Chen Xiao finished speaking to himself.

He picked up the pen again and wrote down the third question on the paper.

“Why did Uncle Wan De run away?”

This question arose from a habit Chen Xiao had developed recently.

“That time, maybe because of me, Uncle Wan De didn’t dare to call the police easily. But afterward, why did he choose to leave for distant lands?”

Chen Xiao asked, instinctively looking at Lin Xi.

The latter frowned and thought, pondering aloud: “Out of choice, perhaps? Maybe he wanted to find another chance, but he was worried about too many things.”

Chen Xiao contemplated this statement in his mind and then nodded: “Very likely, the killer’s methods of intimidation were absolutely more than one, so Uncle Wan De never went to the police. Finally unable to bear it, he decided to leave for a distant place, which also explains Uncle Wan De’s unusual parting words at the station when he said goodbye to Dad.”

“He told my Dad to take good care of the family, for my Dad that meant besides himself, it was just me and my Mom left. Protecting this family is protecting me and my Mom.”

Chen Xiao said, looking again toward Old Chen and his mother.

Old Chen didn’t speak, he suddenly fell silent as if his heart was suddenly weighed down by something heavy.

Chen Xiao ignored him and said to Lin Xi: “Xiaoxi, are you coming with me to the county bureau, or staying home with Mom?”

Lin Xi glanced at her mother-in-law’s condition and smiled: “I’ll stay home with Mom, you guys go ahead.”

Chen Xiao nodded without dwelling on the matter, left the house, and took Old Chen with him to the car.

Old Chen was involved in the placement of the stone lions back in the day, and Chen Xiao felt the need to take him along for a statement to avoid gossip.

After getting into the car, Chen Xiao called Li Hui, who was already en route with the families of Chen Ding and Cheng Qing to the township.

Going to the township was to save time, otherwise going back and forth to the county would waste a lot of time.

Chen Xiao drove and arrived at the town police station, said to Li Hui upon meeting him: “I have a suggestion, you leave behind two people. The rest should quickly take Cheng Qing’s family to the Hongshan Branch; the urgent task now is to confirm the identity of the skull.”

Li Hui glanced at Chen Ding and others in the police inquiry room, a bit hesitant.

One must know that Chen Xiao and Chen Ding had some familial connections!

Chen Xiao didn’t speak, leaving everything to Li Hui’s decision.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Li Hui nodded: “Alright, then I’ll entrust Mr. Chen with the inquiry work involving Chen Ding and the relatives of the craftsmen.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have the two people I leave here to ask the questions, I’ll just observe from the side.”

Li Hui was reassured, leaving two colleagues to follow behind Chen Xiao.

After assigning some questions they needed to ask, Chen Xiao followed them into the inquiry room.

Inside the room, Chen Ding was very agitated.

Seeing Chen Xiao, Chen Ding seemed to find his backbone: “Chen Xiao, what’s this about, why bring me to the police station again?”

Chen Xiao looked at him coolly: “Calm down, when it involves a murder case, you have to come whenever you’re needed. Cooperate well with the inquiries from these two officers, as long as there’s no issue, you’ll be able to go back.”

“Alright.”

Helplessly, Chen Ding could only sit down.

One of the detectives began asking: “The first question, when did your father, Chen Yuan, decide to place the stone lions at your doorstep? Was this his personal idea, or was it suggested by someone in your family?”

Chen Ding was a bit puzzled, replied: “I’ve explained this before, the stone lions were decided by my father, he thought they were grand. Finally, a feng shui master was consulted, and based on his advice, the date and position were decided. According to my cousin, the placement date was on the Dragon Boat Festival.”

“So the person wanting to place the stone lions was your father, without anyone else’s suggestion, right?”

“I can’t really guarantee that, because I was often working away from home at that time and didn’t have time to manage family matters.” Chen Ding replied, the questioning detective changed his line of questioning:

“How many of your family members were home at that time?”

“My dad, my mom, and my second and youngest brothers were all there. The second brother is now detained in Dongzhou, the youngest brother died in an accident during the summer vacation of the following year.”

“What accident?”

Chen Ding: “He had just been accepted to a prestigious school, the family was happy and held a banquet in gratitude to the teachers. At the time, since he appeared to be grown up, he was allowed to drink, but unexpectedly he ended up with alcohol poisoning, and the next morning, when my dad went to wake him, he was already gone.”

Chen Xiao nodded toward the police, indicating the matter was true.

Understanding this, the detective continued to ask: “Then in your memory, did your father ever deliberately talk about those stone lions again? I mean, in his subsequent life, or did he regularly pay attention to those stone lions?”

Chen Ding thought back, replied: “I can’t clearly recall if he talked about them, but my dad did value those lions. Every once in a while, he would clean them because they were cement, and he maintained them well, afraid of them getting bumped.”

“This I can confirm, when I was a kid, I was curious and climbed on them, and got chased around the village by his dad.” Chen Xiao said, the questioning policeman paused, just about to speak when Chen Xiao asked first:

“Do you know why your family’s lions were made of cement?”

“How would I know, at that time my dad said he wanted them done, I was busy outside and didn’t concern myself, I just asked how much and sent the money home.”

“How much did you send back?”

“I was making money at the time, should be ten thousand yuan.”

“In 1991, ten thousand yuan in our rural area meant your dad was aiming for good materials. In that era, even if the lions were granite, they wouldn’t cost that much. Made of cement, probably wouldn’t even use up the change.”

Chen Xiao said, Chen Ding kept nodding: “Yes, so I think my old man was deliberately scamming my money. After all, he had two other sons, and being from our family, you surely know he dotes on the youngest.”

“Yes, although I have little impression of your youngest brother, hearing people over the years, I can tell.”

Chen Ding shrugged: “Besides saving money for my two brothers, I suspect he was deceived. The feng shui master and the stone carving factory might have conspired against him. He relied on me to make money all these years and didn’t value money at all, foolish!”

Chen Xiao didn’t respond, silently leaned back on the inquiry room wall.

The two detectives, noticing this, continued their questioning towards Chen Ding, the latter answering every question without omitting details.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Chen Xiao suddenly turned his head and asked: “Chen Ding, why was your dad standing under the suspended stone lion that day?”

Hmm?

When Chen Xiao asked this question, both Chen Ding and the two detectives turned their heads simultaneously.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep