False evidence

Chapter 358 The Third Child

"Take Dong XZ to someone else's house?"

I have a vague idea of ​​what's going on, but I can't quite grasp the key points.

Hearing me 'talking to myself,' Erpang shook his head like a rattle drum: 'Ordinary things are easy to hide, but that's a corpse! Hiding a dead body in someone else's house is just nonsense!'

I suddenly felt a jolt.

Yan Fengwei said, "I've figured out where to hide the body!"

Where is it hidden?

Officer Wang and Erpang asked at the same time.

Yan Fengwei's eyes darted around, his expression somewhat strange, and he whispered, "Hiding in someone else's house."

I asked Officer Wang, "Do you still have traditional burial practices around here?"

"Most people are cremated, but in some remote areas and places where ethnic minorities live, some people are still buried in the ground."

Officer Wang seemed to suddenly remember something, and said with a stern expression, "Xiaohua's maternal grandmother was from an ethnic minority, and she was buried in the earth!"

"Are we going to dig up graves?" This time, Erpang reacted quickly.

I glanced at Officer Wang and waved my hand: "It's all just speculation right now. Even if we were to dig up the grave to collect evidence, that would be a matter for the government."

I asked, "Officer Wang, how did Lin Xiaohua's grandmother die?"

"Xiaohua went on a business trip... and a month after that, the old lady died of a heart attack in the old house."

"Sudden?"

Officer Wang stared at me, his expression gradually turning horrified.

Is the old house still there?

"exist!"

"Let's go and have a look!"

……

Compared to the abandoned medical clinic building, the old house is much more remote.

Upon arriving at the village, we walked along the village road, where many old houses on both sides had been abandoned.

Arriving at a small courtyard, the yard, despite the rain, appeared remarkably tidy.

Officer Wang told us sadly that after Lin Xiaohua disappeared, her grandmother passed away, and the old house was transferred to Qin Shengming's name.

But by then, the trend of migrant workers was already prevalent, and all the young people in the village went to work in other places. Anyone with a bit of ability settled down in another place, leaving only some elderly people behind in the village.

Unable to sell the house, Qin Shengming simply let the old house fall into disrepair.

However, Officer Wang would come here to repair and clean every now and then, because this was where Lin Xiaohua grew up.

In addition, the place is located in a remote area with few outsiders, so the old house is actually better preserved than the three-story building.

The four of them entered the courtyard.

Erpang suddenly sniffed and whispered, "Why do I smell stewed meat?"

The rain had stopped by then, and the air was exceptionally fresh after the rain.

Even without Erpang saying anything, I could already smell the meat.

Moreover, it seems to have a faint sandalwood scent.

I tiptoed around the yard and discovered that the smell seemed to be coming from the main house.

Seeing that the door was locked, I whispered to Officer Wang if he had a key.

Officer Wang said no, since the house belonged to Qin Shengming, and he couldn't enter without permission. He only came to repair the exterior and clean the yard. The lock on the gate, however, had rusted over time and someone had apparently opened it.

Yan Fengwei pressed his nose against the crack in the door and sniffed. He then turned around and said that the smell was coming from inside the house.

The group looked at each other, wondering if someone was inside.
I gestured for him and Erpang to keep quiet.

After walking halfway around the main house, I noticed that a window on the side was slightly ajar.

The window was a bit high, but there was a three-legged bench standing against the wall.

The other three and I exchanged glances. We were now certain that, regardless of whether there was anyone inside the house now, someone had at least entered through the window.

I gestured to Erpang.

Neither of us had a history of breaking and entering to steal chickens or dogs, but we did our fair share of climbing trees to steal bird eggs.

So he very tacitly handed me the flashlight, squatted down, and used his knees to support the missing leg of the stool.

With a creak, the window opened.

I didn't bother to look inside the room. I rolled over and went in, then leaned out of the window and put my feet down. When I landed, I realized that there was a wooden bed underneath.

As my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I could make out the simple furnishings in the room.

To my astonishment, besides the picture frame, there were two large bowls and an incense burner on the table by the door. The fragrance was coming from the table, but at a glance, there was no one in the room.

