Chapter 110: Eyewitness

The cake was exquisitely made, tagged at forty dollars a box.

Chen Shi commented, “This doesn’t prove it was bought that day, let’s check the popsicles below.”

He opened the freezer to find the popsicles had expired; they were leftovers from last summer that Kong Tingting had tossed in carelessly, thus not serving as evidence.

Peng Si Jie remarked, “Essentially, you’re as stubborn as Old Lin, just luckier.”

“I’m not just lucky, my intuition is usually very accurate.” Chen Shi closed the freezer door, picked up the cake, and pondered, “It’s hardly decayed, how do we determine when it was bought?”

“We need to buy several more and perform a controlled experiment.”

“Let’s go. There’s a store nearby where it might have been purchased.”

“Let’s leave the cake here; I didn’t bring a cooler, I’ll pick it up later.”

As they left the building, the construction site across the street was really noisy, forcing them to speak loudly. Peng Si Jie frowned, “Isn’t this noise a nuisance? Hasn’t anyone complained?”

“This area used to be dormitories for a textile factory, bought by a landlord and rented out for eight hundred a month. Most residents are local workers who aren’t home during the day.”

Reaching the street level, they headed towards the commercial district. Chen Shi noticed a raggedly dressed little boy following them, likely a local scavenger’s child, but didn’t pay much mind.

Sure enough, there was a cake shop on the commercial street. They entered and found the cake in question. A sales associate approached with a smile and began her pitch, while Chen Shi picked up a cake and asked, “Does this type of cake only have a two-day shelf life?”

“Yes, these pudding cakes need to be absolutely fresh. If they don’t sell within two days, we discard them.”

“Have you seen a girl buying this type of cake?” Chen Shi showed a photo of Kong Tingting on his phone, “We’re police investigating a case.”

The sales associate shook her head, “I don’t remember, maybe ask our supervisor?”

But the supervisor had no recollection either. They bought several cakes and, looking up, noticed a security camera across the street, installed by a bar that hadn’t yet opened for the day.

At that moment, the ragged boy stood across the street, sucking on his finger and watching them.

Chen Shi waved him over, “Come here.”

The boy approached, and Chen Shi asked, “Why are you following us? Do you want some cake?”

The boy nodded.

So, Chen Shi handed him a slice. The boy thanked him and started eating, crumbs all around his mouth, clearly famished.

Peng Si Jie whispered, “That’s for the experiment!”

“It’s fine, we bought plenty.”

“That’s public funds… Oh well, never mind!”

After finishing, the boy asked, “Mister, are you a cop?”

“How did you know?”

“I live across at the landfill. I saw you guys yesterday.”

Chen Shi crouched down, probing, “Did you see something?”

The boy nodded, “But my mom said not to tell. She’s afraid of bad people retaliating. I wanted to talk the other day when I saw you asking around.”

Chen Shi patted his head, “It’s okay, the police are here, no need to fear the bad guys. Tell me what you saw.”

“That afternoon, I saw through the window a man hurting a lady!”

Peng Si Jie was taken aback—could this child be an eyewitness?

“Which afternoon?” Chen Shi asked.

“The day before yesterday.”

“Do you remember what time?”

“Just after lunch, we usually eat at two. Dad brings lots of food back from the restaurant.”

“What exactly did you see the man doing to the lady?”

“He was hitting her, and it looked like he had a knife. I got really scared.”

Peng Si Jie was skeptical, “You have such good eyesight? The landfill is fifty meters from that building!”

“It’s true, cross my heart!”

Peng Si Jie pointed to a distant sign and asked the boy to read it, proving his vision was indeed sharp.

Chen Shi asked, “What happened next?”

“The lady fell down, and a window blocked my view. I couldn’t see what happened next… Did she die? Is that why you’re here?”

“Kid, your information is very helpful. Here, have another piece of cake.”

As Chen Shi reached for the cake, Peng Si Jie grabbed his hand, “He’s a witness. Giving him gifts could be seen as bribery!”

Chen Shi, exasperated, replied, “It’s just a cake.”

“It’s a matter of principle!”

Chen Shi gave up and said to the boy, “Can we meet your family?”

While visiting thescavenger’s family at the landfill, Peng Si Jie covered his mouth with a handkerchief and frowned the entire time. With Chen Shi’s patient persuasion, the family finally agreed to let the child testify when needed.

After they left, Peng Si Jie took a deep breath of fresh air and said, “With such economic conditions, yet having four children and not even able to provide basic education—it’s really harming them!”

“I feel the same, but unlike you, I don’t show my disdain so openly,” Chen Shi remarked.

“I’m not showing disdain; I just can’t stand the smell of the landfill… Where’s the cake?”

“I gave it all to the kids,” Chen Shi replied.

Peng Si Jie’s eyes widened, “Those were for the experiment! You just gave them away?”

“I’ll buy more; I’ll pay for it myself this time… I really can’t stand you sometimes.”

“You really have no sense of principle!” Peng Si Jie exclaimed.

The child’s testimony, though not conclusive, provided a direction—the incident likely happened that afternoon, and the murderer might have manipulated the indoor temperature to mislead the time of death.

This raised another question: the voice Kong Tingting’s neighbor, Wang Shilun, heard at 7 p.m., what was that about?

Instead of heading back immediately, they decided to visit Wang Shilun, who had just finished work. Seeing the two men approaching, he joked, “Didn’t the beautiful lady come?”

“Two handsome guys instead… We have a question. That night at 7, the voice you heard of Kong Tingting, was there anything unusual?”

“Nothing unusual, just her voice.”

“Did you record it?”

“How could I have a recording? It was just a normal call. I didn’t know she would be killed.”

“Please try to recall again.”

Wang Shilun tried hard to remember but still shook his head. Peng Si Jie suddenly asked, “Your call with the victim, no third party heard it?”

“Nobody!”

Peng Si Jie turned to Chen Shi, “So it’s only his word that he talked to the victim. Could it be possible he’s lying?”

Wang Shilun became annoyed, “You guys are funny. Why would I lie? Do you think I’m an accomplice to the murderer? Although you didn’t hear it, you saw it, the call lasted less than a minute. What could I possibly say in that time? Here, let me show you the call log.”

Chen Shi tried to smooth things over, “He’s a forensic scientist; he might view things a bit differently.”

“What nonsense!” Wang Shilun exclaimed.