Chapter 284

"I haven't slept properly in ages, so let's keep it normal."

"Please, no more deaths, seriously no more deaths. If anyone else dies, I'll start to doubt it."

"Mm, I think we should still pay our respects, but Master Liu's faith is a bit muddled — I don't know if these people would be willing."

At that moment, several trainees got up and came over. Old Liu said, "Come on, I'll tell you something different today. The cases we've been chasing lately have all been way too big — let's switch to some smaller ones and give them a try."

The few of them nodded.

Each of them holding a file, he said, "Go look for yourselves. These are some simple cases I got from Old Song — theft cases, prostitution cases, robbery cases, that sort of thing. Look into them."

"Huh, do prostitution cases need a forensic examiner too?"

Old Liu said, "Not exactly. The person died during the act, and the client ran off."

?????

"Murder?"

Murder my ass.

Old Liu said, "It's not murder, it's sudden death."

??????

Wait, no — damn, a cart wheel just suddenly appeared right in front of my face.

At this point, Qu Yiling said, "I saw the news before — an old man went to visit a prostitute, and then he suddenly died. But here, the one who suddenly died was the girl."

"Every day it's different, and based on our deduction, this woman took on about fifteen clients that day."

Tch.

Chen Fan looked up at Qu Yiling. No — what exactly does that 'tch' of yours mean?

Chen Ti and Xu Xintong both looked at Qu Yiling.

"Fifteen isn't enough either — don't you guys always like to brag that you last for hours?"

Xu Xintong and Chen Ti immediately shut their mouths. Hey, that hurts, okay?

Chen Fan said, "Don't look at me — I'm very well-endowed. I'm not, I haven't, you're talking nonsense, Teacher. This girl is attacking me personally — this is a personal attack."

At that moment, Old Song walked in sipping milk tea and said, "Alright, cut it out. Here — milk tea on me."

Chen Fan looked at the milk tea and said, "Your daughter bought it, didn't she."

"How did you know? Damn you, kid — have you been chatting with my daughter behind my back?"

'I haven't, stop making stuff up, how could I. Besides, if you're here, it can't be anything good.'

Old Song pulled out a file and said, "Here — a food poisoning case. You guys investigate. This case, tsk tsk tsk, has quite a story to it. If it blows up, it'll be hard to wrap up."

Food poisoning?

Chen Fan said, "Isn't that the food regulation department's job?"

Old Song said, "Because someone died from the poisoning, so the police took over the case. Get it? The body is on the way now — just wait."

Soon, the body was delivered — a little girl, probably around fifth grade by her age.

And the instant he saw the child, Chen Fan's fists clenched involuntarily.

"So — what exactly do you want me to do with this?"

"The school cafeteria says this girl's death had nothing to do with the food — the girl was physically frail to begin with, and the death was from some other cause. The parents insist it was poisoning. So we need to figure out exactly how this child died."

Old Liu sighed and said, "Alright then, I'll do it."

"It's fine, I'll do it, Teacher."

Old Liu said, "Are you sure you can handle it?"

Chen Fan said helplessly, "Mm, don't worry — I can handle it. It's nothing."

Old Liu nodded.

The little girl was brought to the operating table. Chen Fan picked up the scalpel. This time, Chen Fan was very serious — more accurately, he had slowed down.

He looked at the girl, took a deep breath, and only then began to cut.

Fresh blood flowed out. Chen Fan set down the scalpel and put his hand in.

Chen Fan frowned and said, "Good news and bad news — which one do you want to hear first?"

Old Song said, "Just say it already — the parents are waiting right outside."

"The good news is, you've got a new case — go arrest someone directly. The bad news is, this girl's cause of death might not have anything to do with the school cafeteria, though that bad news is only fifty percent certain."

"Reason."

"The girl's lungs are black."

?????

Old Song understood instantly.

The man was brought in. The onlookers all wore blank expressions. The man looked at his daughter's body.

"Tell me — is your house a gambling den? Explain it clearly."

"No, no, we don't gamble."

"Still not going to admit it? How about I go ask around your neighborhood?"

