Chapter 35
"What's going on?" After hearing the call, Lin Jiafan strode into the small kitchen.
As soon as I entered, I smelled a very complex smell in the air. The fishy smell of various meats and the spicy seasonings were mixed together, giving people an indescribable greasy feeling.
A colleague from the laboratory pointed to the kitchen's cement floor and said, "Excluding our own footprints, we've found six sets of footprints on the floor."
Six groups, for a place like this with so many people coming and going, it’s really not a lot.
Lin Jiafan nodded. "Let's interrogate who entered and exited the small kitchen today, and then compare these six sets of footprints with theirs."
The colleague from the laboratory readily agreed, then pointed to an empty red plastic basin in the corner. "In the entire kitchen, we only found human blood on the inside of that basin. We're currently trying to extract fingerprints from it."
Only in the basin?
Lin Jiafan narrowed his eyes slightly, and began to look around the small kitchen calmly.
Near the entrance stood two stoves, each holding a pair of large, patinated iron woks. Opposite the stoves was a cement and brick island, where knives, a cutting board, and various spice boxes were placed.
Next to the cement platform were several wooden cabinets, which were also in a mess, with an astonishing number of bowls and chopsticks.
In the corner opposite the cupboard, some large wicker baskets filled with fruits and vegetables were huddled together, with flies flying around them.
"It seems that the first crime scene is not here." Lin Jiafan said to himself, and then his eyes fell back on the big red plastic basin.
The murderer must have dismembered and fried the victim somewhere else, then brought the body parts here in a red basin and mixed them with the dishes.
This basin is the only thing currently related to the first crime scene.
At the same time.
Luo Jingyao, who was still standing on the roadside outside the ancestral hall, came to the same conclusion as the man, because at the crime scene she had seen, the pieces of meat were piled in front of a kitchen door, and from that angle she could vaguely see the scenery outside the door.
She found a good spot, double-checked the scene outside the small kitchen door of the ancestral hall, and shook her head regretfully.
The trees are different.
Luo Jingyao stretched out her hand and analyzed the direction of the branches of the tree according to her memory. Although the species was the same, there were still certain differences in the shape of the crown.
As soon as Lin Jiafan came out of the small kitchen, he saw her gesturing at the air in the endless darkness.
Probably noticing his gaze, Luo Jingyao quickly withdrew her hand, pretending to be calm on the surface, but secretly the tips of her ears were a deep pink.
Guilty as she avoided Lin Jiafan's gaze, she felt like crying but had no tears.
What should I do if I seem to be treated as a mental patient? QAQ
Fortunately, Lin Jiafan didn't mention it. He just looked at the time on his watch and said, "It's so late, Coach Luo, aren't you going home yet?"
Luo Jingyao spread her hands and said, "I was really uncomfortable looking at Officer Pang at that time. I was worried that something might happen to him, so I stayed. I originally wanted to take a ride in your police car back to the city, but..."
Even the police car that had just taken away the troublesome villagers only returned to the police station in town, so she was really forced.
Pursing her lips innocently, the dimple on her right cheek was faintly visible. Luo Jingyao tried her best to make herself look quite sincere.
After looking at her deeply for a few seconds, Lin Jiafan spoke slowly, "Then Coach Luo will probably have to wait a while. We won't be able to leave Bo'an Village for a while."
Just those huge basins of bones that Guo Zhen had were enough to make him suffer.
"If the forensic doctor from the bureau arrives later, I can see if there's a car that can take you back. As for now..." He slightly lengthened his voice and made an invitation, "The DNA comparison results just came back, confirming that the deceased is indeed related to Cui Jiafu's wife."
"Pang Guang and I are planning to go to the Cui family. There's not much place to rest here in the ancestral hall. Coach Luo, do you want to come with us?"
“...Okay…” Luo Jingyao agreed without any refusal.
How to say it?
Lin Jiafan knew that she wanted to stay, and she also knew that Lin Jiafan wanted to use her.
The two of them are in cahoots with each other!
Ah! We hit it off immediately!
Lin Jiafan was naturally not surprised to receive the expected answer. He turned around and waved to Pang Guang, and the three of them set off immediately.
They continued walking on the way back to Cui's house. The night in the small village was quiet, and only occasionally could they hear the chirping of insects and frogs coming from the ditches on both sides of the village road.
On the way, the three passed by the loess square used for worshiping gods in Bo'an Village.
Unexpectedly, the square was brightly lit and filled with smoke. Upon closer inspection, many villagers were kneeling and worshipping under the high platform of the statue, waiting in line to add incense to the Kitchen God.
"They are really... pious." Pang Guang held it in for a long time and only managed to say this.
