Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 13 The Case of Soul-Seeking at the Coffin 2
Tan Ming didn't go home for lunch. His wife and son were used to it; after lunch, they would continue with their work.

Tan Xuehui wanted to take Tan Jia to the hospital with her. It would be better for her to stay with the women and children seeking medical treatment than to follow He Jianming. It would be fatal if they got involved in a murder case again someday.

Tan Jia obediently followed, enjoying the breeze on the back of the electric scooter, and casually asked, "Does Brother have another mission? He used to go home for lunch when he didn't have any cases."

"I guess they were called away very early this morning."

They were dispatched very early? Is it related to her dream last night?

Tan Jia felt restless and didn't want to get involved, but she couldn't help but analyze it—

The background in the dream was clearly a funeral hall or similar place. The deceased was lying in the coffin, presumably with his last breath. The position of the murderer indicated that he was most likely a relative of the deceased.

But as long as the deceased is successfully sealed in a coffin and buried, no one will know about this.

Why did Tan Ming and his team dispatch officers to investigate so early in the morning? Did someone witness the crime and report it to the police?
Or is it because of other cases?
A whole host of questions were swirling in her mind, but as the electric scooter passed by the police station, Tan Jia didn't give it a second glance. After arriving at the hospital, she simply stayed quietly in her office and continued her research on dough sculpting.

The act of turning herself in can't be used too often. If she continues to get involved in various cases, she will definitely be treated as a subject of mental illness research.

To dream of transforming into various murderers and killing people everywhere is incredibly absurd.

But despite her efforts to avoid it, cases still came knocking on her door—Tan Xuehui, a psychologist specializing in special groups, was seconded to Shiyuan Village to provide psychological counseling to a girl named Zhao Man.

Tan Jia accompanied him, carrying his half-finished human-shaped clay sculpture, his brow furrowed as he bumped along the way to the village.

Looking through the car window, a long police cordon stretched to the left of the Zhao family's luxurious country villa.

The funeral hall resembled the setup in my dream, but the deceased was someone else entirely.

Tan Xuehui was invited to go and start work, while Tan Jia acted as if he were an unrelated bystander, keeping his eyes down and staying in the car repairing the clay figurine whose arm had been shaken off, his ears receiving all kinds of noisy sounds.

A dozen meters away, the Criminal Investigation Team 2 took statements from key personnel again, clarifying the entire course of events.

"The deceased's father, Zhao Chunsheng, passed away yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. Because he had been ill for a long time, everyone guessed that he would not make it in the next two months, so they did not go too far and all returned before dinner."

"According to their customs, the Zhao family hired someone to perform a ritual to pray for the deceased, and it was a lavish one at that. The filial sons and grandsons had to kneel and cry out every hour under the guidance of the monk, which was very tiring."

"Because this is mentally taxing, they would sit and rest during their free time. When they gathered together to talk, they would only reminisce about the past and never mentioned the deceased Zhao Li's money. They felt that asking this question would be an insult to their filial impiety."

"The ritual continued until the early hours of the morning. At four o'clock this morning, the deceased Zhao Li closed his father's eyes and sealed the coffin. I asked about the soybeans that appeared in the deceased's pocket. They were used to stuff into Zhao Chunsheng's mouth. It is said to be a kind of custom."

"After the coffin is sealed, there will be a final kneeling and weeping ceremony. Then, eight villagers selected in advance will carry the coffin, with Zhao Chunsheng's four children carrying the spirit tablet in front, followed by a grandson or granddaughter from each household... In short, the process is very complicated. Including those carrying hoes and sickles, scattering money and burning wreaths, the funeral procession will consist of twenty-two people in total." Those twenty-two people were questioned separately and are now waiting in a corner of the mourning hall.

Zheng Yan looked over and saw that the group of people all looked tense and anxious, as if they had encountered trouble. They sighed and shook their heads at Zhao Man, while the three remaining children of the Zhao family tried their best to comfort them.

Turning back, Xiao Chen and Tan Ming talked about the more suspicious people during the investigation.

"The first person walking to the right front of the deceased with a hoe was named Shi Jianzhong. He was an old bachelor in the village. Because he was a loyal friend, he was specifically hired to clear the way for the funeral procession and dig the soil. He had an ordinary relationship with the deceased, with no financial disputes or conflicts."

"Secondly, there was the deceased's youngest brother, Zhao Xu, who was 42 years old and worked at a highway toll station. The deceased had found him this job. During the funeral, he stood behind the deceased and almost stepped on him because it was dark, but luckily he managed to stay upright. He and the deceased had a good relationship, but because they were both busy with their jobs, they didn't have much time to spend together after they started their own families."

"The third one is Zhao Mingyue, the son of the deceased's third brother. He is 23 years old and has just graduated from university. He was the first grandson in the funeral procession and the first to discover that the deceased had an accident. He rushed over to try to stop the bleeding, but he was unsuccessful. The deceased treated this nephew very well, giving him money and resources, and it is said that he even planned to groom him as his successor."

"The fourth one is Zhao Mingqian, whom Tan Ming found in the bar. He is twenty years old and is the son of the deceased's youngest brother. Because he is good-for-nothing and spends money extravagantly, the Zhao family doesn't think much of him. During the funeral procession, his family sent his younger brother, who was better at studying, as their representative. So he thought that his family didn't like him, and when the funeral procession went up the mountain, he simply ran off to have some fun."

Zheng Yan asked, "Zhao Mingqian spends money extravagantly? His father is just a highway toll collector, where does he get the money to live such a life?"

Tan Ming: "The deceased was very generous to his nephews and nieces, especially Zhao Mingyue and Zhao Mingqian, because they were the oldest among the nephews and the old man's most beloved grandsons, so the deceased spent the most money on them."

It sounds like there were four people involved: one outsider who had no conflict with the deceased but the deceased just happened to die on his hoe; and the other three family members who all seemed to have some financial relationship with the deceased.

Zheng Yan asked them, "Do you think it was murder or an accident?"

Xiao Chen: "Based on the existing evidence, it is impossible to determine that it was murder. However, Zhao Man said that her father was forced by his grandfather to spend money on the Zhao family, and he did not want to do so, so someone would harm her father after his grandfather died. The Zhao family denied this, believing that the deceased would give them more money if he were alive, so they had no reason to kill him."

Tan Ming: "The Zhao family must be hiding something."

"If it was murder, who do you think is more suspicious?" Zheng Yan asked again.

Tan Ming pondered, "Zhao Mingqian has an alibi, Shi Jianzhong came to help and had no conflict with the deceased, and Zhao Mingyue was not close to the deceased at the time. Currently, it seems that the deceased's youngest brother, Zhao Xu, is the most suspicious."

Xiao Chen had a different opinion: "If what Zhao Man said is true, then whoever is most likely to benefit from the death is the murderer. I think Zhao Mingyue is more suspicious."

Zheng Yan nodded: "If it really was a homicide, and the murderer is one of these two people, then there must be something wrong. But the Zhao family's statements all say it was an accident, and they usually had a harmonious relationship with the deceased. So what made them so united and able to cover up the truth together?"

Xiao Chen was startled: "Could it be... a joint crime?"

(End of this chapter)