The Bank Burglary Case (3)

Chapter 3

The seventh grade students were always the best informed. The class had originally been using Xiao Mei’s situation as gossip material, but now they had “the bank was robbed” and “police from the city are here” to talk about.

The news about Xiao Mei became a thing of the past.

The students in the class were now more familiar with these few police officers than they were with Xiao Mei.

Xiao Mei was a sharp child, and she immediately caught onto this shift in the wind. She felt an indescribable joy, her whole being becoming lively and cheerful. After class, she would weave through her classmates to listen for news about the police.

“There are three police officers in total. We even went up and spoke to them. It’s just that the tall uncle is a bit scary and doesn’t like to talk.”

“Is that an uncle? Why does he have long hair?” Xiao Mei asked, feeling a bit strange.

Xiao Mei looked over and naturally spotted the long-haired officer among the crowd. He was truly tall, even taller than the school’s physical education teacher.

Her desk-mate immediately got excited. “Keep it down! My mom said that’s city fashion, we can’t make fun of people.”

“Did they come to the school to ask about the case, too?”

“No, they’re staying in the school dorms, over on the girls’ side. They’re on the first floor. I guess two of them are a couple because they’re staying in the same room.”

Xiao Mei peered over. She looked left and right, and no matter how she looked at it, she felt that the tall officer was actually a big sister?

However, she didn’t think too much about it. Since they were staying in the girls’ dormitory building, she would be able to see them every day.

Tonglin Town didn’t have a police station, and the local government office didn’t have any place for them to stay. After the bank was robbed, the bank staff had gone to the city to request people to come and catch the thief.

The city had found a few officers to send down, but the problem was the lack of police housing. The person in charge of receiving them had a sudden idea and squeezed them into the Tonglin Town Middle School.

The dormitories here had empty rooms that were habitable. It would only be for a few days anyway; once they solved the case, they would head back to the city. They would just have to make do for now.

The student dorms hadn’t been tidied up yet. There were eight beds in a room, which usually slept sixteen or seventeen children.

Now, Yun Song and her two colleagues were staying there.

The three of them were holding a meeting to report on the day’s progress.

“I’ve questioned all the residents on East Street. On the night the bank was robbed, only one old lady heard someone walking around outside when she got up during the night. But she said it was her son, and that her son was the one who robbed the bank.” The speaker was Tong Jin. She had recently graduated and was lively and cheerful, so Yun Song had put her in charge of visiting the local residents.

Yun Song and the other colleague both looked over at once.

Case closed?

Tong Jin felt helpless just talking about it. “I was really happy at first, thinking we could rely on a relative’s report to solve the case. It turns out her son was playing cards with people that night. He played the entire night and never left. I verified it multiple times; it’s definitely impossible for it to be the old lady’s son. The old lady is just angry that her son is a failure and wants the state to lock him up to help teach him a lesson.”

Well, that lead was gone.

“I’ve also questioned the bank employees. No one noticed anything unusual that night,” said the girl named Tang Chao, who was exceptionally tall.

“No wonder whenever a theft happened here in the past, they just registered it and never solved the case.”

Yun Song said, “I have a lead on my end. Two workers from the brick factory north of town have disappeared. According to other workers, they might have gone to the city.”

Tang Chao found it a bit strange. “Would they be considered missing? Did no one report it?”

Yun Song replied, “The concept of ‘missing’ doesn’t seem to exist here. No one takes it seriously. I’ll continue investigating those two tomorrow.”

“What about us?”

“I’ve successfully negotiated with the bank. They are willing to offer five hundred yuan as a reward. You two should spread the word about the five hundred yuan reward for leads.”

Five hundred yuan was no small sum, especially for the people of Tonglin Town. Five hundred yuan could buy a whole pig.

News traveled fast in Tonglin Town. Everyone had already been paying attention to the bank burglary, and many had already been questioned by the police, so they were all watching for any movement from that side.

Now that they heard there was a reward, everyone wished they had stayed awake that night to stand guard at the bank entrance and see exactly who stole the money.

Everyone was trying their hardest to remember the events of that night to see if there were any clues. But everyone was tired enough during the day; who would be running around at night for no reason?

Five hundred yuan! A whole five hundred yuan! How could they not get their hands on it?

Tang Chao and Tong Jin sat at the school, waiting for people to come and provide leads. Soon, someone arrived.

An old lady with white hair walked over with a cheerful smile. “Police officers, I’ve come to provide a lead! I know who did it!”

Tang Chao was delighted. As expected, a heavy reward brings out the brave.

“Old Lady, come sit down and take your time.”

Beside her, Tong Jin was winking and making faces at her. “Your eyes must be uncomfortable. Go over there and rest a bit. I’ll listen to what the old lady has to say.”

The old lady then said, “My son did it.”

“That night, he went out to play cards. He said he was playing cards, but in reality, he went out to steal money.”

Hearing these familiar sentences, Tang Chao turned her head to look at her colleague, who nodded.

Tong Jin said, “Old Lady, I’ve checked. Your son really didn’t have the time that night.”

This was the first time they had encountered an elderly person so dedicated to sending her son to eat government meals¹ in prison.

The old lady pulled a long face and looked left and right. After making sure no one was around, she said, “You people from the city must want to close the case. My son can’t handle a beating. After a dozen strokes of the board², he’ll definitely confess.” From these words, it was clear the old lady had listened to quite a few traditional operas.

The old lady was truly suffering. Ever since her son picked up a gambling habit last year, the whole family had been eating nothing but green vegetables and potatoes. If things continued like this, they wouldn’t be able to survive.

Tang Chao said, “We cannot use torture to extract confessions now.”

“That’s not the point. The point is that your son didn’t steal the bank’s money,” Tong Jin added, not letting herself be led astray.

The old lady could only sigh and walk back home.

After she left, more people came forward to provide leads.

Tang Chao and Tong Jin recorded everything.

On the other side, the elderly woman soon reached home. Her daughter-in-law was currently treading coal³, while her grandson and granddaughter were shaping the coal pieces one by one. Working like this for an entire day barely earned them a few yuan.

In truth, her son used to work in a factory and was quite hardworking, earning over four hundred yuan a month. Back then, the whole family lived well, and they could even afford meat occasionally.

Now, the Old Lady sighed. She went into the house to cook, and once again, dinner was just potatoes.

At this moment, it was dinner time in Tonglin Town. While the Old Lady was steaming potatoes, the sound of bones being chopped drifted over from the neighbor’s house.

By the time the Old Lady brought the potatoes out, the children had already been lured inside by the fragrance of stewed meat.

“Grandma, are we having meat today?”

But as soon as they entered, they saw nothing but potatoes.

“The neighbors are stewing meat again. Didn’t they just have some yesterday? How did they suddenly get so much money?” The daughter-in-law walked in as well.

The Old Lady paused, then said, “Something is indeed strange. Weren’t they in debt before? Not long ago, their creditors even came knocking on their door.”

And now they could afford meat two days in a row?

Lately, everyone’s attention had been focused entirely on the bank robbery. Consequently, at this very moment, all four members of the family had the exact same reaction.

Four pairs of eyes turned toward the house next door.

Immediately after, the Old Lady of the house took off running.

Thus, when Yun Song returned from a day of door-to-door inquiries, what she saw was a family of four standing there holding their bowls, and two of her colleagues looking utterly helpless.

“We’re here to provide a lead!”

Translator’s Notes