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墨書 Inktalez
"Where are we going?" I asked Ah Huang.
"I don't know," Ah Huang replied, looking a bit confused.
The two of us sat in the car in silence for a moment, with only the occasional crackle of the intercom breaking the quiet. My eyes inadvertently glanced at the dashboard; it was April 4th. Suddenly, I jolted—wasn't today Tomb-Sweeping Day?
"Ah Huang, it's Tomb-Sweeping Day!"
"What's wrong?" Ah Huang seemed indifferent.
"I just thought," I paused for a moment, "we just checked on Yueyue, and there didn't seem to be anything unusual. How about we go see Yang Xuan? Today should be a special day for her; maybe we can find out something from her."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Ah Huang nodded and immediately dialed Yang Xuan's number. After a while, he hung up. "No one answered."
Ah Huang then called Yang Xuan's workplace, but she wasn't at work today.
After thinking for a moment, Ah Huang said, "Let's go to the deceased's house." He quickly added, "It's also her home."
After Ah Huang found the address through the operator, he started the car. Before long, we arrived at an apartment building. The car hadn't even come to a complete stop when we saw Yang Xuan walking out of the building with someone.
"Hey, who is that?" Ah Huang wondered aloud as we hesitated to get out of the car.
It was a man, and from a distance, I couldn't make out his features. I only saw Yang Xuan chatting with him for a moment before she got into a car parked by the roadside and drove away.
Ah Huang hesitated for a moment but didn't follow them. He kept his eyes on the man who had stepped out and walked to the curb, seemingly waiting for a taxi.
Ah Huang drove the car a little further, and now we could see clearly that it wasn't an adult, but a boy wearing black-framed glasses and carrying a bag. He wasn't very tall.
After watching Yang Xuan leave, he took off his glasses, pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his bag, and waved down a taxi, preparing to leave.
Ah Huang also put down the handbrake and slowly followed him. The taxi gradually accelerated and headed towards the outskirts of the city, with Ah Huang silently trailing behind.
This was not good; it was almost 1 PM, and we hadn't even had lunch yet.
"Hey, is he heading to Valley Mountain?" Ah Huang said. Having spent a long time here, he knew the area well.
"Where is Valley Mountain?"
Ah Huang didn't respond. After a while, we followed the taxi to a building at the foot of the mountain. Looking at the sign above, I couldn't help but exclaim, "Xiaoxiang Cemetery!?"
This place is a cemetery? Ah Huang parked the car by the roadside and got out. He pulled out a photo from his pocket and handed it to me. I looked down and saw a picture of Yang Xuan with a chubby middle-aged man and a boy. Looking at the boy in front of us, he looked quite similar!
"Huh? This one?"
"I think he should be the Son of the Deceased," Ah Huang said calmly.
"What is he doing at the cemetery? Did Yang Xuan arrange for his funeral and buy him a burial plot?"
"Probably not so soon; after all, isn't the deceased already turned to ashes?" Ah Huang squinted at the boy ahead and gestured for me to follow.
What was he doing at the cemetery? Or was he there to pay respects to someone?
As we pondered this, we quietly followed him from behind. Perhaps due to the holiday, there were more people entering the cemetery than usual. He seemed unaware of our presence as we trailed him to a gravestone. He stood in front of it for a long time without making any other movements. After quite a while, he took something out of his bag and slowly placed it in front of the gravestone before turning back toward us.
There were a few others behind us who were also paying their respects, and we found ourselves unable to retreat in time, getting blocked together.
“Please make way.” A calm voice rang out. It was strange; the boy's voice sounded different from that of an ordinary boy—almost feminine. It was like the first time you heard Jeff Chang sing; you might think it was a woman, but in reality, he was a man.
I glanced at Ah Huang and, while stepping aside, said to the boy, “Hey, sorry for blocking the way, brother. Could you tell me how to get to South District Two?” I casually made up a cemetery area number.
