Chapter 11 Where is the Persimmon Tree’s corpse?
Even though this had been speculated long ago, when the result came true, everyone still couldn't help but fall silent.
Zhou Qiming rubbed his forehead, feeling a little headache: "These are really father and son..."
They had previously thought that Cai Limin was honest and simple-minded, and that he was at most an accomplice to a crime. Who would have thought...
Yue Lingchuan explained to Wei Zhengyi, "Okay, I got it. Don't alert the Cai family father and son yet. I'll check here to see if I can find any other clues. We'll talk about everything after we get back."
Wei Zhengyi also responded, saying, "Captain Qin also said that he wanted you to see if you can find the victim's body. If there is a body, he will be able to do further analysis."
Yue Lingchuan said: "We will try our best."
After hanging up the phone, everyone looked at each other in silence.
Zhou Qiming spoke first: "If what Cai Limin said is true, his wife ran away in 1987, then the victim must have died in 1987... It's been almost 20 years, even if there are clues, they have disappeared. Where can we find the body?"
Yue Lingchuan fell into deep thought. Shen Qingye's brows sank slightly and his fingers kept tapping his arms.
1987, 1987…
What the old lady said just now suddenly came to my mind. At that time, there were few people in the village who painted walls white. Everyone remembered this incident clearly, and many people went to see it for fun.
Everyone, many people...
She suddenly said, "In 1987, there shouldn't have been so few people in the village."
Zhou Qiming was stunned for a moment: "It should be. At that time, the reform and opening up had not been long, and there were not so many people working outside. Most of the villagers should still stay in the village."
Shen Qingye said slowly: "Then, at that time, with so many people in the village, how could Cai Limin dispose of the body without leaving any trace?"
Yue Lingchuan lowered his eyes to look at her. The girl frowned slightly, her eyes were calm, and she guessed the murderer's thoughts at the time, sentence by sentence: "The land in the village is owned by someone. If he buried the body outside, he would have to dig a hole. By then, the traces of the newly covered soil will be different from the surrounding ones, which will easily attract other people's attention."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng lowered his brows and thought carefully, "Besides, every piece of land in the countryside is useful. Even if it is empty now, someone may reclaim it and grow some vegetables in the future."
Just like the few houses they visited before, the yard outside the door was full of vegetables, and even the area around the house was not spared.
Zhou Qiming suddenly said, "I just saw a small forest at the north end of the village. Could it be there?"
Yue Lingchuan shook his head and said, "It's unlikely. Although the location of the grove is a bit off, there should be a lot of mushrooms and fungus in it. People come and go frequently. If the body was really hidden there, the chances of it not being found after so many years are very low."
Jiang Cheng added: "This area is all plains, with no mountains or valleys..."
Zhou Qiming wondered, "Where else can it be hidden?"
Shen Qingye asked, "Is there a place where we can dig a pit and bury the body without attracting other people's attention? There are usually few people here, so we don't have to worry about being discovered?"
Jiang Cheng's heart moved when he heard this, and his gaze slowly turned outside.
Zhou Qiming got goosebumps when he saw his movements: "No way?"
He looked outside the door, then at Shen Qingye, and said with a grin, "You're not going to say that Cai Limin buried someone in his yard, are you?"
Shen Qingye looked at him calmly: "Why not?"
She analyzed it bit by bit: "Cai Limin settled in the city and rarely came back. His parents died early, and his only sister married far away. Usually no outsiders come here. Isn't a private place where no one disturbs you a perfect place to bury the body?"
Yue Lingchuan's eyes flashed with admiration, and he also said: "According to what Cai Limin said, his wife ran away on a rainy night. If what he said is true, it would be difficult to dispose of the body outside in this weather because the vision is blocked and the movement is not affected. If we can bury it nearby, it will be much more convenient."
Jiang Cheng said: "In 1987, Cai Chengyong was only seven years old, and there was no elderly person around Cai Limin to help take care of the child. If he wanted to complete the process of killing and burying the body, it is impossible for him to take Cai Chengyong with him. It is very likely that Cai Chengyong was alone at home in the city at that time. In order to rush back to take care of the child, Cai Limin is unlikely to carefully choose the location to dump the body. It is indeed very likely that he buried it nearby."
Zhou Qiming couldn't help but ask, "Is it impossible for him to bring Cai Chengyong along as well?"
Shen Qingye glanced at him and said, "According to the characteristics of Cai Chengyong's crimes and the oral accounts of his neighbors, Cai Chengyong firmly believed that his mother had abandoned him, which led to his hatred for women and that's why he committed these crimes. But if he knew that his mother didn't abandon him but was murdered, would he still have such strong hatred?"
Zhou Qiming stopped talking.
Shen Qingye added: "Of course, those are just my guesses. We can't rule out the possibility that he buried the body in a remote place on his way back."
Zhou Qiming smiled bitterly: "That would be troublesome."
Yue Lingchuan said: "Any situation is possible. What we need to do is to find the most likely one and dig deep into the truth."
He waved his hand: "Let's go and take a look in the yard."
