operant homicide

Yan Kaifeng lives in a small bungalow next to the village post station.

Looking in through the window, the house was undoubtedly deserted.But at this time, there was a well-dressed young man standing in the dimly lit room. Opposite him was a man with the appearance of a drunkard, at most 50 years old, with greasy hair sticking to his scalp, and unclean clothes, just like this house Appears down and out and humble.

"Mr. Yan, I'm here this time to ask you something."

It can be seen that the young man has a good family education, but the class gap makes his style superior.

"excuse me, you are……"

The middle-aged man rubbed his hands awkwardly and forced a smile.

The young man glanced at him, put his hands behind his back proudly, and said unhurriedly: "My surname is Lin, Le Chengmin - he should be called this now, he is my uncle. We have been looking for him for many years, Even though it ended up like this in the end, things can't be muddled, someone said that Mr. Yan might know the inside story, so he took the liberty to come here to disturb you."

"Oh, I'm also sad about this." He already smelled the smell of profit, blinked his small eyes, and his attitude became more flattering, "but how can there be any news for a small person like me."

"Ming people don't say dark words, Mr. Yan doesn't believe that I have enough reasons to impress you?" The man took out a small stack of banknotes from his wallet, "This is just to express my heart, if you can understand the pain of the old man who lost his son in his later years , I am very grateful."

Yan Kaifeng smiled, his rosacea and thick lips expanded outwards with his expression, giving people an impression of being stupid, but not just stupid, when those eyes rolled up greedily, it was like flies chasing blood, Just like the face of a despicable villain.

"Don't dare to be, dare not be, I am so embarrassed that I have been rewarded for nothing..."

Then, the man who was open to money told him everything he knew without reservation:

"You want to know what happened to Le Chengmin, right? Let's be honest, he may have committed suicide under coercion! How do I know, hey... someone asked me to send him a letter the day before yesterday. As for What's the content... Cough, I glanced at it twice, but I said don't be angry, the letter said that he killed a girl on August 8 in order to silence her, and the turtle grandson who wrote the letter asked him to surrender, otherwise he I want to expose him. Alas, we have been enemies for decades, and we have to say that this is really nonsense. How can he be such a crazy person... Oh, who did you say sent it? I don’t know Yes, because I also found it in my pocket in a daze. I also attached 10 yuan and instructions on where to send the letter. Please forgive me on this point. I really didn’t want to hurt anyone. I thought this was It's a prank... If I really want to say it, I wonder why he committed suicide because of a fabricated threatening letter!"

The young man smiled very cultivatedly and said, "I understand, I just want to ask, is there anything I can criticize about my uncle who has lived here for so many years?"

"Oh, this..."

"Is this a difficult question?"

"He's generally a nice guy."

It is rare for Yan Kaifeng who said this to be sincere.It was true that he was a bastard, but it could not be said that he had no conscience at all.

"Indeed, there is indeed one thing, but I can't talk about it, or my old lady will be pissed off."

"It seems that I am not sincere enough."

The man in suit and leather shoes took out another stack of banknotes and put them on the table.

Yan Kaifeng licked his dry lips, his slack face was sweating and twitching constantly.

"...You, you go...to find Xu Zelin..."

"You, did you hear that? Isn't 'Xu Zelin' the father of Xu Chao?" Chang Wei was tongue-tied, "Is there something wrong with my ears? What does 'killing the mouth' mean?"

"Don't we know what happened on August 8?" Ren Chu said blankly.A thick layer of haze condensed between her brows, and she played this recording repeatedly, as if trying to dissect every syllable.

"August 8th, Xu Chao..."

Zhen Yang was at a loss for words, she said in disbelief: "You mean Uncle Le killed Xu Chao?"

Ren Chu shook his head: "Just an anonymous letter can't explain anything, so I won't mention it for now, but the connection between the two is obvious."

Everyone fell silent in unison.

Seeing that no one was talking, Lin Lan tugged on the tie impatiently and said, "Then what should we do next? Should we hand this over to the police?"

His tone sounded reluctant.

"It's all here, how can I stop."

Ren Chu said, putting the recording in his pocket.

"Zhen Yang, did anything special happen when you were with Le Mei that day?"

Zhen Yang was still in the aftertaste of shock, but she still tried her best to think.

"... Something special, right... Le Mei received something when she came back from the ancestral hall in the afternoon. She acted strangely at the time..."

——"What's weird?"

Zhen Yang was startled, raised his head, and saw Le Mei walking down the stairs with a pale face, holding on to the handrail.

"Are you investigating Uncle's death?"

The living room suddenly became dark because a cloud blocked the sun.

Zhen Yang hurriedly said: "Le Mei, you, don't be angry..."

"How can you tell that I'm angry." Le Mei laughed instead at this time.But there were still tears in the corners of her eyes, and the forced smile was obvious.

She went to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down beside them.

"Don't make a fuss, I'm not that fragile, just ask whatever you want."

Everyone was somewhat worried, and even Lin Lan started to feel guilty, and dawdled behind the burly Chang Wei.

In the end, naturally, the task of asking questions was entrusted to Ren Chu.

She started by saying: "You received a package on September NO.11, right?"

"That's right, a file bag is for my uncle, what's wrong?"

"Have you read the contents of the document?"

"No, I look that much like a voyeur?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean that... By the way, when will you give the things to uncle."

