Chapter 51: I Suspect You’re a Matryoshka Doll

“Boss, something’s off.”

As Xiao Yu was gearing up to delve deep into the entire crematorium’s workings, Li Xin hung up his phone. 

“A friend of mine, who specializes in economic investigations, took a look into the crematorium manager for us. Turns out, this guy’s record is spotless.”

Xiao Yu’s instructions required expertise beyond his own capabilities, necessitating the involvement of an economic investigator well-versed in the industry.

Li Xin’s friend proved to be extremely efficient, managing within less than half an hour to thoroughly examine the crematorium manager’s accounts and those of his family, and scrutinize his day-to-day financial transactions.

The findings were immaculate.

A crematorium manager, a high-ranking official.

The total family account balance amounted to only 90,000 yuan. Under normal circumstances, this figure would seem perfectly reasonable. After all, salary benchmarks were well established.

Having excessively large savings would be more suspicious.

However, considering this was a state-owned enterprise, it was common for there to be informal exchanges and supplementary incomes.

Well, those in the know, know.

Therefore, even if this manager had a few hundred thousand in savings, it would be considered normal, hardly a cause for alarm.

So, your financial records were spotless, as clean as a blank sheet of paper. Are you trying to pull the wool over my eyes?

This was precisely the ‘weirdness’ Li Xin was talking about.

It just went to show that some people were too clever by half, attempting to hide their misdeeds in plain sight.

However, to the seasoned detectives, it was laughably transparent.

Hearing the report from his team members, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but be amused.

Did God spread the seeds of wisdom everywhere, and you were the only one who thought to bring an umbrella? How did you even become the manager of a crematorium with such logic?

Oh, I see, you don’t need brains to lead in such a place.

Well, then.

Where should the investigation start? The ashes.

There must be a beginning and an end.

Xiao Yu took on this case as one of corpse theft, with suspicions that bodies or ashes had been tampered with. The system assigned him the task of solving the body-snatching case within a seven-day timeframe, and two days were already slipping by.

If the case was unsolved, it wouldn’t matter if it got solved later, it would be too late. A failed system task meant no new skill and the retraction of an ability.

It was unacceptable.

Xiao Yu issued directives, assigning his team members to different tasks.

Guo Qiang was tasked with investigating the drivers of the vehicles used to transport bodies. Li Xin was to continue probing into the financial backgrounds of all crematorium staff members. Liu Hongqiao was assigned to look into the ashes of other cremated remains.

The first two assignments made sense, but investigating the ashes? That seemed odd at first glance.

The logic, however, was straightforward.

If the crematorium had indeed been swapping bodies or ashes, such actions wouldn’t have been a one-off. By verifying other ashes, the truth would likely come to light.

Naturally, this would also be the most challenging task. How many would willingly allow the ashes of their loved ones to be disturbed?

This brazenness of the crematorium, coupled with its lack of discovery, was predicated on a simple fact. Who would go to the lengths of testing ashes without a very good reason?

Yet, remarkably, four years ago, someone did exactly that. Not only testing but also filing a police report.

Liu Hongqiao’s willingness to undertake this task suggested he had a strategy in mind. It was undeniable that having these seasoned detectives by his side significantly lightened Xiao Yu’s load.

Remaining at the crematorium, he visited the mortuary for the third time, standing contemplatively in front of a cremation furnace.

The morning had already slipped away.

Wasn’t the furnace reported broken? Why then had no one arrived to repair it?

Another issue had emerged.

Many families had made appointments for cremations. To arrive and be informed the cremator was malfunctioning? Unacceptable.

Though no disturbances arose, discontent among the family members grew.

Why should this be an issue?

Xiao Yu scoffed coldly.

According to the staff, the cremator malfunctioned earlier that morning. If so many bodies couldn’t be cremated, why hadn’t the crematorium informed them beforehand? Why allow such a predicament to occur? A simple oversight?

No!

Could it be they hadn’t anticipated the police would initiate an investigation? Had the police not arrived, did they have a method to manage these bodies?

This raised yet another perplexing question.

A crematorium, with a daily capacity for 24 bodies, supposedly unable to operate due to a broken furnace. Yet, you somehow found a way to continue processing these 24 bodies and return the ashes to the families.

How was this accomplished? Or perhaps, the cremator was never broken to begin with?

“Open the cremator.”

Xiao Yu shifted his gaze from the cremator door to the employees, whose expressions were tinged with panic.

“This…”

After a moment’s hesitation, the employee complied, obediently opening the cremator. To their surprise, it was empty inside. It wasn’t supposed to be.

Xiao Yu’s brow furrowed. Why was it empty?

If there had been a malfunction, there should’ve been some residue inside. For instance… pork bones.

He had speculated that the crematorium’s unusually frequent vehicle trips were likely for transporting pig bones. These bones were then cremated into ashes and passed off to certain families. It seemed plausible that the crematorium hadn’t actually cremated those bodies.

Instead, the bodies were swapped out before cremation. This theory appeared more logical.

As for their motive behind corpse theft, it boiled down to one likelihood, money.

In police work, about 70% of cases are tied to financial gains. Money is invariably at the core.

However, that wasn’t the main issue here.

The critical question, assuming this theory was correct, was; Where were the pig bones that replaced the human bodies and the swapped bodies themselves hidden?

Xiao Yu let out a cold laugh.

Was this crematorium a nesting doll?