Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was seven in the evening. The sky had just grown dark, as Zhao Yu arrived at Bean Restaurant, located right outside of Petroleum Second Franchise’s Flat.
“Bro, are you planning to continue to run the shop?” The teen that catches crickets was asking the middle aged man opposite him.
The teen’s name was Zhao Ziyue and he was only nineteen years old. The middle aged man that was chopping up the meat was the current boss, the young Ding, who was elderly Ding’s son. Zhao Yu was standing behind Zhao Ziyue, looking around the shop.
“Of course! Otherwise, am I to go around to beg for food? We have to rely on the shop to earn a living!” The middle aged man smiled honestly. “Don’t worry, I have worked at this shop for a dozen years and have learned the tricks of the trade under the tutelage of my father! Hehehe…”
“Mm… This is a police officer, he has some questions to ask you!” Then, Zhao Ziyue pointed at Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu immediately showed his police ID and asked simultaneously, “I came here to ask you about the Petroleum Second Franchise’s Flat Murder Case that happened ten years ago!”
Pa da…
Just as Zhao Yu said this, there was a small commotion happening from across the room in the restaurant. Zhao Yu looked over from the corner of his eye and saw a middle aged woman who was wearing an apron. Apparently, she had just dropped a lamb skewer on the ground!
“Tsk tsk…” The boss, young Ding, suddenly put on a poker face and roared, “Money squanderer, can’t you be more careful? So clumsy, such nonsense! Hurry up and wash it off at the sink…”
“Oh… Oh…” The woman quickly picked up the skewer and ran to the back to wash it off at the sink.
Having worked as a police detective for so long, Zhao Yu’s was very observant, so he had already noticed the woman earlier. She was calm and steady. In fact, she was even humming a song while making the skewers!
But, just when he brought up the Flat Murder Case among his group, she suddenly became fidgety and distracted, which was precisely when she’d dropped that skewer on the ground.
Hey?
Could it be that this woman knows something?
“Police officer, excuse me. That’s just my wife!” The boss continued to chat casually. “What were you asking earlier? What about this murder case? Oh…” He thought for a moment, then said quickly, “Was it about a girl that died? Cough! Don’t bring it up, we couldn’t even open for business for a whole month after that all went down. My dad was so anxious! Why do you ask?”
“I looked through the record, and there was a testimony of your dad’s, saying that the person…” As Zhao Yu spoke, he passed him Lan Shuping’s photo. “This is the suspect. Your dad said that this person was drinking in your restaurant that night, from seven until just after midnight. Now, I just want to ask, do you know about this?”
“I don’t have any idea about this!” The boss replied without thinking much. “To be honest with you, police officer, on the day mentioned in that murder case, I had a big fight with my dad, so I wasn’t at the restaurant that night! So, these things you are telling now, no one brought them up with me before! But… Hold on a second, my wife was there! She spends longer hours in the shop, even longer than me.”
The boss then turned around and shouted across the room, “Wife, come here, the police want to ask you something!”
The woman put the mutton skewer in the fridge and wiped her hands on her apron. Then, she walked over anxiously, not even daring to lift up her head. “What… What is it?”
“D*mn, look at yourself. Why are you so nervous?” The boss noticed that there was something off about his wife and said, “Nothing to worry about, the police officer just wants to ask you about some stuff!”
Zhao Yu repeated what he said earlier to the boss, and the woman quickly replied in a stutter, “I… I don’t remember anymore!”
“What the hell?!” Exclaiming in frustration, even Zhao Ziyue could tell something was off now, let alone Zhao Yu. He quickly asked, “Sis? This is a murder case! I remember it well, even though I was only a kid back then. Plus, the suspect was at your shop that very night, so how could you forget?”
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“Exactly! And why are you nervous?” the boss shouted. “You are not the murderer anyway! Hurry up, you still got to make dumplings later!”
“I… I really don’t remember!” she stuttered. “At that time, it was his father that was talking to the patrons mostly, so how would I remember them?”
Zhao Yu looked at her carefully and pondered her words.
This woman definitely is carrying a secret in her mind, one that is most likely related to this murder case. Could it be… Liu Jiao’s tragedy was directly related to this restaurant?
“Sigh!”
Then, Zhao Yu let out a long sigh and put his clever trick to play. He quickly took out his phone and told the wife, “Sis, I might as well explain to you! The case has a new update. Now, the police suspected that this person might be the real murderer! So, the testimony that your family provided back then is very important. I have to confirm it with you!”
“I am telling you, this is a human life we are talking about! If you were to fail to report what you know, you will be legally liable! If this person were to be the murderer, and your family gave a false testimony, then you will all be put behind bars!”
“Huh?!” The boss’s wife looked terrified. At the mercy of Zhao Yu’s keen threatening skills, she was suddenly stunned. She held her fists tight together and made deep bows, then told Zhao Yu, “Police officer, that’s not related to me! It was my father-in-law alone!”
“What?!” Listening to the boss’s wife’s reply, Zhao Yu got a shock.
Dangit! What is going on?
“Huh?!” The boss was shocked, his mouth left hanging open. He let go of the kitchen knife and asked loudly, “My dad, he… What?”
The boss’s wife looked upset when she replied, “Your dad was forgetful. Didn’t all of you know that? Although it was ten years ago, he already had symptoms back then! When he was cooking, he would always forget to put in this or that ingredient. If it wasn’t for me, our shop would have closed down long ago. Don’t you know that?”
What she said confused the boss. He shook his head and asked, “Wife, we are talking about a murder case here. Why do you bring up dad’s being forgetful?”
The boss’s wife stomped her feet and said, “Police officer, the person on your phone did come here for drinks that night! He only ordered a cold dish and ten mutton skewers, but he drank several pints of beer! He was a very good drinker!”
“Sis, can we get straight to the point?” Zhao Yu was anxious now.
“On the third day, after the murder, the police came to question us.” The boss’s wife continued, “They were asking if that person on your phone came to drink at our place. Then, my father-in-law told them that the person drank at our place from seven till midnight! But, it wasn’t like that!”
“Oh?” Zhao Yu’s eyes suddenly grew bright and he asked, “Then, how was it?”
“The person in the photo came at about half past seven, and he was alone!” The boss’s wife recalled. “Then, at about nine, he paid the bill and left! It was nineteen dollars in total. I was the one who collected the money!”
“Huh?” Zhao Yu got a shock again.
“But, after a while, he appeared out of nowhere again, then sat down at the same table. He then ordered more snacks and beer! After a while, another man came in. The two of them drank together until midnight! When they left, the two of those drunkies were stumbling and slurring. I was worried that they wouldn’t make it home!”
“But, this can’t be blamed on my dad!” The boss said. “My dad didn’t have a good memory. The person left and came back, but my dad couldn’t remember that clearly.”
Zhao Ziyue shook his head. “As for your dad, he should have just said that he couldn’t remember! But, if you said these same things, and corroborated the story, didn’t you mislead the police? What if that person was really the murderer?”
“Huh?” The couple suddenly grew pale…