Mei Shilin recounted what happened that day, while Zhao Lin stood on the street corner and listened silently.
It turned out that Chai Qihong was angry with his sons that day, complained to his old friends, and got very drunk. Mei Shilin was worried that something would happen to him on the road, so he sent him back.
When he was almost arriving at the door of his house, Chai Qihong turned around and said, "Brother Mei, I'm home, you go back!"
When Mei Shilin heard that he spoke clearly and logically, he gave an instruction and walked towards his home.
Not far away, a scream of "Oh!" came from behind, and the sound sounded like Chai Qihong's.
Mei Shilin didn't have time to think too much, turned around and ran to Chai's house.
When he came to the door, he saw Chai Qihong lying on his back in the yard, with a sharp steel knife stuck in his heart.
Mei Shilin was shocked and couldn't understand. Chai Qihong was fine just now, but why did he die in the blink of an eye?
He was worried that the murderer was nearby and did not dare to rush in to check. He opened his mouth to shout, but suddenly realized a problem:
Everyone at the banquet knew that they had sent Chai Qihong back. The murderer was nowhere to be seen and he was the only one present.
Others will definitely think that he killed him, how can he make it clear?
The more Mei Shilin thought about it, the more afraid he became, so he simply pretended that nothing happened and quickly left the Chai family.
When he returned home, he locked himself in the room. When he learned of Chai Qihong's death the next day, he pretended to be unaware of it.
"My husband was timid for a moment and hid this matter." After finishing speaking, Mei Shilin sighed softly.
Mei frowned and said, "Have you seen the murderer?"
Mei Shilin shook his head, hesitated, and said, "I seem to have heard someone say: Dad, why are you drunk?"
Mrs. Mei let out a surprised "Ah", "It's his son! Which one is it?"
Mei Shilin was silent for a while, "It sounded like Lao San Chai Jie, but I was far away at the time and couldn't hear clearly. Maybe I heard it wrong."
Mrs. Mei came back to her senses and said reproachfully: "Husband, you are confused!"
"Why am I confused?"
"The murderer has the murder weapon and blood stains as evidence. You can be a witness. As long as the reporting officer finds out the truth, there will be no suspicion on you."
Mei Shilin sighed again, "Actually, I regret a little now because I handled it improperly. But it has been so long, who will believe it if I say it now?"
"Besides, just one sentence can mean the difference between life and death. What if I heard wrong?"
"Among Brother Chai's three sons, the youngest is his favorite. If the murderer is not him, wouldn't it mean that he has wronged a good man? How will I face my old friend a hundred years later?"
Mrs. Mei was speechless for a long time.
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard, "Public Secretary Mei, open the door. It's me, Capt. Zhao."
The couple were startled, and Mrs. Mei panicked and said, "What should I do?"
"It's okay, go and open the door."
Mei Shilin walked to the window, opened it, straightened his clothes, and his face returned to calm.
Mei opened the door, and Zhao Lin walked straight into the living room and said coldly to Mei Shilin: "Public Secretary Mei, since you heard that the murderer was Chai Jie, the third son of the Chai family, why didn't you hide it and report it?"
"You know in your heart that it was him who did it, but you are worried that you heard it wrong. Do you believe it yourself?"
Mei Shilin was shocked and glanced out the door, "You...how did you know?"
"I have clairvoyance and ears for the wind."
Zhao Lin said half truthfully and half falsely, and then his expression changed, "Chai Jie killed his biological father, and it was unconscionable. Just like what Mrs. Mei said just now, there is a murder weapon and blood stains as evidence. You didn't kill anyone, so why worry!"
Hearing this, Mei Shilin completely believed that Zhao Lin had heard all the conversation just now, and slumped down in his chair with a look of shame on his face, "Mei is ashamed of his friend, what does Captor Zhao want?"
Zhao Lin smiled slightly, "Zhao just wants to bring the murderer to justice. Just now you said that when you saw Chai Qihong die, there was a knife in his chest?"
"Exactly, it was dark at the time, but the knife was bright and conspicuous."
"How long and wide is the knife?"
Mei Shilin thought for a moment and said: "The knife is stuck in the body, so the whole picture cannot be seen clearly, but judging from the exposed part, it is at least more than two feet and half as wide as a hand."
Zhao Lin nodded, thinking that such a big knife could not be hidden or discarded casually.
Moreover, when the knife was stabbed into the chest, a lot of blood must have spurted out, and the clothes and shoes were also stained.
There are many beggars in Dongcheng who sleep under trees on the streets or in bridge holes at night. It is not easy for Chai Jie to get rid of things without anyone noticing.
The stuff is most likely still hidden in his house.
Thinking of this, Zhao Lin suddenly felt a sense of darkness, and said with his hands: "Prosecutor Mei, if I find physical evidence, are you willing to come out and testify?"
Mei Shilin nodded seriously, "Mei should have been like this."
"Thank you, Secretary Mei. It's getting late, so I won't disturb you."
Zhao Lin said goodbye and left. Mrs. Mei looked at her husband and asked, "What is the origin of Zhao Baotou? Is he really clairvoyant?"
Mei Shilin shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Zhao Lin was tired after a long day's work, and it was already past the second watch when he returned to the Yamen.
"Now that we have the witnesses, as long as we find the physical evidence, we can seal the case!"
After a hard day, he was indeed a little tired, so he lay down and fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Sun Zhang came over and asked Zhao Lin hypocritically if he was used to being on duty on his first day and if he had any difficulties.
Zhao Lin showed gratitude on his face, "Back to the captain, my subordinate has just taken over the job and is getting familiar with it. Please correct me if there are any deficiencies."
"Oh, that's good. By the way, there are several murder cases in your area. How are the investigations going? Do you have enough manpower?"
Sun Zhang asked "concernedly".
Zhao Lin asked what he was doing: "There is no clue yet."
Sun Zhang's expression became serious, "There are less than six days left, so we have to work harder, otherwise the county magistrate and the chief arrester will blame me, and I won't be able to afford it."
It's a sin to eat, so go ahead and eat shit!
Zhao Lin sneered in his heart, but remained calm on his face, saying in a deep voice: "Captain, don't worry, my subordinates will do their best."
After the morning meeting, Zhao Lin summoned Liang Song, He Qingquan and Tao Erlen.
"The murderer is Chai Jie, the third son of the Chai family. Please don't make any announcement to the public for the time being. I already have witnesses, but now I'm missing two things."
"The first is the physical evidence, which is the murder weapon. The second is that he said he was in the casino that night and didn't go home all night. We want to expose this lie."
Liang Song and Tao Erleng didn't say anything. Liang Song trusted Zhao Lin, while Tao Erleng listened mindlessly.
Only He Qingquan felt that Zhao Lin could not withstand the pressure and wanted to find a scapegoat to take the blame.
"Captain Zhao, who is the witness you are talking about? Why didn't you show up in the first place?"
Zhao Lin shook his head gently, "The witnesses will be kept secret for now. Let's go find the two gamblers now."
It is recorded in the file that gamblers Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San said that Chai Jie stayed at the casino all night and did not leave until dawn.
Zhao Lin brought people to the casino and asked them for their addresses.
Naturally, the casino will not offend the officials for the two gamblers, and besides, this is not a secret, so they will tell the truth immediately.
In order to save time, Zhao Lin decided to split up and take Tao Erleng to capture Gao Xiaoliu, while Liang Song and He Qingquan captured Duan San.
Not long after the two gamblers returned home, they were caught by Zhao Lin and others before they could even sleep.
