The door was closed, leaving just the two people in the office.
Zhong Ruanxing turned around and walked back to the tea table, “Coffee?”
The man surnamed Zou said, “Yes, please. Thank you, Boss Song.”
While making coffee, Zhong Ruanxing had been quietly observing him all along.
She couldn't get in touch with Song JinXing, and she was completely unfamiliar with this person, unaware of the purpose of his visit, so she could only pretend everything was normal and try to extract key information from the upcoming conversation.
The man surnamed Zou had a very calm temperament, different from any working class person in this society. Zhong Ruanxing only looked him over a few times before he seemed to notice her gaze and straightened his posture considerably, with an even more solemn expression.
He was a very keen person.
After the coffee was ready, she carried two cups over. Seeing that he was still standing there properly, she softly said, "Have a seat."
Only then did the man surnamed Zou sit down on the sofa and thanked her after taking the coffee, removing his face mask. It was an extremely ordinary-looking face that would easily vanish into a crowd with common features.
Zhong Ruanxing knew well the saying that the less said, the better. She didn’t take the initiative to ask anything, just emanated Song JinXing’s usual aura and looked at him calmly.
As expected, the man surnamed Zou immediately got the hint. He put down the coffee cup and took out a file folder from the jacket he was wearing, “Boss Song, this time I have obtained crucial evidence.”
Evidence?
Zhong Ruanxing's heart shuddered. She felt some mystery that she hadn't touched upon before was unfolding before her eyes. But her expression remained very calm as she accepted the file folder he handed over. Inside were some thin documents and a voice recorder.
Rationality told her that this person Song JinXing had never mentioned to her and this matter Song JinXing had never told her about, she shouldn't pry into. She should put away the information right now, send away the stranger in front of her, and tell Song JinXing about this after she could get in contact with him.
But human emotions sometimes don't follow rationality. Before her rationality could fully take over, the text on the documents had already jumped into her eyes first.
This was an inquiry record of an employee of a funeral home from 21 years ago, as well as a photocopy of the employee's work records at that time.
Twenty-one years, funeral home, these two phrases made Zhong Ruanxing's heart beat rapidly.
She guessed what Song JinXing had been secretly investigating.
Her mind was a little chaotic. She didn't know if she should continue peeping into this major secret. But the man surnamed Zou, oh no, Zhong Ruanxing guessed his identity already, she should call him Zou Detective.
Zou Detective saw that Boss Song was lowering her head to go through the information. Out of a private detective's sense of duty, he had already begun to describe his investigation process: “...Last year, based on the funeral home's duty roster at that time, I found information on an employee who was on duty back then. His name is Lu Ming. He was 45 years old 21 years ago. Now he's retired and returned to his hometown Rong County to live out his remaining years."
"Because he wasn't specifically responsible for cremating the bodies that night. He was in another department, covering for a colleague who had a sudden appendicitis, so his existence wasn't noticed by the other party. This allowed us to have a chance."
"According to Lu Ming's recollection, on the day your parents' bodies were sent to the funeral home in the afternoon, they were cremated that same day at your family's insistence, because the car accident was too severe, the bodies... So at that time, no one objected either, so when the police came, the bodies had already been cremated."
"But Lu Ming clearly remembered that night, when he went out to use the bathroom, he saw your grandfather entering the crematorium again accompanied by a staff member. By the time he finished using the bathroom and came out, the cremation equipment had started up."
"Lu Ming felt it was very strange at the time, because that afternoon when your grandfather's family rushed to the funeral home, the entrance was filled with luxury cars. He said he had never seen such a wealthy family before, so he had a deep impression of your family. Seeing your grandfather enter the crematorium then, he kept it in mind and secretly hid by the office door to peep. At that time, there was a pane of glass in the middle of the office door. It was through that glass that he saw your grandfather walk out carrying an urn two hours later, then immediately left in a hurry."
The words on the documents were densely packed like little flying insects. Zhong Ruanxing didn't make out anything clearly, but every word from Zou Detective's mouth entered her ears.
Cremating the bodies twice? What did this mean?
"Lu Ming said it was impossible to cremate a body twice. And he clearly remembered that when the police and traffic police came to investigate that morning, your family had already explicitly told them the bodies were cremated. Lu Ming felt this matter must have inside details, but he didn't dare investigate the secrets within a wealthy family out of curiosity either, so he just pretended he didn't see anything and automatically forgot about it."
"Previously, we didn't uncover anything from those retired employees from the funeral home who were responsible for your parents' cremation. Clearly, they had been silenced by the other party. Lu Ming was able to escape because he was just covering for someone. We can only say the other side made a tiny oversight, leaving us this clue."
Zou Detective's voice became grave: "Boss Song, I reasonably suspect that after the car accident back then, the first cremation of your parents' bodies by your grandfather was a means to evade autopsy, to deceive the police. When the police came to investigate, your parents' bodies had not actually been cremated yet."
"It was only during that second cremation that Lu Ming witnessed at night that the bodies were truly cremated."
"During the time between the first fake cremation and the second real cremation, I suspect your grandfather conducted autopsies on your parents' bodies. He must have had suspicions about the cause of your parents' deaths, and suspected the perpetrator was someone he wanted to shield, otherwise it can't explain this series of actions."
"According to the surveillance footage back then, your parents' car suddenly lost control and crashed into the bridge while driving normally. The footage showed your father seemingly losing consciousness suddenly. Now there are two conjectures: one is that your parents' car accident was indeed accidental, caused by your father suddenly developing a disease which led to loss of control of the car. Your grandfather was just suspicious and the autopsy results showed no issues, so normal cremation proceeded. Two is that your parents' car accident was deliberately caused by someone drugging your father, leading to unconsciousness while driving. In that case, traces of drugs would definitely show up in his autopsy report. This would be key evidence and the reason your grandfather deceived the police that the bodies were already cremated."
"If it's the second scenario, then that autopsy report from back then would be the only evidence now that could prove your parents' deaths were murder. It has either been destroyed, or is still in your grandfather's hands."
Zou Detective's voice carried a hint of gravity: "Boss Song, your grandfather may know the entire truth."
