I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 81 Investigation in Weijiazhuang Village
Sun Jinbao and his companion were very obedient. They didn't move when the police told them not to, and they even held back when they needed to use the restroom, waiting silently.

Two hours later, Ji Bowei arrived at the funeral home with his men, including Fang Zhou and police officers from the Criminal Technology Squadron.

I didn't see Hu Lihui, the captain of the first squadron; he's probably busy with other cases.

The director was alarmed, and all the funeral home staff gathered in the conference room.

"Sun Jinbao! What are you doing?! I'm giving you authority, and you're just messing around like this?"

"Illegal cremation, who gave you the audacity!"

"Look at this funeral certificate! Could it be any more fake? How shameful!"

Before Ji Bowei could say anything, the curator pointed at Sun Jinbao and started cursing, spitting as he did so. He looked extremely angry and threw the funeral certificate in his hand at the other man's face.

The surrounding staff were terrified; they had never seen the curator so magnanimous in all these years, as he was usually all smiles.

If the deputy director is derelict in his duties, the director will also be implicated.

Sun Jinbao lowered his head, not daring to retort.

Ji Bowei looked at the two of them.

Was the curator involved? We don't know; we'll have to wait for the results of the investigation. The relevant personnel in the town will investigate this matter.

To prevent collusion from other townspeople, people from the city will also come.

Before arriving, after learning that the Huaiyan Town Funeral Home was suspected of illegal cremation, he had already reported it to Captain Feng Yao and Deputy Director Zhao Xingbang, who would handle the matter.

Everyone understands the curator's anger. Even if he was unaware of the illegal cremation, what about the unspoken rules in other industries?

An urn containing ashes.

Red envelope culture.

Monopolistic consumption.

When a family member passes away, the cost increases at every stage, from the body to the ashes. No one cares about the money in order to ensure that the family member can pass away with dignity.

Normally no one cares, but now that Sun Jinbao is suspected of illegal cremation, is it possible that when the higher authorities come to investigate, they will also investigate the funeral home and dig up everything that needs to be dug up?
Very likely, we can't come here for nothing.

Therefore, regardless of whether the curator was involved in the illegal cremation, this is the main reason for his anger.

"Captain Ji!" The curator, tired of yelling, looked at Ji Bowen. "Handle it however you see fit, I'll fully cooperate!"

Ji Bowei spoke up: "Director Sun, besides what you just said, is there anything else you want to add? Do you know any other inside information about Cao Kexuan's death?"

He never expected that casually arranging a police report for Han Ling and Tong Feng would lead to the discovery of a hidden, unnatural death.

Whether it was an accident or homicide, this matter is very serious for criminal investigators.

Sun Jinbao shook his head: "I only handle cremation; I don't know anything else."

Seeing this, Ji Bowei ordered: "Fang Zhou, take everyone to Weijiazhuang Village to investigate. I'll handle things here."

People from the town will be coming later, as will people from the city; officials from the civil affairs department and the discipline inspection department will be among them. He needs to stay behind to negotiate.

Ark: "Yes!"

The criminal investigation team members left quickly, and the conference room was immediately less than half full.

Three police cars drove out of the funeral home and headed to Weijiazhuang Village.

Weijiazhuang Village is located in the northernmost part of Huaiyan Town. Although it seems not far away, the road is difficult to travel and takes at least an hour, making it a relatively remote village.

Remote villages and towns have little communication, so there are some things they naturally don't know and can't control.

The more remote a village is, the higher its degree of "self-governance" is, and one can imagine that some illegal and criminal activities will not reach the police station.

For example, if one villager assaults another villager and causes minor injuries, it would be a public prosecution case requiring legal trial, but it might be handled internally within the village.

The elders mediated, and compensation and an apology were offered.

Fang Zhou and his companions rode in the same car.

"Brother Zhou, where's Captain Hu?" Tong Feng asked.

Fang Zhou replied, "He went to handle a bigamy case. Bigamy plus abandonment, and also suspected of assault. That guy will be jailed for life."

Upon hearing this, Tong Feng snorted, "It's true what they say, 'A big forest has all kinds of birds,' male and female?"

“It’s a man.” After saying that, Fang Zhou turned to look at Han Ling sitting next to him, “Did the person who called the police provide any useful clues?”

Han Ling said, "There were no clues, it was all guesswork. Now that I think about it, the person who made the report had a lot of complicated emotions involved in deciding to come to the branch office."

Fangzhou: "What do you mean?"

Han Ling: "She harbored resentment towards the villagers. This resentment did not arise after Cao Kexuan's death. Even when Cao Kexuan was alive, the person who reported the incident disliked those villagers."

The villagers' low level of education is one factor, while the caller's innate sense of superiority is another.

These things aren't important. What's important is that she did the right thing by calling the police, which exposed the unnatural death, and that those speculations, in retrospect, are worth considering.

Fangzhou: "You mean cremation?"

Han Ling: "Yes."

Fang Zhou understood Han Ling's meaning and nodded: "That's right. If the villagers don't want to call the police, burial is the safest option, but they would rather risk cremation in town, thus destroying the most important evidence in the case of unnatural death."

The corpse is the most important evidence; forensic doctors can find many things on a corpse.

Now... it's a bit difficult to investigate; we can only try to find out from other directions. Tong Feng, in the passenger seat, turned around and joined the discussion: "If that's the case, is the person who sent the text message still playing a prank?"

