I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 85 Visit
yard.

After Ji Bowei finished speaking, he looked coldly at Cao's father.

Nationwide, all city police departments are extremely strict in investigating cases of unnatural death. As long as the death is not a natural one, such as dying in a hospital or a seriously ill elderly person dying at home, the police are required to intervene—regardless of whether the deceased's family reports it to the police.

Throughout history, many murder methods have been secretive, making them difficult for the victim's family to detect and requiring professional forensic examination.

Ji Bowei was already furious that the body was missing, and now that the deceased's family was resisting the investigation, he was unlikely to be in a good mood.

Cao's mother also came out and stood at the entrance of the living room, watching the scene in the yard. She didn't say anything or interfere, and let her husband's will prevail.

In villages, especially remote ones, men are the pillars of the family, and women generally listen to men.

"Alright... please come in, sir."

After hesitating for a long time, Cao's father realized that it was useless to stop him, so he had no choice but to compromise.

Everyone entered the living room.

The mourning hall is still there, with a black and white photo of Cao Kexuan displayed on it. The young man in the photo is looking straight ahead with a faint smile on his lips.

He should have had a bright future, but now he has unexpectedly left this world.

The house was a bit messy, with tables and chairs scattered around. Her son had died, and as a mother, she didn't feel like cleaning up. It would take her a long time to recover.

"Please have a seat, boss."

Ji Bowei sat down at the nearest seat; since there weren't enough chairs, the others chose to stand.

Cao's father lowered his head and silently smoked. He didn't look very old, but the white hair on his head was very striking.

"Has Mr. Cao's hair turned white for a long time?" Ji Bowei asked.

Before Cao's father could respond, Cao's mother in the next room burst into tears. Her sobs contained grief for her son and heartache for her husband. She could hear the conversation outside.

"Sigh," Cao's father sighed, "It's just turned white."

Upon hearing this, Ji Bowei remained silent for a moment before softening his tone: "Mr. Cao, please understand that we police officers are usually very busy and cannot come to Weijiazhuang Village to do useless things and waste police resources for no reason."

Cao Kexuan drowned accidentally while fishing. This is your guess from the side, not what you saw directly, which is why an investigation is needed.

I'll just mention one simple possibility; just listen and see. What if someone pushes Cao Kexuan into the lake?

Cao's father didn't react much, his voice low: "Aren't you just arguing for the sake of arguing? Xuanxuan can swim. He's been playing in the lake with his friends from the village since he was little. He's a very good swimmer. Even if someone pushes him into the lake, he can climb out on his own."

Unless he swims into the middle of the lake and gets a leg cramp.

This was the father's simple thought, trying to rationalize his son's death completely.

It's quite normal for people to jump into the lake to chase their fishing rods while fishing, and then not be able to swim back due to exhaustion or leg cramps. Villagers living near water areas are quite familiar with this situation, as most of them knew how to swim when they were young.

Ji Bowei: "I'm just giving an example. How do you know that Cao Kexuan jumped in by himself? And how do you know that he jumped in to chase the fishing rod?"
The claim that Cao Kexuan jumped into the lake to chase a fishing rod is merely speculation, as there was a fishing rod on the lake when the body was discovered; the actual situation may be different.

Mr. Cao shook his head, muttering, "Arguing all the time, always arguing, so idle..."

He might have meant to say "I'm bored," but he probably realized it was inappropriate and didn't say it.

Seeing this, Ji Bowei realized that it was impossible to reach a consensus with the other party, so he stopped talking nonsense and just carried out the normal investigation.

“We need Cao Kexuan’s belongings, such as his clothes and personal items.”

Cao's father pointed to the room where his wife was: "They're all in there."

Ji Bowei: "Are the clothes Cao Kexuan was wearing when he drowned still around?"

Cao's father: "They're still here."

Ji Bowei gave Fang Zhou a look, and the latter led his men into the side room, where rustling sounds could be heard.

The questioning by Cao's father continued, mainly focusing on Cao Kexuan's personality and his interpersonal relationships.

"Wei Tianyong, he is Xuanxuan's best friend, childhood friend, they have been playing together since they were little, and they have a very good relationship."

“When they were little, Xuanxuan would go to Tianyong’s house for dinner one day, and Tianyong would come to our house for dinner the next day. Even when Tianyong dropped out of school, it didn’t affect their relationship.”

“When he was in college, Tianyong often went to the city to visit Xuanxuan.”

Hearing this, Han Ling, who was standing behind Ji Bowei, raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that the blond-haired youth and the deceased were such close friends; he had thought they were just ordinary acquaintances.

In that case, we should ask this person a lot of questions.

"Han Ling, you and Tong Feng go find Wei Tianyong and conduct a thorough investigation," Ji Bowei ordered. "Yan Dong, you go find the first villager who discovered Cao Kexuan's body and ask him about it as well."

The group accepted their orders and left.

"Has Cao Kexuan offended anyone?" Ji Bowei continued to ask from the Cao family's side.

Mr. Cao shook his head: "No, Xuanxuan is a very obedient child with good interpersonal relationships. Even when he was a child, he rarely got into fights. He would never offend anyone."

Ji Bowei: "This matter is very important. Is Mr. Cao sure?"

Cao's father: "Absolutely certain!"

After questioning Cao's father, Ji Bowei then went to question Cao's mother separately to gain a comprehensive understanding.

Wei family.

