Chapter 230: Investigation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Since he had accepted the mission under Ye Xiu’s identity, Lin Huang applied with the local government to look at the dead bodies and the post-mortem reports as well as the contact details of the forensic scientist and the workers who had discovered the dead bodies. Before he even got any reply from the Union Government, he left the hotel and headed to the sewer. The hotel that Lin Huang who staying at was almost 1.5 kilometers from the location where the dead bodies had been discovered. On the way to the sewer, he observed the area and the hotels around.
When he arrived at the manhole cover that was shown in the document, he noticed that it was now covered properly. Without attempting to open it, Lin Huang looked around.
"There are three small inns and a hotel within a one-kilometer radius…It’s very likely that the Brain Eater stayed around here. Since four of the dead bodies were all tossed under the cover, it shows that this must be the most convenient location for it to get rid of the dead bodies…"
Lin Huang noticed that there were no surveillance cameras around which could be the main reason why the Brain Eater chose to get rid of the dead bodies there. It could have kept the dead bodies in its storage space ring as it made its way there but the dead bodies had to be taken out when it wanted to dispose of them. With surveillance cameras, it could be easily noticed.
"There are many people walking around during the day, so it must have done that in the middle of the night. Although there are no surveillance cameras here, there must be some of them around the streets. The night life in Luoxi City isn’t busy and not many people would be walking around in the middle of the night. I could take a look at the surveillance cameras…"
Just when Lin Huang was done with his preliminary analysis, a message came from his Emperor’s Heart Ring. It was an investigation ID assigned by the local government. There was a message that came with it: "Hi, Mr. Ye Xiu, to prevent the information from documents from leaking out, we are not able to send you the post-mortem report. Kindly visit the forensic scientist."
Lin Huang was fine with that. After reading the message, he headed to a sundry shop nearby. It was located facing the direction where the manhole cover was located. The shop owner was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut. He was plump and he looked honest. Lin Huang started chatting with the shop owner as he purchased a bottle of water and some snacks.
"Boss, it’s a small area next to your shop, I bet your business is good."
"It’s alright, I guess, enough to get by." The shop owner smiled and shook his head.
"Is it safe to run business here since I don’t see any surveillance cameras around?" Lin Huang asked.
The shop owner laughed at Lin Huang’s question. "Young man, you must be a foreigner."
"The economy is bad in Luoxi City and there’s nothing much to see here. However, our people are honest, so there’s not much crime here, let alone thieves. Therefore, there’s no need for surveillance cameras. Look, there are no cameras in my shop as well. It's not just me, most of the shops don’t have that as it’s not necessary."
The shop owner’s answer was out of Lin Huang’s expectations; he did not expect that the residents in this foothold had such faith in their safety.
"Boss, I passed by two days back and noticed that the sewer was blocked, so I walked the other way. Does that happen often? If it does, it must be inconvenient then." Lin Huang attempted to get the shop owner to talk.
"That doesn’t happen often. I have been here for almost 10 years and it was the first time it happened a few days back. It was just your luck. Young man, although Luoxi City is small, not everything here is not as good as those large foothold," the shop owner explained.
"Is that so? But why was it blocked though? Did the workers explain?" Lin Huang asked.
"They did, they said the pipes underground were old. They built a shed above it and took many hours to fix it," he elaborated.
"Oh, really…?" Lin Huang just confirmed that the Union Government managed to cover the truth up.
He was relieved since the shop owners around did not know about the dead bodies in the sewer, let alone the residents. Sewage maintenance was a small matter which was not worth the publicity, therefore, the Brain Eater might not realize that what it did had been discovered.
Since he had confirmed that part, Lin Huang did not plan to waste any more time there. After bidding farewell to the shop owner, Lin Huang took a look at the address of the sewer workers that the Union Government had sent earlier. The workers who discovered the dead bodies were resting at home temporarily. The Union Government paid them a high compensation sum which amounted to years of their salary. The reason for the compensation was to avoid them from revealing the truth as well as to cooperate with the investigation of the Union Government.
Following the address, Lin Huang found the first person on the list. Brother Zhao was a tanned, skinny man. When Lin Huang arrived at his house, he was playing cards with his friends. Hearing that it was someone from the Hunter Association, Brother Zhao’s wife whispered into his ear. Brother Zhao then got his friends to leave. After they left, Brother Zhao asked Lin Huang to come into his room while his wife hid herself in the kitchen.
"Hi Brother Zhao, my name is Ye Xiu. I am the investigator that was sent by the Hunter Association on the case," Lin Huang said while projecting his investigation ID.
Brother Zhao nodded immediately. "The Union Government asked me to be cooperative. Just ask whatever you have to, I will not hide anything."
"Alright, let’s start then." Lin Huang nodded and got into finding out the details.
"What time was it when you guys discovered the dead bodies?"
"Early in the morning two days ago, it was about 8:30 a.m...It was our first task of the day. We received complaints from the residents once we arrived at work, saying that the sewer was blocked. Water was leaking and the stench was unbearable. We headed there right after we changed into our uniforms…"
"Could you elaborate more about how you guys discovered the dead bodies?" Lin Huang asked.
"We removed the manhole covered when we arrived. After clearing all the water, we went underground to investigate. We noticed that the silt was thick, so we went down to clean it. To our surprise, just when we started to dig, we were shocked to find a human hand. Our colleague, Little Wang, was young and brave. He pulled the entire body out of the silt. We reported it to the Union Government immediately…"
"Did you see how they die?" Lin Huang asked.
"No, it was dark down there. Moreover, the dead bodies were covered in silt. Had the Union Government not ask us to stay there till their staff came, we would've ran away immediately. We didn’t dare to look."
"So, you guys only discovered one body while the rest were dug out by the staff from the Union Government?" Lin Huang proceeded to ask.
"That’s right. When we called, they asked us to stay there and stop digging so that the crime scene would not be ruined. We stayed there until the staff arrived, then they proceeded to dig out the rest of the body. As we were recording our confessions while they dug, only did we realize that there was more than one dead body…"
Lin Huang nodded and asked a couple more questions until he got the answers he wanted.
"Thank you for your cooperation, we will investigate this as soon as we can." Lin Huang stood up and shook his hand after he was done with his questions.
"Mr. Ye, there were a man and a woman who came to investigate this case as well. They were not as friendly as you," Brother Zhao laughed.
"The mission was published on the Hunter Info Network by your government, so any Silver Hunter and Gold Hunter could be on it. Perhaps it’s natural for some hunters to be unfriendly, please forgive us," Lin Huang explained with a smile.
"I understand that, I will do whatever I can to help. I hope you guys can catch the culprit soon." Brother Zhao nodded.
"I shall talk to your colleagues then, I’ll get going."
"Do you want me to bring you there? I have nothing to do anyway," Brother Zhao offered enthusiastically.
"It’s alright, I have their address here. You enjoy your holiday." Lin Huang patted his shoulder.
After leaving his house, Lin Huang took a look at the map. After confirming the address, Lin Huang summoned Viridian Wolf and headed to the address of the second person.