Fangzhou: "There is no causal relationship between the two. It may be a prank or it may not be."

Regardless of whether there was any problem with Cao Kexuan's death, it did not prevent a villager from sending a text message to his girlfriend on the day of Cao Kexuan's funeral, for the purpose of playing a prank.

Tong Feng: "If it wasn't a prank, could it be... to remind the person who called the police that there was something wrong with Cao Kexuan's death?"

“Yes.” It was Han Ling who spoke. “You’ve hit the nail on the head. If it’s not a prank, it’s most likely a warning. Any other method could expose his identity, even writing an anonymous letter isn’t safe. This person is timid, or rather, afraid of certain people in the village.”

Tong Feng: "It's getting more and more complicated the more we talk about it."

Fang Zhou: "Stop guessing. Let's rely on the investigation. Our focus is on Cao Kexuan's accidental drowning. Drowning among fishermen is not uncommon."

Tong Feng: "I'll say one last thing! What if... I mean, what if Cao Kexuan was suddenly pushed while fishing, fell into the lake and drowned, and the rain a few days ago washed away all the traces, and the body has already been cremated?"

The Ark remained silent.

Han Ling didn't say anything either.

Seeing this, Tong Feng wisely shut up, sat up straight, and looked at the windshield. The distant mountains were faintly visible in the haze; that was the location of Weijiazhuang Village.

An hour later, the surrounding area was desolate and deserted, and police cars drove into the village.

It was noon, a time when families would eat, rest, visit each other, and take walks. You could see many villagers in the distance.

When the police cars arrived at the village, three of them, the villagers stopped and whispered among themselves.

Han Ling and Tong Feng got out of the car to ask two questions: the location of Cao Kexuan's house and the location of the village committee.

The villagers were simple and honest, answering all questions clearly in just a few words.

The village is small and easy to find.

"Thank you." The two returned to the car.

Fangzhou decided to go to Cao Kexuan's house first so that his colleagues in the criminal technology squadron could get to work immediately.

Where did Cao Kexuan catch the fish? Where did it fall into the water? Forensic experts and trace evidence specialists need to conduct an on-site investigation to try to find any suspicious circumstances that were not accidental.

The investigation of unnatural deaths is a process of checking for homicide. When criminal investigators investigate unnatural deaths, they first assume homicide. If the homicide is found to be false, then it can be proven to be an accident.

The village road ahead began to narrow. Since the area wasn't large, everyone got out of the car and chose to walk. After turning a few corners, they arrived at Cao Kexuan's house.

The white banners had been taken down, the wreaths leaned against the corner of the wall, and unburnt yellow paper fluttered in the breeze on the ground.

Upon entering the courtyard, the Cao family was cooking.

Two women sat under the eaves picking vegetables, speaking in low voices. Occasionally, when they mentioned the deceased Cao Kexuan, their faces showed obvious melancholy.

Just a week after the incident, the Cao family is still grieving and will likely struggle to recover for a long time, perhaps even for the rest of their lives.

After all, he was the most outstanding child in the Cao family.

When they saw people coming in, including some in police uniforms, the two men paused for a moment, watching as the other person approached.

"Hello, is this Cao Kexuan's home?" Fang Zhou walked in front and asked politely, trying to keep his tone calm and non-aggressive.

"Yes." One of the middle-aged women put down the dishes she was holding and stood up. "I'm Cao Kexuan's mother. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Fangzhou: "I'd like to ask if Cao Kexuan drowned while fishing?"

Cao's mother: "Uh."

She opened her mouth, but didn't want to answer. Instead, she turned her head and called out to the people inside.

A moment later, a dark-skinned middle-aged man walked out of the house.

“They are police officers, asking about Kexuan,” Cao’s mother said.

The man glanced at the group and asked, "I'm Kexuan's father. What's wrong?"

Fangzhou repeated the question from before.

Upon hearing this, Cao's father frowned: "What do you mean by drowning? Ke Xuan died of illness. You can leave now. The funeral is over. We just want some peace and quiet."

It was clear that Cao's father was very haggard, with droopy eyelids, sunken eye sockets, and significantly more white hair than black hair on his head. It was unclear whether this was due to early onset or because his hair turned white overnight from grief after his son's death.

Upon hearing the other party's denial, Fangzhou went to see Cao's mother. She had already sat down after her husband came out and continued picking vegetables in her hands, with no intention of getting involved.

“Mr. Cao, Cao Kexuan did not die of illness.” Fang Zhou looked at him.

Cao's father grew impatient: "He died of illness!"

Fang Zhou stretched out his hand: "If he died of illness, please show me the death certificate issued by the hospital."

Cao's father was even angrier and was about to explode when Fang Zhou added, "We have already investigated the funeral home. Cao Kexuan's cremation was illegal, and there were major procedural problems."

These words silenced Cao's father, leaving him speechless.

Looking at Cao's mother, she is completely a rural woman with low status in the family, carefully picking vegetables with her head down, and putting her husband first in everything.

"So what?" Cao's father admitted, "Yes, Kexuan drowned while fishing. It's our own family that lost someone; we don't need outsiders to interfere."

"The police work hard, but I just had a funeral at home, so I won't invite you in for tea. Goodbye."

Fang Zhou: "Mr. Cao, I'm afraid... we have to intervene. How can you be sure that your son's death was an accident?"

(End of this chapter)