Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

The address given by the blind man to Baisha's Us Road, at 1600, is far outside the urban real estate boom.The houses here are sparse, and the distance between houses is also large. In the hazy night and blackout in the wartime coastal area, the taxi driver stopped many times to look at the map he carried with him several times. It should be almost here.He said: The back alley will be a little closer, it is behind the center line. I'll get off here.Baisha said: It is much better for me to look for it on foot than for you to drive around. But, ma'am, I'm good at finding the number, and it's more convenient for you.

The car is going to skip the watch.Baisha said briefly: put me down. The driver pulled over the car.He walked out of the front seat by himself, walked around the rear of the car and opened the door for Baisha. Get out of the car carefully, ma'am. Ke Baisha took out a small flashlight from her purse, I have no problem, just wait for me.she says.Turning on the flashlight, she walked forward, looking at the house number. No. 1672 was a small one-story bungalow, quite far from the side of the road. The path from the side of the road to the hut is paved with cement, and there is a low iron railing on the right hand side. The side of the railing near the path is polished to a shiny finish, which was polished by the walking stick of the blind man.

Betha went up the two wooden steps to the porch and reached out to ring the bell.She heard the doorbell ring rather loudly from the inside of the house.To be honest, it was much louder than expected. At this time, Baisha noticed that the gate was held up with a triangular door stop made of rubber, and opened there.Between the door and the door frame, there is an eight-inch to ten-inch door push.Then she understood why the doorbell sounded so loud from the outside. Baisha stepped forward and called, "Hello, is anyone home?"No reply. Baisha kicked the door open, reached out and groped in through the crack of the door, found the light switch, and turned it on.

The lights were not on, and the room was still completely dark. Bai Sha stood in the door and shone the purple flashlight on the ceiling.A large chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and there are many lamp holders, but none of the lamp holders has a light bulb. How strange, she thought.Baisha swept the room with a flashlight, and suddenly she knew the answer, what a blind man needs a light for. Baisha walked into the room and watched the whole room again with a flashlight.She called again.This is Mrs. Ke, is anyone home? Baisha felt something moving in the darkness, an shapeless shadow appeared on the ceiling, slipped past quietly, and disappeared without a trace.Bai Sha jumped back.Something scrapes the front of her face, misses; then something settles on her neck.

Baisha stretched out her arm, swung it vigorously towards her neck, and cried out in surprise for a moment. Suddenly, before she could hit it, the thing snapped away from her neck.Forms a less realistic shadow in the dim light of the flashlight.It was a bat, and the bat stretched out its wings, which became surprisingly enlarged under the light of the flashlight, shining on the far wall, strangely, even a little scary. His grandma's!Baisha rushed out of her mantra and swung her hand hatefully at the bat, which of course would have no effect, but at least the bat retreated into its darkness.

Baisha couldn't control her heartbeat for at least ten seconds, but after her heartbeat returned to normal, she immediately settled down to see what was in this big room. No one else is in this room.She turned around and tried to leave the house with a flashlight that didn't seem bright enough. Only now did she see a black streak on the ground, running across the ground.At first glance, she thought it was a dirty stain on the carpet.Then, her heart beat violently again.This is a kind of liquid, first a small pile, then smeared dirty, twisting forward, another small pile, and dirty again, bit by bit moving forward, just like this Baisha discovered the corpse.

The body lay face down under the window on the far side of the room.Apparently, this man was standing near the door, was shot, fell down, crawled and stopped, trying to climb to the window before his energy was exhausted with the bleeding, finally, in front of the window, he fell down. , a lot of blood flowed near the corpse.The white sage torch light shone on the pool of blood, which looked as black as ink. Baisha woke up, why the door was open, why the light bulbs were taken out.She felt that there was a murderer, hiding in another room, hoping to have a chance to slip away, but if someone tried to find him, he would go all out.This is not fun, except for the flashlight, Baisha felt that this place was as miserable as the bridgehead of Naihe.Tang Nuo bought this flashlight for her at a private detective store. It was designed with a purple light filter head that cannot be seen from a distance.The light is concentrated in a small area, and there is no possibility of brighter or white light at all. It can only turn the darkness into semi-darkness, so that you will not collide with the furniture when you move, but it is completely impossible to look through the darkness to find a hidden murderer.

