Chapter 344: Good Kids, Bad Kids

2022-05-20

Seeing the puzzled look on Coroner Wang’s face, and hearing his words, Gu Chen couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? Did you notice something off?”

Coroner Wang nodded, pointing seriously at the corpse still lying on the autopsy table. “That’s right. I’ve already performed the autopsy, but honestly, the issue was visible even before I started. I just didn’t say anything earlier during the procedure. I wonder if any of you noticed.”

As he spoke, Coroner Wang glanced over at us. He was in his forties, about the same age as Uncle Chen, and careful in his observations. The moment I saw the corpse, there was a question nagging at me too, but I hadn’t expected Coroner Wang to voice it first.

I looked at Coroner Wang and cleared my throat. “You mean the corpse is just too clean?”

Wang raised a finger at me, his hand trembling slightly. “Exactly. As a coroner, the first thing I noticed about the body was how spotless it is, but since I was in a rush to start the autopsy, I didn’t bring it up. Like our young friend here said, the corpse is unusually clean.”

“And being clean isn’t a good thing?” Uncle Chen looked confused, plugging his nose with a hand. “It’s still too bloody in here for my taste.”

Wang waved his hand. “It’s not about good or bad—it’s just odd. You all saw there are 52 wounds on the body, which we’re all aware of. Some wounds—like scrapes, bruises, or burns—don’t bleed much, but plenty of others should have bled a lot. Anyone would get that.”

“Makes sense,” Uncle Chen nodded.

“Right. But for all those bleeding wounds—when you took off the school uniform, did you see any bloodstains on the body? Not a single speck, right? Not even a drop.”

At this point, the two of them started to understand. Gu Chen spoke up. “You’re right, that’s exactly how it was.”

“So, I just can’t wrap my head around it!” Coroner Wang looked at all of us, then back at the corpse. “Why would the killer do something like this?”

I went quiet for a bit, tugging absentmindedly at my hair while analyzing, “That’s not all. We didn’t find any signs of violence on the school uniform either—just a bit of dirt, nothing else. Considering there are so many wounds, that means the killer must have taken the victim’s clothes off.”

“But,” I continued more seriously, “setting aside whether the killer intentionally murdered Li Jun or if it was accidental, after Li Jun died and his blood had time to coagulate, the killer washed the body, then dressed it again in the school uniform.”

Gu Chen nodded and picked up my thought. “Then the killer carried the body behind the school, dumped it in the well, erased the footprints, and left.”

“This killer isn’t normal.” I said, “Most people wouldn’t even think to dress a corpse, let alone wash it. There are a few conclusions we can draw.”

I raised a finger. “First, the killer likely washed away any fingerprints or clues they accidentally left on the body.”

A second finger went up. “Second, the killer clearly had their own agenda, and that thinking might line up with normal people or might be totally off.”

Looking at everyone, I went on, “Maybe the killer had some personal reason for washing and dressing the body—some urge to cover up, or hide something. I can’t say for sure, but they definitely didn’t want us to see all the wounds at a glance. It feels like they wanted to hide something.”

That’s about all we could learn from the body itself. From the time Li Jun was reported missing to when his corpse was found, too much time had passed. There’s just no way for us to figure out when or where exactly the murder happened based on timing.

But we do know one thing for sure—the killer must have had a car. Otherwise, taking two eight-year-olds at once is almost impossible. That suggests the killer’s family isn’t especially poor, and their IQ isn’t low either.

“Let’s go,” I said. “We should talk to Teacher Sun Qingqing.”

As soon as I finished, my stomach let out a loud growl.

Uncle Chen glanced at his watch. “It’s already past four in the afternoon. None of us ate lunch, so let’s eat something first before we go on with the investigation.”

Later that afternoon, we grabbed a quick bite at a small restaurant in town. By the time we got back to the school, it was five o’clock. We met Sun Qingqing again. She told us she’d already spoken to her class and that after class, she’d have us share some knowledge with them as a cover.

There were still more than thirty minutes left before the students were dismissed, so I decided to use the time to learn more about Li Jun and Hu Ningning from Sun Qingqing.

I started, “Ms. Sun, let’s talk about Hu Ningning first. You mentioned her before, but how is she really? Is there any chance she’s involved in early puppy love or something like that?”

Ms. Sun frowned a little. “I’ve actually already told you—Hu Ningning is a very well-behaved child. She’s top of her class, always among the best. She’s also a bit stubborn. I remember one time she got second place and spent the whole week sulking, studying even during breaks.”

I nodded along. Hu Ningning really seemed like the strong-willed type.

Sun Qingqing continued, “As for puppy love, I doubt it. She listens, and she’s considerate towards others. Still, I wouldn’t even call it real puppy love at her age—maybe just a vague crush or something. We usually don’t interfere too much, since that can backfire.”

I nodded again. “So basically, Hu Ningning is a good kid. She’d never do anything out of line, right?”

Sun Qingqing made a sound of agreement. “That’s about right. In fact, I think it was Li Jun who encouraged her to leave.”

My brow furrowed. “So you’re saying Li Jun is the problematic one? Was he a troublemaker?”

“Li Jun was definitely a handful in our class.” When she mentioned him, an odd emotion flickered across Sun Qingqing’s face. She paused. “Li Jun’s death saddens me as his teacher, and I’m not saying he was some hopeless case.”

When you hear that kind of denial, it usually means that’s what they really think deep down.

I pressed gently. “Don’t hold back, just tell us what you know. The sooner we can understand Li Jun and Hu Ningning, the sooner we’ll find the killer and figure out what really happened.”

Only then did Sun Qingqing say, “Li Jun could be a real pain. He always did the opposite of whatever you asked, constantly contradicting the teacher. Lots of teachers have come to me about it, but there’s not much we can do except keep giving him verbal warnings. We can’t hit the kids, after all.”

She let out a sigh. “Parents always claim we can discipline or even hit their kids if they misbehave, but the moment we actually do, they make trouble for us.”

She shook her head and went on. “Anyway, Li Jun was always up to mischief—pulling girls’ pigtails, sneaking bugs into pencil cases, spitting in other students’ water bottles, you name it. He even formed some little gang called the ‘Azure Dragon Gang’ to bully other kids in the class.”

“He actually went around bullying the other students?” I asked.

Sun Qingqing nodded. “I’ve reported it and even called in his family, but all the parents would say it’s just normal kids horsing around—that I shouldn’t take it so seriously. What can an eight-year-old really do, right? After that, I tried changing the ‘Azure Dragon Gang’ to the ‘Azure Dragon Study Group,’ but nothing really changed.”

From how Sun Qingqing described it, Li Jun really was quite the troublemaker.

“Did Li Jun know that Hu Ningning would stay in the classroom alone?” I asked.

Sun Qingqing replied, “Yes, pretty much all the students knew that. Because of the rain, Hu Ningning had been staying in the school dorm for a while, so everyone knew she wouldn’t be going home. She was always quiet, except for that day, when she left—together with Li Jun.”

“I think Li Jun was the one who led her off, but as for what they went to do, I really can’t say.”

Just then, the dismissal bell rang.

Sun Qingqing turned to me. “That’s the end of class. Let’s go to the classroom and ask the kids some questions.”

I nodded and stood up, ready to head out.

Sun Qingqing added, “But please—don’t mention anything about Li Jun’s death. I’m worried the kids will be scared. I already told them you’re here to teach them something new, so just be careful.”

“Alright…”