The Bank Burglary Case (10)

Chapter 10

The corpse was somewhat bloated from the water, but through the clothes, build, and height, Yun Song could identify who it was.

This person was one of the two missing workers she had been investigating earlier.

The man’s name was Tian Gui, a forty-year-old native of neighboring Yulan Town. Over a decade ago, he had married a woman from his own town. He had a foul temper in his youth and enjoyed beating his wife after drinking; unable to endure it, she divorced him, and his reputation in Yulan Town naturally suffered.

Later, he was introduced by a relative to work here in Tonglin Town.

He worked at the local brick factory, which was built at the foot of a mountain south of Tonglin Town. His daily work involved blasting the mountain, quarrying stone, and making bricks.

After the blasting, there were usually copper wires left behind. He frequently stole these wires to sell for cash, and once he had money, he would treat his fellow workers to drinks. Consequently, his reputation in Tonglin Town was actually quite decent.

Yun Song had been a medical student in the past. Since there were no forensic doctors available now, she examined the body herself. There was a blunt force injury on the back of the head.

The exact cause of death would require a more detailed autopsy.

The crying of the two people beside her had weakened. It seemed the emotions bottled up in their hearts had mostly been vented.

She stepped forward and offered comfort. “Things haven’t reached a point of total despair yet. At the very least, I can confirm that you two are not the killers.”

Running out in the middle of the night to dredge up a corpse could easily lead to misunderstandings.

The two stopped and turned their heads to look at Yun Song.

“Be more optimistic. Although you did something wrong earlier, you haven’t driven yourselves to a dead end.” As long as people were alive, there was a possibility for atonement.

That was right! Although they had done something wrong before, they hadn’t killed anyone!

The couple was desperate to prove they were still part of the human race.

“We wouldn’t dare kill anyone. Just the thought of killing makes our hands go soft.”

At this moment, they stopped talking about the hardships of their constant labor.

Instead, they began to speak of something else.

“Back then, we only slept three or four hours every night. We had to make shoes during the day and do farm work in the mountains at night, but even then, we never thought about killing anyone.”

As they spoke, heavy rain continued to pour from the sky.

None of the four people present minded the rain.

The young couple was covered in a foul stench; the heavy rain falling on them acted as a wash. For them, it was actually a good thing.

Standing in the rain, Yun Song was simultaneously pondering where she should put this corpse.

As for the body lying on the ground, it naturally had no objection to the rain.

However, the Li family – the family living behind this manure pit – felt differently.

Because of the wind and heavy rain, the Li family woke from their slumber and immediately thought of the manure pit!

The pit usually had no cover. A bit of light rain didn’t matter, but heavy rain was a problem.

If too much rainwater entered, it would wash the manure out. When that happened, such good fertilizer would be lost. They possessed the typical mindset of farmers; even a little bit of waste would break their hearts.

Thus, the Li man quickly scrambled up, grabbed a flashlight, and took a sheet of plastic film from under the eaves.

He put on his bamboo hat, dragged the plastic film, and walked toward the pigsty. Through the heavy rain, he vaguely saw several silhouettes: two sitting, one lying down, and one standing.

What was going on? Why were there people next to his manure pit?

He stepped a bit closer.

Aha! Manure thieves!

“You! You four! You’ve got the nerve to steal manure from my house!”

The young couple had just been soothed by Yun Song, but now they watched as the Li man ran over in a towering rage.

Everyone lived on the same street; who didn’t know the extent of the local gossip?

Oh heavens, if the Li family found out, the whole town would surely know by tomorrow, and everyone would mock them.

Specific voices already filled their minds.

“It’s absolutely hilarious. How could that couple be so stupid? They thought there was money in the manure pit, but they ended up pulling out a corpse and just sat there wailing.”

“When I went over, the two of them were right there crying their eyes out.”

By then, a large crowd would surely gather to laugh at them.

The young couple, picturing that scene in their heads, started crying again.

They couldn’t even decide which was more humiliating: being mistaken for manure thieves or trying to fish for money and finding a corpse instead.

Thus, of the four people present being treated as manure thieves, only Yun Song could step forward to negotiate.

“Hello, hello. We met a couple of days ago. I am Yun Song, the police officer who came to town to investigate the bank burglary.”

The people of Tonglin Town were all experts at social graces. As soon as she spoke, the man’s expression changed instantly. He said with a beaming smile, “The rain is so heavy I couldn’t see clearly. A misunderstanding, a total misunderstanding! It’s the police comrade!”

A police officer didn’t own land here, so why would they steal manure? It was definitely a misunderstanding.

“In such heavy rain…” As the Li man spoke, his eyes flickered toward the other three. Eh, that’s strange. Isn’t that the young Liao couple?

The people of Tonglin Town didn’t have a very good impression of the young Liao couple. Their family business was stitching soles and making shoes. The previous generation had done it very well; a pair of their shoes could be worn for a long time. Since the elders of the family went blind and the young couple took over the business, not only had the prices gone up, but the shoes were poorly made. They also frequently complained that they pricked their hands while stitching soles, or said the Old Lady was still stitching soles despite being blind.

Over time, people stopped liking to buy their shoes.

Why were these two sitting by his manure pit now? Eh? Why were they still crying? Why were they crying like that? Because of the rain, he hadn’t realized they were crying from a distance.

Wait? Why was there someone else lying over there?

The Li man had just woken up, and his brain wasn’t fully functioning yet.

Seeing that he was about to look at the corpse, Yun Song explained, “The two of them noticed something suspicious here earlier and suspected there was a body inside, so they brought me here to dredge it out. We’ve just recovered a corpse.”

The Li man jumped in fright, his voice stammering. “No… that’s not… how can there be a corpse?”

The young Liao couple also heard Yun Song’s words and breathed a sigh of relief.

The husband and wife quickly added, “We’re here to help!”

The man from the Li family paid no attention to the couple. He looked at the corpse, glanced at his own manure pit, and then looked at the river not far away. He was a bit annoyed as he said, “There is a big river right there. He didn’t jump in that, but he had to jump into my manure pit.” He still assumed it was a suicide.

“The specific circumstances still need to be investigated. Do you have a place here where I can put the body for a while?”

She was currently staying at the school, and she certainly couldn’t take the corpse back there.

Tonglin Town didn’t have the facilities for an autopsy either.

The Li family man immediately shook his head. “No way! I only have a pigsty here, and there’s no way I’m putting it in the pigsty.”

Yun Song noticed the plastic sheeting in his hand and asked, “Can you give me that?”

“That, I can do!”

So, Yun Song took the plastic sheeting and returned to the corpse.

The Li family man really wanted to go over and get a look at the body, but with the heavy rain and the dark night, he felt a bit creeped out, so he stayed where he was.

What he didn’t expect was that the young Liao couple actually went over of their own accord.

One of them helped spread out the plastic while the other helped lift the body; they were both hardworking and bold.

Huh?

He stared at the corpse one last time. Possessed by the mindset that such a major event had to be shared with the whole family, he hurried back to wake everyone up.

Yun Song had been happy to see him leave, thinking that one less person meant one less headache.

Instead, ten minutes later, the entire extended family arrived.

“Officer, who is this person?”

“How did he die in the manure pit?”

“Is he the one who stole the money from the bank?”

“Is the money he stole still inside the pit?”

Yun Song, who was currently wrapping the body, was speechless.

In such heavy rain, was it absolutely necessary to come out and watch the spectacle?

This was exactly why crime scenes in the city had to be cordoned off with police tape.