Once Baisha made a decision, the action was still definite.With a blank expression on her face, she walked heavily towards the door.Her foot kicked a steel wire, and the steel wire pulled something, making a sound.Baisha shone the flashlight down, and she saw a small-bore shotgun on a wooden tripod, with a steel wire tied tightly to the trigger of the shotgun.Baisha took a step back, purring loudly.Suddenly the entire wooden hallway of the house echoed her stride to flee the house, the flashlight flicking desperately back and forth in her drooping right hand. The taxi driver had turned off his lights.Baisha knew he must be nearby.As she ran, she looked back to see if anyone was chasing her out of the house.

Suddenly, the lights of the taxi came on, and the driver looked at Bai Sha curiously.Is everything done? Baisha was not in the mood to socialize at all at this time, she sat in the back seat, feeling safe in her heart.She closed the car door and shook her body. It turned out that the taxi had started and turned around on the spot. No, no, Betha said. The driver looked back at her curiously. No, I need to find the police first. Is there anything wrong? Someone in the house died. The driver's curious eyes suddenly turned cold. He was assessing the new situation. He looked down at the shiny metal flashlight in Baisha's hand.

Nervously, Baisha hurriedly put the flashlight back into her purse.The nearest public phone.She said: Don't keep staring at me like this, I don't have horns. The driver stepped on the gas and shifted gears very quickly, but Baisha knew that he had adjusted the rearview mirror and was watching her every move in the back seat suspiciously while driving.When he stopped at a public phone booth, he didn't let Baisha make the phone alone. When she called the police, he stood beside her, and he stood there until the police car came to the place where they were waiting with its siren on.