"It's just some friends getting together to play mahjong, that's all."

Chen Fan looked up, glanced over, and said, "The girl's cause of death is provisionally determined to be acute respiratory failure. As for the trigger, we still need to determine that. But you need to admit — you bear some responsibility too. These lungs are the result of long-term secondhand smoke. At your house — you and your wife both play mahjong, right?"

The man sighed and said, "Usually we just host the games. The wins and losses are kept to a few hundred yuan — we just play along. But every day these people give us some extra money on the side — it's like a fee for us. Overall, we make a decent amount in a month. My wife and I don't play for big stakes."

After speaking, the man rolled up his pant leg and said, "One of my legs was broken before — it's a prosthetic now, I can't do other work. But with the compensation money, I opened a little shop and set aside a room inside for everyone to play mahjong. I know secondhand smoke is bad — I told my daughter to stay in another room, but... the kid would pass through sometimes and still catch some of it."

Old Song said, "Then where's your wife?"

"My wife has hypoglycemia — she can't handle that much physical labor. It's a chronic condition from childbirth. We were poor back then, and she didn't do her confinement properly."

In the room, everyone fell silent.

The man vowed solemnly, "I guarantee I give my child the best. I admit, running the mahjong table earns me a good sum, but for my child's tuition and food expenses, I pay the school ten thousand yuan a year."

Ten thousand yuan is quite a lot. Honestly, that's only for one lunch, and on holidays and such, she doesn't eat at school anyway.

Chen Fan was speechless and immediately picked up the scalpel.

He cut open the stomach contents, took them out, compared them carefully, and said, "This isn't quite right. Is your daughter allergic to peanuts?"

"Yes, yes, yes, my daughter is allergic to peanuts. I told the cafeteria staff and informed the teacher. The teacher said they would pay attention, and the cafeteria would too."

Chen Fan and Old Song exchanged glances.

Old Song said, "Don't rush to cry. Let me ask you, who else knows your daughter is allergic to peanuts?"

The man replied, "Quite a few people know. Since some children bring things for my daughter to eat, I mentioned this in the parents' group chat. Everyone expressed understanding; every child has their own allergies, it's not a big deal. Everyone agreed to remind their own children."

Old Song pondered and asked, "Before, did you have any arguments with anyone in the parents' group?"

The man recalled, "Yes. A few days ago, a little boy bit my daughter's arm. That brat sent my daughter a love letter. My daughter told me, I told the teacher. My daughter is only in fifth grade; how can she be in a relationship so early? Then we contacted the other boy's parents. They apologized to us in front of me and even slapped their own son several times..."

Chen Fan put down the scalpel, looked at the food, and said, "Your daughter's cause of death was triggered by peanuts. However, the food in her stomach tells me that even without the peanuts, your daughter might still have had an incident. Her lungs are quite fragile. So, food poisoning would lower the body's defenses. Normally, an allergic reaction takes time to develop, but this was too fast. The food poisoning played a part."

"What do you mean?"

Chen Fan said, "What I found was the ingredients of peanut milk, yet peanut milk contains no peanuts. That is common knowledge."

"W-why did you ask me about my daughter's peanut allergy?"

"I found the peanut milk, and I also found peanut residue."

?????

Was this a double poisoning?

Instantly, the man flew into a rage, ready to kill someone.

Old Song restrained the man.

They went to the school to check the surveillance cameras and search for video evidence. Soon, they found what they needed.

The evidence was clear: the boy had given the little girl peanuts and peanut milk as an apology gift.

This boy was the very child whose father had beaten him back then.

However, whether the child intentionally harmed someone or not remains unknown; that requires interrogation.

But the parents in the group chat all knew about this child's peanut allergy and had told their own children.

So, did this child know or not?

The answer is naturally that he knew, because the child not only prepared peanut milk but also prepared peanuts.

The peanut milk was given in the morning, and the peanuts were given at noon.

If they had been given together, one could claim it was a lie, but since they were given twice, it was no longer just a lie.

In the observation room, Sister Yuanyuan said, "I never thought a child could be so vengeful."