The weather today is rare to be very good, the sun is shining brightly and it feels warm on our bodies, but no one can be happy.
The yards in rural areas are generally larger, and Cai Liming's house is no exception. Looking around, the entire yard is about forty to fifty square meters.
Zhou Qiming narrowed his eyes: "Are we just going to look for it this way?"
Xu Yanting also came to help. Hearing this, he glanced at him and said, "Why don't you tell me where the body is buried so we can go dig it up directly?"
Zhou Qi understood him at a glance and retorted: "Aren't you very powerful? There are so many traces here, can't you see it?"
Xu Yanting didn't even bother to look at him, and directly replied with two words: "**."
Zhou Qiming's eyes widened: "Hey, who are you scolding there?"
While the two of them were bickering, Jiang Cheng and two people from the trace inspection team had already gone to a villager's house outside to borrow a few shovels. Shen Qingye stood at the door, looking at the yard, and fell into deep thought for a moment.
Yue Lingchuan walked up to her and asked, "What do you think?"
Shen Qingye turned sideways and looked up at him, then raised her hand and pointed: "I think the possibility of it being in the middle area is relatively low. After all, Cai Liming would come back once during the holidays and bury him in the middle. Every time he came back, he would walk back and forth on the corpse..." She shook her head and felt that Cai Liming should not be so cruel.
It’s impossible in the middle, so it must be at the base of the wall.
Shen Qingye looked up and saw a wall on each side of the yard. In the corner between the wall near the gate and the left wall is a large water tank, which is covered with dust and cobwebs and looks quite old. In the middle of the right wall is a persimmon tree with very thick branches.
Just as he was concentrating on thinking, he saw Zhou Qiming picking up a shovel and walking towards the water tank. Shen Qingye was stunned and followed him.
"This is the best hidden spot in the whole yard." Zhou Qiming put the shovel upright against the wall, put his hands on his hips and called Jiang Cheng: "Old Jiang, come, help me move this big vat."
Jiang Cheng frowned: "This kind of water tank usually weighs several hundred pounds. If Cai Limin is alone, it is unlikely that he can move it."
"Let's take a look. We don't know when this tank was here. Maybe he put it there later."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng felt that what he said made some sense, so he took off his coat and walked over.
This large water tank is so big and heavy that it is difficult for two adult men to hold it. Zhou Qiming gritted his teeth and could only make it tilt slightly. The two of them worked together to slowly turn it along the edge of the tank's bottom.
After turning the water tank to the side, both of them were sweating in the middle of winter.
Zhou Qiming took a deep breath and said, "Come on, dig."
The two men picked up shovels and started digging. Shen Qingye watched and couldn't help holding his breath.
The mud ground that had not been maintained for many years was very hard and difficult to dig, especially since the scope was uncertain and one could only dig all around. The two worked hard for a long time, but still did not see any sign.
Shen Qingye looked at the pit that was nearly one meter deep and frowned slightly.
Logically speaking, this depth should be about the same, but now there is no trace of it...
She took two steps back and stood on the steps in front of the door, scanning the entire yard.
In addition to the water tank, there were also people from the trace inspection team helping to dig around the courtyard wall, but there was still no movement. There were two places where things were dug out, but they were just some miscellaneous items and were of no importance.
Could it be that she guessed wrong?
Shen Qingye's eyes wandered around and finally fell on the persimmon tree.
It is a normal thing to plant some common fruit trees in the yard in rural areas. Shen Qingye didn’t care about it at first, but now he always feels that something is wrong.
When I walked over, I found that Xu Yanting and Yue Lingchuan were both standing there, looking up at the thick tree trunk.
“It’s really tall, isn’t it?”
A clear voice sounded beside his ears. Shen Qingye looked back at Xu Yanting beside him and nodded: "Indeed."
It is unknown how many years this persimmon tree has lived, how many storms it has experienced, and how it has witnessed the growth of several generations of the Cai family before it became what it is today.
Xu Yanting smiled at her: "Although it is still winter, you can see how lush it will be. When it bears fruit in autumn, the fruit will surely be big and sweet."
Shen Qingye's throat was a little dry: "Yes."
The fruit is large and sweet, with the unique fragrance of persimmon.
Yue Lingchuan said, "No matter how big or sweet it is, do you dare to eat it?"
He picked up a shovel beside him and said, "Stop talking nonsense and start digging."
Xu Yanting curled his lips: "A boring man."
Having said this, he started digging. Shen Qingye also took a shovel from someone else. Yue Lingchuan glanced at her, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
never mind.
The trunk of the persimmon tree is thick and the root system is well developed underneath. They dug down carefully not to damage the roots, and when they reached about 40 centimeters, Shen Qingye paused.
She felt as if the shovel in her hand hit something.
It feels quite different from the rhizome.
Yue Lingchuan and Xu Yanting also stopped what they did. After looking at each other, they threw the shovels aside in tacit understanding, put on gloves, and started digging.
Shen Qingye slowly pushed aside the lumps of moist soil. She moved her fingers slightly and saw a faint yellowish color. She exclaimed, "Found it!"
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