Jinqkang nodded. The young man began to take long and deep breaths.
"When they believed I was Mr. Duanmuh, I asked to speak with Mr. Beeihae. Actually, I was not lying either. They clearly heard I told them I am Duanmuh. I did not say that I am Duanmuh Shannchyuan. I was telling the truth because of my name is Duanmuh Jinqkang."
"Eh?" Iren was surprised. "They let you talk to Shinnshiow?"
Jinqkang nodded. "That's right, Sir. I did speak with Mr. Beeihae. He was fine. He told me earlier that he had an ostrich omelet for breakfast."
<
"Did Shinnshiow not suspect at all that you weren't Dahge?" Jenqyih joined the conversation. His voice was squeaky.
"I don't know, Sir! His voice sounded normal. Maybe he was suspicious because the choice of words I use was most likely not exactly the same as the choice of words that Mr. Duanmuh might use in conversation. It could be, even though he already had a guess. But Mr. Beeihae didn't show it, so the kidnappers wouldn't get suspicious."
"What else did Shinnshiow say?" Iren was very curious.
"He said nothing else. He had no chance. As soon as Mr. Beeihae said those things, the kidnappers immediately took over the phone. They said they would give me details on what to do around four o'clock this afternoon," Jinqkang said.
"What did the police say about this?" Iren asked.
"They just said that we have to wait for further instructions from the kidnappers. So, the police must first see what the details of the ransom demand the kidnappers are asking for," Yihshyong replied.
"I mean, what the police said about the fake Shannchyuan talking to the kidnappers? Did the police just let you guys try to trick the kidnappers? What if Jinqkang fails to convince them he is Dahge? Isn't there a chance they might hurt Shinnshiow?"
Yihshyong chuckled at the barrage of questions Iren asked.
"If I put that crazy proposal to the police, then like you said, they would definitely reject it. So I didn't say anything. The police themselves were fooled earlier, too. They thought Dahge was back. Through Huahshiang, I could hear the instructions they gave Jinqkang. At that time, the police believed they were whispering directly to Dahge. After the kidnappers hung up, I told the police that it wasn't Dahge who spoke to the kidnappers, but Dahge's distant relative."
Hearing Yihshyong's words, all eyes turned to Jinqkang.
"That's right. I am still related to Mr. Duanmuh." Jinqkang's voice sounded so steady.
Iren smiled. Such a thing was by no means a surprise. Shannchyuan had told him a lot about his family background. There were only sixteen Duanmuh family clans in this new world. Six of the sixteen clans actually came from one big family. So the possibility that Shannchyuan and Jinqkang were still distantly related was very high.
<
"The policemen were also shocked. But then they just said that improvisation like that should not happen again. If there is a change of plans, we must involve the police. We can't make decisions by ourselves," Yihshyong said.
"So the kidnappers will call again at four in the afternoon?" asked Chioujen.
"They didn't say that, Sir. They just said that around four in the afternoon, they would tell me in full what I have to do."
"This is very interesting," said Chioujen.
"Which part did you find most interesting?" Tsaehorng asked.
"In the first place, what's the point of them insisting on speaking directly to Beaushu? If they just want us to exchange Shiowge for Songfei's goods, then it shouldn't matter who talks to them."
<
"The second thing is, how did they know it was Beaushu who was speaking?"
<
Chioujen hadn't finished speaking yet. "They already know who lives in this house. Is it possible that they already know the habits of the people in this house?"
Chioujen was silent for a moment. He looked at the faces of the people there.
"How did they know that?" Chioujen opened his mouth again. "Surely through careful scrutiny. They must have watched this house and its occupants for a long time. They have studied the movements of the people who live in this house well. But how did they know Beaushu's voice? It is impossible to recognize people's voices by observing from a certain distance. Actually, that person has to interact with Beaushu to know clearly how Beaushu's voice, accent and his style of speech."
"So you're saying that the person behind the kidnappers is someone who knows Dahge personally?" Iren wanted to know if Chioujen really had the same guess as him.
"Right." Chioujen nodded with a powerful gesture. "You probably know this person, too. So you should focus on who the people who have appeared in your life over the past six months!"
"Why only the last six months?" Jinqkang asked.
"Because they don't know about me," Chioujen replied. "I moved from here about six months ago. So after that, there were only five people living here. People who don't know that there is a sixth person living here is the one who has been watching over this house and its occupants since six months ago or less than that."
"Your analysis makes sense," said Iren. "We have to start listing everyone we've known for six months or less."
"I also know the uncles here since about six months ago," said Tsaehorng.
"If you were the one behind all this, then you couldn't have sent Jinqkang here," Yihshyong said.
"We can't rule out the possibility," argued Tsaehorng. "I could have sent Jinqkang here to make people unsuspecting of me."
"If you're really the mastermind behind all this, you can't possibly tell us to suspect you or give any clues that lead to you," said Iren.
"What if I'm a crazy psychopath who enjoys torturing their victims? It's possible that I purposely told the Uncles who were here to suspect me. It's part of the torture process that I really enjoy." Tsaehorng looked at them all with sharp eyes.
Iren, Jenqyih, Chioujen, and Yihshyong looked deeply into Tsaehorng's face. The young man's face looked normal.
<
Yihshyong looked at Tsaehorng's face with a look that was no less sharp. "You're saying that we should also suspect you because you chose to be here with us? This is consistent with the theory that criminals who are usually smart and brave will tend to involve themselves in the investigation of their crimes. So it's possible that your hard work to help us is part of your efforts to insert yourself into this investigation."
<
"Okay. Don't worry. We've officially added you to the suspect list." Iren nodded while looking at Tsaehorng. He laughed out loud.
"A good investigator will not rule out the possibility that someone close to them is the mastermind behind a case they're working on." Tsaehorng gave Iren a thumbs up.
"You sound exactly like Songfei. I'm starting to suspect that this is a very sophisticated Songfei game," Jenqyih said.
"Do you suspect our Tsaehorng is conspiring with Songfei to force us into his game?" Iren asked.
"Is that not possible?" Jenqyih asked.
"What about Linqhwu Ueideng? Didn't he lose the thing that Songfei left him?" Iren asked.
"But it's possible that the theft had nothing to do with Songfei's disappearance," Jenqyih said. "Even we don't have any evidence that Linqhwu Ueideng actually lost the wooden box."
"If this was just a pretense, could Songfei be that reckless? This is no joke! The police have also been involved in this case!" Iren tried to argue.
"Why not? How can we be sure that the cops we've seen, heard, and met so far are real cops?" Jenqyih said.
Chioujen smiled. He then said to Yihshyong. "Shyongge, when you gave a statement to the police, did you do it at the police station?"
"Of course not. We were afraid that I was being watched, so the police questioned me inside a building that obviously wasn't a police station."
"Did any of us actually meet the cops working on this case at the police station?" Chioujen looked at his friends.
They all looked at each other.
"But Tsaehorng had contacted police officials directly. So indeed we didn't report to the police station in a normal way," Yihshyong said.
"But if it turns out that Tsaehorng conspires with Songfei to force us to play in this game, then this all makes sense. It could be just a game. The cops are just actors who are paid to pretend to be cops," Chioujen said.
The crazy theory that Jenqyih and Chioujen put forward seemed to make sense, too. Iren scratched the crown of his head, which was actually not itchy.