I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 80 The True Cause of Death
Wow!

The fragile teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, spilling tea everywhere.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Sun Jinbao apologized quickly. "Quickly! Quickly, come and tidy up!"

The man with a birthmark on his chin quickly grabbed a broom and frantically cleaned the floor, looking somewhat flustered.

"Are you alright?" Sun Jinbao asked Han Ling with concern.

The teacup crashed to Han Ling's feet. He could feel the scalding hot tea, but he neither dodged nor moved. He just stared at Sun Jinbao and asked, "Director Sun, what's all the fuss about?"

"No, no," Sun Jinbao chuckled. "My hand was shaking and I couldn't hold it. Sigh, I'm getting old, my hands don't obey me anymore. Last year I went to a big hospital in another city for a checkup, and the doctor said that the possibility of Parkinson's disease could not be ruled out. If it really is Parkinson's disease, it would be too much of a burden for the children."

Hand tremors are indeed a symptom of Parkinson's disease.

Han Ling didn't continue the topic, and looked at the other party and said a second time: "Director Sun, please retrieve the funeral certificate of Cao Kexuan, a villager from Weijiazhuang Village. We are investigating a case and need to see it."

Sun Jinbao nodded: "Okay, okay, Xiao Li, go find it after you finish scanning, hurry up, the police officers are busy, don't waste time."

The man with the birthmark responded, swept up the teacup residue, and quickly left.

While waiting, Sun Jinbao struck up a conversation with Han Ling: "Officer, what's your name? You look very young."

Han Ling replied, "Han Ling, this is my colleague Tong Feng."

Sun Jinbao nodded: "Officer Han, Officer Tong, which team in the branch office are you from?"

Han Ling: "Criminal Investigation Team."

Four words made Sun Jinbao's eyes twitch, but his expression remained unchanged: "Young and promising, young and promising... I wonder if there was anything wrong with Cao Kexuan's death? I remember he was cremated, right? The funeral has already taken place."

Han Ling said, "It's not convenient to say more about that, I'm sorry."

Sun Jinbao: "It's okay, it's okay, I understand, it's a matter of keeping it a secret."

The atmosphere became a bit awkward. Sun Jinbao kept drinking tea, occasionally glancing at Han Ling. Several times, they made eye contact, which made him break out in a cold sweat.

He had never dealt with criminal police before, and he never expected that this young-looking Han Ling would have such a strong presence, far surpassing the people in the town police station.

He is... a criminal police officer.

Twenty minutes passed, and Han Ling urged, "Director Sun, haven't you found it yet? It's only been a few days, it shouldn't be that difficult."

As he spoke, he looked at Tong Feng, and the two stared at each other for two seconds.

Although Tong Feng's insight is not as good as Han Ling's, he is still a regular criminal police officer and his abilities are qualified. Judging from Sun Jinbao's behavior of smashing the teacup and his facial expression, there is probably something wrong here.

If a funeral home has problems with its procedures, it can be very serious and could potentially involve criminal cases.

"Wait a moment, wait a moment." Sun Jinbao's face was covered in cold sweat.

Seeing this, Tong Feng said meaningfully, "Director Sun, isn't it a bit hot to wear a suit in this weather? Wipe your sweat."

"Huh? Oh... thank you." Sun Jinbao then realized he was sweating and reached for a tissue to wipe it off.

Another ten minutes passed.

The office door opened, and the man with the birthmark poked his head in, hesitatingly asking, "Director, we can't find Cao Kexuan's funeral certificate. Did we put it in the wrong place?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jinbao became angry: "Wrong place? How could something so important be wrong? Go find it right now, and be careful!"

The man was about to close the door.

"Wait a minute," Han Ling called out to stop them, and waved, "Come in first."

The man entered and looked at Han Ling, listening to her instructions.

"Sit down." Han Ling pointed to the chair in front of him.

The man sought the curator's opinion, who replied, "Sit down if I tell you to!"

After the man sat down, Han Ling turned to him and said, "Director Sun, let's get straight to the point. Is there a problem with Cao Kexuan's funeral certificate? If so, tell the truth."

This matter is easy to investigate. It involves not only your funeral home, but also the hospital and the deceased's family. It's better for you to confess voluntarily than for them to find out.

Sun Jinbao's expression began to look unnatural.

Han Ling didn't give the other party time to think and continued, "If Director Sun doesn't speak and can't produce Cao Kexuan's funeral certificate, I need to take you back to the branch office for investigation. Please cooperate."

Seeing Han Ling about to stand up, Sun Jinbao was startled and quickly said, "Wait! It can't be that bad... Cao Kexuan's funeral certificate does have a problem, it's... it's fake."

Now that the criminal police from the branch office had come to investigate, he knew he couldn't hide it anymore.

"Fake?" Han Ling frowned. "Director Sun, illegal cremation is no small matter. In serious cases, you could face criminal charges. What exactly happened?"

If a person cremates a body without verifying the death certificate, the civil affairs department will impose different levels of punishment on the person in charge of the funeral home. If the death involves criminal activity and the person in charge of the funeral home intentionally destroys the body, then that is a crime.

Sun Jinbao sighed: "I'm very familiar with Weijiazhuang Village. They came to me wanting me to be cremated directly, and since we're all neighbors, I agreed."

Han Ling knew there was more to it than met the eye. Besides the favors from fellow villagers, Sun Jinbao probably also received gifts for taking the risk of cremation.

This matter is not important; what is important is why the Cao family chose to cremate the body directly and why they did not issue a death certificate.

