Chapter 848: Chapter 838: Zhang Shunzhi

"Sir, you said someone drowned in that well some time ago?" Su Qing looked at the old man in front of him, who was carrying a hoe and missing a front tooth, and asked.

Behind him stood Du Qiang and the two rookies, He Wendong and Yu Mingyuan. It wasn’t that the three of them were any use, it was that their uniforms were useful.

It wasn’t his first day working at the station; he knew all too well what this uniform meant to ordinary folks.

If he went to ask on his own, that old man might not even respond—why would he bother with some yellow?haired kid? But if it was someone in uniform asking, that was different.

Sure enough, when he saw the three officers behind Su Qing, the old man, though unwilling, still nodded and said, "Yeah, about a month ago, almost two now. Zhang Dahe’s eldest girl in the village jumped into the well and killed herself. It was just when we were about to start planting. It was the villagers who found out—his field is right by that well."

[Zhang Shunzhi, 25 years old, has a speech disorder, unable to speak since childhood. Because her family favors boys over girls, plus her father died and she has a stepmother, no one really cares about her. She’s just a pitiful soul squeezed for her last bit of value.]

The narration in his head chimed in at just the right moment. Hearing this, Su Qing narrowed his eyes. He knew he might have hit a key point, and this case seemed to have another layer, or rather, might be tangled up with some other case.

It was lucky he had that narration; otherwise he wouldn’t even dare be sure there was a connection here at all.

Hearing the old man’s words, Su Qing quickly asked, "Sir, how come that girl up and jumped into the well? What could make her that desperate?"

At this, the old man’s expression shifted slightly, then he shook his head. "That I don’t know. And that Zhang family girl is a bit slow to begin with and can’t talk. Doesn’t affect her daily life, but no one knows what she’s thinking. Anyway, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to the fields!"

After he finished, the old man sighed, and left before the few of them could ask more.

Something this big happening in the village—finding a body at the entrance, the police coming to cordon off the area—naturally drew a crowd of villagers who liked to watch the excitement. But because the police were here, and because a corpse had turned up, the villagers only watched from afar; no one came close.

"What’s up, Qing? Why are you so interested in this? We’re here to investigate a body?dumping case." Seeing the old man leave, Du Qiang asked.

He Wendong and Yu Mingyuan, the two rookies beside them, were also looking at him, wanting an explanation.

But right now Su Qing did have some thoughts, all guesses based on what the narration had hinted. They couldn’t be treated as evidence or even as a proper lead, so he couldn’t lay things out.

"Nothing, just asking around. Still, it’s kind of interesting—didn’t you notice that old man really didn’t want to talk about it?" Su Qing asked with a grin.

Hearing this, Du Qiang frowned slightly, thinking back to the old man’s behavior and realizing it had been off. "You think that old man is the killer?"

"Get lost!!!"

Su Qing looked at Du Qiang, full of disdain. How could someone be this brainless? Wrong field of study maybe—does he just never use his brain?

"Then what do you think it is?" Du Qiang was a straight shooter; he spread his hands and just gave up thinking.

"How would I know? But there’s definitely a reason!"

"Damn, I thought you knew. Then what are you putting on airs for!" Hearing that, Du Qiang perked up and shouted.

Su Qing didn’t even want to lay hands on him anymore; no point.

"What’s going on here?"

Just then, Lin Chengcai walked over and asked.

He and Li Zijun had just gone over the scene and found no clues. Hearing noise from this side, he came to check.

"Captain Lin, Qing’s getting cocky now. We haven’t even sorted out the case at hand, and he’s already saying there’s something wrong with that girl who drowned herself in the village well before. You should give him a good talking?to!" Du Qiang roughly ran through what happened, then complained.

He’d heard afterward that Su Qing had gone to his mentor to complain about him, wanting to play at being the head of the forensic squad, so he naturally had to grab the chance to get some of his own back.

But Lin Chengcai clearly wasn’t Old Zhao. He was more sensitive to case details, and given what he knew about Su Qing, he didn’t believe Su Qing would waste effort on nothing.

So he turned and asked, "Su, what have you picked up?"

