Chapter 57: The Perfect Statement

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Lu Chengfeng parked the car in front of the dilapidated house, and the three of them got out.

As they reached the courtyard gate, they heard a woman’s hysterical sobbing and abuse coming from inside.

“When I gave birth to you, I nearly died in childbirth. Your worthless father abandoned us and ran away when you were five. I raised you all by myself, feeding you and bringing you up from infancy.”

“Ever since you brought that woman home, you’ve started opposing me at every turn. But did I ever say anything? You work so hard away from home, and I pity you. I’ve always helped you look after her and her three children.”

“But how did Liu Na treat me? Huang Shixiong, a person should have a conscience. I don’t like Liu Na, that’s true—but why would I kill her? What good would killing her do me?”

Huang Shixiong retorted, “How did Liu Na treat you? Mother, you know very well that people should have a conscience. You should be saying that to yourself. Don’t think I don’t know how you treated Liu Na every day.”

“Just because she gave birth to daughters, you disliked everything about her. When you cooked, you deliberately hid the meat and ate it yourself, leaving the three of them nothing but vegetables. Otherwise, why would Liu Na have gone into the mountains to dig bamboo shoots while heavily pregnant?”

“She did it to earn money to buy meat for the children!”

At that point, Village Chief Huang hurried inside and interrupted the quarrel between mother and son.

“Stop arguing! The woman is dead. The most important thing now is to find the murderer as quickly as possible. No matter how much you argue, you won’t bring her back to life.”

When Huang Shixiong saw the village chief, he hurried over and asked, “Chief, where is my wife? I want to see her.”

Village Chief Huang said, “If you wanted to see her, why didn’t you hurry home? You can’t see her now. The police have already taken her away for an autopsy.”

The moment Huang Shixiong heard the word “autopsy,” his legs went weak, and he slid helplessly to the floor.

He murmured in terror, “An autopsy? Liu Na is already dead. Do you have to make her suffer again? Director Huang, can’t you skip the autopsy? My wife is still carrying a child…”

Huang Shixiong began to weep bitterly.

Director Huang frowned. “How are we supposed to find the murderer without an autopsy?”

Huang Shixiong countered, “Will an autopsy really find the murderer? Do you think the murderer left something behind inside Liu Na?”

“Yes,” Lu Chengfeng replied unexpectedly. “You’re right. An autopsy can not only help us uncover clues about the suspect, but also provide evidence that can be used to convict the murderer in court.”

The old woman standing nearby looked disdainful.

She gave a contemptuous snort. “Officer, stop bragging. Hurry up and find the murderer, then prove my innocence before this heartless wretch starts suspecting me.”

“Shut up! This is Captain Lu from the municipal bureau. Don’t speak carelessly,” Village Chief Huang shouted.

Director Huang introduced them to Lu Chengfeng. “This is the victim’s husband, Huang Shixiong, and that is his mother, Zhang Lanying.”

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Lu Chengfeng gave a slight nod. Looking at the mother and son, he asked, “Where did you both go yesterday, and what did you do? Tell me about it.”

Zhang Lanying asked in return, “I did a lot of things yesterday. Do I have to tell you all of them?”

Lu Chengfeng said, “That’s fine. I have plenty of time to listen.”

Zhang Lanying looked toward Village Chief Huang.

The village chief gave a small nod.

She tugged at the corner of her mouth and said reluctantly, “Yesterday, I got up at five, as usual, and cooked breakfast. Then I fed the pigs and chickens. After that, I ate breakfast, and once I’d finished, I went to the vegetable plot to pick some greens. At around eight, I went into the mountains to dig bamboo shoots.”

“I dug until about eleven, then went home to make lunch and eat. Afterward, I took a nap and didn’t get up until three in the afternoon. Once I was up, I went to sit at the village committee office and chatted with everyone until around five. Then I went home to make dinner.”

“After dinner, I took a bath and went to bed. I watched short dramas until nine, then went to sleep. That was more or less my day.”

As Zhang Lanying recounted her activities, she sounded as though she were reading from a script, giving precise details of what she had done during every period of the day.

On the surface, there was not a single inconsistency.

Lu Chengfeng merely drew his brows together almost imperceptibly before turning to Huang Shixiong.

After a brief pause, Huang Shixiong said, “I spent the entire day at the construction site yesterday. I got up at six in the morning, ate breakfast, and started work. I worked until lunchtime, stopped to eat, rested until two, and then went back to work.”

“I worked until six in the evening, when I ate dinner. Afterward, I played cards with my coworkers. We weren’t gambling; we were only passing the time. We went to bed at around nine as well.”

“Captain Lu, when did my wife die?”

“Yesterday afternoon, around five or six,” Village Chief Huang cut in.

“Don’t make careless statements,” Director Huang interrupted. “That was only the preliminary estimate from the scene examination. The exact time will have to wait for the autopsy results. That is precisely why Liu Na was sent for an autopsy.”

Huang Shixiong began to sob again. “How could this have happened? Who would kill Liu Na? She was always kind to everyone. Everyone praised her. She never offended anybody. Captain Lu, could it have been a robbery?”

The village chief looked as though he wanted to say something, but one warning glance from Director Huang silenced him.

Lu Chengfeng quietly observed the reactions of the mother and son.

Huang Shixiong was genuinely grief-stricken.

Zhang Lanying, on the other hand, was not only untroubled—she even seemed somewhat pleased.

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That was not the reaction one would expect from a mother-in-law whose daughter-in-law had just died.

Lu Chengfeng thought for a moment, then asked Zhang Lanying, “Where are the bamboo shoots you dug yesterday morning?”

Zhang Lanying froze, a startled expression appearing on her face. Panic crept into her voice. “Why are you asking about my bamboo shoots?”

Lu Chengfeng said, “You went at eight and dug until eleven. You should have collected quite a lot. Where are they now?”

Zhang Lanying cast a pleading glance at the village chief.

A sheen of sweat appeared on the village chief’s forehead. “Oh, Captain Lu, she gave all the bamboo shoots she dug yesterday to me. I also went into the mountains to dig some that morning, and at noon I took them to the farmers’ market to sell.”

Zhang Lanying quickly added, “That’s right. As soon as I got back, I gave all my bamboo shoots to the village chief and asked him to take them to market for me.”

Lu Chengfeng pressed on. “Chief, how many pounds did she give you in total? Whom did you sell them to? How much money did you make altogether?”

“I can’t remember,” the village chief said, shaking his head. His eyes instinctively drifted toward Director Huang.

Director Huang frowned slightly and asked Lu Chengfeng, “Captain Lu, what does this have to do with Liu Na’s death?”

Lu Chengfeng met his gaze and said solemnly, “This is a routine investigation. Anyone connected to the case must be questioned, and we need to understand everything they did.”

“Director Huang, you’re older than I am and have been working longer than I have. You certainly understand better than I do how an investigation should be conducted. Besides, I don’t think my questions are unreasonable.”

“If the bamboo shoots were sold, then there must have been a transaction. And if there was a transaction, there should be a record of it, shouldn’t there, Chief?”

The village chief hesitated. “Captain Lu, I’m old. I really can’t remember. I’ll go back and check, then let you know.”

Zhang Lanying cried out indignantly, “Captain Lu, why are you so concerned with how many bamboo shoots I dug and sold? I dug them in the morning, while Liu Na went in the afternoon. I was chatting with my sisters at the village committee office that afternoon.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask them. A lot of people were chatting at the village committee office yesterday afternoon.”

“I’ll verify what you’ve told me,” Lu Chengfeng replied.

“Now, please tell me who was chatting with you at the village committee office yesterday, and what you talked about.”