Chapter 10: Mother

Chapter 10: Mother

"Who? Cops?" The room was quiet for a moment, followed by a jumble of noises. After a while, footsteps grew closer, and the courtyard gate creaked open. A disheveled man, bundled up in a padded jacket and pants, stood at the door.

He looked to be in his forties, his face pockmarked, and he still looked a bit groggy. However, upon seeing the uniforms of the two visitors, he snapped awake, a warm smile lighting up his face. "Oh, it really is the cops! I thought someone was pulling my leg."

Yue Lingchuan replied, "Who’d bother messing with you?"

Ma Laizi gave a couple of chuckles, pulled his clothes tighter, rubbed his hands, and asked cautiously, "So, what brings you here, officers?"

Yue Lingchuan, having seen all sorts of people, could tell right away that Ma Laizi had something to hide. He immediately said, "You know what you’ve done. Do I need to spell it out?"

Ma Laizi’s face fell. He did a bit of petty theft now and then and often leered at women on the street, but he never actually did anything. Surely that wasn’t enough to bring the cops to his door?

His smile faltered. "Oh, officers, don’t freak me out. I’m a good, law-abiding citizen."

Yue Lingchuan gave a small smile. "Whether you follow the law or not, you know best."

Ma Laizi laughed awkwardly. Yue Lingchuan said, "Alright, we’ve got a few questions for you. Be straight with us."

"Sure, sure, go ahead and ask! I’ll tell you everything I know!" He eagerly led them inside. "Officers, please come in and rest for a bit."

Yue Lingchuan glanced at Shen Qingye and followed him in.

As soon as they stepped inside, they regretted it. The room was a complete mess, with no clear space to even stand. Clothes were strewn all over the chairs and stools, and there were unwashed bowls on the table that had been sitting there for who knows how many days. If the weather got any hotter, the place would probably be swarming with flies.

Ma Laizi was about to pour tea, but Shen Qingye quickly stopped him. "No need. We just have a few questions, and we'll be on our way."

He immediately stood at attention. "Alright, go ahead and ask."

Yue Lingchuan said, "Do you know Cai Limin?"

Ma Laizi was puzzled. "Who?"

Yue Lingchuan repeated, "Cai Limin."

Ma Laizi shook his head. "I... I really don't know who that is. Is he from our village?"

Yue Lingchuan said, "The family living on the west side of the village."

Shen Qingye added, "The one who went to work at a factory in the city some years ago."

Ma Laizi suddenly understood. "Oh, oh, you mean that family—" He said, "I don't know much about them."

Yue Lingchuan frowned. "You're from the same village, and you don't know anything about him?"

Ma Laizi smiled bitterly. "Officer, you're putting me in a tough spot. We may be from the same village, but he's over ten years older than me. When he went to work at the factory, I was still a kid. After that, he hardly came back even once a year... So it's not realistic for me to say I know much about them. At most, we'd exchange greetings if we bumped into each other during the holidays..."

He added sheepishly, "And, well, my reputation isn't great. Most people in the village don't really want to associate with me."

Yue Lingchuan glanced at him. "You seem quite self-aware."

Ma Laizi chuckled. "I know my place. I don't go out of my way to annoy people."

Shen Qingye asked, "From the few interactions you've had with him, what kind of person do you think he is?"

"Well..." Ma Laizi scratched his head, uncertain. "He seemed... pretty honest, I guess. Back when he was working at the factory, he never looked down on the villagers when he came back. He was quite friendly, always smiling when he talked to people. Oh, right!"

He suddenly clapped his hands, and Yue Lingchuan and Shen Qingye perked up, focusing intently on him. Ma Laizi grinned sheepishly and said, "His wife was quite pretty."

Yue Lingchuan hesitated, "That's it?"

"That's it," Ma Laizi shrugged, "I haven't had much interaction with him."

Yue Lingchuan closed his eyes, a sense of helplessness washing over him.

Shen Qingye pressed further, "You said his wife is pretty? Have you seen her?"

Ma Laizi said, "Yes, I've seen her a couple of times when they came back for the New Year."

Shen Qingye nodded, "What about their son, Cai Chengyong, do you know him?"

"Cai... Chengyong?" Ma Laizi's eyes momentarily flickered, then he shook his head with a smile, "I know even less about him; we're not of the same generation."

Shen Qingye locked eyes with him, "Really don't know? Think carefully before you respond."

Ma Laizi swallowed hard, his smile unchanged, "Really don't know, officer, why would I deceive you?"

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged a glance and said nothing more. Yue Lingchuan nodded, "Alright, we understand."

He rose to his feet, "Cai Chengyong is a suspect in a major case we're investigating. The provincial authorities are deeply invested in this case and have promised a reward of two thousand yuan (approximately $300) for any real and effective leads."

Ma Laizi's eyes widened in surprise, "How much?"

Yue Lingchuan enunciated each word clearly, "Two thousand yuan."

Ma Laizi gulped, his eyes lighting up, "Really?"

Yue Lingchuan smiled, "Recently, someone provided a critical lead and was directly rewarded five thousand yuan by the bureau. Why would I lie to you about such things?"

Ma Laizi instantly went quiet.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his fingers nervously picking at the old quilt, his gaze wandering and flickering, clearly distracted.

Yue Lingchuan chose not to press him further but took out a pen and paper from his pocket, swiftly jotting down a series of numbers, "This is my contact information. If you recall any details, don't hesitate to contact me anytime."