"There’s a well about a hundred meters over there. When I went by I noticed burned paper offerings—figured someone recently died. I had Qiangzi ask the nearby villagers, and it turned out to be true. And when I questioned that old man just now, I clearly felt he was deliberately leaving things unsaid, like he was avoiding something." Su Qing replied calmly.

Hearing this, Lin Chengcai took a deep breath, silently lit a cigarette, drew in hard, then slowly said, "You think it’s related to this case?"

Su Qing nodded without hesitation. "Could be."

"Your reasoning?" Lin Chengcai asked.

He wasn’t like that simple?minded guy Du Qiang. He specialized in criminal psychology, right in his lane, with a good grasp of human nature.

Hearing the question, Su Qing paused. He obviously couldn’t mention the narration in his head. He could only use what actual information he had to try and link events.

"Captain, you still remember the nature of this case, right?"

"Of course—revenge killing, retaliatory crime."

"Right, a revenge killing. If it’s a revenge killing, there has to be a root. Who is the killer retaliating against? Who is he avenging?"

"You mean... it’s connected to the one who jumped into the well?"

"I suspect it might be." Su Qing naturally didn’t dare sound too certain, not even in tone.

"I don’t think that’s likely." At this point, Li Zijun came over. Seeing everyone look his way, he continued:

"You said yourself it was a jump into a well. That’s eighty percent likely a suicide. If someone harmed her, there’s no way we’d have zero information. The family would definitely report it."

Got to say, Li Zijun used his brain. He grabbed the key point in one go.

If it really was homicide, such a big incident wouldn’t slip past the police entirely. Since there’s no report, it’s almost certainly suicide.

On this, Lin Chengcai nodded in agreement, then everyone turned their eyes back to Su Qing.

Seeing that, Su Qing took a deep breath, frowned, and said, "What if there was another reason behind the suicide?"

"What reason?" Lin Chengcai asked.

Su Qing shook his head. "No idea."

He really didn’t know—only had some guesses. Not for any other reason, but because the narration didn’t throw him random info. Since it had prompted him, there had to be something. As for what, he didn’t know.

Seeing the others all on the verge of speaking, Su Qing spoke again. "Captain Lin, what were the victim’s details again?"

"Zhao Dongyang, male, thirty?three, from Yushu Village, Nankou County. Currently making a living in Jiangcheng City selling seafood." Lin Chengcai replied at once, clearly familiar with the information.

Hearing that, Su Qing snapped his fingers.

"Right. He’s from Yushu Village. And where are we? Qingshu Village. Why did the killer dump the body here?"

At this, Lin Chengcai and his disciple Li Zijun both frowned deeply. Only Du Qiang spoke up: "Maybe he just dumped it anywhere?"

"No way," Li Zijun immediately denied.

Then Zhao Minghui also spoke up: "Since the killer chose such a conspicuous spot, and it’s a revenge killing, that means he did it on purpose. Maybe someone in this village knows him?"

"I think that’s possible," Su Qing cut in, then continued, "Besides, it’s not hard to confirm. We already have the victim’s details. Just ask around in Qingshu Village and see if anyone knows him."

Hearing this, Lin Chengcai’s eyes lit up. "Good idea. You young guys really are sharp.

Li, Qiangzi, you two take some people and have the Information Section send over the victim’s photo. Go door to door and ask if anyone recognizes him."

"Got it, Master. I’ll go right now!" Li Zijun didn’t say another word, ready to carry out the assignment.

But Du Qiang said, "Captain Lin, I..."

"What about you?"

"I still have to protect Qing. Someone’s got their eye on him now, I need to... ah, no, no, I’m going!"

Before he could finish, Old Lin’s foot shot out and landed square on Du Qiang’s backside.

In terms of physical skills, Old Lin might not match youngsters like Du Qiang, but he was definitely stronger than Su Qing.

Just because he couldn’t kick Su Qing didn’t mean he was weak. They were all cops—who among them hadn’t trained?

"Like a damn mule—won’t move when tugged, only when beaten!" Old Lin spat.

Su Qing: ...

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.