How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 376 - 378: Investigation_1

Someone called for the village chief, and the fortune-teller grabbed his belongings and ran.

Fearing being caught and paraded through the streets for spreading superstitious nonsense.

After everyone dispersed, Li Qiao returned to his own yard and sat down while the neighbors visited each other, all discussing the fortune-teller. They also reminded Qin Jin, "Jin, why didn’t you ask the fortune-teller to resolve your issues just now? Now the person has run away."

Old Mrs. Qin: "Resolve what? A scammer."

Li Qiao laughed, "Grandma really sees through people."

"But didn’t he not ask for money? And the thing about Jinhua was spot on. He even knew about the child she lost."

Old Mrs. Qin: "When you start asking questions, that’s when he’ll ask for money. As for Li Jinhua’s business, who knows if the fortune-teller learned it from somewhere else before entering the village? He probably planned to charge a fee to resolve her issues, but he was interrupted by the village chief before he could."

"Jinhua doesn’t need to resolve anything, ah. She can still have a girl, but for someone like Qiaoqiao who will have a formal job in the future, the authorities won’t let her have more children, right? If you only have one daughter, won’t all the land and houses in your family belong to the neighbors?"

Old Mrs. Qin calmly said, "The houses and land belong to the collective; if really no one is left, they belong to the village. How could they become the property of the neighbors? I give it to them, would they even dare to accept it?"

"That’s true too."

But even if others don’t dare to take it, having a son is still better, for he will marry someone else’s daughter in the future.

One more mouth to feed.

And if Li Qiao bears a daughter and is not allowed to have more children, no matter how big Qin Jin’s factory becomes, no matter how much money it makes, all of it will eventually belong to others.

His brothers all seem to have sons, right? Whichever family his daughter marries into, it’s as if Qin Jin is making money for someone else’s family.

However, these words are not easy to say.

Lest they upset someone.

.....

Old Mrs. Qin cooked rib soup for lunch, and Li Qiao was holding a half bowl when Xun Dong arrived with gifts.

Li Qiao was both surprised and delighted, "Director Xun, you came to see me and even brought gifts; you’re too courteous." She remembered that Xun Dong was very stingy, usually giving away things that were either useless or intended to be thrown away.

Xun Dong smiled, "Just finished lunch, eh? I specially came to see you for a matter."

Li Qiao: "....."

"It’s like this," Xun Dong explained the reason.

On the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month, the victim’s family reported her missing, and two days later, they received a report from the public that they found what appeared to be human tissue which was identified as human organs through examination.

The police found hands and legs nearby.

Upon testing, they confirmed the time of death.

It was precisely the fifteenth.

They connected the victim to the reporting party and asked them to identify the body. Through a birthmark on the foot, that person confirmed the victim was their own daughter.

Old Mrs. Qin listened with a trembling heart, "Dismembered into eight parts? That’s an immense hatred. It couldn’t be the doing of the in-laws, could it?"

Li Qiao grieved for the girl; Yu Feng was always ranting about chopping Peng Chunhua to bits. Something like this was indeed possible.

"She didn’t have in-laws yet, just a high school girl, well-behaved and excelling in studies. It just so happened she was on a break that day. Her parents said she never had arguments with neighbors, and she got along well with her colleagues. They can’t imagine who could do such a thing," Xun Dong said.

Li Qiao: "Was the girl pretty?"

"Ah? She looked pretty in the family photos. Because the body was not intact, we also suspected whether she had been violated. But even if she really was violated, there’s no need to go to such great lengths to dismember her, right?"

Li Qiao contemplated, "Could it be because of superstition?" She remembered reading in a book about the supernatural that when people die, they come back to visit their families seven days later and appear in their dreams, but if their bodies are not intact, they can’t come back to do so.

In the village, young people in their twenties don’t believe in these things, but those over forty, if there’s trouble at home, it’s either problems with the ancestral grave or evil spirits. They even invite mediums to come sing and dance in their homes, but the village chief will catch these people.

So, everyone does it secretly.

Like today, as soon as the village chief heard there was a fortune-teller, he immediately came to stop it.

Li Qiao relayed his thoughts to Xun Dong.

Xun Dong nodded slightly, "That makes some sense."

Li Qiao then said, "Tell me about this carefully, I want to go over it again."

Xun Dong recapped from beginning to end.

On the night of the 15th, the girl didn’t come home. Her family looked for her all night and didn’t report the case until the next day. Hearing from the victim’s classmates, they walked together for a while after school and then separated. No one saw anyone suspicious around the victim.

During the investigation, a witness said he had seen the victim helping a pregnant woman cross the street before she disappeared. They also found the pregnant woman, "That woman said, after the young girl helped her home, she walked westward. But west wasn’t the direction of the girl’s home."

Li Qiao continued to ask, "Was anyone there when she parted ways with the pregnant woman?"

"That woman’s home is quite remote, and everybody around was at work. They said no one saw it."

Li Qiao: "It was noon when school let out, right? Just after Laba, and it’s bustling with the New Year’s festivities. Even if there are fewer people on the streets during the day, it’s impossible for there to be no one. The house we live in the city is also quite remote, but as long as strangers pass by, someone always sees them. Could it be related to the pregnant woman?"

"What could a pregnant woman do to a young girl?"

"The pregnant woman couldn’t, but what about her man?"

Old Mrs. Qin, who was listening in from the side, said, "How could a woman let her man deceive a young girl?"

Li Qiao: "You never know, people are the most complicated animals, and everyone’s thoughts are different. I think it’s possible, especially since the pregnant woman’s statement is puzzling. We should check it out." She suggested searching the pregnant woman’s home to see if they could find a trace of evidence, hoping her assumptions were wrong.

Xun Dong frowned deep in thought, then after considering, agreed, "Together?"

Li Qiao nodded, bored at home, it would be good to do something meaningful outside.

Qin Jin was not happy; his wife was pregnant, and it was risky for her to be wandering streets and alleys. What if she fell and hurt herself? "An investigation over the New Year, huh."

Xun Dong: "Sorry for the inconvenience; I’ll treat you to a meal when there’s time."

Qin Jin muttered to himself: My wife goes to work at your place every holiday, how many times have you treated us? "I must join you."

"Let’s go! Better than me having to take her back later."

"......"

......

Searching someone’s home requires proper procedures.

Xun Dong made a trip to his department first, obtained the necessary approvals, and called a colleague on duty from next door. Together they went to the pregnant woman’s house to search for clues.

Four people knocked on the door.

The pregnant woman visibly panicked. "You, why are you coming again?"

"Who is it outside?"

"Detectives investigating a case," the pregnant woman said, regaining her composure and yelling towards the inside of the house.

A few seconds later, a man walked out of the house, sizing up the people and finally resting his gaze on Li Qiao, staring at her, "Oh, a female officer too."

Xun Dong had never suspected the pregnant woman’s partner before, but after a reminder from Li Qiao and seeing the man’s lascivious look now, he said sternly, "Female officers handle cases just the same."

There were other people in the house, around twenty years old.

They didn’t seem like relatives.

According to the pregnant woman herself, her man worked at a brick factory. Were these people his co-workers?

Xun Dong speculated silently and then said, "Please step aside for a moment."

"Step aside, step aside where?" the pregnant woman’s partner said.

Xun Dong: "Outside, of course."

"This is our own home. Even if you are police, you can’t just barge in, right?" the man said.