Officer Mi Shanlou followed the police car.When this case happened, Baisha had only met Officer Mi a few times, but heard about his reputation a lot.Officer Mi is not kind to all PIs and he goes about his police duties with a method of distrusting everyone.One of his colleagues told Baisha once.The guy is looking at you with a cigar in his mouth.His eyes could tell he was calling you a liar, but it didn't come out of his mouth.In fact, there is no need for this. Mi Shanlou didn't seem to be in a hurry to investigate this criminal case, he had to find out Baisha's story in his spare time. OK, there are a few things we need to get clear first.he said, biting the cigar in one mouth and moving it to the corner of his mouth on the other.You came here to see the blind man, didn't you? Yes. You know him? Yes. He went to your detective agency and asked you to do things for him? correct. You did it for him. Yes. Then why do you come to see him again? The question was a little sudden, and Bai Sha paused.She said: It was for another thing. What's up? I'm looking for another angle to discuss things with him. You've done everything he asked you to do, haven't you? Yes, so to speak. What does it mean?Is there anything you haven't done well? Everything he asked for was done.I have one thing for him to confirm, to proofread it for me. I see.Shanlou showed great doubts and said: You want to hire a blind man to solve your own difficulties for you, don't you? I'm here because I want to meet this blind man.Betha has resumed a little of her habit of being hostile to everyone, and I don't have to tell you why I want to see him.This is another case, the nature of which I cannot tell you, I hope you can understand. Of course, of course.Shanlou said.It seems that because of Bai Sha's statement, he has already regarded Bai Sha as the number one suspect in his heart.And you come in and you see this blind man lying there dead, don't you? Yes. You said the face is down? Yes. He was shot? I think so. you do not know? have no idea.I did not examine the body, there was a shotgun at the scene, I did not move.I just saw these things and backed off. He once got shot and crawled on the ground to die, didn't he? Yes. how far? I don't know, ten feet, fifteen feet. Climbed over? Yes. Died while climbing? Maybe stop before you die. I know, I mean the corpse is dead in a crawling stance with the belly down, yes? Yes. Face to one side? No, I think his face was on the carpet.I only see the back of his head. How do you know he is the blind man? This is of course due to his size.Besides, the blind man lived there. You didn't turn the body over to look at it. No, I told you, I didn't move anything, I left immediately to find you. Well, Shanlou said: Let's go and see, you have a taxi waiting for you here, right? Yes. You'd better take my car there, you said you didn't see his face, but you know it's the blind man who died, it sounds a bit problematic. Shanlou turned to ask the taxi driver.May I have your name. Xue Haoli. what do you know don't know anything.I took this woman to find the address. She had the house number, but she didn't know where it was.The street lights in that section were not turned on, because there was a war, the lights were blacked out.I have a map so I can see the approximate location, it's dark over there, but her flashlight complies with the blackout.We found the place where our license plate should be, and I told her it must be there, and she asked me to stop and walk to find it.She walked forward, for maybe five minutes, maybe ten minutes. You didn't turn the waiting meter to collect her money? No, I think she cares a lot.I told her that if she wants to go back, I can wait for her for 15 minutes without charging, and then I have to wait for the meter to charge.Most of us have this kind of preferential treatment for long-distance passengers who must go back. Shanlou nodded.Are you waiting in the car? Yes. What do you do while waiting? Just sit there and wait. Is there a radio in the car? some. Are you listening? have. What program? music. Did you hear the gunfire? The taxi driver thought for a moment, and he said: Impossible, the place where she asked me to stop is too far away, I won't hear it. Baisha is aware that the direction of the conversation between the two is becoming more and more unfavorable to her.She said: What are you talking about?There were no shots at all. how do you know? Of course I would be the first to hear a gunshot. Officer Mi glanced at her, but there was no trace of friendship in his eyes.As if he were valuing an item. What else do you know? there is none left. The surname is Xue, huh? Yes, sir. Check out the license. The driver showed him the license plate.Officer Mi copied down the car number and license number, and said: Well, you don't have to go there anymore.Your work is over for the time being, Mrs. Ke, you can take my car there. The taxi driver said: The fare is one yuan and eighty-five cents. how come?Baisha said with a snorting voice: "It's only seventy-five cents to go there." waiting money. We agreed not to charge me a waiting fee. Not waiting there for your money.It's here that you call, and when the police car arrives, of course I will collect the money. Hey, Baisha said angrily: I won't pay, if you want to charge me for such an emergency Give him a dollar and eighty-five cents.Mi Shanlou said to Ke Baisha. I blame him.Bai Sha shouted.She took out one yuan and fifty cents from her pocket and stuffed it into the taxi driver's hand. She said, "It's only one yuan and fifty cents. It's up to you if you want it." The taxi driver hesitated for a moment, looked at the police officer, and took the dollar and fifty cents.Putting one yuan and fifty cents into his pocket, he returned the carbine with a trick.He said: Officer, this woman has been in that house for quite some time.She was running all the way when she came out, but she did spend a lot of time in the house. Thanks.said the officer. Baisha ignored the taxi driver, almost wanting to give him two slaps. alright.Shanlou