Lin Jiafan and Luo Jingyao did not comment much on this, but silently quickened their pace.
When they reached the three-way intersection near Cui's house, Luo Jingyao accidentally glanced at the Haixia Supermarket, which had gone out of light, and unexpectedly saw that the curtains in the window seemed to move.
Frowning slightly, she said nothing and continued to follow the two people in front of her silently, allowing them to knock on the Cui family's big iron gate.
Woof woof woof!
The sudden noise startled a dog from somewhere, and it started barking non-stop. Then it seemed as if all the dogs in the village joined in, and the sound was continuous.
Soon, there was movement in the yard.
"Who is it?"
Probably because he knew everyone in the village, Cui Jiafu opened the door from the inside without even waiting for a response.
The man was only wearing a set of dark grey autumn clothes and trousers, with a rather thick coat draped over his shoulders. When he saw the appearance of the three people outside the door, he was obviously a little surprised.
"Lin... Officer Lin, it's so late, is there anything wrong?" Cui Jiafu asked stutteringly, but his body's reaction was not slow. As soon as he spoke, he turned sideways, indicating that the three people could come in.
Lin Jiafan nodded politely at him and walked into the yard with ease.
Cui Jiafu's wife was standing in front of the door of the two-story building. She lifted the bead curtain on the door with her hand, but her expression could not be seen clearly because the light was shining behind her.
Under the gaze of the couple, Lin Jiafan opened and closed his lips and whispered something.
All that responded to him was endless silence, until a woman's shrill cry resounded through the inky night sky of Bo'an Village.
In the yard, Cui Jiafu ignored his sadness and rushed forward to hold his staggering wife in his arms.
Hearing his wife's hesitant sobs, the man suppressed his trembling body and spoke word by word: "Officer, this kind of joke is not allowed? Are you so sure that...that..."
Cui Jiafu seemed to be unable to recover for a long while. The last few words were so soft that it was difficult for people to hear: "Are you so sure it was Cui Da?"
Lin Jiafan nodded imperceptibly: "Of course, I hope you two can provide some things for the police to verify, such as toothbrushes, hair, used water cups..."
"Okay... okay... I'll go upstairs to look for her." Cui Jiafu threw his wife in his arms without saying a word, turned around and went into the house.
Cui Jiafu's wife had finally recovered from her initial shock. She looked up at the three people standing in the yard with hope. "So it's possible there was a mistake, right? Xiaoda, he said he was going to the city to visit his classmates. He even called me the day before yesterday..."
"There must be a mistake." Having said this, the woman nodded in self-affirmation, took out her phone in a panic and dialed a number.
Unfortunately, a sound indicating that the phone was turned off was heard from the other end.
Unconvinced, she called again and again, but the result was the same.
"Maybe his cell phone is out of battery. I'll call his classmates now." Cui Jiafu's wife said, wiping the tears from her face, turned around and went into the house.
Through the glass on the living room side, Luo Jingyao could clearly see the entire process of the woman's emotional change.
From anxiety and questioning to crying with her face covered in disbelief.
It's a level that would be heartbreaking to outsiders.
Two minutes later, Cui Jiafu came down from the stairs with a toothbrush and a plastic comb in his hands.
He subconsciously looked at his wife. The woman shrugged her shoulders and shook her head in despair while holding her cell phone.
Cui Jiafu's body swayed uncontrollably. After taking a few deep breaths, he returned to the yard with red eyes and handed over the two things in his hand: "How could it be... Just two days ago... Police comrades, you must catch the murderer and avenge Cui Da!!!"
Lin Jiafan signaled Pang Guang with his eyes to take the two items and seal them in an evidence bag. He patted his shoulder comfortingly and said, "We will definitely do our best. I just wonder if it is convenient for us to come to your house to collect the evidence now?"
"It's all about solving the case as quickly as possible."
After hearing his last words, Cui Jiafu and his wife hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement.
Not long after, the police officers from the inspection department rushed over without stopping after finishing their work at the ancestral hall.
The unusual phenomenon of the Cui family's house suddenly becoming brightly lit in the middle of the night naturally attracted the attention of many villagers, but Lin Jiafan had ordered people to close the door in advance, so no matter how curious they were, they could only circle around the outer wall of the Cui family's house.
In the living room on the first floor.
Listening to the faint noise coming from the second floor, Cui Jiafu and his wife, who were sitting on the sofa, lowered their heads silently, with sadness on their faces.
Luo Jingyao was standing by the window at this moment, with her arms folded over her chest, watching Lin Jiafan pacing in the room.
Finally, as if he had walked around enough, the man returned to the sofa and asked directly, "Does Cui Da have any enemies?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Jiafu and his wife both froze in place.
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