Three Graves 08
Since he didn’t discover the third body under the tree, that means he doesn’t fully understand the situation. That also means his suspicion has decreased significantly.
Except, he can say that, but the worry in his heart has not decreased at all.
Under the banyan tree, what was originally a busy scene, once again came to a halt.
Not just the leader, Jiang Chao, but every officer on scene felt their skin crawl. Three bodies under one tree, what could it mean?
It means they might have stumbled upon a huge case.
Two officers squat down to start helping the forensic expert, cleaning the dirt on top of the third body. Jiang Chao ordered everyone else to start doing a blanket search around the forest. If they found any sign of disturbed dirt, then they should start digging immediately.
After distributing tasks, he once again looked towards Lin Chen. His eyes rolled slightly, then he swallowed: “I say, Ol’ Xing, you guys aren’t in a rush to get home today, right? How about staying an extra two days?” He pulled on Xing Cong Lian and graciously offered him a cigarette. He then felt that the complaint by the old man sure was well timed. Otherwise, how else would he have the opportunity to invite them back to help with the investigation?
The news about the huge case at Yong Chuan College, as if it sprouted wings, rapidly flew back to the police station.
Because of it, once Lin Chen had been “brought in” to the police station, it occurred to him that every officer in the office looked at him with a weird expression. If he were to describe what “weird” meant, he would say it’s enthusiastic, or maybe earnest?
Lin Chen suddenly couldn’t quite understand the situation.
His hand was being held tightly by Vice Captain Jiang, while Vice Captain Jiang’s other hand was slung around Xing Cong Lian’s shoulders, and gave the impression that he wouldn’t let go, even in death.
It was obvious that Jiang Chao’s office had just been cleaned. There was a new trash bag in the trash can, and the floor had streaks from being just mopped.
There were two seats placed specially in front of the desk, the kind with the soft backs, while on the table, there were two freshly poured cups of hot tea. The tea leaves were very new and very green, and the tea itself was light and pleasant.
Lin Chen glanced at Xing Cong Lian, wanting to get some sort of signal from the other person. But Xing Cong Lian didn’t seem to mind, and boldly sat down in front of the desk, and took a sip from a cup of tea.
“Consultant Lin, please sit, please sit.”
Lin Chen was hesitating, yet Jiang Chao hurriedly pushed him into the other chair and shoved a cup of tea into his hands.
He should be treated as a “suspect” that had been brought back to the station for questioning. Chen Jia, that housekeeper, specially pressured the police into doing that, yet they were being treated like important guests. This treatment doesn’t seem to be right?
At that moment, a knock came from the office door.
A bold little officer poked his head in and said to Jiang Chao, “Captain Jiang, Captain Jiang, the boss wants you to go!”
“What do you mean go?!” Jiang Chao slammed the desk, “Can’t you see Captain Xing and Consultant Lin are here?”
Jiang Chao barely finished his sentence, when from behind the door came a low voice, “Vice Captain Jiang, are you looking to overstep your position lately?”
While he was speaking, a middle aged man entered. He had a burly stature. Silver stars shone on his shoulders, meaning he was the same rank as Inspector Huang. That is to say, that was the director of the Yong Chuan Second Branch, Jiang Chao’s top supervisor, the one the little officer called “the boss”.
“Director Zheng, Director Zheng, sorry, sorry. Look, I am just so busy!” Upon seeing the boss, Jiang Chao was immediately nodding and bowing, admitting his wrongs and apologizing. But the middle-aged man didn’t look at him, his gaze falling on Xing Cong Lian instead.
Following his gaze, Lin Chen once again looked at Xing Cong Lian, only to see that he was still sitting up straight. He didn’t even turn his head, as if he didn’t sense the middle-aged man enter. Or maybe, he was ignoring the man on purpose?
Lin Chen began having more doubts.
Seeing the situation, the middle-aged man clenched his jaw, then, pretending to be shocked, loudly said to Xing Cong Lian’s back, “Isn’t this Captain Xing? What are you doing here?”
It was then that Xing Cong Lian finally had a reaction. He stood up, turned around, and bowed to the middle-aged man with a straight face. He then gave a greeting, “Hello, Director Zheng.”
