(Foreword)

The weeping bell buries the miserable and desolate soul. Today, Xiaoyu brings you a story about love and despair.

(Text)

At 23:59 on September 30, 2021, in the suburbs of Dongcheng District, under the church bell tower.

An ancient bell suddenly fell, killing the disciples who swept the floor under the ancient bell.

October 1, 2021 at 9:05 a.m. at the Meisling Dessert Shop.

I stirred the matcha milkshake in my hand and quietly looked out the window when suddenly the door was pushed open and I was approached by the three people I had been waiting for.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we're late, apologize to you." Xiao Yao put his hands together, stuck out his tongue, and pretended to apologize to me. And I turned my face away and snorted heavily, also pretending not to forgive her.

I peeked at her, and she stole at me, and we looked at each other and smiled, sitting across from each other.

As soon as she sat down, she motioned for us to gather, and then carefully glanced at the eyes of all of us, and said word by word: "This time there is a new case, a homicide." ”

"Homicide? What kind of homicide? Fat Xu asked bluntly.

Xiao Yao took out a photo from his cloth bag and placed it in front of the four of us—I saw an old man with gray hair in the photo being heavily pressed under an old bronze bell. The old man's left hand gripped the broom hard, his eyes were closed, and there was blood in front of his mouth.

"He's ...... It is ...... by the bell Crushed? "I looked at the photo carefully and came to this conclusion.

Xiao Yao nodded.

"Being crushed to death by a bell is not an ordinary accident." Xu Fatzi spread his hands.

"No, it's no ordinary accident." Little to look at us seriously.

"What do you say?" Sun Slender became interested and leaned his head closer to Xiao Yao.

"According to my father's records, the time of his death should have been around midnight on October 1. Do you remember that last night it rained heavily, starting at about 11:30 and continuing until about 3 in the morning? How many leaves are there under this bell? How much garbage? I don't think it's much, right? Could it be that he swept for more than half an hour? So much so that he neither carries an umbrella nor wears a poncho? ”

"There's some truth to what you're saying." Xu Fatzi became interested, propped up his hands, and put his head close to the photo.

"And look here." Xiao Yao pointed to the rat's tail sticking out of the bell at the edge of the bell that was difficult to find, "This bell fell down, just killing this person, but even this mouse was stoned to death." But why are the rats here? There is neither a rice jar nor food here, it ran here for no reason, and when it saw people coming, it didn't run, and it was here with him that he was crushed to death by the suddenly falling bell? ”

"En......" Sun Slender lowered his head and frowned for a long time, "Indeed, what you said is indeed very suspicious, it seems that this is not an ordinary accident." ”

"Xiaoyao, now ...... Do you want to ...... How? "I looked at Xiao Yao seriously.

"I want to go to the scene of the incident, take a closer look at the ancient clock, and ask people who are familiar with the deceased by the way."

"Okay, I'll accompany you...... Go. ”

"Xiao Yao, you're wrong, right? It's not you, it's us. Don't forget, we're all members of the Sherlock Holmes Steam Jr. Xu Fatzi and Sun Slender looked at each other and grinned.

"Sun Slender Man, aren't you afraid of what happened last time?" Xiao Yao slapped Sun Shouzi's chest with one hand.

"I'm afraid, of course I'm afraid, but I'm even more afraid that it's boring!" Sun Slender lifted his glasses and straightened his chest.

"Yes, you thin man can actually use idioms, it seems that he has been taking Teacher Yan's class recently." Xu Fatzi looked at Sun Slender with a mouse. But Sun Slender suddenly blushed, and only spit out: "I, I, I...... Urgency! He quickly left his seat and ran to the bathroom.

"Hahahaha~~ This kid is so good, I'm afraid that Mr. Yan will die of fear!" Fat Xu laughed heartily, and we laughed happily with him.

October 1, 2021 at 11:01, the outskirts of Dongcheng District, church bell tower.

After nearly two hours of bus rides, we finally reached the outskirts of Dongcheng District, in front of the church bell tower. However, by the time we arrived, the clock had long since disappeared, leaving only a long cordon.

