Chapter 7 chapter Five

Med frowned, and he slowly opened his eyes. "Have you remembered it all?" asked Yuan Bin who was beside him. Med's face was expressionless and his eyes were dull: "It's been ten years, and I almost forgot about it. But just now, I remembered it all again." He suddenly turned his head and looked directly at Yuan Bin: "You haven't told me, why did you bring this up? We made an appointment never to mention it!" Yuan Bin looked into his eyes: "Do you know what date it is today?" Meide thought for a while and said, "July 14th." Yuan Bin kept staring at him without speaking.

Med was stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly took a deep breath: "My God..." "Do you remember? I knew it. In fact, you, like me, will never forget that day." Meide thought for a while: "But, I remember that the day of the accident, that is, the day that Teacher Shan died was July 13th." "That's right, it's July thirteenth." "So what? What are you trying to say?" "Remember when I told you that I dissected a drowned body last night?" Mede subconsciously leaned back a bit, he felt a chill down his spine: "Could it be...you mean..."

"Listen to me, at four o'clock in the morning this morning, colleagues from the Public Security Bureau called my house, saying that they found a drowned body, and told me to rush over there immediately for a death appraisal... I didn't think it was unusual at first, because in my I have dealt with countless drowned bodies during my work. So, I performed an autopsy on this one as usual." Yuan Bin took a sip of water, and continued: "As a result, I determined that the death time of this corpse was a few hours ago, to be precise, around ten o'clock in the evening on July 13th, so I took up my pen and prepared to The time of death is written on the identification sheet."

"Suddenly, I felt like I was hit by an electric current, and my whole body stopped. I suddenly remembered: On July 13, ten years ago, the same thing happened!" "My heart was beating wildly, and I immediately called the colleague who brought the body. I asked him where the body was found, and—" He stopped and looked at Med with wide eyes. "Could it be..." Meade guessed nervously. "It was found in that pool in Nanxiang!" Med opened his mouth wide, he felt creepy. "The colleague also told me something more: the body was found by a drunken man at two o'clock in the morning. The man wanted to use the water in the pool to wash his face, but he didn't expect to see it in the pool. A floating corpse! He was so frightened that he sobered up on the spot, and immediately called the police... After the police arrived, they salvaged the corpse. At this time, they found that the face of the drowned male corpse was scratched by stones, probably He scratched it when he rolled down the hill."

"That corpse..." "Wait, listen to me. The key point is the following. A colleague from the police station inadvertently told me some important information: After investigation by the police, it was found that the corpse was not from Nanxiang at all. It was a foreigner , How could he drown in a foreign land inexplicably?—The police began to feel that this was most likely not a simple drowning case, but a murder case!" "Didn't you identify the corpse? Is that person..." "You want to ask, is it Mr. Shan? I thought so at first, but we all know that it's impossible—Mr. Shan died ten years ago. All that's left is a skeleton."

"Assuming Teacher Shan hadn't died at that time—" "Okay, Med, don't lie to yourself, we are not children anymore." "Do you recognize who that corpse is?" Yuan Bin shook his head: "The face is completely scratched, I can't recognize who it is - but I can be sure it's not Teacher Shan." Meide pondered for a while: "So, this case has nothing to do with what happened ten years ago? It just happened to be on the same day?" Yuan Bin exclaimed: "Made! Can't you figure it out? Don't you realize what this means to us?"

Med looked at him, feeling his head go numb. "Did you know that cases that happened in the same place are put together when the police file is sorted out. Think about it - when the police find out that a disappearance case ten years ago and a murder case ten years later happened on the same day What does it mean?" "You mean, the police might think it was done by the same person?" Med got a little understanding. "Exactly right! The incident ten years ago had already been classified as an ordinary disappearance case, and it was almost forgotten by the police. But now that this incident happened, the police may think that—the case ten years ago Perhaps it is of the same nature as this case, both are murder cases! Moreover, they may also develop rich associations, thinking that there is a habitual criminal hidden in Nanxiang, and the day 'July 13th' has special meaning to him."

