Case Files 013

I looked at Gu Chen and said, "If the killer is in the mountains, he won't have a signal and internet on his phone. So he is definitely not there. The killer wouldn't be on the way to Dong Xing City either because the police are coming to Xing Dong Village. If they run into a singular car parked by the side of the road, it'll be very suspicious."

Gu Chen nodded, and I continued, "In terms of time, the killer wouldn't have gotten to the city or another village, so the killer must be still around, perhaps in this village." Then, both of us were silent. A chill wind blew, and we shivered. If my hypothesis was correct, then it was scary. In the dark night, while everyone was searching for the killer, the killer was hiding among us. Perhaps he was hiding somewhere, laughing at us.

I took out my phone to study Guan Zhenglin's picture again. The background was dark, but it was spacious. At Xing Dong Village, there wouldn't be that many large and empty spaces. The background wall was unpainted cement. This place had to be unique at Xing Dong Village. Even the most common family would paint their wall white and not let it look unfinished. I turned to the village head. The village head had been waiting for hours already. When he saw me call him, he immediately rushed over.

I took out the phone to ask the village head. "Sir, can you tell where this place is from the background? It might be at Xing Dong Village or somewhere near."

The village head took my phone. When he saw Guan Zhenglin, he was shocked, and then his cheeks flushed. But at a time like this, he abandoned culture and focused on the back wall. He looked for a long time and then said, "I don't know, but it looks like the activity center. When Wu Xiufen moved here, she wanted to build one for the village. She had started the project, but for some reason, she abandoned it halfway."

I frowned. "Where is the activity center? Is it this large?"

The village head shook his head and sighed, "For us, this activity center doesn't really matter. It's good if someone is going to build it. It's nothing to lose either if we don't have one. So the activity center technically only has one wall, and the other walls are not even built." The village head looked at the phone and said, "But look, this place looks complete, and the bed looks like a professional hospital bed. But this background does look like the activity center. But our activity center only has one wall, but this place in the picture looks indoors. But then the lights are dark, and I'm getting old. My eyesight is not that good anymore, so I might be wrong."

When the village head said that, I only realized the details. The lightning in the picture was very poor. There were corners that were not even lit up. This suggested that the lights at this place were weak, and the place was very huge. The bed was only the tip of the iceberg. So, where could this place be? How could one find such a large place at Xing Dong Village without being discovered by the other villagers?

I shook my head and asked the village head about this activity center. "Sir, when Wu Xiufen wanted to build this activity center, had she prepared all the materials? The building materials, I mean."

The village head nodded. "Actually this was not that long ago, about five to six years. At the time, Wu Xiufen wanted to build this activity center for some unknown reason. She hoped that I would approve a piece of land for us to use. This was a good thing, so I agreed. This was to help improve the villagers' life, so there was no reason for me to reject it, right?"

"That's right," I said.

The village head looked at me and continued, "So I quickly found a piece of land for Wu Xiufen. After all the procedures were done, Wu Xiufen suddenly gave up. She wanted a different piece of land, and I didn't know why. The new piece of land she wanted was so isolated, and normally, the villagers wouldn't go there."

I frowned.

The village head said, "I tried to persuade her, but I got nowhere. Since she was the one paying for it, I had to yield. So I gave her the other piece of land. Wu Xiufen started to build, but for some reason, she got into fights with the builders. She chased them all away, and Wu Xiufen also stopped working." With a sigh, he continued, "At first, I thought this would blow over, and the work would resume, but then I realized Wu Xiufen was serious. Thankfully, the center was built at a rather isolated location. Since the project was abandoned, I had to get people to take down the built walls."

I hugged myself and said, "Building an activity center requires a lot of bricks and cement. Even if the builders left, I am sure the villagers could build the center themselves."

The village head shook his head. "Well, Wu Xiufen sold those bricks and cement. They were transported away by cars."

At this point, something clicked in my head. "When that happened, did anyone see where the cement and bricks had been brought to?"

The village head shook his head. "I don't think so. Who would be so free to observe these things? In any case, they worked for a whole week, and the activity center ended like that."

I pulled my hair. It sounded like Wu Xiufen didn't really want to build an activity center in the first place. This was just a front for her to bring red bricks, cement, and even a hospital bed to Xing Dong Village. The villagers heard that Wu Xiufen had sold the bricks and cement, but they couldn't be sure if she had used them to build this place which was used to trap Guan Zhenglin. That was not impossible.

This meant that we had to go visit the old activity center's construction site, we might find something.

I looked at my watch. The discussion had taken forty minutes. There were only eighty minutes left. At 3 am, the killer needed to see the fixed bowls. I wondered if Sister Mary and her team would accomplish that or if they needed more time.

I told Gu Chen. "Come, standing here is not going to solve anything. Village head, can you bring us to the activity centre?"

The village head nodded. "We'll take the car. It'll only take ten minutes."

With the village head leading the way, Gu Chen drove to our destination.

On the way there, Xiao Liu's call came. Before I said anything, Xiao Liu began, "Wu Meng, I've found Wu Xiufen's family, her husband, and son. When I told them the situation, they were shocked. They thought Wu Xiufen had died a long time ago."

I asked. "Did you find anything out? Why did Wu Xiufen abandon her family to run to a village where no one knew her and marry another man?"

Xiao Liu said, "Ever since Wu Xiufen left, her family hasn't seen her anymore. They didn't know she got remarried. But they said Wu Xiufen had started to act strangely after Wu Xiufang's death."

"Acting strangely?"

Xiao Liu explained, "Yes, Wu Xiufang hanged herself at the workshop before Wu Xiufen and Wu Jianguo. They believe she was traumatized. Wu Xiufen would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. They were nightmares. She had said more than once that she couldn't stay there anymore."

"Nightmares?" I asked, "What kind of nightmare?"

Xiao Liu answered, "Even her family doesn't know. But the nightmare was consistent until Wu Xiufen was acting weirdly in the day. She couldn't live a normal life. On the day of the burial, when she came back from the gravesite, Wu Xiufen wasn't there mentally. It was like she had lost her soul. That night, Wu Xiufen disappeared and was never seen again. When she left, Wu Xiufen took the 30000 which should go to Wu Xiufang."

When I heard that, an image appeared in my mind. Perhaps, Wu Xiufang's death back then was not that simple. If her sister had only died from suicide, Wu Xiufen wouldn't be so afraid, and she wouldn't have to burn black paper money for the past 30 years. So what secret was behind this?

"What about Wu Xiufang's family?" I asked.

"Still no news." Xiao Liu said, "Wu Xiufang's husband and child didn't even attend her funeral. Everything was handled by Wu Xiufen and Wu Jianguo, so it won't be easy to find them." Xiao Liu added, "But I will keep on looking. If I find out anything, I'll inform you first."