CH 233

“She begged us not to let anyone know that she came to the police. If her parents found out, they would kill her,” Lao Bian recounted the incident that happened many years ago in a clear and usual tone.

“Because you listened to her, you didn’t include this record in the final main file?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Lao Xing, it wasn’t an official report, and…” Lao Bian shook his head. “There were inconsistencies in her account, but we still conducted an investigation.”

“What was the issue?” Wang Chao asked.

“The time of death.” Xing Conglian narrowed his eyes.

According to the forensic report in the file, the old homeless man’s time of death was around 4 a.m..

But according to Shen Lian’s statement, she witnessed Chen Jianguo pushing the homeless man when she returned home from her study session, and that time should have been between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., which didn’t match the actual time of death.

Lao Bian nodded. “Although the girl’s testimony had issues, we still conducted four investigations, and there were no suspicious points. Finally, we looked into the identity of the middle school student.”

“Shen Lian?” Xing Conglian asked.

Lao Bian nodded. “Regarding this matter, although she kept her identity secret, we definitely investigated her background, and we quickly discovered that she was the daughter of the Shen family at 4 Xiaolin Lane. Later, we contacted the director of the local neighborhood committee and indirectly mentioned the matter, without mentioning the girl’s name, but the director immediately guessed it was Shen Lian.”

“Shen Lian…” Lin Chen murmured softly. “How did the director guess it was her so quickly?”

Lao Bian tapped his head with his finger and said, “The director said that they had suspected for a long time that Shen Lian would go to the police again regarding the homeless man’s death. Shen Lian had caused many disturbances at home before, and the relationship between the Shen family and the Chen family had also become very strained. The director said that the girl’s mind wasn’t right, that she had issues.”

When the retired police officer referred to her not having a right mind, he was, of course, referring to mental issues.

“But Shen Lian doesn’t have any medical records for mental illnesses,” Lin Chen said.

“That’s true, but back in those days, if a child had slight mental issues, many parents would hide it and keep it to themselves. And as for Shen Lian’s mental problems, they weren’t that severe, so her parents didn’t take her to the hospital,” Lao Bian explained.

Lin Chen keenly perceived the issue in Lao Bian’s words. “How do you know that her parents didn’t take her to the hospital because her mental issues weren’t severe?”

Lin Chen emphasized the word “parents.”

“We discussed this issue with her parents,” Lao Bian said.

In the room, Wang Chao gasped. “Didn’t she ask you not to let her parents know? Why did you disclose it?”

Xing Conglian said, “Could it have been leaked by the street office director?”

Lao Bian felt helpless and wanted to touch his cigarette. Xing Conglian took one out of his pocket and handed it to him. Lao Bian bit the cigarette, and Xing Conglian lit a lighter and brought it close.

The retired police officer said, “In small streets and alleys, there are no secrets between neighbors. The street office director had a conversation with Shen Lian’s parents. The couple came to the police station one day and explained their daughter’s issues. Their intention was that their daughter witnessed a dead body on the street on her way to school in the morning and was highly disturbed. Shen Lian kept feeling that the death of the homeless man was related to her for various reasons. So, they took their daughter to the countryside to keep her away from the source of stimulation. Shen Lian’s parents begged us not to leave a record of their daughter’s involvement.” Lao Bian exhaled smoke. “How can we even leave a record? It was just a simple investigation.”

“So, you simply believed Shen Lian’s parents’ statement?” Xing Conglian sharply asked. “They left after the incident, and their daughter started displaying abnormal behavior. There are issues with both parents.”

“Her parents weren’t at home that evening; they were working the night shift. Their alibis were solid, which proved they weren’t present, so their statements weren’t included. And it was basically the same as what Shen Lian’s parents said. Since Chen Jianguo wasn’t arrested, Shen Lian came to us again. This time, the girl’s testimony changed.”

Because the retired police officer was smoking, the second floor was filled with smoke, and combined with the sun shining on the top floor, the room became as hot as a steamer.

However, on that night, it was bone-chillingly cold.

Because her parents were on the night shift and didn’t come home, Shen Lian, while still in middle school, was accustomed to occasional nights spent alone. But that day, due to the cold wave, freezing rain started falling, and the temperature outside had dropped below zero degrees Celsius. Inside the house wasn’t much better. She did witness the altercation between the old homeless man and Chen Jianguo, but the time wasn’t when she returned from her study session; it was at midnight. After finishing her homework and getting ready for bed, she heard a woman’s faint cries from outside. The voice was soft, but the whimpering sound, muffled by someone’s hand and accompanied by sexual desire, was exceptionally clear on that winter night with drizzling rain.

She struggled for a while, then mustered up the courage to quietly pull open the curtains and crack the window slightly. By the dim light of a streetlamp, she saw an extremely disgusting and vile scene.

She saw Chen Jianguo under the eaves, with half of his pants removed, engaging in something with Auntie Li Wanru from next door.