He looked into his eyes, "Provided the information is genuine and useful, the reward will only be more, not less."

Ma Laizi extended his hand to take the paper, managing a forced smile, "Then, I'll think about it again, haha, officer, I'll think about it again."

Yue Lingchuan said, "You're welcome to call anytime."

Once they had left Ma Laizi's house, Shen Qingye gazed at the open space ahead and let out a sigh, "He wasn't telling the truth."

"Indeed," Yue Lingchuan said, "In rural communities, it's a close-knit society, where people are concerned about saving face. If it involves themselves, it's even more troublesome."

Shen Qingye asked him, "So, Captain Yue, which type do you think Ma Laizi is?"

"Me? I think he's the second type."

Shen Qingye said, "What a coincidence, I think so too."

The two smiled at each other, and Shen Qingye looked into the distance again, "It seems there's no one here anymore, shall we go back?"

Yue Lingchuan glanced at the time, "Alright, the Trace Examination Unit has been here for a while, let's see what results they've come up with."

-

Two or three cars were parked in front of Cai Limin's house, the commotion also drew the attention of the villagers. Combined with the police going door to door asking questions earlier, everyone had some thoughts, gathering together and whispering.

Yue Lingchuan pushed through the crowd and saw Zhou Qiming and Jiang Cheng standing at the gate of the yard. When they saw him, they stepped forward, "Captain Yue."

Yue Lingchuan asked, "Did you uncover any leads?"

Zhou Qiming and Jiang Cheng exchanged glances and shook their heads. "The Cai Limin family rarely comes back and doesn't interact much with the villagers. We've made inquiries but haven't uncovered any useful leads. How about you?"

Yue Lingchuan briefly explained their situation and then asked, "How's Captain Xu's investigation going?"

Zhou Qiming shrugged. "He was just berating us, accusing us of contaminating the scene and not allowing us to stay, claiming we were in the way. He's just venting his frustration on us."

"You always talk behind my back," a cold voice rang out as soon as Zhou Qiming finished speaking.

Shen Qingye looked towards the source of the voice and saw a tall man in a white coat walking out of the house.

He removed his mask, revealing a strikingly handsome face with well-defined features.

He gave Zhou Qiming a disdainful look and said to Yue Lingchuan, "We've nearly completed processing the walls. Come in and take a look."

The group followed him inside.

Xu Yanting stood in front of the wall and said, "We've conducted a thorough examination of the wall, but it's clear the killer intentionally smoothed the surface. Combined with the natural color of the mud wall, nothing is visible to the naked eye. We had to use Luminol reagent, a chemical used to detect blood traces, to reveal the bloodstains left on the wall."

He took the camera from a forensic analyst and said, "This is the wall's reaction to the Luminol reagent."

The group leaned in to look, and Xu Yanting continued, "Although the blood residue is minimal, based on these reactions, we can confirm that a homicide occurred in front of this wall."

He pointed to the wall and said, "The area you just identified is relatively low, with bloodstains concentrated in this small section. There are also some blood splatter marks around it, and this spot is slightly more indented compared to the surrounding areas. We believe the victim was likely lying face down, struggling to escape, when the killer grabbed their neck and repeatedly smashed their head against the wall, leaving these marks."

He then pointed to another area of bloodstains and said, "And here, although it's not very obvious, based on the reagent's reaction, we reasonably speculate that this might be a bloody handprint. It's possible that the victim, while struggling, got blood on their hands and tried to grip the wall to escape."

Shen Qingye's lips tightened, and her expression turned grim.

Xu Yanting pointed to a nearby area marked with white tape and continued, "To confirm our hypothesis, we also examined this section of the floor. At the intersection of the wall and floor, as well as in this nearby area, we discovered a significant amount of bloodstains."

"In addition, there are also bloodstains on the higher part of the wall, though much less compared to here and more concentrated. This could indicate the victim was standing close to the wall when the killer struck."

He concluded, "Currently, there are only these two areas on the wall with significant bloodstains. The rest are just blood splatter marks. The bloodstains you found earlier under the table and other places are also from splattering or being flung."

The room fell silent for a moment before Yue Lingchuan spoke up, "These bloodstains don't appear to be significant."

Xu Yanting nodded. "Yes, the bloodstains discovered in the room are indeed minimal. So we suspect that either the victim didn't die, or the cause of death didn't result in massive bleeding."

Jiang Cheng said, "For example, strangled to death? Or suffocated?"

Xu Yanting nodded. "That's a plausible scenario."

Zhou Qiming smirked. "At least it's an improvement over his son..."

Xu Yanting ignored him and looked at Yue Lingchuan, asking, "By the way, have you identified the victim? Have Qin Yilang's findings been released yet?"

Yue Lingchuan said, "It should be any moment now..."

Before he could finish, his phone rang. Yue Lingchuan looked down and saw it was Wei Zhengyi, their colleague.

He felt a stir in his heart and said to Xu Yanting, "The results are in."

He answered the call, "Brother Zhengyi, are the results out?"

"The results are in!" Wei Zhengyi's voice on the other end was excited but also grave. "Captain Qin successfully isolated female DNA from the bloodstain samples we collected. However, the results indicate that this DNA doesn't match any of the previously identified victims. Instead, it matches Cai Chengyong's DNA with a 99.99% match rate."

He stated gravely, "We can confirm that the deceased is Lv Xiuqin, Cai Chengyong's mother."