Was My Dad the Killer?

My grandfather's name was Chen He, and he was deeply superstitious.

He said a given name couldn't have just one character. It had to have two, or the person's Fate Pattern would be incomplete.

But he was getting on in years and couldn't be bothered to change his own name, so when he named my dad, he gave him a two-character given name: Chen Guowen.

My original name hadn't been Chen Mo, either. It had been Chen Fuguang.

My name was changed to Chen Mo because I'd fallen seriously ill as a child and nearly died. My grandfather brought in a spiritual master to see me, and the master told him there was something strange about my Fate Pattern. I couldn't remember what was strange about it, because I'd never believed in any of that stuff before.

All I remembered was the master telling my grandfather that my Fate Pattern had to be missing something, or I would bring death to a lot of people. So my grandfather changed my name to Chen Mo.

Just now, I'd heard Brother Liu mention the name "Chen Guowen."

Meng Yifan and I had thought of my dad at almost exactly the same moment.

But a name was just a label, not something unique to each person. Plenty of people shared the same name.

Besides, although my family wasn't exactly poor, we weren't rich, either. We only had that one home, and the whole family lived there.

That home had used up all my grandfather's savings. There was no way my family could own another property.

"Brother Liu, this Chen Guowen... how old is he? Where's he from?" I asked.

I was a little nervous as I asked those questions.

I was afraid this wasn't a coincidence...

Brother Liu thought for a moment. "I really don't know. But I saw him at work today. He's middle-aged, wears glasses, and looks mild-mannered and scholarly. Judging by his accent, he's probably a local."

My eyes widened, and panic surged through me.

My dad wore glasses, too, and he looked mild-mannered and scholarly...

He'd worked as an accountant at a company for over ten years. After it went under, he'd gone to work as an accountant at a friend's factory.

Since he'd spent years working indoors, sheltered from the wind and sun, he looked as though he was only in his forties, even though he was already over fifty.

And he was a local!

Every detail in Brother Liu's description of the property's first owner matched my dad—even the name!

With that many coincidences piled together, could it still be a coincidence?

This was a murder case!

How could my dad be mixed up in a murder case?

And where on earth had he gotten enough money to own another property? Did my grandfather know about it?

By then, I could barely hide my panic.

Meng Yifan was shocked, too, but he didn't show it. He quickly shot me a glare. "Are your hemorrhoids acting up? If you need to piss, go take a leak and come back."

He was giving me a way out.

I hurriedly stood up and forced a smile. "Brother Liu, go ahead and eat before the food gets cold. I'm going to the restroom."

With that, I grabbed my phone and left the private dining room, then immediately called my dad.

His phone was switched off. I couldn't get through.

My heart sank, and my last shred of hope shattered.

He never switched his phone off. Why had he done it today, of all days?

It looked as though he really was that property's first owner. The police had summoned him that afternoon, so he'd turned his phone off. I just didn't know whether they'd let him go yet.

I was a tangled mess of panic, my mind completely blank.

My dad was a good man. I'd always known that. He didn't even dare kill a chicken. I couldn't believe he would murder someone.

But if he really was the property's first owner, and Li Xiumei had died there, then if the police couldn't find the real killer and he couldn't explain himself...

I didn't dare follow that thought any further. I hurriedly called my grandfather instead.

He answered, and I immediately noticed that his tone was a little different from usual.

"Xiao Mo, what's up? What made you decide to call me?"

"Grandpa, where's Dad? Is he home?"

The other end of the line suddenly went silent.

After a while, he said, "Your dad's home. He just got back. Why?"

"Where was he before he came back?" I asked.

There was another silence.

"Working overtime. Your dad's been a little busy lately, so he got home late. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm coming home tonight. Don't go to bed too early."

With that, I hung up without saying too much over the phone for the moment.

Judging by my grandfather's tone, he probably already knew my dad had been taken to the Police Bureau.

I pulled myself together and returned to the private dining room.

I'd wanted to ask Brother Liu more about the cases, but he didn't know much, either. When the family massacre happened fifteen years ago, he hadn't even graduated from the police academy.

As for the case involving Li Xiumei's hidden body, he wasn't one of the officers assigned to it. Her body had only been dug up yesterday, and the investigators hadn't uncovered many leads yet.

"Brother Liu, sorry for the trouble, but could you keep an eye on those two cases for us?"

Li Xiumei was now involved not only in the danger to Meng Yifan's life and mine, but also in my dad's situation. Naturally, I needed to find out more.

"If there's anyone who needs a little something to smooth things over, just let me know."

"No problem. We're all friends here."

I'd figured out that money was all Brother Liu cared about.

Still, he was cautious. He looked at us intently and asked, "Can you tell me why you're so determined to ask about these two cases? I need to get that straight. If something goes wrong, it won't be good for any of us."

Meng Yifan and I didn't know how to explain it, but we told him the truth anyway.

"Brother Liu, you might not believe this, but we're being haunted by a ghost. And there's a very good chance that ghost is Li Xiumei..."

At that explanation, Brother Liu nearly dropped the crayfish he'd just picked up onto the floor in fright.

He swallowed and stared blankly at us.

"I believe you!"

"You really do?"

Meng Yifan and I could hardly believe it.

He was a police officer, and he actually believed in this stuff?

"I'm telling you, I've really encountered something like that before."

Brother Liu grew animated and told us about another case. "When I first became a cop, I worked on a murder case. The victim was a young guy. Someone had killed him, and we couldn't even find his body."

"Guess how we eventually found it."