chapter 2
Twenty years later, I went to intern at the hometown Public Security Bureau.
On the first day of reporting, the Criminal Investigation Team leader Jiang Nan assigned Old Liu, who was about to retire, to be my Master.
Old Liu was unremarkable in appearance and taciturn.
My first impression was one of disappointment.
No sooner had I acknowledged my Master than we received a 110 dispatch to a crime scene.
Master took me to the scene.
The scene was in Zhao Village.
When we arrived, almost everyone in the village, young and old, was there watching the commotion.
The two of us quickly cleared the crowd and set up the police cordon.
The deceased was the Village Party Secretary, Zhao Dahong, lying face down by the outer wall of the house.
There were no signs of a struggle at the scene.
Only a pair of shoe prints by the courtyard wall stood out as somewhat odd.
The autopsy showed the time of death was around 10 p.m. the previous night.
The fatal cause was a fall from height, with the head hitting the ground resulting in subarachnoid hemorrhage.
The deceased had consumed a large amount of baijiu before death, and the liquor contained Datura.
The person who reported the case was the village Accountant, who arrived at Zhao Dahong’s house after ten o’clock and found Zhao Dahong already dead.
Interviews with villagers revealed that Zhao Dahong had been living alone these days.
No one in the village noticed anything unusual, not even the dogs barked.
As we left the scene, there was a piece of colorful candy wrapper by the roadside.
I thought it was left by some villager who came to watch the excitement, and didn’t pay it any mind.
Master glanced at it, and his back suddenly stiffened.
My heart tightened as well.
He carefully picked it up, examined it closely, put it into the evidence bag, and said nothing.
But I saw his hand trembling uncontrollably.
At the case analysis meeting, everyone leaned toward Zhao Dahong dying from excessive drinking and accidental fall-a case of misfortune.
Master asked me, “Xiao Wu, what do you think of this case?”
I thought for a long time and said, “There are indeed some suspicious points in this case, but all of them can be reasonably explained.”
“That shoe print, though it appeared abruptly, matches the size and pattern of the deceased’s shoes, so it should have been left by Zhao Dahong himself.”
“Although there was Datura in the deceased’s body, that was because he drank medicinal liquor infused with Datura for his illness.”
“It’s also normal for the deceased to go up to the rooftop; local villagers often go up there to cool off in summer.”
“I really can’t think of any suspicious points that can’t be reasonably explained. It should be an accident.”
Master nodded and said, “You do have observational skills.”
But what happened next made me feel utterly ashamed.