Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Half an hour later, in front of the cremation room of the funeral home in Bei Gang City.
A tall man in a blue t-shirt hurriedly walked towards Zhao Yu, saluting. “Fan Kaiyu, leader of the Bei Gang Interpol team, reporting! Awaiting your instructions!”
“Ah, if it isn’t Captain Fang! We spoke on the phone before,” Zhao Yu said, shaking the man’s hands before asking, “How was it? Has there been any progress on the suspect?”
“We have searched Bai Lang’s residence and he has fled! There are signs of packing in the house, and the technical team is currently still investigating the scene…”
Hmm… Zhao Yu nodded silently. He had already predicted that the man had, indeed, run away.
“However, please rest assured,” Fang Kaiyu said. “We have begun to track down and control Bai Lang’s interpersonal relationships. We’ve also issued wanted orders across the province, and we are working our best to capture him!”
“Hmm…” Zhao Yu nodded. “So… could you tell me about this Bai Lang’s background?” he asked.
“Bai Lang is 27 years old, from Guang Dong. He came to work in the provincial capital of Fu Lai province three years ago, working as a courier and a bartender. He suddenly came to work in the funeral parlor in Bei Gang City two years ago. He is a contract worker and has been working so far. Unmarried, without a girlfriend, he’s alone in Bei Gang City!”
“You just used the word suddenly,” Zhao Yu said. “It seems that you think there was something odd about that?”
“The director of the funeral home just explained,” the young Fang Kaiyu was aggressive and spoke sharply without mincing his words. “He said that the application of Bai Lang was made by a leader of the Civil Affairs Bureau and not by Bai Lang himself!
“So, I have already sent someone to investigate that lead. There will be news soon!”
“Very good, but other than that…” Zhao Yu said steadily, “I also need you to investigate more information on Bai Lang. Especially his movements after obtaining the body. If you can find out who he was in contact with at that time, we will likely be able to find his seller or associates!”
“Understood!” Fang Kaiyu said, nodding and swiftly arranging tasks for his men.
“Detective Zhao!” At that point, Xiong Wendong whispered. “The director of the funeral parlor said that although cremating the body is an important task, one person is enough to complete the operation!
“If that was the case, then Bai Lang was familiar with the procedures. The task of cremating the body was done by him alone for the longest time! But why do you say that he has an accomplice in the funeral parlor?” Xiong Wendong asked curiously.
“Captain!” Before Zhao Yu had time to answer, another police officer in charge of inspecting the cremator waved. “Come and take a look! We found a mezzanine layer in the cremator…”
After hearing the news, Zhao Yu hurried forward to the cremator but saw that the police officer was reaching out to move an iron plate inside. He revealed a dark and deep space behind the iron plate.
“Sir!” the policeman pulling the iron plate said. “The suspect installed this hinge, so after the corpse came in, the hinge would turn, and the corpse would fall into the mezzanine layer. That way, it would not be burned by the fire!”
“Ah?” Xiong Wendong scratched his head. “But… what about the ashes? If the family found that there were no ashes on the crematory board, wouldn’t they be suspicious?”
“Not at all,” explained the technical police officer. “After the corpse was burned, the collection of ashes is done by the funeral home and the family cannot see it.”
“Oh…” Xiong Wendong said, nodding. “So, the suspect can use something similar to ashes and put them in the urn; that way, he would have finished his job? How immoral!
“Isn’t he afraid of retribution for deceiving the feelings of the deceased’s family members and doing such terrible things?”
“Young man, do you personally feel like you would be able to conceive such a trap?” Zhao Yu asked the police officer of the technical department out of the blue.
“Hmm…” The technical police officer glanced at the incinerator and shook his head. “It’s not easy. You see, a space needs to be cleared inside here. In order to make sure that the high temperatures of the flames do not roast the body, he needs to make a meter and a half long slide to slide the body to the innermost…
“There is also this kind of rotation axis. When the corpse is sent into the incinerator, the family will be looking on from outside. Manual rotation is naturally not possible; it must be controlled remotely…”
“Oh…” Xiong Wendong said. “Leader Zhao, is this what you meant when you said that someone helped Bai Lang with this?
“But this accomplice of his may not necessarily be part of the funeral parlor. It might have been someone from outside who came to help him install it.”
“It’s not just the cremator’s problem. There’s also the issue of the surveillance footage!” Zhao Yu said.
“What? The surveillance videos?” Xiong Wendong asked, even more puzzled.
“Have you thought about it…?” Zhao Yu began. “Bai Lang had so much time and the perfect conditions to complete his task perfectly, why not remove the surveillance footage?
“Since the mechanism of the cremator is so delicate and ingenious, at least he should have turned off the monitoring cameras when he was stealing. So, why did he not turn them off?”
“Hmm…” Xiong Wendong thought about it. “Maybe he was very confident and thought nobody would be able to see through his plan? Or that nobody would go and watch the surveillance footage?”
“Or…” Zhao Yu said, “someone wanted to expose him intentionally so that while the police were busy with Bai Lang, the actual person would be able to get away scot-free!”
“My goodness!” Xiong Wendong said, terrified. “If it’s really as you say, then it’s possible that Bai Lang might be murdered! Rest assured, leave the matters of interrogation to me!
“We have controlled all the staff of the funeral parlor and will take turns interrogating them, checking each person’s information in detail. If there is really such an accomplice, we will definitely single him out!”
“Okay!” Zhao Yu nodded. “I have transferred Wu Xiumin back. She is an expert in interrogations. From this point, she will be fully under your command!”
“Okay!” Xiong Wendong nodded.
Hoo… Zhao Yu exhaled slowly. Although the case was still a bit rough, the feeling it gave him didn’t allow him to relax.
From all the clues and evidence in front of him, Zhao Yu increasingly felt that this mysterious criminal was much brighter than he had previously thought.
Bai Lang had disappeared. If Bai Lang himself couldn’t be found, or his associates or sellers, then everything was back to square one!
And so…
Qian Gen wouldn’t have appeared without reason. At that point, he couldn’t sit idly by. He had to strike while the iron was hot and solve this mystery!
