Chapter 9 Sunday, May 8

Shirley flew from Philadelphia to Harrisonburg in a turboprop, which landed just before nine o'clock.She tried calling the teacher's home phone, but no one answered. She had to call the Page County sheriff's office again, and a sheriff named Sheriff Ringgold answered the phone.He told Shirley that the case is currently under investigation, and it will not be determined whether it was accidental death or deliberate murder until the coroner's report comes out next Monday.The implication is that the body is still evidence for the police, and no one, including relatives, can approach the body until the autopsy report is out next Monday.

She was sure that once the police cleared the murder case and allowed the family to take it home, the boy's father would put his body in a closed coffin if he didn't burn it.In that case, even if the teacher's inference in the letter is true, it would be futile to sue the child's father. "May I trouble you to contact Mrs. Greta Mitchell? Please tell her that I am here. I am going to Luliu. I hope to meet her." Maybe I can meet her and clarify some things, she think.This is a small town, maybe the teacher can exert some influence on the sheriff.She left him her cell phone number and told him that she would arrange to go to Lulue as soon as possible.But Ringgold advised her not to waste money.

Twenty minutes later, she got into a car and sat in the cold backseat.The big car was shabby and rattled constantly, and it felt like sitting in an ashtray.The driver coughed violently as he drove, and she recalled the stench of dead bodies in the worst case she had ever taken.Facing Xueli's offer of fifty dollars plus gas fees, the driver readily agreed to take her to Lulue, and even offered to help her get on and off the car. The twenty-five-mile trip took forty-five minutes before she found herself at the reception desk of the Page County Sheriff's Office, listening to a gum-chewing receptionist rave about his weekend party in the Poconos.

She waited fifteen minutes before Sheriff Ringgold came out to meet her.Although he spent an hour or so investigating Xueli's background, when he saw the blind woman in front of him, he was still stunned for a while. "Bill Ringgold," he introduced himself, took her arm and led her into his office.It was a warm room that smelled of carbon paper and gun grease. "Miss Moore," he said after closing the door, "I am an elected official by the people of the county, which means that my legal responsibility is to ensure the rights and interests of the voters in the county. This includes the boy's father, Custer. Bates. You know what I mean?"

Shirley nodded and said, "I'm not here to interfere with your investigation, Mr. Sheriff. I'm also here at the request of one of your constituents who is a little suspicious of the child's father." .The news report she sent me said an autopsy was scheduled for next week. I figured if I arrived in time, there might be a chance to see that kid before he was sent to Harrisonburg. That's all." "I called Greta Mitchell, Miss Moore. Greta is a very nice woman. She is very serious about her work." Ringgold said every word, looking heavy, "but She is not in my position, so she will not understand my responsibilities. Before the coroner announces that the victim was acquitted of murder, the victim's body is evidence, which means that it will be subject to a series of supervision, just like other It is the same as implementing a series of regulatory measures for the evidence. If a policeman presents the evidence in front of the public arbitrarily, he violates the duty of the policeman, and he may also involve other people, so that more people will fall into illegal activities. taking risks."

"All I'm asking is to shake that kid's hand, Mr. Sheriff. Everyone who brought the kid out has touched him." Then she held up her hand, and sighed, "I know, you do That's right, Mr. Sheriff. It's not my style to make a decision too hastily for me. Mrs. Greta Mitchell's letter to me mentioned that the time was urgent, so it was rushed. decision." She heard him move his chair back a little, and then she heard the stomp of boots on the tiled floor.Finally, he went to her table, sat down directly in front of her, and said, "I also called a friend from the Pennsylvania Police Department this morning. We are classmates at the Federal Police Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He called back several times and told me that there are several important crime detection experts and a lawyer in Philadelphia, and I think you are the famous criminal detection expert."

Xueli raised her head and faced forward, without answering. Ringgold continued, "I've always disliked Custer Bates, too. He's a veritable alcoholic. He's not a good father. Everyone here knows that. Why didn't the state take the kid away sooner, we I can’t understand it either. But that’s how it is sometimes.” He stood up. “Now we’re driving to Page Memorial Hospital and I’m going to show you the underground morgue with the three bodies of your distant cousin Janet Granville is there. Janet died yesterday morning of kidney failure and is about to be cremated at the request of immediate family living in California. I will give you a moment to be alone with her. Once there, you will be at A body was found on the table in front of you, although it will not be Janet's body. I will go and take you back to the office in ten minutes. I don't want to repeat everything I said just now. Everything will wait until we return to the office Talk about it later. And never again. Will you take what I have to say, Miss Moore?"

"That's all right, Mr Sheriff," she said softly, "thank you." Ringgold took her arm, helped her to his car, and said, "Miss Moore, the coroner also heard about the child being abused by his father. It's no secret in Luliu. I know he wants to find bruises on that kid before he died, but even those bruises don't prove that he died of murder. Without witnesses, I don't know how we can prove that the kid's death wasn't an accidental fall off a cliff .In other words, no matter what you see, the final verdict may still surprise you.” "I understand that, Mr Sheriff," said Shirley.

The morgue was cold and filled with a strong smell of antiseptics. Leaving Shirley there, Ringgold closed the door softly and went out.Xueli stretched her hand to the table in front of her, touched a small shoulder, and down the shoulder, she touched the soft hand of the little boy.Everyone's hands were different, big or small, soft or hard; sometimes she could feel their features, sometimes not.She couldn't feel the features of the hand she was holding now. The air vents in the morgue rattled feebly, and she heard the police radio from another room.She felt a protruding bone beneath his skin, and the smell of embalming fermented like a splash of whiskey.The smell of whiskey?

The twigs were snapping, the sound of running hard, the little boy had tears in his eyes, a boot lace came loose, and a voice came from behind, "I want to kick your ass, you worthless little boy!" Offal." A man was drunk, and in front of him was a brook with icy water running, his mittens dangling from the brambles.He couldn't run anymore, so he had to hide, and the man gradually caught up with him.God!He ran ahead of the boy, a chainsaw in his hand, and approached him, and the boy backed away, begging, "I didn't mean to spill it, Dad. We can buy more whiskey."

Shirley was on the last flight out of Harrisonburg, and thank God she didn't have to spend the night in some small hotel. She walked into the house and felt that it was damp.She asked the driver to leave her luggage in the living room, tipped him and let him go.She closed the door, turned on the heat, and went to take a hot shower.She called Brigham and told him he didn't have to come with her tonight.She slept through the next afternoon and woke up feeling like she had the flu.Brigham came over, but only for a cup of tea.She still didn't want to speak. A message was received on the answering phone Monday afternoon, "Miss Moore, this is Sheriff Ringgold. I want to let you know that I am sorry that I was not able to accommodate your request on Saturday. I really hope you have not followed my personal Decision. It is very strange that the circumstances of the case have changed. The coroner found a wound on the back of the child's head, which was not consistent with the scar caused by bumping against the rock when he fell. Intuitively, a A case officer inspected the tools in Custer Bates' pickup truck and found that the crown on the chainsaw matched the diameter of the wound on the child's head. A jury will indict the murder in Harrisonburg this afternoon. On trial. I just wanted to let you know. Are you all right? Did you hear the message?" Xueli hung up the phone, sat down on the sofa, and thought to herself, luckily the case will come to light.Although Sheriff Ringgold is reluctant to admit that he secretly gave her the green light to see the truth of the case.But... Maybe, as he said, he is not in someone else's position, and he doesn't understand the difficulties of others' work.Thinking of this, her tears suddenly flowed out.