Meide took a breath: "If this is the case, it will be troublesome. As long as the police investigate, it is possible to find out that the four of us who had the closest relationship with Teacher Shan at that time..." "If we are really investigated, think about it, as long as one of the four of us shows his flaws, or if the police use a lie detector, what will happen!" Meide frowned, and fell on the back of the sofa: "Ten years... It's not over yet?" He slammed his thigh with his fist: "Damn it! How could it be such a coincidence? It just happened on July 13th!"

At this time, Yuan Bin suddenly looked at Meide with a strange look. "Made, I don't understand." He said, "Are you dizzy, or are you really not as smart as before?" "What's the meaning?" "This case is handled by our bureau, and I'll do the autopsy and identification—to put it more clearly, the time of his death is in my hands." Yuan Bin said in a low voice. "What, you want...to tamper with his death time?" Med was taken aback, "Have you considered the consequences, if someone finds out..." Yuan Bin waved his hand: "I know the rules of our bureau. After a forensic doctor has identified the results, there is no reason to ask another forensic doctor to do a second appraisal. Besides, that corpse cannot stay in the hospital forever. Go and check repeatedly. If the family members of the deceased are not found in another two or three days, the body will be sent to the crematorium—once the person is burned, there will be no evidence of death.”

Med thought for a while and said, "What exactly do you want to do?" "His real time of death was ten o'clock in the evening on July 13th, and I wrote in the autopsy report that it was 12:30 in the morning on July 14th. In other words, the time of his death was postponed by two days. half an hour, avoiding the number 'July 13'." "Wait, you mean, you already did that?" Yuan Bin shrugged: "Don't you think that an autopsy report will be handed in a few days later?" Med lowered his head, thoughtful: "Even if you do this, it's just delaying his death by one day. Can you really avoid suspicion?"

"It's only one day away, but the nature is completely different." Yuan Bin said.He sighed, "Besides, there is only so much I can do. Whether it is useful or not depends on God's will." Meide looked at him: "You are still the same as before, you always like to believe in God's will." They were silent for a moment, their eyes staring at the ceiling. "Actually, have you ever thought about it?" Med broke the silence, "We were all children at the time, and it was indeed an accident—even if it was found out that we were responsible for this case, so what? I don't have to bear any criminal charges. responsible." Yuan Bin sighed for a long time: "Of course I know. In fact, if we immediately called the police and took the initiative to take responsibility for the mistake after this incident happened that year, we would not be held criminally responsible. But now, ten years have passed. , the nature of the matter is different.” "How to say?" "If the police now find out that the incident ten years ago was caused by the four of us, what would they think? If this incident was really just an unintentional joke, an accident, why did the few of us hide it at the time? Secret, without anyone knowing?—that would be the first thought of the police. How will we explain it clearly then?" "Are you afraid that the police will think that some of us deliberately murdered Teacher Shan? How is this possible? We have no motive for committing the crime." "The problem is that after all these years, no one knows what happened! The police may not believe what we say." "Also, have you considered it?" Yuan Bin continued, "Even if we don't have to bear criminal responsibility, once the real situation of this matter is exposed, what will our relatives and friends around us think of us—"These people When I killed my teacher because of a silly joke, I dare not stand up and tell the truth, and let my teacher die unjustly!" We will always be condemned by public opinion and morality!" Med put his hands on his forehead and slowly let out a breath. "Made, we were wrong at the beginning, and now we have to be wrong to the end." Yuan Bin stood up, "There is no other choice." Med raised his head and looked at him: "Are you leaving?" Yuan Bin nodded: "I'm here just to tell you about this matter. At the same time, I also want to confide in you. You know, I can't face these things alone." Med also stood up: "I've always been a little worried about you tampering with the time of death. Do you think it can really be successful?" "I've already done it, so there's no room for regret." Yuan Bin paused, "I think there should be no problem, right?" "hope so." Yuan Bin walked to the door, turned around and said to Meide: "If this matter succeeds, I will notify you immediately." Then he opened the door, went out into the street and disappeared.