Twenty-nine. The owner of the noodle shop
It's been nearly half a month since the first cat murder case, and I've gradually forgotten about it. When I meet Hexuan's family near the community, I will also take the initiative to say hello. They were embarrassed at first, but they got to know me as well. They didn't seem to be affected by the case, and the stone in my heart fell to the ground when I saw such a scene.
The weather on an April afternoon has taken on the meaning of summer, and the warm sunlight hitting the face is very pleasant. The captain and I, who had just finished dealing with the wounding incident in the South Block, returned to the police station.
"Wang Wei, what time is it?"
I looked at my watch, and the hour hand was just at twelve o'clock. "Twelve." After saying that, I slowly pressed down the window, hoping that the cool breeze outside the car would bring some refreshment.
"I didn't expect it to be so hot in April, let's go to a nearby restaurant for lunch, I can't stand a canteen without air conditioning." The captain said as he took the wheel.
Actually, it's not that hot outside, but it's suddenly warmed up recently, and we haven't changed into fresh clothes. There is also the tradition of "covering spring and autumn freezing" that I have always adhered to, because when I was a child, my elders used to say that if I didn't do this, I would catch a cold.
I took off my thick coat. "Okay, let's go eat outside."
I didn't know where the captain was going to take me, but I saw him make a U-turn at the entrance of the police station, and then turn left and right, although it was only about ten minutes to arrive, but the route was extremely complicated.
"This is it, I've been eating here a lot lately." The captain stopped the car and gestured diagonally across from the two of us.
I leaned over and looked up, only to see that it read, "Authentic Plate Noodles." ”
"That's it, I thought I was going to have a big meal." I grumbled.
"Let's go, it tastes authentic." The captain said with a pleading.
Let's go down when you come here, and besides, I like to eat noodles. I got out of the car and waited for the captain to park the car.
Walking into the store, a middle-aged uncle in his forties walked over with a smile on his face, and he looked very happy.
"Officer Ouyang, is it still the same today?"
"Mm-hmm, it's still the same."
After speaking, the middle-aged man looked at me with a smile on his face, his small eyes narrowed into a line, and he was very kind. I looked at the menu on the wall.
"Thin noodles, a big bowl, just add a lion's head."
"Okay, I'll do it for you."
"Add more chili peppers." I love spicy food, and I hurriedly added
The captain and I chose a more in-back position, and I looked around and didn't see the air conditioner. Thinking of this, I inexplicably warmed up again.
"What about the air conditioner, Captain?"
The captain smiled and got up and pulled over my head, and I looked up to see that it was an old-fashioned electric fan. I just listened to the buzzing above my head.
"This is the air conditioner you were talking about." I said with some impatience.
"It's a great time to use this at this time, you'll feel cool in a while."
Although the old-fashioned electric fan seemed unsafe spinning on my head, I soon felt a cool breeze blowing overhead. I admit that this is indeed more comfortable than the air conditioner.
After a while, the two of us came up, and I was about to start moving my chopsticks.
"Wang Wei, what have you been busy with lately?"
I put down my chopsticks and looked at the captain suspiciously, "I'm not busy with anything, why did you suddenly ask this." ”
"You seem to be out of shape lately, except for the past few days, you looked like you were in a mess last week." The captain picked up the chopsticks and said as he ate.
I picked up the lion's head and slowly put it into my mouth, I took a big bite, and the soup on the plate filled my mouth, and the flesh of the lion's head complemented each other. I chewed slowly, and the reason I did this was because I was trying to figure out how to answer the captain's question. Reluctantly, I swallowed the only food in my mouth, and was about to speak.
"It's because of the cat murder case." The captain ate without raising his head.
It was true that I had been worried about Hexuan's suspicion last week, and that he would resent me because of it, but I dismissed that when my relationship with everyone in his family began to ease.
"Yes, there's that factor in it." After saying that, I took a bite of the noodles and put it in my mouth.
"It seems that the murderer has not been caught in that case until now."
"It seems so, it's likely that a pervert did it."
After I finished speaking, the captain wiped his mouth with the restaurant paper on the table, and I saw that the noodles in his bowl had been eaten, and I had only eaten a few bites.
"It's okay, you eat slowly." The captain lit a cigarette as he spoke.
Smoke immediately filled our surroundings like an enchantment. The captain used the empty bowl on the table as an ashtray, and saw him flick the ash a few times.
"The owner of this place seems to know something." The captain whispered.
"The forty-year-old uncle?"
"That's right, his children also go to school there, and in the second year of junior high school, he often feeds the cat every time he goes to pick up his children."
"How do you know this, you care about this case?" I asked, a little puzzled.
"That's not it, I came to this shop purely because I like to eat noodles, and the owner of this shop often watches the news about this case on TV, so I asked him, and he told me so." The captain finished clinging to the lion's head that was left in my bowl.
"Can I ask him?" I asked, tentatively.
After the captain nodded, I politely called the boss.
"Did you say you often feed that cat with strange patterns?" The boss asked.
"That's right, it's the cat, what time do you pick up your child on April 1st? Did something happen that day? ”
"You're doubting me." The boss seemed to be being questioned by the police for the first time and was a little nervous.
"No, you're mistaken, I just want to know about the day's situation, as long as it's related to the case, I'll ask." After saying that, I moved the chair in the back and motioned for the boss to sit down.
"I went to pick up my child at 6:15 that day, my child is a member of the school's badminton club, I will pick him up when he finishes badminton lessons, usually at the back door, because the back door is located on the football field, although it is a bit far away, but it is convenient to pick up the child, and I can always see the cat on the playground." The boss replied meticulously.
"And did you see the cat?"
"Anyway, I didn't see it, because it wasn't at the back door, but my kids saw it when they got out of school, near the activity room." The boss carefully recalled the events of that day.
"When did your child see it?"
"He usually gets out of school at 6:30, and he says I think it's around 30 after school." The owner of the noodle shop replied quite seriously.
"Thank you, sorry to bother you while you're at work, and I wish you a prosperous business."
After saying that, the boss went into the back kitchen.
I sat there and fell into deep thought, the boss's child saw a butterfly at half past six, Hexuan and Qingyun were also at the end of school at thirty o'clock, and when they found the butterfly corpse, it was about thirty-five minutes, can you really kill a cat in these five minutes? Not to mention Hexuan and Qingyun, I think it would be very difficult for an adult to commit murder in such a short period of time......