I turned on my flashlight and walked to the table. The incense burner was still emitting sandalwood fragrance.

The two large bowls, each with a chip, contained a dish of chili shreds mixed with cilantro, also known as "tiger salad," and the other surprisingly contained a stew of pork and vermicelli with leafy greens.

These two dishes were incredibly rough, but you could tell at a glance that they were made not long ago.

Only some people came to pay their respects to Lin Xiaohua's maternal grandmother.
I glanced at the photo frame instinctively and froze.

This is Lin Xiaohua's maternal grandmother's house, but the person in the photo is not an old lady, but a short-haired woman who looks to be around thirty years old.

The key photo was not a full-face headshot used as a memorial portrait, but a profile shot.

its not right.

Even if it's what Lin Xiaohua's grandmother looked like when she was young, shouldn't a side profile photo be used as her funeral portrait?

As I was wondering about this, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye that the woman in the photo seemed to have blinked.

I quickly moved the light away, and when I looked again, I was stunned.

The woman in the photo has turned her face away, and judging from her gesture, it looks like she's covering her face with both hands!

"Meow..."

A sharp, high-pitched meow came from outside the window.

I was startled, and only after I realized it was a secret code that Erpang and I used to use.

Looking at the photo again now, it has changed again.

She transformed into the appearance of a kind-faced old lady.

I felt this was extremely strange, and after a moment's hesitation, I wanted to call Officer Zhao and the others in.

But as soon as he turned around, he suddenly saw that there was someone standing behind him!

I gasped in shock.

The other person seemed even more frightened than I was; they opened their mouth wide, jumped up and down, and howled!

At this point, the three people outside could no longer hold back and climbed in through the window.

At the same time, the person who appeared behind me howled, grabbed me, and threw me aside.

He wasn't strong enough to throw me off, but he smelled absolutely awful.

And then, because he suddenly appeared like a ghost, out of fear, I jumped to the edge of the bed.

The man didn't chase me; instead, he turned around and stood in front of the table, his face filled with terror, and said:

"This is an offering for my aunt, you can't eat it! You can't eat it!"

This was a man with disheveled hair at least a foot long and a face covered in a grimy, matted beard.

I really can't judge his age accurately, I can only say that he is probably between forty and sixty years old.

"Is he a madman?" Erpang asked in astonishment.

"He is Sanwazi!"

Officer Wang stepped forward.

The man squinted at him for a moment, then mumbled incoherently:
“I know you, you're the one who repaired my aunt's house. But... you can't eat this, it's for my aunt as an offering.”

Officer Wang looked complicated and shook his head, saying, "Sanwazi, don't be afraid, we won't eat your food."

Sanwazi nodded. "Don't eat it, okay? This is for Auntie. If you want some, I'll get you some more later..."

Before he could finish speaking, he swayed twice and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Officer Wang rushed forward and, after examining him, said, "He has a high fever; we need to get him to the hospital immediately."

When I touched Sanwazi's forehead in the past, it was burning hot.

I got up and walked to the door, looked it over, and removed one of the door panels from the stone grooves that were holding it in place.

This old door frame is the same as the one in my house. I don't know how many times I've disassembled and reassembled the doors in my house, I'm very familiar with it.

Officer Wang picked up the three children and started to walk out.

Remembering the strangeness of the photo, I said you can't leave yet, and have Erpang take him to the hospital.

Yan Fengwei said, "If they don't need me here, I'll go with them. Otherwise, the hospital won't treat a beggar."

After the two men took Sanwazi away, I asked Officer Wang what Sanwazi did for a living.

Officer Wang said that he was a madman in the village, and that he was supposedly related to Lin Xiaohua's family, so Lin Xiaohua had to call him uncle.

Looking at the two large bowls on the table, Officer Wang sighed: "Xiaohua said that her grandmother was extremely kind to people. Everyone in the village thought Sanwa was stupid and dirty, but Xiaohua's grandmother fed him and sewed him quilts and clothes in the winter."

Although these three children are a bit eccentric, they know how to be grateful. It's been twenty years; I'd completely forgotten today was the old lady's death anniversary. Yet he still remembers. These two bowls of food… I wonder how much effort he went to get them.”

(End of this chapter)