Chapter 13
When they came out again, both of their eyes were noticeably red and swollen.
"Have you two finished your heart-to-heart talk?"
The bearded man casually pointed to himself: "I'm Zhang Zhen, the captain of the city's criminal investigation team. You can just call me Brother Zhen."
"Brother Zhen." "Brother Zhen." The two greeted each other obediently.
"Come with me first."
Bai Nan followed him to the cordon, which was a temporary meeting place with a set of wooden tables and chairs.
"Please briefly introduce yourself first."
He sat in the chair opposite him, took out paper and pen from the table, and waited for Bai Nan to speak.
"My name is Bai Di, I'm fifteen years old, and I'll be starting high school in a few days."
"Please also mention your parents and other relatives."
"My dad's name is Bai Hua, my mom's name is Huang Ying, and I have an older sister named Bai Nan. She...she's recovering in the hospital..."
"What injury?"
"External injury, I'll be discharged in a couple of days."
Chang Chen then asked about the relationship between the deceased and her, as well as the specific time, cause, and details of the case.
After interrogating the three men, Zhang Zhen took the testimonies from other eyewitnesses handed to him by his subordinates.
There are virtually no sources, which suggests that neither case had a perpetrator; one was an accident, and the other was suicide.
Is it really that simple?
Chang Chen always felt that something was missing.
"Boss, here's a video from the scene."
My subordinate handed me a tablet, on which a video was playing.
After watching the video, Wang Yan nodded: "Boss, this video basically corroborates their statements. Bai Zong did indeed die from an accidental fall."
Zhang Zhen ignored her, his fingers repeatedly swiping across the screen, the progress bar being dragged back and forth.
"What's wrong? Did you find anything?"
Wang Yan noticed his focused expression, as if he had discovered something.
The scene paused again, and Chang Chen exhaled a smoke ring.
"Call Xu Xin over."
"Watch a video first, and then please retell it verbally," Zhang Zhen said, opening the video and staring at Xu Xin.
Before Xu Xin could react, the video started shaking. It turned out to be the video that the cameraman had filmed at the cemetery.
"Click," Zhang Zhen pressed the pause button.
“Retell it.”
Xu Xin unconsciously grabbed his trouser leg, then immediately let go and calmly recounted the video.
“Say it again.”
Zhang Zhen has high brow bones, and when his thick eyebrows are lowered, the light in his eyes is like a sharp sword, piercing straight at Xu Xin.
Xu Xin, suppressing his discomfort, repeated it again.
Zhang Zhen only let him go after Xu Xin repeated it five times.
"You can go back now. Call Bai Di over."
Watching Xu Xin leave, Wang Yan asked, puzzled, "Boss, is there something wrong with the video?"
"It's unrelated to Bai Zong's case, but there's one suspicious point."
"What?"
"Listen to this part a few times," he said, dragging the progress bar back to the previous position. The video showed Xu Xin turning around to tell others to shut up, and then calling Bai Di over to help.
"Stop yelling! Bai Nan, come help me!"
With a click, the video paused.
"Whose name did you hear?" Zhang Zhen asked her.
Wang Yan hesitated for a moment, "Bai Di? Boss, we can't hear him at all. Everyone around us is screaming, and his voice is low. Judging from Bai Di's subconscious reaction, he must be calling for him."
"What about here?" Zhang Zhen dragged the progress bar back, stopping at the scene after the two entered the tomb.
"Bai Nan...can you see clearly?"
Wang Yan immediately paused after hearing this: "Boss, listen carefully to this sentence, he definitely called out Bai Nan!"
Do you think it's possible for someone to mispronounce a name twice?
Zhang Zhen stroked his stubble and asked in a low voice.
Wang Yan dragged back to the previous section, but the screams from the crowd were so piercing that she couldn't make out whether he was calling for Bai Di or Bai Nan.
"Bai Di, you know about this video, right?"
She nodded and looked at the screen, which displayed a video taken by the videographer.
"Please repeat what you've read after you've finished reading it."
Zhang Zhen took out another cigarette and lit it, while Xiao Yan waved her hand dismissively.
After reading it, Bai Nan repeated it normally.
Zhang Zhen exhaled smoke rings, and the long, thick smoke flowed into Bai Nan's nostrils, choking her and causing her to cough.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
He seemed to realize at a moment's time that the person sitting opposite him was a minor, so he immediately threw the cigarette at his feet and crushed the butt with the sole of his shoe.
"Sorry, it's a habit."
"It's okay, can I go now?" Bai Nan said softly.
"Oh, of course! You can go back now and call Bai Lu over."
After she left, Wang Yan immediately started muttering to herself.
"Boss, why does he seem like a child again?"
"A little," Zhang Zhen nodded.
He casually replied, but what he was really thinking about was the ligature mark on Bai Nan's neck.
Did the two little ones have a fight?
Why?
The three were interrogated back and forth for an entire afternoon before the forensic doctor finally arrived. By then, the physical evidence and trace evidence had already been collected.
After the forensic doctor had cleaned up the body, Zhang Zhen waved his hand and led Bai Nan and the other two, along with all the Li family members and some of the Bai family members, back to the police station.
Four police cars drove away with sirens blaring.
The Bai couple, who rushed over, didn't even see the exhaust fumes from the police car.
"Speak, tell me everything you know!"
As soon as I got back to the police station, the police officer's attitude changed completely.
However, Bai Nan knew that this was just their usual interrogation tone and that they didn't actually mean any harm.
You can't exactly coax a criminal suspect in a gentle and kind manner.
"My name is Bai Di, and I'm fifteen years old..."
She repeated what she had said to Bai Lu's family.
