Arriving at the police station, they were immediately taken to a building at the back.
The cement building was located next to a fence with poor sunlight. It looked like a garage. It was a place where the bodies were parked and a temporary storage place for the police to conduct autopsies and wait for family members to identify the bodies.
There was a white coffin in front of Cheng Mingxiang, and a gloomy cold air hit her face. The accompanying police officer stood behind Cheng Mingxiang.
"Your husband is inside."
The wine shop owner slowly opened the coffin lid. Cheng Mingxiang covered her nose with a handkerchief and looked forward. A charred face, with red marks on blood vessels spread like spider webs, the skin has been burned to death, and there is foam at the corners of the mouth. The corpse didn't look like a human being, but rather like an animal corpse, with black ash even in its nostrils.
Cheng Mingxiang suddenly sobbed. Relief slowly came over her as she heard her sobs echo through the building. The wine shop owner closed the coffin lid again and clasped his hands in front of the coffin. When he walked to the policeman, he suddenly said something.
The policeman nudged his back and said, "The bathroom is over there."
The liquor store owner covered his mouth and ran towards the toilet, his face turned pale. Cheng Mingxiang's head suddenly went blank, and her vision suddenly turned black. She squatted down and vomited. She almost fell to the ground due to her unstable center of gravity, so she squatted even lower and tried her best to hold on, her heart beating wildly. I vomited a lot just now, and now I feel better.
There was a sound of footsteps behind Cheng Mingxiang. Because it was a concrete floor, the footsteps were particularly loud. A hand patted her back shoulder.
"Ma'am, it will feel better if you go outside and get some air."
After the policeman finished speaking, Cheng Mingxiang stood up and walked out of the gloomy morgue. The outdoor sunlight was particularly dazzling.
"Oh, you look very bad," the policeman said, looking at Cheng Mingxiang's side face, "It might be more comfortable if you come here to have some air."
So, he asked Cheng Mingxiang to stand by the wall. Yes, the cold wind blowing on the face does make the body feel better. Cheng Mingxiang looked at the policeman and found that he was the man who had just talked with the liquor store owner at the fire scene. He had a wide forehead, sparse eyebrows, and a pair of swaying eyes. Cheng Mingxiang recognized him immediately.
"Madam, I didn't expect the situation to be so serious." The policeman stood in front of Cheng Mingxiang and comforted her.
Cheng Mingxiang covered her mouth with a handkerchief and lowered her head.
"You must not believe it, and your husband was burned like that again. You must be shocked... I am a policeman from the police station, my name is Fu Heng. Are you feeling better now?"
"Thank you, much better."
At this time, the sun is shining and the breeze is blowing. They were standing on the inside of the back wall of the police station. Looking up, I saw that there seemed to be a detention center inside the building, with solid iron grilles outside the windows.
"Madam, did you only find out about the fire in your home this morning?" Detective Fu Heng with sparse eyebrows asked, and then asked nonchalantly, "I just came back from the fire scene, where I inquired about your relevant background. I heard that you Have you been working in that hotel?"
"Well, it's precisely because my husband is ill in bed..."
"Is there room and board provided?"
"Yes, so it caused a lot of trouble to the neighbors."
"Of course the neighbors are alarmed. When did your husband become bedridden?"
"He had a stroke about two years ago and has been in bed ever since."
"It's really serious. Stroke has been said to bring down the whole family before. You must not know what to do, right?"
"Well, I don't think it's hard to take care of him, but if I were to take care of him at home all the time, our husband and wife would have to suffer from the northwest wind, so I had to go out to work. Fortunately, Mrs. Guan who lives nearby is willing to take care of the patient. I I’m very grateful for her help, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get out.”
"That's right."
Police officer Fu Heng took out a crumpled cigarette from his sweater pocket and lit it. How did Mrs. Guan tell the police about the coal stove? Cheng Mingxiang is very concerned, but the police have not mentioned this matter yet. Cheng Mingxiang wanted to know Sister Guan's confession. From the tone of the wine shop owner just now, it seemed that Sister Guan had admitted that it was her fault. However, Cheng Mingxiang wanted to hear it from the police in person. Before the situation became clear, she My mood is always uneasy.
