Zhao Lin recalled the criminal investigation movies he had watched. Investigation cases were mainly judged through witness and physical evidence, motive of crime, time and place of crime, etc.
Let’s analyze the current situation one by one.
There is no witness, the beard is all dead, and it is impossible for them to report themselves.
Clean up the scene promptly and no physical evidence will be left behind.
As for the motive for committing the crime, the four of them were ordinary mountain hunters, and it was impossible for them to be enemies with Beard.
However, there was a problem when they entered the mountain on the same day as the "disappearance" of Seven Beards.
Especially in this season, there are very few people entering the mountain, so it is easy to identify them.
Maybe Beard may not think they have the ability to kill, but as long as they are suspected, it will be big trouble!
This hidden danger must be eliminated.
"What is an alibi?"
When Zhao Lin expressed his thoughts, Zhou Paotou and others looked at each other in shock.
"We're not here right now."
Zhao Lin explained, seeing that they were still confused, he asked them a question.
"If you were the boss or the second boss with a beard, and one of your men disappeared, what would you do?"
The three of them fell into deep thought. After a while, Liang Song said: "I will send people to look around. If they still can't find it, I will ask who entered the mountain that day."
Zhou Paotou's expression changed, "Yes! I would think so too."
Then he asked, "What should we do? I didn't hide the fact about entering the mountain from others. It was the old village leader who sent us in."
Zhu Dachun said: "Hearing what you said, we are very suspicious."
The three people looked at Zhao Lin at the same time, thinking that since he raised the problem, he must have a solution.
Zhao Lin didn't hold back and said directly: "Although we can't hide the matter of entering the mountain, we can modify the time of returning to the village."
“We didn’t go back to the village today, but yesterday!”
Zhu Dachun said in confusion: "Yesterday? How to say?"
Zhao Lin glanced at him and smiled: "Brother Zhu is a good excuse."
"I?"
Zhu Dachun was even more confused.
Zhou Paotou understood Zhao Lin's intention, patted his forehead and said: "I understand, let's just say that when we entered the mountain yesterday, Lao Zhu accidentally rolled down the hillside and was seriously injured, so he had to go back home that day."
Liang Song also reacted, "Then let's secretly return to the village tonight without making any announcement, and then tell people tomorrow that we have been back long ago!"
"Yes, that's right." Zhao Lin smiled and nodded.
Zhu Dachun grinned and said, "It seems that my injury was not in vain."
The strategy has been decided, and the top priority is to clean up the scene.
They loaded the bodies of Beard and the horse on rafts, transported them to the birch forest in several batches, and threw them into the pits covered by heavy snow.
To be on the safe side, they chopped the body to pieces with Beard's saber, making it difficult to identify the specific cause of death even if someone found it.
Before doing these things, naturally you have to search a lot.
Huzi didn't have many valuable things on him. The seven people's belongings together only amounted to about twenty taels of silver and copper coins.
But for a few people who are extremely poor, it is still a lot of money.
They also found a jade pendant that looked valuable from Diao Liuye. Zhao Lin deliberately remained silent, wanting to see what they would do with it.
Zhou Paotou only glanced at it before stuffing the jade pendant back. Liang Song and Zhu Dachun had no objection and just pretended not to see it.
"Reliable!"
Seeing that his companions were all capable of carrying things, Zhao Lin felt relieved. Many things were exposed due to greed and carelessness.
The two strange beasts could not be taken away, so they found another hiding place and buried them.
Zhou Paotou only took the most valuable and easy-to-carry bear gallbladder and Shehao's mane. As for the animal skins and bones, which were too big to handle, he had to reluctantly discard them.
At Zhao Lin's suggestion, they also threw the raft away. Zhu Dachun had difficulty moving, so Zhao Lin carried him on his back.
As evening approaches, the mountain wind gradually picks up.
The four people braved the cold wind and walked out of the mountain.
"The wind is coming well. If it snows again, only God will know about it besides us."
Zhou Paotou covered his mouth and nose with his hands to prevent wind from entering his mouth when he spoke.
