Chapter Fifty-Four: Wails in the Abandoned House

To accommodate Mr. Lin’s feelings, I said, “Mr. Lin, why don’t you and Jingjing wait in the car? Li Hong and I will take a look inside.” Frankly speaking, Mr. Lin has eaten more salt in his life than I’ve eaten rice. He understood my intention immediately, nodded gratefully, and let Tang Jingjing help him outside.

Li Hong and I searched through the house, but apart from a pair of tattered trousers, we found nothing else. The room contained only a few broken pieces of furniture, all rotten beyond repair. We didn’t even spot any footprints—the floor was covered in dust, undisturbed.

We inspected every corner, upstairs and down, but came up empty-handed and left, disappointed.

Tang Jingjing hurried up to us, asking if we had discovered anything. I tossed her the ragged trousers. “Just this.”

Mr. Lin sighed. “Forget it, let’s go back. Maybe it has nothing to do with this place. Oh, tonight, you and Li Hong come back and keep watch here.”

I nodded in agreement.

By the time we returned to the crime scene, dusk was settling. Someone was crying hysterically. Li Hong and I rushed over and found a man holding a woman, both weeping. The woman was in shock, convulsing in the man’s arms.

From the man's voice, it sounded as though he was cursing his own mother, blaming her for not watching the child.

Several police officers stood nearby, watching like spectators, unmoving, with mocking smiles tugging at their lips.

I quickly stepped forward. The police noticed me and grew tense, moving to help the man. But he grabbed a brick and threatened to throw it at them, forcing the officers to retreat.

Useless fools! I cursed inwardly, but knowing we’d need their cooperation later, I held my temper.

The couple were the parents of the little boy; the mother had cried herself into shock.

The driver who’d been with us earlier came over and said, “This man is heartless. Leave them be.”

I asked what he meant.

Turns out, both parents were notoriously unfilial. They’d leave their son in his grandmother’s care, never giving her a penny all year, forcing the old woman to wash dishes at a restaurant to earn money for her grandson’s tuition and living expenses.

I changed the subject. “I don’t care about anything else. I just want to find the killer.”

The driver pursed his lips in discontent but said nothing more.

I waved my hand. “Take the woman to the hospital. If this goes on, she’ll die.”

Suddenly, the man shouted, “What do you cops even do? I pay so much in taxes every month, and you can’t even protect my son. Useless, all of you.”

I ignored him and stepped forward to pull the woman up. He tried to throw a brick at me, but Li Hong quickly tackled him.

I personally carried the woman to the car. “To the hospital!”

The driver nodded and sped off.

I crouched beside the man and asked, “Do you know who targeted your son?”

His eyes were red as he looked at me. “If I knew, would I need you? Useless.”

I smiled. “I know.”

He froze, staring at me, stunned. “Who?”

“Let’s go to the station and record your statement,” I said. “It’ll help us find evidence.”

He stopped his hysterics, stood up, and insisted we must find the murderer—he wanted to kill them himself.

Then he obediently followed the officers back for investigation.

The chief of the station appeared at that moment, whether out of genuine admiration or flattery, saying he’d been troubled by the couple, but I solved it with one sentence—no wonder I was the expert sent from above.

I told him the site needed to be watched round-the-clock by experienced officers. Also, if the boy’s grandmother regained consciousness, he must notify us immediately.

The chief nodded, then invited us to eat Chongqing noodles.

We ate at a decent hotel in town, each with a bowl of noodles, accompanied by a generous spread of dishes. According to the chief, “You can’t get anything done without a meal,” and worried about being a poor host, he used Mr. Mo’s words as a pretext.

No one strikes a smiling face, so Mr. Lin said nothing, though he remained unhappy. Li Hong and I kept our composure, knowing we’d need their help in the future.

After dinner, Li Hong and I returned to the deserted courtyard. Though it was chilly and unsettling, we braced ourselves and went in. We searched again but found nothing, so we left.

Around midnight, the chief suddenly called me. I answered quickly, asking what was wrong.

He apologized first, which annoyed me. I asked directly if the boy’s grandmother was awake.

He was surprised, then began to flatter me again. “You really are the expert sent from above, you guessed it right away.”

I was speechless. Do all station people have to be so verbose? The chief was like this, and so was the driver.

I said, “I’ll come over immediately. Please send two officers to meet us at the hospital.”

He replied, “Of course, of course. I’ll accompany you personally.”

We were staying at the guesthouse: Li Hong and I shared a room, Tang Jingjing had her own, and Mr. Lin another. My phone call had already woken Li Hong.

Li Hong asked if we should call Jingjing and Mr. Lin. I told him not yet, let them rest.

Unexpectedly, as soon as we stepped out, we bumped into Tang Jingjing. She was about to knock on our door. I immediately asked if the chief had called her. She said, “No, the driver tried to call you, but your line was busy, so he called me.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

Tang Jingjing explained, “He said he’d just been drinking with friends. On the way back, passing the deserted house, he heard someone crying inside. It sounded like the dead boy’s voice. He was too scared to go in, so he called us to check.”

“Really?” I was stunned. This was an important clue. Just then, Mr. Lin came out. I quickly told him both things. Mr. Lin said, “Let the chief drive me to the hospital. You three go to the deserted house. Jingjing, load your gun—if there’s danger, act first, explain later. I’ll take responsibility if anything happens.”

Seeing Mr. Lin so serious, we dared not argue. We nodded and followed his instructions.

Soon the chief arrived and took Mr. Lin away.

The three of us sped toward the deserted house.

The place was eerily quiet, with no sound of a child crying. I switched on my flashlight, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

Inside, it was pitch black. Li Hong grabbed the flashlight, took the lead, and swiftly drew his baton across his chest. Tang Jingjing held her pistol ready. Only I was unarmed, which made me uneasy.

I bent down to pick up a brick. But as I lowered my head, I noticed something unusual—the grass beneath our feet was flattened, as if a thick snake had just slithered by.

There was even a foul, musky odor lingering.

I stood up at once, tapped Li Hong and Tang Jingjing’s shoulders, and pointed to the ground. Jingjing quickly shone her flashlight, revealing a trail through the grass leading straight to the abandoned wooden shed.

There was something suspicious in the shed!

We immediately prepared ourselves for anything. What had crawled in there? Why had there been a child’s cry? Could the killer be playing tricks?

The shed was pitch dark; even the flashlight barely lit a small area.

Suddenly, something inside caught my eye. I looked closely—a swimsuit and a red dress.

My heart skipped a beat. A swimsuit, a red dress—weren’t those exactly what the victim wore before death? Was this the victim’s clothing? Why had it appeared here?