“I don’t know.” The boy didn’t even look at me, maintaining that peculiar tone as he expressionlessly walked straight through us.
“Did you hear that?” I watched his retreating figure as Ah Huang looked at me in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you think his voice is a bit strange?”
“Probably just puberty. Come on!” Ah Huang pulled me along quickly to the gravestone where the boy had stood. The gravestone bore a photo of a woman who looked no older than twenty, with the name: Liu Yibing. In front of the gravestone was a dark bottle whose contents were unknown. Ah Huang put on gloves to pick it up and placed it in his pocket before turning to me. “Let’s go; we need to catch up.”
As we hurried out of the cemetery, we were relieved to see that the boy was still waiting for a taxi. We quickly jumped into our car and waited. After a while, we saw him hail a cab, and Ah Huang immediately followed suit.
The car drove back toward the city and eventually stopped in front of a high school—City Second High School. The boy got out and walked inside while Ah Huang remained still, parking by the roadside. After thinking for a moment, he turned back to me and said, “We need to go back and investigate this right away. Also, what do you think is inside that thing?” He patted his pocket.
I shrugged. “I don’t care; just make sure you handle dinner and take me home later.”
Ah Huang smiled lightly, "Of course!"
Soon, we returned to the police station. Ah Huang handed the bottle to a technician and led me to his office, ordering takeout for us as he began making phone calls.
"Hey, it's me. Get me the details on the deceased's ex-wife and son from the Arson Case. The more detailed, the better. Yeah, hurry up."
After hanging up, Ah Huang smiled at me. "I’m really sorry for treating you like one of us."
I could only manage a wry smile. "It's my fault for choosing my friends poorly."
We exchanged a laugh just as our takeout arrived. We spread out some newspapers and started eating. Just as we finished, an officer walked in to report.
Ah Huang didn't mind; he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Come on in, what’s going on?"
"Vice Chief Huang, I've found everything you asked me to check."
"Okay... The deceased's ex-wife is Liu Yibing, who died ten years ago in April by suicide when she was one year old. The deceased's son, Chen Chuge, is 17 and in his senior year of high school."
"What happened to his wife?" Ah Huang asked.
"The records say she overdosed on medication, but there aren't many details."
As the officer continued reporting, I couldn't help but think about how coincidental this was. Just a few days ago marked the tenth anniversary of the ex-wife's death, and now the deceased had been burned alive. Today is Tomb-Sweeping Day, and his son came to pay respects to his mother. What could be the connection between all these events?
I felt a stir in my heart and hesitated for a moment, interrupting the officer's report. I turned to Ah Huang and said, "If I may interject, I'm just an outsider, but could we compare the footprint data of the third party with that of the victim's son?"
Ah Huang stared at me, dumbfounded. "Are you suggesting that the victim's son killed him?!"
I chuckled awkwardly. "No, no, I'm just rambling."
After a moment of silence, Ah Huang replied, "Well, let's check it out!" He picked up the phone again. "Hello, Forensic Department? Yes, it's me, Huang from the task force. I'm sending someone to the victim's son's school to find a way to check the footprint comparison data. Be careful not to alert anyone. Yes, as soon as possible."
After hanging up, I looked at Ah Huang and asked, "If it really is Chen Chuge, what would that mean?"
Ah Huang thought for a moment, shook his head, leaned back in his chair, and turned around. "That would complicate things further. Why would he want to kill his own father? How did he get the key? What did he put in there? Where did he get it? All these questions need answers."
At this point, Ah Huang smiled strangely and picked up the phone again. "Hello, how's it going? Hmm? You saw me? Ha ha, good. Let's part ways then. What? Class? Oh, you go check on that."
Ah Huang hung up and continued, "Now we can only wait for several investigation results. If necessary, we might need to confront the victim's son directly. But once we confirm technically, we must bring him in."
Things were getting more complicated—Yueyue, Yang Xuan, Chen Chuge—who could be the murderer?
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