"How did Cao Kexuan die?" Han Ling asked. Since the funeral certificate was fake, the death certificate was naturally fake as well. Based on this, it could be concluded that Cao Kexuan probably did not die in the hospital; otherwise, there would be no need for all this trouble.

Sun Jinbao: "He went home last weekend and drowned while fishing at night."

"What?!" Han Ling's gaze narrowed slightly. He nudged Tong Feng with his arm, and the latter understood and immediately got up and left.

In the event of an unnatural death, the criminal investigation team must be notified immediately without delay.

Sun Jinbao guessed what Tong Feng had gone out to do, but he couldn't stop him. He could only sigh repeatedly, looking quite regretful.

Once the illegal cremation was discovered, his tenure as curator was essentially over.

"Director Sun," Han Ling's voice turned cold, "an accidental death is considered an unnatural death. It must be investigated by the public security authorities to rule out homicide and issue a 'Resident Death Certificate' before cremation can take place. Aren't you aware of this?"

Sun Jinbao said helplessly, "I understand, of course I understand... Never mind, I won't say anymore. This is my fault, and I'll accept whatever punishment is due."

Han Ling: "No, you need to explain clearly why the Cao family cremated the body directly without calling the police. Was there anything wrong with Cao Kexuan's death?"

“Is there a problem?” Sun Jinbao was stunned. “I can’t be right. I’m from the neighboring village. I know Cao Kexuan. He loved fishing when he was a child. It’s not surprising that he drowned by accident. Over the years, children have drowned in various villages, and some have even fallen into cesspools and drowned.”

Han Ling didn't care about those things: "What did the Cao family say?"

Seeing that Han Ling was pressing for details, Sun Jinbao remained silent for a while before explaining the situation of the Cao family and Weijiazhuang Village.

In some remote villages, there are indeed cases where accidental deaths are not reported to the police.

Han Ling listened attentively, and roughly summarized a few reasons in his mind.

First, there is a lack of legal awareness. The villagers are completely unaware of legal procedures and believe that accidental death is their own business and there is no need to notify the police to investigate the scene, determine the cause of death, and issue a certificate.

Secondly, there is interference from clan customs. The clan concept is very strong in Weijiazhuang Village. If someone dies unexpectedly, the elders or respected people in the clan will step forward to handle the funeral according to traditional customs. They believe that family scandals should not be made public and that the deceased should be buried in peace, avoiding official intervention.

This could very well lead to some cases of manslaughter or murder being handled internally, bypassing the law, and ending without resolution after compensation.

Third, with the development of the times, the country has begun to promote cremation, and the funeral procedures are becoming more and more strict. Families are worried that the investigation process after reporting to the police will be complicated, time-consuming and laborious. They are also worried about autopsies and hope that their loved ones can rest in peace as soon as possible.

Fourth, villagers are afraid of the police, believing that calling the police will bring a lot of unnecessary trouble, and even considering whether there will be any costs during the investigation.

and many more.

Multiple factors combined have led to situations where accidental deaths are not reported to the police.

Han Ling felt there was some truth to it; from the villagers' perspective, it was somewhat understandable, since the law doesn't cover the entire country.

But why lie? They clearly drowned, but claimed they died of illness.

When asked, Sun Jinbao explained, "In the past two years, there have been more young people in the village who understand the law. The clan is afraid of calling the police, so they say he died of illness to avoid trouble later."

Han Ling: "How do you resolve the issue of account cancellation? Should we just leave the account in the dark?"

The purpose of a death certificate is not only for cremation, but also for canceling the household registration at the local police station. Cremation can be done illegally, but the police station will not let it slide.

Sun Jinbao: "Yes, if I don't close the account, it won't have any impact."

Han Ling remained silent.

In remote villages, the death of a villager without canceling their household registration does not have much impact in the short term, as long as they do not need to handle any business that requires a cancellation certificate, such as inheritance or bank withdrawal.

In the long run, at most it will affect the country's population statistics, plus there are cases of identity theft.

These things have little to do with the villagers; they won't care.

Han Ling considered the veracity of Sun Jinbao's confession. It sounded reasonable, except that he had received a favor and had illegally cremated Cao Kexuan's body.

So, did Cao Kexuan actually die from an accidental drowning?
We have no way of knowing the details of this matter; we need to wait for our colleagues from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the branch office to arrive and conduct an investigation in Weijiazhuang Village before we can make a judgment.

The reason why unnatural deaths need to be reported to the police is that every unnatural death could be a homicide, and the public security authorities need to rule out this possibility before issuing a death certificate.

If all suicides, accidents, and other unnatural deaths are not reported to the police, many murder cases will be covered up without anyone noticing.

In Han Ling's view, there is likely something wrong with Cao Kexuan's death. Putting aside everything else, if he didn't want to call the police, why go through all the trouble of cremation?

Cremation involves going through a funeral home, and an extra step increases the likelihood of problems. Why not just bury the dead quietly in the village?

Is it because cremation is necessary, and there are concerns that the police might exhume the body for an autopsy if the news leaks out in the future?
Also, who sent that text message, and why?

It could have been considered a prank at first, but now that the death certificate has been found to be fake, one has to wonder if there was any deliberate intent involved.

At present, no one can say for sure.

Tong Feng is back. He has explained the situation to Fang Zhou, and the Criminal Investigation Brigade's support will arrive soon.

"Gentlemen, please remain in this room until my colleague arrives."

Han Ling said that he could tell the two were in cahoots and had probably both received benefits.

As for whether the curator and other staff members knew about it, that depends on the investigation by the civil affairs department or even the discipline inspection department.

If it's just an illegal cremation, the Criminal Investigation Division of the branch bureau won't get too involved; they don't care about violations of duty.

(End of this chapter)