said to Baisha: Let's go. According to Shanlou's instruction, Ke Baisha got into the back seat of the police car and sat with Officer Mi.A police driver was driving in the front, another police officer was in the front seat, and another police officer was in the back seat in the same car. Ke Baisha did not know these two people, and Shanlou had no intention of introducing them. He was a good driver, and when he was driving towards the coastal highlands and was about to enter his destination, he also turned off his headlights in accordance with the blackout regulations during wartime. I think it will arrive after the next level crossing.Baisha said. The police car slowed down and moved slowly along the sidewalk. When Baisha spoke, it stopped. All cops get off.Bai Sha said: I don't need to go in again. No need for now, you can wait in the car. OK, I can wait. Baisha opened her purse, took out her cigarette case, and asked: Will it be long? I still do not know yet.Shanlou said happily, "I'll see you later." The men went into the house, and one came back a few seconds later to take a camera, a tripod, and a light. After a while, he came back again, muttering: There is no electricity in it. That man is blind.Baisha said: He doesn't want lights. But my lights need electrical outlets. Can't you use flash? It can be used.He said: The things that are photographed are not what Lao Mi wants. The control of the flashlight is not as good as that of the headlights, so you can't see in advance what your photos will be. The worst thing is that sometimes there will be reflections.Forget it, how can the world be perfect every day? Ten minutes later, Mi Shanlou came back.Well, he said: let's talk about the problem with this matter.What is this person's name? Gallagher. Do you know his family background? I don't know, I don't even believe that he has family members.Look how lonely he is. Do you know how long he has lived here? have no idea. You don't seem to know him at all. I don't know much about him. What does he want you to do for him?And why did I make a special trip to find you? He wants me to find someone for him. who? Someone he cares about. female? Yes. Also blind? no. young? Yes. Did you find her? found it. so what? I report to him. Who is a woman? Bai Sha shook her head. Is it his relative? no. can you be sure absolute. Could it be that she is his relative, and she is having sex with some other man, what does Gao Langni want to do? no. Mrs. Ke, I don't think you are very cooperative, are you? Fuck you, Baisha said: I found the body and reported it to you immediately, didn't I?I could have just walked away and let you do my best. Shanlou grinned and said: If there is not a taxi driver outside, I think you will slip away.Just because he's outside, you know it's useless to slip away, the taxi driver will remember your appearance, and your appearance is quite easy to describe. Baisha remained silent angrily. Could this guy be a fake? What's the meaning? Not blind at all. Won't.Bai Sha said: I know, he can't see at all. Why? Mainly for everything he told me.He told me about walking and recognizing voices, skills that only blind people can develop.Besides, look at his house, there is no lighting at all. Oh, you noticed that.Yeah? certainly. You tried turning on the lights, didn't you? Yes. Is it a bit too much to just enter an unfamiliar house like this? The door is open. Shanlou said: If you didn't lie, you really have a virtuous ancestor, and the blind man went home before you. What's the meaning? Someone designed a trap, and the first person to enter the house would pull a wire, triggering a 410 shotgun.The motto is don't think that you can just go in if the door is open. Why kill people in this way?Baisha asked. Most likely someone is going to arrange an alibi. Baisha studied his words. Officer Mi said: You still have to go there again to do a formal identification of the body.How old do you think he is? Oh, around fifty-five, sixty. I don't think he's that old, and I don't think there's anything wrong with his eyes. How long ago did he die?Baisha asked. Officer Mi Shanlou bared his teeth and asked her with a smile: How long ago were you in the house? Oh, maybe thirty to forty minutes ago. Shanlou said: I think he has been dead for almost that long. you mean I mean, Shanlou interjected: This man died less than an hour ago.If you were here forty minutes ago, it's very likely that he died when you came in.Don't say anything, Mrs. Ke, you just need to come in with me to identify the dead body. Betha followed him down the path to the house.The man brought by Officer Mi had apparently finished all work and was now resting on a bench away from the porch.If it weren't for three people, each with a cigarette, the flame on the cigarette end is brighter when smoking, and the lighter end is darker when not smoking, and the flame goes up and down with the movement of the arm. In this blackout area, I really don't know that there are three people. sitting outside. come here.Shanlou said that when he turned on a five-battery police flashlight, it immediately turned on a dazzling light in the dark. Not there, he saw the direction Baisha was going, and said to Baisha: We have moved.You have a look. The corpse had been moved to a table, and it was lying there on its back, strangely lifeless. Shanlou shone the strong light of the flashlight on the dead man's clothes, paused for a moment at the place where the blood was stained on the clothes caused by the bullet entrance, and then shone on his face all at once. Because of the accident, Ke Baisha gasped and swallowed.Officer Mi knew everything without her talking.This is not a blind man named Gao, is he?he asks. not him.she says. The light from the flashlight hit Bai Sha's eyes from the dead man's face, and Bai Sha almost couldn't see anything. Well, Shanlou asked ruthlessly: Who is this? Bai Sha was stunned, and said without thinking: This is a hateful, double-sided liar, his name is Meng Jirui.He died well you got that bastard light out of my face!or i