Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

Forensic pathologist Lao Zhou put on rubber gloves and squatted down next to the body to conduct a preliminary examination.

He pried open the deaf old woman's mouth, used tweezers to pick out a clump of filth mixed with feces, looked at it closely, and then looked up at Qin Ming.

"They fell in alive, their mouths and throats were full of fecal matter, and they struggled."

Qin Ming didn't speak, but simply nodded, then turned his gaze to the few police officers standing beside him who were responsible for guarding the courtyard.

One of the police officers said, "Wasn't the deaf old lady at home? How did she end up in the latrine pit? When did she leave the courtyard house?"

Qin Ming's gaze fell on him, and he asked, "What's your name?"

"Reporting to the team leader, I am Li Zhiguo from Hongxing Police Station."

Xiao Li stood ramrod straight.

"Report on the process by which the deaf old lady entered the courtyard house today."

"I was on guard duty in the front yard and I saw her come in with her cane. I even greeted her."

She asked me where everyone in the courtyard had gone, and I said they had all moved away. Then she went into her own room.

After that, I stayed in the front yard and didn't see her come out again.

Team Leader Qin, everything I said is true.

After the deaf old lady went inside, the door was never opened again.

The few of us...

Xiao Li pointed to several colleagues behind him, "We patrol the courtyard in a crisscross pattern. There are people guarding the backyard, and people watching the front, middle, and back yards. If she leaves the courtyard, there's no way we won't see her."

The other police officers guarding the area also spoke up to testify.

Old Zhao patted his chest and said that he had been squatting in the backyard all afternoon, and he could even remember whether a cat that passed by him was male or female. He insisted that the deaf old lady had definitely not come out of the backyard.

Da Liu said he stood guard at the entrance of the courtyard house, and everyone who came in and out was registered.

"We absolutely did not see the deaf old lady leave the courtyard house again."

Qin Ming took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and looked past the crooked old locust tree at the entrance of the public toilet to the courtyard wall.

The courtyard wall is high, made of blue bricks and gray tiles, and there are no signs of climbing over the wall.

The deaf old lady is 82 years old, uses a cane, and has difficulty walking. How could she possibly climb over the wall to get out?

Even if she did manage to climb over the wall, how come no one saw her?

How did she fall into the latrine pit?

"When did she return to the courtyard house?"

Around 2 PM.

Xiao Li answered quickly, "I noted the time because I had just changed shifts at that time."

"After she went back to her room, did anyone enter her room?"

"no."

Old Zhao interjected, "Everyone in the compound has moved out, leaving only us police officers. None of our officers have ever been inside, and outsiders certainly can't get in."

Qin Ming took two puffs of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and crushed it with his toe. Suddenly, he remembered what Chief Li had said to him in the corner of the police station that morning.

"This case is very likely not the work of a human being."

He almost lost his temper on the spot and nearly accused Director Li of "leading the way in promoting feudal superstition."

Now he stood at the entrance of the public toilet, looking at the corpse on the ground, its belly round and its head and face covered in excrement.

For the first time, I felt that Director Li's judgment might not be unfounded.

Does anyone know where the deaf old lady went this morning?

Qin Ming turned to ask Xiao Li.

Xiao Li opened his notebook, which was filled with a day's worth of notes from his visits:

"In the morning, she went out with an older woman named Wang Cuilan to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, saying she was looking for Director Yang."

Wang Cuilan returned first, packed her luggage alone, and left the courtyard. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.

However, a referral letter is required to be discharged from the hospital, and the neighborhood office should have a record of it.

The deaf elderly woman returned home alone around 2 PM and went straight to her room until her body was found in the public restroom just now.

Qin Ming fell silent again.

If the deaf old lady didn't leave her room, how did she disappear from her room and appear in the latrine pit fifty meters away?

No one saw her leave the house, no one heard her cries for help, and there were no witnesses.

How do you explain this?

"Could it really be the evil spirit the people in the courtyard are talking about?"

Xiao Wang suddenly blurted out.

Old Zhao, who was standing next to him, nudged him with his elbow and said in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense."

But Xiao Wang had already spoken, and everyone present heard him.

No one argued back, no one scolded.

The other police officers guarding the courtyard all looked grim; some were looking down at the tips of their shoes.

Some people looked up at the sky, but no one dared to look Qin Ming in the eye.

Qin Ming took a deep breath. He had been a criminal police officer for ten years, working his way up from the grassroots level to become the head of a special task force in the municipal bureau. He had solved at least eighty to a hundred murder cases.

But in today's case, every death has an indescribable eeriness about it.

Who is the killer?

What was the motive for the crime?

What was the modus operandi?

An old woman vanished into thin air and then reappeared in a public restroom right under the noses of more than thirty police officers.

This is no longer a challenge to his investigative abilities; it's a challenge to his worldview.

"Chief Li, you're right, this case is indeed unusual."

Director Li nodded.

He understood the weight behind Qin Ming's words.

Getting a veteran detective with ten years of criminal investigation experience to admit something is "special" is harder than getting an ordinary person to disbelieve in ghosts.

"You guys..."

Qin Ming pointed to the police officers next to him, "Take the body back to the police station for a detailed autopsy."

The focus of the examination should be on the respiratory tract and lungs to determine the cause of death and whether she actually fell in alive.

The others cordoned off the public restroom and conducted a thorough investigation, searching every corner and leaving no stone unturned.

"yes!"

"Director Li, gather all the people responsible for guarding the courtyard house together. I want to question them one by one."

The deaf old lady couldn't have vanished and reappeared out of thin air; there must be something we missed.

Whether it's evil spirits or human intervention, what I need is evidence.

Director Li nodded and turned to gather the manpower.

But his thoughts were different from Qin Ming's.

Qin Ming is still looking for that "missing thing" and still believes there must be a reasonable explanation.

But Director Li had already given up hope.

From last night until now, he has inspected the crime scenes of seven dead bodies and witnessed the tragic scene of the three Yan brothers being decapitated.

Having experienced the shock of Xu Damao hanging from a crooked tree, we are now witnessing the absurdity of a deaf old woman dying in a public toilet.

He no longer believed that the case could be explained by common sense.

But he would never say those words to Qin Ming again.

Qin Ming is the head of the special task force. He has been given three days to solve the case. He must believe that there is a reasonable explanation for the case and that the murderer is a human being and not something else.

If a detective loses this belief, then the case will truly remain unsolved.

Even if you believe in something dirty, you can't say it out loud.

Promoting feudal superstition is unacceptable and illegal.

Director Li walked up to the police officers responsible for guarding the courtyard and had them line up and report their afternoon patrol routes and times one by one.

Open the notebook and record everyone's account: what time, where they were, who they saw, and what noises they heard.

The statements of the nine police officers, when pieced together, reached the exact same conclusion as before:

The deaf elderly woman entered the hospital at 2 p.m., went back to her room alone, and never came out again.

No one climbed over the wall, no one broke in, and no one heard the cries for help.

Director Li closed his notebook, glanced up at the setting sun, and suddenly had an inexplicable premonition.

More people will die after dark.

……

P.S.: My family has already done the book review. Let's brainstorm some new titles. Thanks! ◐⩊◑ ྀི.