Han Ling and Tong Feng met Wei Tianyong.

The Wei family's house is quite large, a three-story building. It's not easy to build a three-story building on such a gentle slope at the foot of a mountain. The Wei family must have spent a lot of money and were very willing to spend it.

This is just the residence of one branch of the Wei family.

The Wei family is indeed the most powerful family in Weijiazhuang Village. Compared to the Wei family, the Cao family doesn't seem to be as wealthy.

It's probably the kind of situation where "there's a first place, but no second, and the third is miles behind," with most of the wealth in the hands of the Wei family. "Didn't we just ask? What are you doing now?!" Wei Tianyong was displeased.

A middle-aged man's voice came from inside the house: "Tianyong! Cooperate with the police investigation properly, and don't cause any trouble!"

"understood!"

Wei Tianyong responded and led Han Ling and the other person to the pavilion in the courtyard.

There is a pavilion in the courtyard, a type of architectural layout that is rare in the village, and it exudes the smell of money everywhere.

“That’s right, Cao Kexuan and I are childhood friends, good brothers, is there a problem?” Wei Tianyong admitted.

Han Ling: "Has he offended anyone recently?"

Wei Tianyong: "No, since Kexuan went to university, he rarely comes back except for summer and winter vacations. We can only see him occasionally on weekends."

Han Ling: "Don't you often go to Qingchang University to see him?"

Wei Tianyong: "Yeah, I go there often. I don't have much to do in the village, so what's wrong with me going to visit my brother?"

Han Ling looked at him and said, "Don't keep using rhetorical questions. It won't do you any good to anger me. You're just sitting in a well in the village, with a limited perspective. The outside world is vast, understand?"

Wei Tianyong was not convinced and wanted to say something harsh, but his wrist, which had been twisted by the other party, was still throbbing with pain, so he had to give up in frustration.

"May I ask who called the police? Was it Zhu Yuntang?"

Han Ling only said two words: "No."

"Fine," Wei Tianyong said indifferently.

Han Ling: "Since you mentioned Zhu Yuntang, I'd like to ask about her situation. Does she have any enemies in the village?"

"Huh?" Wei Tianyong looked puzzled by the question. "She's not from our village, and she's only come here once or twice with Kexuan. What kind of enemy could she have?"

Han Ling: "Do you like using rhetorical questions so much? Can you just answer the questions?"

Wei Tianyong: "Okay, okay, no, no enemies."

Han Ling: "Are you envious of Cao Kexuan?"

The saying, "I fear my brother's hardship, yet I also fear his driving a Land Rover," is highly insightful and reveals the true nature of humanity.

Wei Tianyong denied it: "I'm not envious. My family is much richer than his, so what's there to envy?"

Han Ling: "Of course I envy what you don't have."

Wei Tianyong laughed: "You mean education? A girlfriend? A respectable job in the future? If you have money, do you still need those things?"

That statement is correct, but it's unclear how much money the Wei family actually has that gives him such confidence.

"I heard from the villagers that someone stole Cao Kexuan's phone on the day of his funeral and sent it to his girlfriend?" Han Ling said.

When the matter was mentioned, Wei Tianyong's emotions fluctuated: "Yes, that's true. I don't know which bastard was so bored that he played such a pointless prank!"

If I ever find out, I'll make him pay!

Han Ling: "Has the village been investigating during this period?"

Wei Tianyong: "We've investigated. The Cao family has been investigating for several days, and our Wei family has also helped with the investigation. We've asked everyone who's suspected, but we still haven't found out who it is."

Han Ling: "What are your criteria for suspicion?"

Wei Tianyong thought for a moment and said, "It's just that... people don't like Kexuan, they envy Kexuan for getting into university, they envy Kexuan for finding a girlfriend from the city, and they don't get along with the Cao family."

Han Ling: "You don't get along with the Cao family?"

Wei Tianyong: "When we were building the house before, the Cao family had a dispute with others over the land."

Han Ling: "Tell me more about it."

Wei Tianyong: "Okay."

Apart from the main road, every piece of land in the village has an owner, either legally or through long-standing custom.

When someone is building a house, disputes can arise over even half a square meter of land.

The Cao family occupied their neighbor's land, a very small piece of land, a triangle of about one square meter.

With this triangle, the house gains ten square meters of space; without it, the house will be ten square meters smaller due to design flaws, resulting in a difference of twenty square meters in both the vertical and horizontal dimensions.

The neighbor demanded 100,000 yuan, but the Cao family refused, leading to a dispute. Ultimately, the Wei family stepped in to mediate and resolve the issue.

The problem has been solved, but the conflict remains.

There won't be any major conflict, but they can still manage to disgust the Cao family on the day of Cao Kexuan's funeral.

After listening to Wei Tianyong's words, Han Ling also felt that it was indeed possible that due to historical issues, the younger generation of Cao's neighbor had a moment of boredom and secretly took the phone to send that text message to Zhu Yuntang.

"You couldn't find your phone, right?" Han Ling asked.

Wei Tianyong shook his head: "I couldn't find it. I don't know where it went. It's just a prank, it's not a big deal anyway."

Not a big deal?

Han Ling doesn't think so.

Without that text message, Zhu Yuntang would not have come to the police station to report the crime, and there would have been no subsequent investigation by the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

According to those in the know, Cao Kexuan died by accident after falling into the water.

To outsiders, Cao Kexuan died of illness.

(End of this chapter)