As a teenager, she peeped at the midnight affair and had been watching from the window. But neither she nor Chen Jianguo, not even Auntie Li Wanru, could have expected that a fourth person would appear on that cold winter night.

The old homeless man returned with leftover food from a hotel, accidentally entering the secluded alley where no one should have been. In the dark night, the old man, wearing tattered clothes, seemed to descend like a god, exposing the two people in the alley. Li Wanru panicked and fled, while Chen Jianguo killed the old homeless man to silence him.

This was the second version of the story, which was more detailed than the simplified structure of the first version.

After listening, Wang Chao just flipped his phone and said, “I checked the historical weather records for that day. It was -1 to 4 degrees Celsius, and there was light rain. Wasn’t Chen Jianguo afraid of freezing his thing off?”

Xing Conglian gave Wang Chao a slap on the head as usual. “Is that all you think about? And watch your language. It’s so uncivilized.”

After he said that, no one continued the conversation. The room fell eerily silent, as if the shadow of the deceased in the winter night was gently hovering.

Lin Chen sat in the corner while his brows were locked in contemplation. When Xing Conglian’s gaze shifted towards him, Lin Chen happened to raise his eyes and asked, “Is there a third version of the story?”

Having completely guessed the sequence of events, Lao Bian suddenly looked up, staring at Lin Chen in astonishment, then rubbed his face and continued.

After the version of the midnight affair, Shen Lian found the police for the third time and once again changed her eyewitness testimony.

This time, she told the police that it wasn’t Li Wanru who was involved in the affair with Chen Jianguo, but Chen Jianguo. On that night, Chen Jianguo intended to sexually assault a young girl, but the girl was saved by the old beggar and spared from harm. However, Chen Jianguo was furious and secretly went to bother the old beggar very late at night, resulting in the beggar’s death by the bridge.

Perhaps this case had left a deep impression on Lao Bian, as the retired police officer spoke about the details without any confusion.

Lin Chen sat back in his chair, legs crossed, and lowered his head to look at a shadow on the wooden floor, lost in thought.

Finally, Lin Chen spoke, “There should be one more version of the story, right?”

Lin Chen asked this way.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Lin Chen was wrong this time. Lao Bian didn’t nod but flatly denied, “No, this is the final version that Shen Lian told.”

Lin Chen raised his head abruptly. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?” Lao Bian, who had been talking for so long, was now a bit off in his emotions. He inexplicably questioned Lin Chen.

“That’s not right. After that, did Shen Lian really never come back to you?” Lin Chen asked again.

Lao Bian extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray and said, “I’m an old man, and I don’t understand what you mean, Mr. Lin.”

Lin Chen stated clearly, “What I mean is, I don’t think Shen Lian revealed the truth of the matter, and she should come back to you again.”

“She did come once,” Lao Bian said.

“The last time?”

“The last time.”

“What happened that made her leave without changing her eyewitness testimony?”

Lao Bian let out a long sigh. “Because my partner finally couldn’t bear it anymore and exposed the girl’s lies to her face.”

Lao Bian explained that his partner was different from him, having a naturally hot temper. Being deceived repeatedly by a little girl with false stories and wasting the manpower and resources of the police, his partner was already very dissatisfied.

When Shen Lian approached them for the fourth time, his partner directly told her to focus on studying and that going to the police wasn’t a game. None of the fabricated stories she came up with matched the actual time of the old homeless man’s death.

“And then?” Lin Chen asked.

“And then Shen Lian left.”

Lin Chen furrowed his brows. “Could you please recall carefully what special event happened at that time that made Shen Lian never come back to you again?”

Lao Bian scratched his eyebrow, sinking into painful recollections.

“It must have been something your partner said that caused her to have intense emotional fluctuations. Her reaction should have been obvious.”

“It was when they talked about the time of the homeless man’s death!” Lao Bian slapped his leg. “My partner said the homeless man didn’t die in the middle of the night but rather just before dawn the next day. The girl kept saying ‘impossible’ repeatedly and became extremely agitated. She almost attacked my partner in response, a girl in her teens.”

“Attacked?” Wang Chao exclaimed.

“She tried to strangle him, but my partner managed to block her.” Lao Bian shook his head repeatedly. “After that, we truly believed she wasn’t normal. What normal young girl repeatedly comes to the police and fabricates stories? It was too paranoid.”

Lao Bian continued rambling on; the old police officer was forced to revisit events from over a decade ago, recounting them once again. By the end, as the story was finished, the old man seemed unable to stop reminiscing about the past.

While Xing Conglian engaged in sporadic conversation with the old man, he kept observing Lin Chen’s expression.

Since hearing about Shen Lian’s agitation over the actual time of the old homeless man’s death, Lin Chen maintained a pensive look. In the end, Xing Conglian clearly saw a trace of sadness on Lin Chen’s face.

The expression on Lin Chen’s face flickered and disappeared. He slowly blinked, as if he had completed the missing pieces of the puzzle, and everything became clear.

Lin Chen stood up and bid farewell to Lao Bian.