Aoba Office

Following these words, Ma Yibing expressed his bitterness: "Do you know how Zhang Shanmei was hanged? Oh, the girl who died was Zhang Shanmei. She was very famous in our school. She was very competitive and liked to be in the limelight. She debuted in the competition very early. She acted in some TV dramas and played small supporting roles, but many girls didn't like her."

Li Ruolan snorted, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Oh, oh, let's get down to business." Ma Yibing came back to his senses.

"This is the office of the demolition office." Chen Xiaoqiu reminded.

Ma Yibing was at a loss.

"Okay, it's time to get off work. Let's find a place to eat and talk." I could see that Ma Yibing was really distressed. After not seeing each other for a weekend, he had lost a lot of weight and his cheeks were sunken. I sympathize with a handsome young man doing this.

Ma Yibing said he wanted to treat us, how could we, a group of adults, be embarrassed? Li Ruolan didn't have that kind of pressure and was a bit arrogant. It was obvious that she still remembered Ma Yibing's revenge for "knowing but not avenging".

The fat man reconciled and chose a cheap fast food restaurant.

Ma Yibing smiled gratefully.

"Tell me, what's going on?" The thin man said in a bad tone while holding the vegetables, but he still gave Ma Yibing a step.

"The rope that hung Zhang Shanmei belonged to our drama club." Ma Yibing looked in pain, poking at the grains of rice with his chopsticks, not even in the mood to eat.

"Is it something from your drama club again?" the thin man complained.

Ma Yibing drooped his head, "It's a prop from our drama club. Another drama of our drama club is based on the war in Europe in the 18th century. There is a hanging scene in it, and this prop is used."

Guo Yujie couldn't believe it, "What are your drama clubs doing?"

"The script is very good. It explores social issues at that time. The noose prop is actually a slipknot. If it is really used for hanging, the person will definitely fall. There are other safety measures in that scene." Ma Yibing gestured to his lower back, " A safety rope will be tied here. When the person falls, the safety rope will hang on, and the noose around the neck will not be strenuous. Just like "Big Family", after so long, there were no accidents in that scene."

"The murderer used the rope from your drama club but tied it into a new knot?" asked the thin man.

"That's right."

"Is the school going to hold you responsible for poor storage?" Fatty guessed.

In this case, the drama club is really unfair. It’s just a rope, so you don’t necessarily need to lock the inside of the safe, right? Besides, the murderer didn't need the drama club's rope, he could have found other ropes to kill Zhang Shanmei. If an accident occurred during the rehearsal of a drama and a student hanged himself, it could still be said to be the responsibility of the drama club. It would be unreasonable to hold people responsible for this situation now.

The school is not as unreasonable as we thought.

Ma Yibing shook his head, "It's not the school that's holding me accountable, it's me who's afraid."

"What are you afraid of?" The thin man was amused. "The rope is already a murder weapon, right? Can the police return it to your drama club?"

Ma Yibing's face turned pale.

Li Ruolan asked: "Will the police come back?"

The five of us adults were stunned.

"Have the police returned the rope to you?" I asked in disbelief, "This case has just been solved and the verdict has not yet been heard, right?"

Ma Yibing and Li Ruolan were a little panicked.

"In the morning, a policeman came and returned the rope to our drama club. I also asked, and he said that he had taken photos and kept evidence, so there was no need for this." Ma Yibing explained.

"Are you sure you saw the police? Did you show your ID?" I continued to ask.

"It's the police. Even the police who came yesterday showed their IDs." Ma Yibing became nervous, "I was scared after receiving this thing! I want you to dispose of that rope as well."

This is so unreasonable.

"Okay, let's eat first. After we finish eating, I'll go to school with you to have a look." I made my decision.

We quickly filled our bellies and went to drama school together.

The atmosphere in the college is still a bit depressing and frightening, and there are not many smiling faces that I saw when I came last week.

When we arrived at the drama club, Ma Yibing opened a cabinet and showed us the hemp rope.

The hemp rope was placed in the police evidence bag and had no special smell.

I opened the bag, looked at it carefully to make sure there was nothing unusual, and shook my head at the others.

Chen Xiaoqiu contacted her brother-in-law on the way here and asked him to inquire about the news. At this time, she received a call.

"Follow the normal procedures and return the physical evidence to the owner." Chen Xiaoqiu glanced at Ma Yibing, "However, such things are generally not returned on purpose."

It's not a valuable treasure. If no one comes to apply to take it back, the rope should be stored in a special place with other physical evidence and destroyed regularly, instead of being returned to the drama club before the case is decided.

"I really don't feel anything." I sighed and put the hemp rope back into the bag, "Well, I'll take it to Qingye to have a look."

Ma Yibing nodded like garlic.

We hurried to the Drama Academy and didn’t stay long before heading to the Sixth Village of Workers and Peasants without stopping.

Li Ruolan came here for the first time and asked questions.

I asked them to wait and went to the office to ask.

The office was still the same as before. I put the hemp rope on the coffee table and narrated the whole incident. I didn't get any reaction from Aoba, so I had to go downstairs.

"How is it?" Ma Yibing waited impatiently.

"No. It's probably nothing. Stop thinking about it." I comforted Ma Yibing.

Ma Yibing was dubious, but had no better way, so he had to accept this reality uneasily.

"Well, Brother Qi, this thing..." Ma Yibing mumbled and pointed at the hemp rope.

"Okay, just leave it here with me."

Ma Yibing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't destroy it in a hurry yet." Chen Xiaoqiu reminded.

The most important murder weapon was actually returned before the case was settled, which was somewhat strange.

I nodded in agreement, went back to Qingye, and deposited the rope in the office. I reassured Ma Yibing that there was nothing wrong with this thing, but I didn't dare to leave it with me. It would be most reassuring to leave it in the office.

This matter took a long time. It was already late when I got home. I was questioned by my parents and sister for a long time. They thought I had a girlfriend the last few nights I came home and had no idea I was hunting ghosts. I sighed in my heart, took care of my family, and went to sleep.

I didn't sleep well that night. I dreamed several times of Zhang Shanmei falling from the top of the stage. In real life, I was sitting in the back row of the theater and couldn't see Zhang Shanmei's face clearly, but in my dream, I could clearly see Zhang Shanmei's face, frightened and ferocious, with her mouth open and tongue hanging out. In the short gap between the fall of the stage support and the tightening of the hemp rope, I saw her open her mouth and say something, but I couldn't hear or recognize the lip language. After several attempts, her neck was broken. The sound interrupted.

When the sky was dark, I felt a ray of morning light shining on my eyelids. The light seemed to shine into my brain and project into my dream.

The spotlight illuminated the stage, and Zhang Shanmei suddenly appeared in the light. After falling, the rope was tightened, and her body bounced and swayed. I have to say, this feels like a complete success. The "click" sound when the cervical vertebrae were pulled apart also became a subtle embellishment.

"Perfect."

In my dream, I heard a man’s deep laughter. It didn’t belong to me or the people sitting around me at the time. It was extremely unfamiliar.

I suddenly woke up.