"What now? The biggest murder weapon is gone. Where do we go for clues? Fat Xu asked angrily.

"I ...... I may ...... There is a way. I opened my wallet, took out a dozen thick hundred-dollar bills from my wallet, and showed them in front of them, their faces flashing with brilliance.

We found the church administrator who stuffed the money into his hands on the pretext of collecting donations, and he took us to the old warehouse with the seal on it, and then guarded the door.

We walked over to the ancient bell, each taking a closer look at each of them. Xiao Yao suddenly called us over, pointed to the rope on the top of the ancient bell with one hand, tilted his head and asked, "Don't you think it's strange that you look at such a heavy bell, but it's a rope that is used to hang it?" And the cut in the rope doesn't seem to have broken naturally......"

Xiao Yao said and took a few steps forward, and motioned for Xu Fatzi to squat down and lift her high, so that she could reach the hanging rope.

She had enough of a piece of the rope and put it between her nose to smell it, when suddenly she frowned and muttered, "Sure enough, he didn't die in an accident." ”

"Didn't he die in an accident? Did you find anything again? Sun Slender looked excited.

"I haven't fully solved the mystery yet, and I can't figure out what his motives were, so I need to ask a few more people for that. When all the clues are straightened out, I will tell you. ”

"Cut~~ actually sold Guanzi." Sun Slender Man cocked his mouth.

October 1, 2021 at 11:25

Through the administrator of the church, Xiao Yao easily got the home address of Aunt Qian, who was on duty here every night, and Li Jiao, the wife of the victim.

We naturally knew that it was very rude to go to someone's house in such a hurry, so we first went to the commercial building to buy some condolences and carried them in our hands.

We went to Aunt Qian's house first, and Aunt Qian was very shocked and wanted to kick us out, but after I handed over a brand-name bag, her attitude naturally eased and invited us in.

Xiao wants to go straight to the knife, and the first question is about the hanging rope, "Aunt Qian, I have seen the hanging rope of the ancient bell, it is a thick rope and not an iron chain." I'm a little curious, why do you hang the ancient bell with a thick rope instead of an iron chain? ”

Aunt Qian thought about it for a while, "I used to think this question was strange, but I haven't had anything wrong with hanging it with a thick rope in the past few years, so I didn't take it to heart." I didn't expect it to be ...... this time Hey......" Aunt Qian sighed deeply and picked up the teacup on the table.

"For all these years? Didn't that use a thick rope to hang before? Xiao Yao continued to ask.

"Before...... I remember that it was not hung with a thick rope, but with an iron cable. Aunt Qian nodded affirmatively.

"Have you heard any strange noises lately?"

"How do you know?" Aunt Qian's face showed a surprised expression, "It's true, it's okay usually, but every rainy night I seem to be able to faintly hear the sound of convulsions crying, it stirs my heart to panic, then every time I get to the rainy night, I have to hide away like a plague god." ”

"I see. I'm sorry Aunt Qian, I have one last question I want to ask you......" Xiao Yao sat next to Aunt Qian and asked in her ear, and Aunt Qian nodded. She took us out of Aunt Qian's residence.

October 1, 2021 15:54

This section of the road has to be walked for a long, long time, obviously only an hour away, but Xiao Yao has walked for more than four hours. We didn't dare to ask her, and we didn't want to ask her, because we knew in our hearts that when she wanted to tell us, she would tell us.

"Here we are." Xiao Yao looked up at the dilapidated public house where the victim's wife, Li Jiao, lived, frowned tightly, and then walked in.

We knocked on Li Ji's door, but no one opened it. Xu Fatzi pushed lightly, and the door turned out to be open. We each swallowed a mouthful of saliva and walked slowly inside.

"Excuse me, is anyone home?" Xu Fatzi walked in front and asked in a low voice, but the room was dim and there was no response.

Suddenly he felt like he had kicked something, and when he looked closely, it turned out to be a woman! He fell back and shouted loudly.

Xiao Yao rushed at the woman and quickly lifted her head and pinched her hard. After a while, the woman woke up and looked at Xiao Yao in front of her with confused eyes.