However, this policeman's expression was very gentle. If he had doubts about this unknown fire, his expression would definitely be more serious and his tone would be sharper. Besides, he just spoke words of comfort again, always with a gentle smile on his face.
"It's hard for women." The detective said, "You are lucky because you don't have children. I have children at home, and I also have physical problems... If I have a stroke and collapse, my wife will definitely not know what to do... It would be better to die immediately, but if she is paralyzed in bed, my wife will definitely be helpless."
Police officer Fu Heng said with empathy. However, Cheng Mingxiang felt that his eyes were always looking at her. She lowered her head so that she could not look up to check his expression.
The liquor store owner is back.
"I'm so sorry." He nodded to the detective sheepishly and apologized. His expression returned to normal, as if he was going to the bathroom to clean up vomit. "I thought I was very brave, but I still threw up after watching it."
"We often go to murder scenes, and we were nauseated at first," the policeman said.
Cheng Mingxiang apologized to the wine shop owner and said, "I'm sorry for frightening you."
"No." The boss waved his hand, "But your situation is pitiful. As the saying goes, dying in bed is a blessing, and the face of the deceased is also very peaceful."
"Yes, that's what I said just now. This lady has suffered a lot for a long time." The policeman started chatting with the liquor store owner.
"That's true. Neighbors nearby know that Sister Guan comes to her house to take care of patients, and she works elsewhere. Unexpectedly, she works as a female worker in a hotel, because Sister Guan refuses to say anything."
"I felt very embarrassed, so I refused to let Sister Guan speak."
"That's it."
"If I had a good job, I would definitely tell others, but I work in a place like that... Besides, I didn't tell my colleagues at Fangxian Hotel about my family situation."
"Oh," Police Officer Fu Heng interrupted, "So your colleagues don't know that you have a sick husband at home?"
"I didn't tell anyone about this situation. During the interview, I also said that I was single, otherwise the hotel would never hire me. However, the landlady seemed to know something about my situation, but she didn't ask any questions."
"Yes, everyone has some difficulties to one degree or another." The policeman agreed softly.
"But it can also be said that my wife's burden has been relieved because of her husband's death." The wine shop owner said.
"It makes sense." The policeman agreed. "I just told my wife that the burden of taking care of bedridden patients is really heavy. Even if we hire someone to take care of us, the salary expenses are still a burden. Even if we go out to work, we will still miss things at home."
The policeman's words can be regarded as sympathetic comfort. However, "Even if I go out to work, I still miss things at home..." This sentence seems to have a meaning.
"Because Sister Guan takes such good care of me, I can work with peace of mind."
"Although that woman is a bit mentally retarded, she can do things as well as normal people. Maybe it's because she has problems in that area and doesn't know how to work hard." The wine shop owner assured.
"I'm really grateful to Mrs. Guan for her help." Cheng Mingxiang said sincerely.
"Yes, although Mrs. Guan is not very smart, she would never have sacrificed so much if she didn't regard your husband as one of her own. She really treats you two as her own."
Cheng Mingxiang wondered, did the wine shop owner's words imply that he knew about the relationship between Zhao Kuan and Sister Guan? These things can never be hidden from the neighbors. After all, Mrs. Guan cannot keep the so-called secret.
"Oh, is she really taking care of your husband that hard?" the policeman asked.
Cheng Mingxiang was secretly surprised. The owner of the wine shop seemed to realize that she had slipped up, and hurriedly corrected him: "This is due to temperament. People with that kind of defect are always extra kind to others, which ordinary people can't do."
"That's it." The detective didn't seem to have much doubt about this, so he ignored it.
"By the way, did you tell Sister Guan to put briquettes in the coal stove?" The policeman turned to look at Cheng Mingxiang, and this time he asked the core question.
"Yes. Because the weather was too cold, I asked Sister Guan to add briquettes. However, I was worried about causing a fire, so I always told her to put the coal stove far away from the door. So far, there has been no problem. I I don’t know how such an uncontrollable accident could happen and cause so much trouble to the neighbors..."