Zhao Lin is not as optimistic as he is. There is never a perfect crime in the world. When you meet someone who is interested, you can still find the truth of the matter through clues.
The best way to eliminate hidden dangers is to eradicate the bandits, but I don't have the ability to do so for the time being.
Arriving near Laoul Ridge, a few people climbed to the side of the mountain and looked out secretly. They saw Lao Zhuangtou sitting on the snow sledge, shivering from the cold, and looking over the mountain from time to time.
"Lao Zhuangtou is a real person." Zhou Paotou retracted his head and said with a mixture of laughter and tears.
"That's fine. He didn't see us coming out. If you show up tomorrow morning, he will really think that we went back last night."
Zhao Lin put Zhu Dachun down and covered him with a blanket, "Old Zhuangtou, why didn't you tell him earlier? What would you say then?"
Zhou Paotou rolled his eyes, "I just said that Lao Zhu suffered a serious injury and I was too busy taking care of him."
Liang Song interjected: "Let's give him the fare tomorrow. It's not easy for the old boss."
Not being able to go back for the time being, the four of them went over what happened together to prevent anyone from spilling the beans.
About half an hour later, a dog barked. When he looked again, the old man drove away on a snow sledge.
The four of them waited for a while, then came down from Laoyu Ridge and walked back in the dark. By the time they returned to Zhou Paotou's house, it was already late at night.
After experiencing too many things on this day, several people were exhausted, so they huddled on the kang and fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Zhou Paotou, Zhao Lin and Liang Song got up early.
Zhou Paotou went to Lao Zhuangtou to explain the matter clearly, and then wandered around the village, telling others intentionally or unintentionally that Zhu Dachun was injured when he went into the mountains the day before yesterday and came back the same day.
Liang Song went to the town to find a doctor, grabbed some medicinal materials for bruises, and came back to give Zhu Dachun some medicine.
Zhao Lin dug a hole in the backyard, buried everyone's bloody clothes and used weapons, and then covered them with stone slabs to complete the final step of destroying the bodies and eliminating traces.
Things were done and it was almost noon. The four of them had something to eat and discussed their future plans.
Zhou Paotou put on the table all the gains from this trip to the mountains: a little more than twenty taels of silver, a bear's gallbladder, and a shear mane.
"I'm sorry, everyone, I almost risked my life to get this."
Zhou Paotou said embarrassedly: "Fortunately, the gallbladder is the best gold gallbladder, and it should be sold for thirty or forty taels. The mane of Shen Hao is the best for combs, brushes, and writing brushes, and it can also be sold for twenty taels." .”
Liang Song explained: "It's quite a lot. I have never seen ten taels of silver in my life."
Zhu Dachun smiled and said: "You are not yet twenty years old, how did you get this life?"
Zhao Lin made a rough estimate and found that even if he only shared 30%, he would still be able to get 20 taels, which was enough money to redeem his brother.
He pointed at Xiong Dandan and She Hao's mane and asked, "Where are Brother Pao going to take action on these two things?"
Zhou Paotou had a smile on his face. Although his brother was young, he was very cautious, even too cautious.
"Don't worry, I'll take it to the neighboring county and sell it. Even if it falls into the hands of Huzi one day, we can't be traced."
Zhao Lin nodded and said no more, just staring at the money on the table.
Zhou Paotou had a clear mind and gathered the money into a pile and pushed it in front of Zhao Lin.
"Brother Zhao said that your brother is doing hard labor and is anxious to get money to redeem him, right?"
"It will take some time for Xiong Dan Dan and She Hao's manes to be converted into money. How about Brother Zhao use them first? What do Lao Zhu and Brother Liang think?"
Zhu Dachun didn't even look at the money on the table and said, "Brother Zhao is very capable and contributes the most. I don't have any objection to how much you take."
Liang Song said indifferently: "I'm not in a hurry."
Zhao Lin felt warm in his heart. Although he and these people had known each other for a short time, they had experienced life and death several times. It would not be an exaggeration to say that their friendship was a life-changing one.
He didn't hesitate at the moment and counted out thirteen taels of silver and said, "I have enough money. You can spend the rest first. Thank you very much!"
