Ch 160: Three Deaths in Three Days

Constable Pang frowned and said, “This school teacher is quite strange.”

“When we informed him of his daughter’s death, he didn’t show the kind of grief that normal people would when faced with the death of a close relative.”

“Instead, he looked completely indifferent, as if a dog had died; it died, so it died, that kind of feeling.”

“I became suspicious, and after investigating, I found that besides teaching, he usually lived in the school and didn’t go home.”

“Currently, neither the witness nor the physical evidence can prove that he’s related to the case, so we’ve ruled him out.”

Lin Tian listened and nodded, pretending to understand, but in reality, he had no clue.

Lin Tian said, “Brother Pang, just tell me who you suspect. I can definitely make them tell the truth.”

“You’re the experts in investigating cases; I’m not very good at it.”

Constable Pang said somewhat embarrassedly, “We came to Brother Lin for help precisely because we have no leads. We want to hear your insightful opinion.”

Lin Tian said with a wry smile, “You flatter me too much.”

“As the saying goes, cats have cat ways, and dogs have dog ways. I’m not a deity; how can I be omniscient and omnipotent?”

“If you want me to offer some advice, I think it’s better to wrongly arrest someone than to let go of anyone who’s suspicious.”

“Like that school teacher, he didn’t react much when his own daughter died. I also find that suspicious.”

“First, arrest him and lock him up in prison. Interrogate him thoroughly for two days and two nights to get some kind of reaction out of him.”

“This is Qingshui, my territory. I don’t need evidence to solve cases. Just arrest him for me; I don’t like him.”

Constable Pang opened his mouth wide in surprise. After calming down, he said, “With Brother Lin’s words, I have confidence. I’ll go arrest him when I get back and try to get a reaction out of him.”

Lin Tian further instructed, “Also, there are so many suspicious points in this case. Regardless of whether there’s a connection, investigate them all together.”

“Carefully examine these three corpses and see if they have anything in common, such as who they’ve been in contact with, what their family situations are like, and what their living environments are like.”

Constable Pang quickly replied, “We’re already investigating that. We should have results today.”

Lin Tian stared at the corpses for a while and then said, “If there’s anything you need my help with, just ask. I’ll go back first.”

Lin Tian walked away, with Constable Pang following beside him.

“Arrest anyone who’s suspicious. In Qingshui, I have the final say. Just go ahead and investigate.”

Constable Pang bowed and agreed, “We’ll expedite the handling of this case. If we delay it any longer, who knows what else might happen. The people of Qingshui are all panicking.”

Lin Tian said after a moment of contemplation, “I have an idea.”

“Since everyone’s panicking, why not just make a big deal out of it?”

“You can have the women in each household gather together to sleep, and prepare bronze gongs or bells.”

“Discuss it with Wu Rui and arrange for a few government soldiers to guard each street. The weather is so cold; it’s not a good idea for the government soldiers to stand there all the time. They can hide in shops or people’s homes, and they should also prepare bronze gongs.”

“For families with special circumstances, the government should find some places specifically to gather the women together for unified management.”

Constable Pang listened and said with some hesitation, “Isn’t this too high-profile?”

“Gathering the women from people’s homes together, their families definitely won’t be willing.”

“Besides, even if we lock them all up together and watch them twenty-four hours a day,”

“If the case can’t be solved for a while, are we supposed to guard them for the rest of their lives?”

Lin Tian smiled and waved his hand, saying, “This is just for show; we’re not really going to do it.”

“Look at these three female corpses; they’re all seventeen or eighteen years old and look pretty good.”

“Let’s not worry about whether they committed suicide or were murdered, or whether it was done by one person or two people.”

“Brother Pang, let me ask you, if you were the criminal, would you prefer pretty ones or ugly ones?”

Constable Pang immediately replied, “Of course, I’d prefer pretty ones, but I wouldn’t do such a thing; it’s against human ethics.”

Lin Tian smiled and said, “That’s right. If this criminal commits another crime, he’ll definitely look for young and pretty girls.”

“In our Great Liang, unmarried girls generally don’t go out casually, so even if you want to commit a crime, you have to spend time finding a target and see which family’s girl looks good before you can make a move.”

Constable Pang kept shaking his head, saying, “No matter what, I wouldn’t do this.”

Lin Tian continued, “After you release the news and the people are all panicking, you go to each household to investigate and see which family’s girl is pretty. That family’s girl might be the next victim.”

Only then did Constable Pang suddenly understand, clapping his hands and saying, “I understand Brother Lin’s meaning. You want us to release the news to make the people afraid. Only when they’re afraid will they cooperate with us, and then we can take the opportunity to investigate which family’s girl best fits the criminal’s target.”

“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is.”

“This is a good method, turning passivity into initiative. After investigating clearly, we can wait for the rabbit by the stump.”

“Brother Lin! I admire you.”

Lin Tian then continued, “There shouldn’t be any more cases in the next two days unless that person is very confident.”

“Confident that no matter how you investigate, you won’t be able to find him. Otherwise, he definitely won’t commit a crime easily in the next two days.”

“So you only have two days to conduct a thorough investigation of the entire county’s population.”

“If that still doesn’t work, I think you should combine the appearances of these three female corpses and look for some who are similar to them.”

“Actively letting them be exposed to the public eye can also attract the criminal’s attention.”

“In short, first figure out who the people are. I don’t believe that the entire county is full of pretty, good-looking girls.”

Constable Pang: “You can rest assured about that. For ordinary families, it’s good enough if they can make a living.”

“Why would they care about appearances? Only wealthy families have the spare money to raise people well.”

Saying that, Constable Pang bid farewell to Lin Tian. He had to report this matter to the County Magistrate immediately and then implement it.

Lin Tian also thought carefully. The most dangerous place is the safest place. Could this criminal be nearby?

Perhaps he could go to the crime scene to look for clues. How could he allow such a strange thing in his territory? Once he caught it, he would kill them all.

But not now. A pile of things were waiting for him. He would go take a look at night.

“Lord Lin!”

“Lord Lin!”

Lin Tian nodded. The people in the county might not know that Qingshui had changed hands, but the government soldiers and those within the county government system all knew about it, but no one dared to spread the word.

Constable Pang’s status was also rising. Originally, he was just an inconspicuous minor constable. Now, Wu Rui would discuss everything with Constable Pang.

It was truly a case of one person attaining enlightenment, and even his chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.