Chapter Fifty-Six: Simulating the Scene!

Old Lin asked, “How did you get hold of the victim’s belongings?”
Lai San’er only grinned slyly in response.
The chief, anxious, said, “Old Lin, you won’t get anything out of him with questions like that. Why don’t you let me have a go?”
Naturally, Old Lin understood the chief’s meaning. But even as a psychological expert, Old Lin was at his wits’ end with this rascal, so he could only nod in agreement.
The chief gave a cold, forced smile and waved his hand. “Guys, give me a hand.”
At his signal, several officers who had been watching came over and lifted Lai San’er up. His legs were already broken, the muscles badly necrotized, and he looked at the chief with terror. “What… what do you want?”
The chief returned with a pair of pliers. “For every question I ask, you answer. If you don’t, I’ll pull out all your teeth first, then your fingernails. If you still won’t talk, I’ll rip out your tongue.”
Evil must be curbed by evil. Though it was clear the chief was only threatening him—torture is illegal—Lai San’er was terrified and stammered, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! I killed the child. I’d wanted him for a long time, but never had the chance.”
Old Lin was puzzled how Lai San’er had gotten those clothes, but Lai San’er claimed he’d found them in a trash bin.
I was bewildered as well, since those clothes were crucial evidence and I’d kept them on my desk.
We began an investigation immediately and concluded that someone must have thrown them out while cleaning. Upon inquiry, we learned it was the chief’s mother who had been “volunteering to clean the station for free.”
Old Lin said, “Could we call the old lady? I’d like to know why such important evidence was thrown out during cleaning.”
The chief quickly replied, “Of course, I’ll call her right away and have her come here!”
Soon, the chief’s mother arrived. She was dressed well and looked quite prosperous—not like someone who did manual labor at all.
Old Lin thanked her for her years of free service cleaning the station on behalf of all the officers.
The old lady grew embarrassed and waved her hands. “It’s nothing, really.”
Old Lin continued, “When you were cleaning the forensic room, did you throw out a swimsuit and a red dress?”
She replied, “Yes. You all asked me to clean, and when I arrived, the station was already pretty tidy. But that room seemed dirty, so I went in and cleaned it again.”
“Where were the swimsuit and red dress when you cleaned?”
“Under the table,” she said. “Some brat must have tossed them there.”
I asked, “There was a corpse in the forensic room. Weren’t you afraid?”
The old lady was stunned. “What? There was a corpse? I didn’t see one.”
“It was under the table.”

“Ah!” Her face turned pale. “The thing under the white sheet was a corpse? What is that room used for?”
The chief hurried over. “It’s nothing, Mom. That was just the neighbor’s dog. You got yourself all worked up for nothing.”
She let out a breath. “Young man, you nearly scared me to death. I thought it was a person.”
We immediately realized the gravity of this discovery. How could the clothes have ended up under the table? It had to mean someone had entered the forensic lab before.
We asked around and learned it was Xiao Li who had been inside.
He’d gone in to retrieve something: a few days ago, while on duty, his wife had visited and accidentally left behind a box of condoms.
Another lead, broken.
In the end, we could only make an objective analysis: the wind most likely blew the clothes down. Regardless, outsiders would no longer be allowed into the forensic lab, and we collected all the keys.
So, Lai San’er couldn’t possibly have entered the forensic lab, effectively clearing him as a suspect. The chief, however, was still dissatisfied, insisting the boy’s grandmother had named Lai San’er as the killer.
Old Lin replied, “I’ve said before, we can’t rely on the subjective judgment of the victim’s family. Besides, the grandmother only said Lai San’er had been close to the child recently; she never witnessed him killing her grandson.”
The chief grumbled but insisted on detaining Lai San’er for further questioning.
After careful thought, Old Lin disagreed with the chief’s plan. He decided to release Lai San’er, with the condition that he remain in the village.
Just as we were about to let him go, Lai San’er suddenly declared he knew who the killer was.
Our nerves, which had just relaxed, snapped taut again.
The chief exploded in anger, accusing Lai San’er of sowing confusion. Old Lin merely signaled for Lai San’er to continue.
Lai San’er laughed and claimed the chief was the murderer, driving the chief to the brink of violence.
“I have evidence!” Lai San’er jeered. “Are you nervous, chief?”
Old Lin sighed, recognizing the obvious false accusation. He didn’t pursue it further and waved his hand. “Let him go. We need to visit the crime scene.”
Lai San’er protested, “I really do know! Just because I’m disabled, you don’t trust me?”
Old Lin ignored him and led us out. Once in the car, I asked, “Old Lin, are you sure? I think Lai San’er might know something.”
Old Lin explained, “If what Lai San’er says implicates the chief, we can’t convict the chief based on a madman’s word. And if Lai San’er talks, the chief might silence him for good. For his own sake, it’s better not to let him speak.”
Li Hong added, “Even if he says nothing, if the chief really is the killer, he’ll silence Lai San’er anyway.”
Old Lin nodded. “That’s why I’m counting on you tonight. Keep watch on Lai San’er. If the culprit acts, it’ll be tonight.”

Li Hong agreed. “Don’t worry, Old Mo.”
We arrived at the crime scene, where a sizable crowd had gathered. Pushing through, we entered the narrow alley.
Old Lin suggested, “Why not do a reenactment? We might discover clues we’d otherwise miss.”
Li Hong nodded. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Old Lin replied, “It would be better with a child. You’re too tall to accurately simulate all the factors.”
Tang Jingjing hesitated. “I doubt any parent would let their child participate in reenacting such a bizarre death. Rural people are very superstitious—they’d think it would bring misfortune.”
Li Hong nodded. “We’ll have to use an animal, then—a dog or a monkey perhaps.”
Tang Jingjing frowned, but Old Lin reassured her, promising no harm would come to the animal.
In the end, Li Hong fetched the station’s only police dog. With a handler present, there was no risk the dog would attack.
The handler, wincing with pity, tied the dog’s four legs and fastened a rope around its neck, then hoisted it up.
The dog immediately struggled, whimpering and thrashing, its body swinging and its paws clawing at the opposite wall.
Suddenly, a realization struck me and I shouted for them to stop.
The handler hurried to lower the dog, soothing it gently.
I cried, “Old Lin, if the boy was murdered, he would have fought back! He’d have cried out and instinctively kicked the wall for support.”
“At that distance, a boy of his age and strength could keep himself up for three or four hours. In that time, he could have shouted for help—someone would have heard!”
Old Lin nodded. “And then?”
“Maybe the boy couldn’t make a sound. And every time he braced himself against the wall, some external force caused him to slip. That means, during his desperate struggle, the killer was right there, watching and sneering, until the boy finally suffocated and died…”
“Why couldn’t the boy call out?” Old Lin asked.
“Maybe his mouth was stuffed,” I replied after a moment.
Old Lin nodded.
“The suspect was likely standing right here,” Li Hong said, “maybe smoking, savoring the boy’s final agony, using cigarettes and liquor to heighten the thrill.”