After searching the room for a long time, Mei Qian prepared to go downstairs and rendezvous with Director Niu's team. As he walked out of the room, he saw that the auxiliary police officer was still asleep. He couldn't help but feel a bit displeased and deliberately kicked the auxiliary police officer, who then woke up rubbing his eyes.
"Captain Mei, you? Ah, how did I fall asleep?" The auxiliary police officer recognized Mei Qian and was a bit embarrassed after waking up.
"Didn't rest well last night?" Mei Qian asked with a stern face.
"Impossible, I slept soundly last night. I came to hand over shifts early this morning, ate fried dough and soy milk in the guardhouse, and then it was time to switch." The auxiliary police officer blamed himself for dozing off. However, Mei Qian didn't have time to lecture him now. He kindly told him to hurry downstairs and wash his face, as Director Niu's people were about to arrive.
Mei Qian's new discovery was highly valued by Director Niu, who personally led his team to conduct a more detailed inspection of the room.
With professionals handling the task, Mei Qian had nothing to do for the moment. After strolling around downstairs, he saw Ajiao sitting in the yard reading a book, so he brought a stool and sat down beside her.
"What are you looking at?" Mei Qian chatted with Ajiao in their hometown dialect.
"Looking at cars," Ajiao replied in their hometown dialect, raising the book in her hand. It turned out to be a car magazine.
"You really like cars? Can you fix them too? I saw a repair kit in your room." As soon as Mei Qian finished speaking, he felt a bit rude and tried to cover it up—"Oh, I saw you were in a hurry, so I went into your room to see if you had left anything behind. Ah, weren't you going to your room to get something? Why did I see you come out empty-handed?"
"Who said I was going to get something? I was afraid you would rummage through my room," Ajiao said with some dissatisfaction. "See, you went in, didn't you!"
"Heh heh, I just took a peek." Cornered by her words, Mei Qian said a bit embarrassedly, "By the way, I noticed you wear a mask every day. Why don't you take it off?"
"Is it because I'm ugly? Afraid I'll scare you," Ajiao gave Mei Qian a glare and then stomped away indignantly.
Sigh, women.
Mei Qian felt he had made a fool of himself and chuckled self-deprecatingly.
With a new discovery at the crime scene, the technical investigators were also diligently carrying out their technical work.
"Captain Mei, all the areas covered by ink at the scene were written with a marker pen. Due to the special nature of the ink, the content cannot be verified," a technician reported to Mei Qian. "However, it can be confirmed that these ink marks were applied on the day the deceased, Tie Dan, was murdered."
"Oh? So, can I assume that Tie Dan came to Chen Fei's previous room not to steal something, but to cover up those contents with ink?" Mei Qian said. "No wonder I smelled ink at the scene then. But there was no ink on the deceased?"
Whether useful or not, any discovery had to be taken away. Mei Qian said somewhat apologetically to Wang Sanfa, "Old neighbor, I'm sorry, but this investigation has damaged your furniture."
"It's alright, we're getting new furniture at the end of the month anyway. Isn't this 'Learn from Lei Feng' month? The coal mine next door ordered a batch of new furniture for us at the beginning of the month, and they're rushing to make it. Otherwise, we would have replaced it sooner." Wang Sanfa waved his hand and said, "Fortunately, it's old furniture. If it were new, I'd be heartbroken."
"Oh, which coal mine? That's good news," Mei Qian asked.
"There's only one coal mine in our village. Oh, the one Tie Dan worked at," Wang Sanfa said. "Now that you mention it, Tie Dan even helped carry gifts when the coal mine boss came at the beginning of the month."
"So, Tie Dan also knew you were going to replace the furniture? And, where are you planning to send the old furniture? I see some of it is still in good condition," Mei Qian asked.
"Where can it be sent? To the coal mine. They can reuse it, burn it for firewood, or let their workers use it. That's not our concern," Wang Sanfa said.
Got it! This was another important piece of information. Perhaps Tie Dan knew that the furniture here was going to be moved to the coal mine, and if—if the writings and drawings on the set of furniture that Chen Fei had used were seen by someone—then they had to be dealt with before the furniture was replaced?
Mei Qian pondered, stroking his chin.
"Hey, old neighbor, are you staying tonight?" Ajiao asked loudly from afar, standing in front of the dormitory building with her hands on her hips.
"Yes! Yes! Reserve two rooms for me," Mei Qian replied with a smile.
"When are you guys leaving? If you stay too long, you'll have to pay," Ajiao said somewhat deliberately.
"We'll pay if we have to, it's nothing," Mei Qian replied.
"Don't joke with them." Wang Sanfa walked past his daughter with a quilt, kicked her, and then said to Mei Qian, "Stay, please. With you here, we medical personnel feel more at ease. Don't worry, there's no charge, no charge."
Unknowingly, it was evening. Da Zhang, who had been wandering outside all day, and Lai Xiang, who had been silent all day, sat dejectedly at the dining table in the courtyard and complained to Mei Qian.
"Captain Mei, if I have to ask for information from mental patients again, I'll become a mental patient myself," Lai Xiang said with a crestfallen face.
"Captain Mei, this village is too big. I can't walk anymore," Da Zhang said, looking exhausted. "Boss, use your magic and show us a clear path!"
Seeing his subordinates almost turned into mud figures, Mei Qian said impatiently, "Do you think solving cases is like in the movies, where you solve them with a snap of your fingers? We've made some progress today, and we'll continue tomorrow."
Ajiao slowly walked over with two plates of food.
One plate was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the other was stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
From the dormitory area, intermittent arguing could be heard.
Mei Qian seemed unable to hear clearly and took a few more steps forward.
"Captain, that's not how you watch the excitement," Lai Xiang kindly advised.
A moment later, Wang Sanfa led Director Niu upstairs.
A little while later, Director Niu returned to Mei Qian's side, dejected.
"Damn it, there are really no normal people in this yard. I asked to borrow a wrench, but Wang Sanfa's daughter acted like she had gunpowder in her, and refused to let me use it," Director Niu said. "I pleaded with her to go upstairs and get it, but her toolbox didn't have one at all."
"Oh, then Director Niu, please think of another way. I'm going to rest now," Mei Qian said with a smile, heading towards his dormitory after the excitement was over.
Suddenly, a stone-like object, which was indeed a stone, came whistling towards Mei Qian's face with a "swoosh."
"Thump," as if prepared, Mei Qian batted away the threat.
"You talkative person, why did you tell outsiders about the things in my room!" Ajiao angrily ran up to Mei Qian.
"Helping others is also a good thing, right?" Mei Qian coaxed her like a child.
"You, you're shameless," Ajiao said, leaving a harsh remark, stomped her foot, and returned to her dormitory.
Mei Qian seemed unfazed, stretched, and left with a yawn.
The night passed without incident.
Mornings in the village were filled with quiet.
Without the disturbance of snoring, Mei Qian slept soundly for a rare occasion. He got up early, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and did his morning exercises. After a flurry of activity, it was only seven o'clock in the morning.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The door of the guardhouse suddenly sounded. Who was it so early in the morning?
The gatekeeper, dressed, was about to open the door, but Mei Qian quickly ran to the door and helpfully opened it for him.
"Captain Mei, this is the data the forensic doctor compared overnight, and this is the case file sent by the municipal bureau overnight," the caller was the captain of the county bureau's criminal police brigade.
"Mmm, okay, now everything is clear," Mei Qian patted the captain's shoulder and pointed to Ajiao's dormitory in the yard. "Please, work a little harder. Now, go and take away the suspect Wang Jiao! By the way, remember to search her new dormitory!"