The 80s Female Detective's Guide to Self-Preservation [Criminal Investigation] - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After finishing their meal, they waited until the suspect in the interrogation room had “cooled down” for a while before beginning the questioning.

Hou Ming raised an eyebrow at Xia Qiuyuan. “Grab the interrogation log and let’s go.”

“Me?” Xia Qiuyuan hadn’t expected to be picked for this. After all, she had only been there for a week; her seniority was non-existent.

“You’re the one who caught him, so of course you should be present.” Hou Ming didn’t elaborate. He pushed open the interrogation room door and signaled for her to hurry up.

Xia Sui winked at her. “Go on, go on! Old Hou isn’t in a good mood every day.”

“If you’re going to talk behind my back, at least lower your voice. Do you think I’m deaf?” Hou Ming grumbled.

“I’m not talking behind your back; I’m telling the truth. Why should I lower my voice for the truth?” Xia Sui replied righteously, not intimidated by him in the slightest.

Hou Ming clicked his tongue but said nothing. Once inside the interrogation room, he switched on the ceiling fan. The mechanical creak-creak filled the air. With the door closed, the room became a world of its own.

In this era, interrogations weren’t recorded on video yet. Instead, a lead and a secondary officer conducted the questioning together, serving as mutual supervision.

Xia Qiuyuan sized up the man cuffed before them. He looked disheveled and somber, sitting in a defensive, recoiled posture. His eyes were filled with a jittery fear. Based on her years of experience, Xia Qiuyuan suspected that no matter how much they pressed him, this man was likely just a petty thief. Today’s effort might have been in vain.

“Name, address, occupation, age.” Hou Ming tapped the wooden table impatiently. “Tell the truth and make it clear. I don’t have time to waste with you.”

“O-Officer, I really didn’t do it…” The man had thinning hair and a stutter. He was desperate for them to believe him. “I just… I heard someone in the village say her pigs were dead. I have a history with that woman, so I just went to watch the fun!”

“We’ll get to that later. I haven’t asked you about the pigs yet. Answer my first questions.”

The man’s lips trembled. He clutched his hair and answered. “Jin Dacheng. Born in ’35. From Xiatang Village, Lingnan. I used to be a pallbearer, but after the founding of the country, I followed my master and learned how to make coffins for the dead… I’ve been making coffins in the village ever since.”

The scent of ancient, seasoned wood is distinct from that of fresh timber. Xia Qiuyuan had once read an article about plant pheromones; while humans can’t process the exact data of plant signals like other organisms can, we aren’t entirely oblivious to them.

“Why did you go to her house and kill the pigs?”

“I didn’t kill her pigs!” Jin Dacheng nearly jumped out of his seat in anxiety, only to be yanked back by his handcuffs. “No, you have to believe me! I just went there to see the commotion!”

“You went to see the commotion, yet you bolted the moment you saw us?” Hou Ming sneered. “Do you think we brought you in here for a chat without doing any prior investigation?”

“Your son and Liang Chunhua’s son were jumped and beaten two weeks ago. What happened? Why didn’t you report it?”

Hearing this, Jin Dacheng—who had been so eager to deny the pig slaughter—suddenly acted as if he’d swallowed a mute pill. He started scratching his ears and face, keeping his mouth tightly shut.

“Your son got beaten, and you demanded compensation from Liang Chunhua. That means your son usually acts as a lackey for Liang Chunhua’s son,” Hou Ming deduced. “You didn’t dare report the beating, which means they were up to something shady.”

Hou Ming tapped the table twice. “Jin Dacheng, do you think if you stay silent, we can’t go get your son? Or should I say ‘invite’? We can invite him to assist in our investigation—there’s no problem with that.”

“Besides, his old man is sitting in a police station. Don’t we have to trouble him to come take a look?”

Jin Dacheng looked frantic, his hands twisting together. “He… he went away. He’s not at home.”

“Not at home?”

“Mhm.” Jin Dacheng nodded. “He lay in bed for three days after the beating, then he stole the money I hid in the ceiling and ran off. He left a note saying he was going out to ‘make a name for himself.'”

“Make a name for himself?” Xia Qiuyuan was speechless. “Right now, the fastest-growing economy in the country is right here in Lingnan. Everyone wants to swim across to Hong Kong. Without a letter of introduction, your son is just a vagrant.”

Jin Dacheng looked aggrieved. “I couldn’t help it! The brat took my money and ran. I couldn’t stop him!”

“And what were they doing when they gathered before? Do you know?”

He shook his head. “Officer, I really don’t know. My brat and Liang Chunhua’s dog of a son went to the same school. They both dropped out after junior high. All they do is steal chickens and dogs. I tried to get him to learn coffin-making with me, but he claimed it was ‘inauspicious’ and would bring him bad luck. Hah! If it weren’t for my craft, how does he think he’s lived so well all these years?”

Talking about his son seemed to give Jin Dacheng a vent for his frustrations. He began to weep, telling the officers how hard it was for a single father to raise a son.

“So, you killed the pigs last night?” Hou Ming pivoted back sharply.

“How could I?” Jin Dacheng’s brain lagged, and his mouth almost slipped. “It really wasn’t me. That woman and I… we’re enemies, but we aren’t that kind of enemies.”

“What does that mean?” Hou Ming narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re going to claim you two are ‘involved’?”

Jin Dacheng fidgeted in his chair for a while before cautiously looking up at them. “Officer… If the woman is willing, this doesn’t count as ‘hooliganism,’ does it?”

Hou Ming gritted his teeth and pointed at him. “That’s not our department’s concern. So, you were with Liang Chunhua last night?”

“Yes…” Jin Dacheng gave a fawning smile.

“When did you leave her house?”

“Not long after the rooster crowed…”

“Not long?” Hou Ming scoffed. “Tell the truth.”

“After breakfast… around eight o’clock, that’s when I came downstairs.”

Hou Ming asked one more thing. “Last night at Liang Chunhua’s house, did you notice anything strange?”

“Nothing at all!” Jin Dacheng answered firmly without needing to think. “After we… well, we slept very soundly. We didn’t hear a thing, Officer!”

“So the pigs really have nothing to do with me. I ran this morning only because I was afraid you’d blab about me and Liang Chunhua to the village.” Jin Dacheng rubbed his face. “Who knew this little girl looked so fragile but hit so hard? You nearly kicked the life out of me.”

Recalling the pain in his abdomen and the back of his head, he shuddered.

Hou Ming and Xia Qiuyuan shared a moment of silence. Xia Qiuyuan tapped her notebook with her pen, her eyes downcast. She drew a circle around the words: Xiatang Village.