the yamen servant.
"Old Zhou, are you crazy? This shopkeeper is just talking nonsense. There's no credibility in what he says."
"No way! Old Zhou, are you really affected by his casual nonsense?" Tang Yayi was speechless. How could the always witty Old Zhou become irrational?
"Old Tang, did you chase after that dark shadow as soon as you saw it?"
"Yes! The black shadow was just around the corner. I rushed up immediately, but I didn't catch up with him." Tang the yamen runner was a little distressed when he talked about this. He also used the fastest speed.
"What if that black shadow was just an illusion? Maybe we have been chasing in the wrong direction from the beginning." After hearing Pei Yian's words, Zhou Yayi had a clue and planned to go to the crime scene to take a look.
The other yamen runners were puzzled and felt that Lao Zhou was also influenced by the restaurant owner and became weird. If there was no real person, why were the jewelry from Jinyutang stolen?
Although the owner of Baiwei Restaurant was a little strange, the food in this restaurant tasted really good and they all enjoyed their meals to their heart's content.
After paying the money, the yamen runners went back home.
Zhou Yayi went to Jinyutang. He wanted to go to the corner again to see if he could find other clues that had been deliberately ignored before.
Tang, the yamen runner, knew Lao Zhou's intention and followed him. Lao Zhou was fooled by the restaurant owner, and he couldn't bear to watch Lao Zhou do something stupid, so he had to supervise him from the side.
The two came to the corner in front of Jinyutang. Since Jinyutang was robbed, this area has been fenced off. Few people have walked through this area in recent days, and it has had almost no impact on others.
This time, Zhou Yayi no longer looked at the ground, but at the houses and buildings next to him. When he looked, he really discovered something. On the worn and dusty window paper, there was a small area that was obviously cleaner.
He touched the area with his fingers and found that it was so clean that there was not even a speck of dust on it. He then touched other places around it and felt a layer of dust.
He found what was wrong. The piece of window paper happened to be facing the corner. It was really possible that, as the shopkeeper said, the figure that Old Tang saw a few days ago might be an illusion.
In addition, this is the back door and it is locked from the outside, so they did not pay too much attention to this area when they searched before.
As long as there is someone in the room with a faint candlelight, a shadow can be formed and disappear easily. When Old Tang catches up, he naturally can't find any trace, because no one has passed by here at all.
But this conjecture will lead to a new question: where did the thief go?
He also had to go to the owner of Jinyutang to ask about the details.
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