Chapter 206: Bangeng's exercise book was left at the scene of the incident

At the same time Yi Zhonghai was lodging a complaint to the two comrades.

Liu Jianguo was inside the deaf old lady's room in the backyard.

But he unexpectedly made an astonishing discovery.

During the inspection, he discovered that under the deaf old lady's bed lay an exercise book that nobody knew who had thrown there, leaning crookedly against the bed leg; just moments ago, everyone had been stunned by the deaf old lady's tragic death, their thoughts and energy focused on her corpse, leaving no spare strength to attend to anything else, so they had not noticed this exercise book wedged in the gap between the bed leg and the wall.

Had Liu Jianguo not, feeling like vomiting again, unintentionally bent over, he probably would not have discovered this exercise book.

He felt a sudden thought.

He thought it might be useful.

He greeted his master.

"Master, look, there is something here."

Including Liu Jianguo, there were four comrades in the room.

Everyone turned their gaze in the direction Liu Jianguo was pointing.

Don't mention it.

There really is something.

"Jianguo, be careful when you take it out."

"Master, please go ahead and look."

Under the master's indication.

Liu Jianguo grabbed this exercise book in his hand.

The comrades saw, on the cover, the crookedly written two characters 'Jia Geng'!

Instantly they stared at each other in dismay.

During the earlier visit.

They knew that the Jia family had a boy nicknamed Bangeng, whose formal name was Jia Geng.

Why did they have an impression specifically of Bangeng?

It stemmed from the neighbors, while reporting, unintentionally uttering a few complaints related to Bangeng.

They said that if the comrades came to the Siheyuan every day to stir up trouble, the little thief saint Bangeng, who disturbed the peace of the four neighbors, would become much more honest.

Years of professional habit.

It let the comrades immediately form a clear understanding of Bangeng.

Stealing things.

Also stealing things all over the Siheyuan.

It's not that they haven't seen children who steal; children stealing is not frightening, and beating them with a stick teaches them that stealing is wrong and comes with a certain cost.

Some children who steal, after being beaten a few times, become honest and no longer engage in petty theft.

It made the comrades feel something unbelievable.

It is that, knowing Bangeng had a habit of petty theft, his grandmother Jia Zhangshi ignored it and even somewhat indulged him, and his mother Qin Huairu also turned a blind eye, showing a laissez-faire attitude.

Is it the paternal grandmother?

Is it the birth mother?

Bangeng's petty theft, perhaps previously a nuisance despised by people and dogs, but now, in the eyes of several comrades, it is an expression of a clue.

The exercise book before them bore the two characters 'Jia Geng'.

It gave them a deep feeling of seeing the sun after the clouds part.

The dust accumulated under the bed formed a stark contrast with the cleanliness of the exercise book.

The comrades saw the teacher's latest comments and date on the exercise book.

It was yesterday.

An exercise book that the teacher had finished grading only yesterday was discovered this morning at the scene where the deaf old lady died.

It is quite obvious.

This exercise book was lost in the deaf old lady's room last night.

Based solely on this exercise book bearing the name Jia Geng, one cannot conclude that Jia Geng is the murderer who killed the deaf old lady, or that Jia Geng has an indirect connection to her death.

The long night.

More than ten hours.

Bangeng's exercise book could have appeared in the deaf old lady's room at any time during that period.

It also cannot be certain that this person is Bangeng.

It could be that someone else deliberately did it.

"Frame-up!"

This is the view of some comrades, who believe that although Bangeng constantly engages in petty theft, he would certainly not massacre the deaf old lady.

A child under ten years old.

Could he possibly have done such a thing?

Another group of comrades holds the opposite view; in their understanding, this exercise book bearing the name Jia Geng has already proven that it was left in the room on the night the deaf old lady died.

Why did Bangeng's exercise book end up in the deaf old lady's room? Or did it appear there on the night of her death?

This in itself is highly suspicious.

Bangeng is a thief.

This is beyond doubt.

A thief despised by the Siheyuan neighbors could very well have massacred the deaf old lady.

The reasons given.

It has a certain logic.

Bangeng saw Long Laotaitai being struck by Yi Zhonghai, his body could barely take it; possibly under Jia Zhangshi's instigation, possibly under Qin Huairu's direction, Bangeng sneaked into Long Laotaitai's room under cover of night to steal, but was discovered by Long Laotaitai; fearing she would call for help, he carelessly caused this enormous disaster.

There is an essential difference.

They believed that Bangeng unintentionally killed Long Laotaitai.

The evidence is here.

The witness is here.

They took Bangeng back for questioning.

Just a kid.

He has never seen a big scene.

Try to deceive.

Try to intimidate.

Confess without being beaten.

The case was then closed.

……

The Yi family.

Yi Zhonghai's complaint yielded no substantive result at all.

The two young policemen, using the fact that Yi Zhonghai dared not enter Long Laotaitai's room as grounds, demanded an explanation from him.

Yi Zhonghai, without thinking, bluntly replied that his not entering Long Laotaitai's room was neither out of guilt nor fear.

He realized that Long Laotaitai's death might have been accidental.

If he had gone in.

It would have amounted to destroying the primary crime scene.

It would not be conducive to the comrades' investigation and verification of the case.

Such an explanation.

This obviously failed to convince the two comrades.

The younger one.

Shifting his tone, he asked Yi Zhonghai about what happened last night.

"Can you tell me what you were doing last night?"

It seemed an ordinary question.

But it actually carried another meaning.

Yi Zhonghai's heart.

In an instant it rose to his throat.

"Comrade, I was sleeping."

"You were sleeping all night?"

"Comrade, I can prove that our family's Lao Yi returned home, still angry, saying that Long Laotaitai had cut off the Yi family's incense, making Lao Yi unable to face the Yi family's ancestors in the future; I comforted him with a few words, and as for what happened afterward, we two really don't know, just as Lao Yi just said—if we had known Long Laotaitai would die at night, nothing of what happened during the day would have occurred, and I wouldn't even mention the child's affair."

"Then let's stop questioning here."

"Is that it, then we leave?"

"We still need to go check the rear courtyard." The older comrade unexpectedly invited Yi Zhonghai: "You, Yi Zhonghai, are the Head Steward of the Siheyuan; by seniority you rank first; since such a major incident has occurred in the courtyard, as Head Steward you cannot, by reason and sentiment, stand idly by; I have thought it over, and you, as the Head Steward, must take the lead in handling Long Laotaitai's aftermath."

Ostensibly discussing.

Actually it is an order.

It leaves Yi Zhonghai no room for doubt whatsoever.

Even though Yi Zhonghai panicked inside, after the two comrades' repeated invitations he had no choice but to steel himself and follow them to the rear courtyard.

The neighbors, already jumpy at every sound and movement.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai follow the two comrades toward the rear courtyard.

In an instant their minds were filled with imagined monsters.

They began to mutter wildly to themselves.