"All right, I barely interacted with her. I'm very busy with work, and I have several maids at home. The most diligent one is Alilan. Now that she's dead, others will become lazy again, which is no benefit to me!"
As Perseus spoke, three maids walked out from a door inside the hall. They didn't look like they were from China, probably from the Philippines or England. They greeted us upon seeing us.
At this moment, Perseus's son, Wales, said impatiently, "Sorry, Officers, please stop wasting time on us. We have many things to handle and no time for pleasantries!"
"Mr. Wales, I heard you are researching some fossils. Where did you get them?" I asked.
"No comment. These are secrets of historical studies, just like your police investigations. Nothing can be disclosed before the case is solved."
Wales twitched his nose, which seemed a bit sore. I could tell that despite his politeness, his eyes were filled with contempt, meaning he looked down on us.
He made a gesture of invitation, bowing slightly, and asked us to leave. Gao Mingqiang and I had no choice but to depart.
As we walked out, Gao Mingqiang grumbled, "Why is this family so strange!"
"Perhaps it's a matter of customs. Let's not bother ourselves with them!"
"Alas, I hope so. Oh, right! How did you know they were researching fossils recently?"
"They all had lime powder on their fingers. While I was observing them, they almost sneezed several times. This is caused by long-term exposure to chemical substances. They should all have rhinitis or nasal sensitivity. But Wales's condition is more severe than his father's, because he works longer hours than his father. Finally, their eyesight also has problems. Both father and son wear contact lenses, which also proves they care about their appearance..."
"Stop! Team Leader He, if you continue like this, I'll be ashamed of myself. I feel more and more like I just graduated from kindergarten compared to you!"
"Oh ho, you haven't even graduated from kindergarten yet!" I said jokingly.
"Uh, teach me more about deduction skills, so I can show off in front of He Xin in the future!"
"Haha, how's your pursuit of her going?"
"Not great. She seems indifferent to me. Do you think I have a chance?"
"She likes Agatha Christie's works, and... hmm, she likes playing Total War. Isn't Warhammer 3 out now? Buy it for her. With those hero skins, it's only 399 yuan. Don't get her a pirated copy. She likes genuine games, saying it's not easy for game developers. They invest billions, and it takes years to release a game. Even though her salary is only 4000, she's willing to spend a few hundred yuan on a game. Mingqiang, your salary is enough!"
"Damn! Is that so? But thank you anyway. After I win her over, Team Leader He... no, Father-in-law! I will take good care of her!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself. He Xin is very difficult. I doubt you can win her over!"
"Uh..."
We chatted as we returned to our temporary base. Xiahou and the others had already returned, but judging by their expressions, I knew they hadn't gotten any information.
Xiahou reported, "Most of the villagers never spoke to Alilan. This maid rarely went out, so her going out that day was unusual. I think she must have received some special information, or perhaps someone had arranged to meet her at the altar."
"Didn't Alilan have a mobile phone?"
"I checked. The last call record was to someone she noted as 'brother'. But when we called, we found it was Wales. However, Wales didn't go out that day. Their family members can attest to that."
"Hmm? Could it be that their family is providing false testimony?" Gao Mingqiang reacted immediately.
Xiahou shook his head, "We re-examined the scene and found no footprints of his. He never came to the altar. I inquired with the villagers; hardly anyone goes to the altar. They have a very special ritual here, said to be a sacrifice to the God of Night, a grand ceremony held only once every 400 years. This custom has been passed down in Osiri Village for thousands of years. This ritual took place just seven days ago, but recently another incident occurred – Alilan's death."
"Are they still going to proceed with the sacrifice?" I suddenly asked.
Xiahou nodded with some regret, "Probably. Faith is a terrible thing. We can't change the villagers' minds, especially the Grand Priest, Uncle Arong."
"Yes, that guy looks deranged. In his mind, the God of Night is supreme."
As I spoke, I pondered how many criminals I had encountered in the past whose crimes were motivated by so-called faith.
We hastily found a white paper to use as a whiteboard and wrote down the names of a few suspects: first, Wales; second, Uncle Arong; and another, Perseus. The reason for suspecting Perseus was simply that he was the last person to see the deceased.
All right, for now, we'll have someone keep an eye on these individuals. However, this village is small, and there aren't many places to hide. We must be discreet when tailing them, or we'll be easily discovered. Gao Mingqiang and Xiahou are veterans, so I'll assign the task to them. But then I reconsidered and decided to pair Gao Mingqiang with He Xin, then Xiahou with Xie Chuchu, and Zhang Keying will return to the scene with me for investigation.
We brought along Da Hei and Xiao Niu, who we had actually brought earlier but hadn't mentioned. They seemed more excited in the village than in the city, probably due to the natural surroundings.
We led the police dogs near the altar and let them sniff around. After a while, Da Hei seemed to discover something and suddenly ran off, dragging me along by the leash and nearly tripping me over a rock.
Zhang Keying's Xiao Niu reacted a second later, but ran in the opposite direction of Da Hei. Zhang Keying immediately shouted, "Brother He Sheng, what do we do?"
I turned back and replied decisively, "You follow Xiao Niu first. We'll rendezvous later!"
"Okay!" Zhang Keying followed Xiao Niu and ran off. I was also being pulled by Da Hei. After running for an unknown distance, we arrived at a dense forest. But Da Hei didn't seem to intend to take me here. It continued to lead me deeper into the forest, so I knew there was still a long way to go.