“Little Jiang, how come you didn’t say anything about Captain Xing being here!” The middle-aged man stepped forward, grabbing Xing Cong Lian’s hand with exaggerated enthusiasm, and shook it hard, twice. “Long time no see, Ol’ Xing!” He said. He then turned to Jiang Chao and said, “Hurry up and order some good food from the food court, we’ll treat Captain Xing well for lunch!”
“No need.” Xing Cong Lian said lightly. As he spoke, he withdrew his hand from Director Zheng’s and reached into his briefcase, “I came here today to hand over Yang Dian Feng’s case. You can find the case information here, please look over it, Director Zheng.”
Lin Chen turned around. Xing Cong Lian’s overly professional attitude and the fact that he did not bring up Yong Chuan College’s case, and urging the Yong Chuan police department to accept the exchange, did not seem like Captain Xing’s mode of operation?
Sure enough, hearing what Xing Cong Lian said, Director Zheng became too embarrassed to speak. Jiang Chao rushed to rescue the scene, “Ah, Ol’ Xing, what are you rushing for? Can’t you see something big just happened? I really can’t help out!” He said, refusing to accept the file in Xing Cong Lian’s hand.
“Then, could I ask you to send someone below you?” Xing Cong Lian raised his eyebrows, looking at the director with a rare silence that was neither servile nor overbearing.
Director Zheng, whose attitude had been obvious so far, understood clearly why Xing Cong Lian was so angry. But he was the one who asked for the psychology consultant from Hong Jing to be brought back, he couldn’t just apologize directly.
Truth be told, when Jiang Chao secretly called to tell him that housekeeper Chen wanted to bring the suspect back to the station, it happened to be the same time that he was rescuing Fang Zhi Ming’s daughter from Hong Jing Highway. He had long wanted to bring Zhang Ping, that old man, in for a beating, are you kidding? Bringing Lin Chen in as a suspect, even if he wasn’t afraid of being throttled by Ol’ Xing, he’d be afraid of Fang Zhi Ming’s spirit causing trouble for him.
“Ol’ Xing, can’t you see there’s just been a big case? I really don’t have anyone to spare. Why don’t you accompany Consultant Lin and have a peaceful meal here!” Director Zheng said, once again pulling on Xing Cong Lian’s hand.
“Please do the exchange as quickly as possible so Consultant Lin and I can leave.” Xing Cong Lian emphasized again.
“Ah, Ol’ Xing, don’t be like that!”
“Sorry, considering that Consultant Lin didn’t come to Yong Chuan for business, we were just walking around when we were treated as suspects and brought to the station. If this drags on, wouldn’t it cause some criticism?” Xing Cong Lian said.
Hearing him say that, Lin Chen finally understood that Xing Cong Lian’s weird behavior and stiff attitude was in his defense.
But he’d been through this sort of small thing a lot. He never thought it was that urgent, so why was Xing Cong Lian so caught up about it?
In the midst of Lin Chen’s confusion, Director Zheng also finally started to understand from Xing Cong Lian’s solemn expression, that if the situation today does not get resolved, things would be bad.
So he let go of Xing Cong Lian’s hand, turning to face Lin Chen.
Lin Chen was kind of shocked.
“Consultant Lin, I am so very sorry. Today was a misunderstanding, please don’t hold a grudge!”
The middle-aged man sounded sincere, and after finishing his sentence, even bowed slightly to him, expressing his remorse.
Lin Chen felt very embarrassed, after all, the Director was apologizing to him in person. He wanted to stand up and bow back, but Xing Cong Lian’s hand pressed down on his shoulder.
From the weight of that hand, Lin Chen understood that Xing Cong Lian is telling him that you are not allowed to stand up, that this is something that should happen, and that you should take it.
Since the other person had apologized, Xing Cong Lian no longer wore that cold expression.
Once Director Zheng stood back up, he put away the file and said to Jiang Chao, “Since Captain Jiang is busy, and Consultant Lin and I haven’t slept for an entire night, we’ll go rest first. Once you have time, come get us?”
“Wh-what? You’re leaving?!” Hearing this, Jiang Chao immediately looked aggravated.
“We’re not leaving. If it’s convenient, we can rest in the station’s duty room.” Xing Cong Lian finished, finally looking at Lin Chen.
