Chapter 152: A Sad Story

The so-called morgue was actually the cold storage room of the funeral home. Its maximum capacity was four hundred bodies. It handled both normal and abnormal deaths within the city daily. 

Although four hundred may seem small, it was actually quite significant. Typically, bodies were stored for a short time, but there were special cases. For instance, bodies involved in criminal cases might be stored longer.

Xiao Yu had been to the morgue more than once or twice, so he was quite familiar with it. Even with this familiarity, every time he came here, the unnatural chill gave him goosebumps.

This was a normal psychological response. Unless you were someone who works here daily, the thought of being surrounded by various corpses was bound to be uncomfortable.

The morgue was a special facility, with bodies coming and going day and night. There were staff present at night, but mainly to handle emergencies. Generally, security guards patrol at night.

The “haunting” incident last night had led to the morgue being sealed off, but word had already spread inside. Xiao Yu could clearly see that many staff members looked uneasy. This reaction was normal. People tended to feel fear when encountering phenomena beyond their understanding.

The only witness to last night’s incident, the security guard who called the police, was still in the hospital. 

So why did Xiao Yu come here? 

To check the scene.

By reviewing the security guard’s statement and investigating the scene, Xiao Yu could roughly reconstruct what happened last night. He first visited one of the cold storage rooms where bodies were kept.

The morgue had eight such cold storage rooms, each equipped with freezer cabinets capable of storing fifty bodies. These cabinets were built into refrigerated walls, with only the doors accessible from outside. To store a body, you simply pull out the cabinet like a drawer.

In cold storage room No. 2, one freezer cabinet was open, with the body tray pulled out. This was the cabinet from which the female corpse went missing last night.

“Jia Yanli, female, 38 years old, local resident, private enterprise owner. Cause of death: natural causes, sudden heart attack. The deceased had a history of heart disease and had been resuscitated twice before. This time, she was taken to the hospital too late, and was already dead upon arrival,” Guo Qiang reported, holding a tablet with the deceased’s details.

“Is there a forensic autopsy report?” Xiao Yu asked, glancing at the body tray.

“No,” Guo Qiang shook his head. “Since it wasn’t a criminal case, there was no need for a forensic autopsy. The hospital’s autopsy report was sufficient to issue the death certificate.”

“Why wasn’t the body claimed by the family for burial but instead stored in the morgue?” Xiao Yu frowned, voicing his confusion. 

Normally, families would claim their deceased relative’s body for home rituals.

There was a custom among the common people.

According to custom, bodies should be kept at home for 3 to 7 days. When someone passed away, it signifiesd a permanent departure, meaning loved ones would never see them again. Keeping the body at home for a few days gave family members time to mourn and reminisce. It also allowed time to notify relatives from far and wide, some of whom might take a while to arrive. The custom was particularly important for sudden deaths, as it gave the family time to come to terms with the loss. 

However, in cases of natural death, why was the body left in the morgue?

If the family didn’t care about customs, they could simply get the death certificate and schedule a cremation at the crematorium.

“The deceased’s parents died early, but she had an older brother,” Guo Qiang said, browsing through the records. “This brother kept insisting that his sister couldn’t have died for no reason, that someone must have killed her. He specifically accused his brother-in-law.”

“Hmm?” Xiao Yu squinted. “And the motive?”

“Money, boss,” Guo Qiang explained with a chuckle. “After her death, the local police station did investigate. They found out that the deceased didn’t have a good relationship with her brother, and they hardly had any contact while she was alive. But after her death, he caused a huge commotion. The likely reason is simple: she was wealthy, with millions. But none of that money was going to him, the primary beneficiary was her husband.”

“Heh!” Xiao Yu scoffed.

People could be so predictable. It seemed the brother’s outburst prevented his sister from being buried. The husband, unable to proceed with the burial and worried about the body decomposing, had to store it in the morgue.

“But there is something strange,” Guo Qiang said, flipping through the police station’s investigation report. “The deceased’s husband agreed to give the deceased’s brother one million yuan to stop causing trouble. But the brother refused, insisting that his sister’s death was suspicious.”

‘That is a bit odd.’ 

Xiao Yu frowned. “One million yuan is quite a lot.”

“Exactly, that’s the strange part,” Guo Qiang nodded and continued, “In the end, the deceased’s husband offered two million, and the brother still refused, claiming it wasn’t about the money.”

“Hmm?” Xiao Yu’s expression grew puzzled.

Could it be that the brother was greedy and wanted all of his sister’s estate? What was he thinking?

Given the unusual circumstances, both seasoned detectives, Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang, were thinking along different lines.

Why would the deceased’s husband offer two million?

To simplify, imagine a beggar comes to your house asking for money. Even if you are very wealthy, you might give him a small amount out of pity. But if the beggar doesn’t leave, would you give him a tenth of your estate to avoid trouble?

For a relative who was practically a stranger, even if he was his wife’s brother, would it be different from a stranger? The usual response would be to call the police, not to hand over two million. Wasn’t that odd?

Of course, it was possible that the deceased’s husband was exceptionally kind-hearted. But his actions were beyond what most people would consider reasonable.

Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang exchanged glances, sensing something strange. But this was secondary. The primary issue was to investigate how the body disappeared.

There are two possibilities.

One, the disappearance was caused by someone.

Two, the body… moved on its own.

The first possibility was understandable. If someone committed a crime, they needed to be caught. But the second possibility… that would be quite something.

Corpse reanimation? Ghosts? Spirits?

Xiao Yu was intrigued and curious to see more.

【Ding, case triggered successfully.】

【Police God Case Sign-In activated.】

【Would the host like to sign in?】

Xiao Yu, “…”

‘This is truly a sad story!’