"That afternoon, around 40:[-], I received a call and went out."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yang interjected, "But I didn't notice at all..."

"At that time, you were so devoted to crying over the tragic death of the handsome hero that you probably didn't notice the insignificant things."

"Huh? Me, how can I have it!"

Ren Chu coughed lightly, and changed the topic back: "So have you seen him?"

"No, he was at a friend's house, so he asked me to put it on the window grille." After she said this lightly, she added, "I also talked to the police about this matter, but they didn't find it, I think , maybe he destroyed it after seeing it.”

"What does it mean?"

"Because I read the message." Le Mei replied calmly, "'Respectfully, Mr. Le: The matter entrusted recently has been found out, and the relevant documents are now entrusted, please check them. In addition, this matter is not related to yours. Reputation, make sure that it is not known to others', the signature is X Detective Agency, so the uncle may have the kind of secret that he does not want others to know after death."

"A secret you don't want others to know? Do you know anything?"

Le Mei shook her head: "I can only say that he is a very private person."

This answer was unexpected, but Ren Chu was still disappointed. She resisted the urge to sigh and continued to ask: "After that, have you met?"

"No."

"Well, where were you after eight o'clock last night?"

"I've been in the room."

"Who can prove it?"

"Is this the tone of interrogating the suspect?" Le Mei stared at Ren Chu with wide eyes, as if she thought the question was very funny. She said half jokingly and half sarcastically, "Anyway, I have a clear conscience. And not only me, everyone is the same, If I asked you a question, the great detective, what answer would you give?"

In short, it can’t be said that the result is very rewarding in the end, but combined with the previous investigation, Ren Chu gradually brewed an unimaginable guess. This guess is like a high-flying lark hovering in her mind. One step verification.

That evening, Ren Chu set off from the villa and walked alone towards the Xu family's ancestral house.

At this time, the smoke from the cooking has already risen from the surrounding fields, and the tired bird flies into the sky, gradually sinking into the glow.The evening breeze sweeps away the heat of the day, leaving only the sunset to warm the sweet fragrance of rice, brewing this year's harvest scene.But if you pay attention a little, you can feel that in this peaceful atmosphere, death has left a panic aftertaste, which is still lingering.The villagers gathered in twos and threes by the roadside and under the eaves, chatting in low voices, and the look of lingering fear and relish in talking about it also made the suicide incident a bit strange.

But Ren Chu didn't pay attention to these things. She lowered her head and thought deeply.

(Even Yan Kaifeng kept secret about the past, is it what I think? After Xu’s father left more than 26 years ago, he has no contact with the people here. If he is hostile or even hates the deceased, it is also an old thing. The family and the deceased had long had quarrels. Summarizing Yan Kaifeng's remarks, what the deceased did must have made the three families feel ashamed and could only keep silent. The only intersection between Xu's father and Yan's family was Xu's mother, and Xu's father specially sent her Is it just a whim? So I boldly guess that the key to this old case is Mrs. Xu. The time goes back 42 years, Mrs. Xu was in her prime at that time, and the deceased was [-] years old, also in the prime of life, and his Talent and demeanor, especially in a remote village that never sees the outside world, may be more heartbreaking. If, if...)

There was a faint sound of water flowing in her ears, and the river surface was rippling with the afterglow of the setting sun. As Linlin passed by her feet, she suddenly heard a burst of laughter, and a few children ran up not far away, and almost fell on top of her.She stepped aside and let them go first.

(It is indeed a little too much to speculate on the elders in this way, but putting aside moral concerns, this explanation is very reasonable. Why can Yan Kaifeng keep asking for money from the deceased without being rejected? Why is this money-greedy villain unwilling to reveal the scandal of his opponent? Why? Father Xu left in the year Xu Chao was born, but buried his daughter back here more than 20 years later?... This cruel answer must be confirmed by one person.)

As he was thinking about it, a car happened to back out of the alley, and the dazzling lights punctured the thought bubble unexpectedly.Ren Chu looked up and saw that the person she was looking for was in the driver's seat.

The two had only met each other not long ago, so Xu Zelin recognized her immediately. He wanted to pretend to ignore her and drive away, but the other party desperately leaned against the car window and said something that made his blood flow backwards.

He had to stop the car.The blood vessels in the corners of his eyes twitched violently, causing anxious anger to appear on his tired face.

"What's your purpose?"

"Please believe me, I only want to know the truth about her death as Xu Chao's friend."

In response to her statement, Xu Zelin remained indifferent and silent, with a very cold expression.However, his heart was far less solid than his appearance, and he left without opening his mouth, which gave Ren Chu an opportunity to take advantage of.The result can be imagined, the two confronted each other for half a quarter of an hour, Xu Zelin announced the compromise with a sigh, and as his strength relaxed, all the lines of his face collapsed, unable to form a strong barrier anymore.

"Get in the car and talk."

But then, he fell silent again, and several minutes passed like this.finally--

"That's right, you're right, I'm just Ah Chao's adoptive father."

After the secret was announced, the heaviness on his face dissipated a lot, revealing an absurd sense of calm.

"Does Xu Chao know about this?"

Hearing this question, his throat rolled and he gasped.

"I, I kept it from her... But a year ago, she still learned the truth... I protected her for 26 years, but that man... finally killed her!"

The last word fell heavily, and for a moment, his eyes were like sea water being boiled by lava.