Looking into his deep pupils, Lin Chen could only nod.
Lin Chen felt that the atmosphere of the entire Yong Chuan branch was a little weird.
For example, the Director apologized to him in person, and just now, when he was walking to the duty room with Xing Cong Lian, someone forcefully stuffed some candy into his hands.
The light in the duty room was dim. Inside the small room, there were two simple bunks.
Seeing a real bed, Lin Chen finally felt sleepy. He didn’t complain about cleanliness, if he was tired, then he should sleep. So, he put the candy onto the bedside table, took off his shoes, and climbed into bed.
Xing Cong Lian didn’t get into a bed, he sat back in a chair, feet up on another chair in a casual manner.
“Yong Chuan police doesn’t seem to want to exchange Yang Dian Feng’s case with you, why is that?” Remembering that with one file, Xing Cong Lian managed to make the other person bow down. After thinking for a bit, Lin Chen decided to still ask the question.
“Actually, it has nothing to do with the file.” Xing Cong Lian took off his uniform, covering himself with it, then turned to face him, “It had to do with you.”
“Huh?” Hearing this answer, Lin Chen felt slightly surprised.
“Yong Chuan College’s case, what do you think of it?” Xing Cong Lian asked, changing the topic.
“Very not simple.” Lin Chen replied.
“Can you go over it broadly?”
“Do you think finding three bodies stacked on top of each other under a banyan tree is shocking?” Lin Chen asked.
“Very.”
“Then what is your first reaction when seeing a body buried on school grounds?”
“An ordinary murder.” Xing Cong Lian said matter-of-factly.
“A shocking story opens with a plain narration, what does that mean?”
“Someone wants to write many twists and turns?” Xing Cong Lian suddenly started to understand a little about what Lin Chen meant. Even if the three people under the tree wanted to be buried alive, someone had to have covered up the last bit of soil with their own hands.
“And they’ve done it.” Lin Chen said gently. But once he finished, he also understood what Xing Cong Lian meant. “You’re talking about Captain Jiang and the others?”
“They seem to really want you to stay to help with the investigation.” Xing Cong Lian said, feeling a bit helpless.
“I don’t understand. I don’t think I’m that important.” What Lin Chen meant was, the Director, wanting him to stay to assist with the investigation, came to apologize personally. Even if Sherlock Holmes was here, it would be hard for him to get this kind of treatment.
Hearing what Lin Chen said, Xing Cong Lian’s gaze softened. He looked at the candy Lin Chen put down and gently said, “Because before Fang Zhi Ming was transferred to the narcotics department, he worked here for ten years. Everyone here, including Director Zheng, used to be his coworkers.”
“You uncovered a corner of the truth, you saved their coworker from a vain death, and you rescued their coworker’s daughter. To them, you are very important.”
“Housekeeper Chen can put pressure on the police, but no matter how big the pressure, it can’t compare to what you’ve done.”
“In this world, money might be able to buy you limitless followers and fake praise, but it will never buy you real respect.”
“You knew this, so… you made Director Zheng apologize?”
“When did I make him do that?” Xing Cong Lian asked, dumbfounded, “You think Director Zheng came down stairs in person, just to tell Captain Jiang off? He knew he ordered you to be captured, so he came to make it up to you, he just didn’t get the opportunity to speak.”
“So, they were acting, just now?”
“Yeah, Yong Chuan Second Branch’s specialty.”
Lin Chen leaned against the bed, feeling that this police station’s atmosphere really is a bit bizarre.
“Not used to it?” Xing Cong Lian said suddenly, looking at the person in deep thought on the bed.
Lin Chen thought for a bit, then nodded.
“You’ll get used to it slowly.”
Xing Cong Lian finished, and turned off the light above the bed. “Rest well, they won’t let us go later.”
The thick curtains had been carefully drawn together. Inside the room, there seemed to be almost no light.
He quickly heard even breathing coming from his side.
Lin Chen reached out and grabbed a candy from the bedside table, unwrapping it.
Xing Cong Lian’s breathing slowly became longer.
Lin Chen placed the candy in his mouth.
Actually, you don’t need to do this, because… it’ll be hard for me to control myself…
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