The four of us, under the command of Xiao Yao, moved the woman to bed together. Xiao Yao showed her intention to the woman, and the woman told us that she was Li Ji, and the reason why she fainted was only because of anemia.

Xiao Yao didn't believe her words, but asked her: "Did your husband buy insurance, and the beneficiary is still you?" ”

Li Ji's eyes widened, "You...... How do you know? ”

"I guess."

"You guess? How did you guess? Li Ji looked Xiao Yao up and down, and her face was still full of disbelief.

"I think there are some things you may not know, a few years ago, it was not a thick rope that hung the ancient clock, but an iron chain. The thick rope did not break by accident, but was finally broken by artificial design over time. ”

"Artificial design? By whom?! Li Ji's voice increased significantly by a few decibels, and her expression was also excited.

"It's by himself."

"Himself? No...... This can't be, this can't ......" Li Ji shook her head vigorously, still wanting to deny all this.

Xiao Yao took out the photo from the cloth bag and placed it in front of Li Ji, "Do you see the mouse tail pressed on the edge of this ancient clock?" I looked at the rope of the old bell, and I smelled a strong smell of rice on it, and found that its fracture was not broken naturally, but was bitten by something. Together, it is clear that this thick rope has been eaten by rats for a long time and took your husband's life that night. ”

The woman's lips and teeth trembled, and her eyes looked straight ahead, "Even if this is not necessarily his own game, it is possible that he was killed!" Someone else killed him! ”

"No, none of this is possible." Xiao Yao swallowed a mouthful of saliva and continued: "I confirmed with Aunt Qian on night duty that the person who replaced the iron chain with a thick rope back then was your husband. Your husband also knows that there are at least two people on duty at night, and only Aunt Qian is alone on rainy nights, and Aunt Qian is timid, so in order to complete the plan to cover the rat call, he will smear the thick rope with rice juice every rainy day, and cover the rat cry with his own cry. This is also the reason why Aunt Qian often hears crying on rainy nights.

I think he must have loved you so much that he gave it all on September 30th. The rain began to fall that day at half past eleven o'clock in the evening, but he was not drenched by the rain at all, presumably until then he had been coating the thick rope with rice juice, waiting for the mouse to bite, and finally he was buried under the bell with the mouse who had accidentally fallen with a broom in his hand......"

"Don't say it...... I beg you...... Don't talk about it...... "Li Ji had already cried into a tearful person, she slowly took out the insurance policy from the bedside table and opened it, and her name was written in the beneficiary column.

"Fifteen years ago I abandoned him and went to live in France with a French man. Unfortunately, the good times were short-lived, and we only lived for three years before falling apart. He waited for me and took me in again, but when we had a child, my child was diagnosed with 'hemolysis'. Therefore, I had to give up my children.

Perhaps God refused to let me go, and after several miscarriages, I finally conceived a healthy child, but the child was knocked into a vegetative state by an accident seven years ago, and finally I signed and agreed to euthanize him. From then on, I didn't want to face him again, and I didn't want to face myself again. Every time I saw him, I would yell at him and put all the blame on him, as if I could only be saved if he bore his sin. But I've always known, I've always known, that the one who is really wrong is myself.

After a long time, my heart became sick, and all kinds of parts of my body became bad. He took care of me like this for many years, until he couldn't get a penny anymore, until this October 1st, my birthday. This is the gift he wants to give me, sacrificing himself, giving me a gift......"

Li Ji cried loudly, as if she had cried out all these years of regret and pain. But no matter how loud her cries wept or how loudly she roared, her husband never came back.

She held the insurance in her hand, her eyes were stunned, and we left quietly.

"Xiaoyao, will you tell your dad all this?" Sun Slender asked.

Xiao Yao looked at the sky, "I don't have any definite evidence, it's just reasoning, tell him what to do?" Besides, this sin Li Ji will carry it for the rest of her life. If you are already bitter enough, don't deprive her of the only straw that keeps her alive. It's not easy to live like this. ”

We nodded together and walked slowly into the sunset.

(End of chapter)