Although it was said by her ten years later, she could still see it.
She only met Bai Hua and his wife when she was taken to the reception room after leaving the interrogation room.
They were embracing and crying, and Huang Ying was muttering something like "What a tragedy."
Seeing her come in, Huang Ying rushed over and hugged her tightly, then burst into tears, "My darling, what have you suffered? How could you have encountered such a thing! Oh, what a tragedy!"
Bai Nan shook the clothes on his body: "It's not my blood."
No one really listened to what she was saying; they just hugged her and vented their emotions, while also cursing Bai Zong.
"You old geezer, what bad luck!"
"Exactly, he was already dying, and now he's getting himself into trouble!"
"My poor child, to witness someone die with his own eyes! What a tragedy!"
Bai Nan was speechless for a moment. If they didn't bring it up again, she wouldn't remember the bloodshed at that time.
However, she just noticed a word.
"Mom, what do you mean by Grandpa Zong 'was already dying'?"
"Oh dear, he's sick! He has stomach cancer!"
"It was still in the late stage. The doctor said it would only last a few years. Who knew that the always robust Old Man Li would die before him? What bad luck!"
Grandpa Zong actually has stomach cancer?
No wonder more and more relatives have been trying to curry favor with him in the past two years.
Bai Zong lost his son at a young age, and his two daughters also died young. Now he only has one grandson, who is only fifteen years old and far from adulthood.
Those relatives who want to eat the meat of a dead camel should try to show off a bit when he's making his will before he dies.
When Bai Zong chooses his own family as Bai Lu's adoptive parents' home, wouldn't he be reaping the benefits without lifting a finger? He'd inherit several extra portions of the estate for free!
But Bai Lu...
It seems no one really cares about Bai Lu's thoughts. He's a money pit right now, and everyone wants to hold onto him tightly, but no one cares whether the money pit himself is uncomfortable or not.
Many members of the Bai family returned to the reception room one after another, and they gathered together to talk about the death of Bai Zonghe and the Taoist priest.
What started as just gossip escalated when someone brought up the word 'will'.
The crowd erupted in chaos.
The police came over and told them to be quiet and not to make noise, but they found that no one listened at all.
They excitedly snatched the fictitious 'will' as if they had all witnessed Bai Zong personally writing their names on it.
One person took the lead in listing his contributions to Bai Zong and Bai Lu, detailing his sacrifices over the years and how much inheritance, houses, and money he should receive in return.
People fell silent again after Bai Lu returned to the reception room.
"Xiao Lu, your grandfather... made a will, right?" someone asked cautiously.
"Of course! This illness was diagnosed several years ago, so it must have been treated long ago!"
"Oh dear, don't worry about it. Little Lu might not know either. We'll have to ask Aunt Wang!"
"Yes, yes, yes, Wang Ma has been taking care of the old man for many years, she must know, and maybe she'll even get a share in his will!"
Has anyone seen Wang Ma?
Bai Lu walked woodenly to a chair in the corner of the reception room and sat down.
Bai Nan ignored their words the whole time. Unable to bear letting him hear those harsh schemes any longer, he yelled at them to get out.
"Get out! You money-grubbing snobs!"
"Get as far away as you can! Get out!"
People quieted down again, but then burst into laughter: "Hey Hua Zi! Your Xiao Di and Xiao Nan seem to have a good relationship with Xiao Lu, maybe they can get a bigger share?"
"That's right, look how good their relationship is!"
At this moment, Bai Nan walked to Bai Lu's side and gently hugged him, but he didn't react at all, not even with an expression.
The adults teased them, and Bai Hua and Huang Ying started to feel flattered by their words, and then they laughed along with them.
The police came over again to remind them to be quiet, and this time no one raised their voices.
They all turned into soft, buzzing murmurs.
The sound was like flies buzzing around rotting flesh.
It had a disgusting stench.
As the trembling Li family members went to interrogate him, Xu Xin happened to come out. He inadvertently made eye contact with Li Rui, and then they passed each other.
As soon as Xu Xin entered the reception room, the Bai family members, who had been buzzing, fell silent. They had figured out some of the tricks of the trade over the past few days.
This person is from the Hsu family in Taipei, and is a member of the same clan; we cannot speak of him.
So as he walked toward Bai Nan, the Bai family members all peeked at him, glancing at each other and exchanging glances, as if they had reached a consensus.
Xu Xin was a little tired. After walking to Bai Nan's side, he sat down with a thud, and his hands hung limply at his sides.
Bai Nan put her arm around Bai Lu's shoulder and glanced at him, noticing the wrinkles on his trousers, so she used one hand to pat them off.
"What's wrong?"
She spoke very softly, and after she finished speaking, she glanced at Bai Lu's face.
Xu Xin leaned against the wall with the back of his head and looked up as he replied, "No, I just wrote too many words and my hand got tired."
Bai Nan felt relieved and gently patted Bai Lu's back to comfort him.
It was already past midnight when everyone left the police station.
The sky outside was pitch black, and the police station door was slightly ajar, making the outside world look like a stuttering coffin, and they were about to enter it.
Just as everyone was rubbing their eyes, yawning, and heading out, Li Rui suddenly went berserk.
He was shouting something as he desperately tried to rush into the station. Zhang Zhen and Wang Yan, who heard the commotion, rushed over immediately.
As Li Rui ran closer, everyone heard what he was shouting:
"I was forced into this, it has nothing to do with me, sir, please spare me!"
"Sir! It wasn't me who caused this!"
"It was Master Zong, he's the one who ordered it! It wasn't me!"
"Sir! Don't look for me!"
Don't look for me!
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