Chapter 833: Jia Laosi’s House

Despite having a witness, last night’s killers had masked their faces, so their appearances were unknown. Lao Zhang had already called the station, and they were waiting for Peng Sijue to arrive for the investigation.

Feng Xiaoqing, who had survived the attack, was holed up in the nanny van, refusing to see anyone. Lin Dongxue spent a long time talking through the window before she agreed to let her in. The others waited outside.

Half an hour later, Lin Dongxue got out of the van and said, “Poor girl, she’s terrified. I kept comforting her. She asked us not to publicize this incident, or her career would be ruined.”

“From what you’re saying, I guess she doesn’t have any clues?” Chen Shi asked.

“I asked her, and she said she couldn’t think of anyone she might have offended.”

Chen Shi walked towards the fields. The filming had been canceled, and the anxious farmers had brought their harvesters and tractors early in the morning to start harvesting rice. He had a nagging feeling that the case had happened too suddenly, as if the killers were trying to divert the police’s attention.

But committing a murder on a relatively famous singer would cause a huge impact, drawing significant police attention. Was what they were trying to divert attention from really worth such a big risk?

Later in the morning, Lin Qiupu and Peng Sijue arrived with their team to investigate. They found the killers’ footprints and fingerprints. It appeared there were two male suspects. Based on various clues, one seemed to be around forty years old, slightly overweight, and about 5’9″ tall. The other was about twenty, slim, and around 5’5″.

They had applied glue on their hands, making fingerprint identification impossible.

The four victims showed signs of poisoning, possibly anesthetics. The cause of death was a slit throat, similar to the murder in Xujiakuang.

While the police investigated, Chen Shi found Lao Jia at the village committee and asked, “By the way, where did the rice harvesters stay while they were here?”

“The village committee has some empty rooms. They stayed there at night, but sometimes they also stayed at Jia Laosi’s place.”

Chen Shi took out his phone and showed Lao Jia the ID photos of the two harvesters. Lao Jia examined them for a long time and said, “These are definitely not them.”

As expected, they had used stolen IDs.

“Do you know their heights and builds?”

“Chu Wei is a bit overweight. The other is of medium build, but I don’t know their exact heights. I just remember the other one is shorter than me.”

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue exchanged a look. This matched the killers’ physical descriptions. However, Chen Shi played it cool and asked, “How about Jia Laosi’s height and build?”

“Uh, he’s quite slim and a bit taller than me,” Lao Jia said, unsure.

“Doesn’t that match last night’s killer?” Chen Shi feigned surprise. “Lao Jia, we need to search Jia Laosi’s house!”

“Impossible! Jia Laosi wouldn’t kill anyone. Isn’t he in Xi’an?”

“His ID usage records show he’s still around Long’an.”

“Uh…”

Lao Jia agreed to let them search Jia Laosi’s house.

Chen Shi skillfully picked the lock and entered with Lin Dongxue. The entrance led to a courtyard with some firewood stacked up. The living room had nothing noteworthy, but in the bedroom, Chen Shi found a small table with leftover dishes, wine bottles, and an ashtray full of cigarette butts.

The dishes were all pre-made cold dishes in plastic bags. Chen Shi examined the ashtray and said, “There are two types of cigarettes. Two people have stayed here.”

“Could it be those two harvesters?” Lin Dongxue asked.

Chen Shi drew back the curtains, revealing a view of Feng Xiaoqing’s place. “If the killers were the two harvesters, they must have stayed here last night, hiding until it was time to strike.”

“Why would the harvesters target Feng Xiaoqing? To divert our attention? This method is too crude; we’re already suspecting them.”

Chen Shi looked out the window and said, “They just wanted to shift our focus away from the rice.”

“Even if it cost them their lives?”

“Perhaps,” Chen Shi nodded. “The most bizarre part of last night’s scene is that it was staged as a wedding. Rape and murder are common, but dressing the victim as a bride and then assaulting her is rare.”

“Maybe he had a crush on Feng Xiaoqing.”

“Is it still called a crush when it’s a celebrity? More like admiration.”

“It’s the same thing. Making the murder look like a wedding suggests fulfilling a long-held desire.”

“This shows that the killer understood the implications of this murder and the price he would pay. He used murder to fulfill a wish, showing a do-or-die attitude.” Chen Shi paced around the room, looking at the messy table. “But why didn’t they run away? Running would be easier. They couldn’t run. They had a mission to complete, backed by a gang. These two were essentially sacrificial pawns.”

“Do you think they’ll keep killing?”

“What do you think?”

“This place is vast and sparsely populated, with inconvenient transportation. They’ve been harvesting rice here for years and know the area well. If they keep committing crimes, the police will be overwhelmed and have no time to investigate the rice.”

Chen Shi pondered this terrifying possibility. Lin Dongxue said, “Of course, the idea that the killers are the harvesters is just our speculation… It might be far-fetched.”

“It can be proven!” Chen Shi pointed to the dishes and glasses on the table. “If they were here last night, these are the evidence! Call Lao Peng to search the place!”

After calling Peng Sijue, Lin Dongxue said, “We need to find out what’s going on with this rice. What’s the secret? I thought about it all night and got a headache.”

“Great minds think alike. I also believe the rice holds the key to everything.”

Lin Dongxue pointed upstairs. “Do you think we can find any seeds here? Isn’t Jia Laosi promoting this in town?”

“Let’s check!”

Jia Laosi lived on the second floor. As a bachelor, his bedroom was a mess. He slept on a mattress on the floor, which emitted a sour, sweaty smell.

Chen Shi lifted the mattress, revealing only a few smelly socks.

In a drawer by the table, Lin Dongxue found a gun. She first thought it might belong to one of the missing policemen, but after examining it with Chen Shi, they found it was a replica.

Under the gun was a small notebook, which appeared to be a ledger, listing years and numbers.

Chen Shi counted, “Each page has twelve entries, each starting with a plus sign. Is this his income?”

Lin Dongxue said, “Calculating it, his monthly income is five to six thousand, matching his average earnings… Strange, why does he have a large sum at the end of each year?”

“Every year! Starting from 2010…” Chen Shi’s eyes sharpened. “I remember he started planting this rice in 2010!”