Five Cases

Chapter 26: By the Well

Lu Hui brought his squad over to the well. Rao Feifei and Yang Jie sought out the other officers for updates. 

A tan-colored police dog lifted its front paws and stepped on the edge of the well. Lu Hui walked up next to the dog and rubbed its head: “Looks like this little buddy is demanding us to search in the well.”

“We’ve already checked multiple times…” The officer leading the police dog said. 

Lu Hui raised his eyebrows: “Did you listen carefully to what it said?”

“Listen to who? It[1]?” The officer asked doubtfully, pointing to the police dog. 

Lu Hui nodded. He bent down and ruffled the dog’s head with both hands: “What do you want to tell us, then?”

“Bark bark bark!”

The police dog answered. 

Lu Hui let go of the police dog, straightened his back, and stood by the well: “When you arrived, was the snow on the well this disorderly?”

“Yes.” The officer confirmed, “The surface of the well was frozen through. The kids might have played in it then left.”

“Clean off the snow.” Lu Hui said, “It isn’t useful anymore.”

The officer hesitated for a moment, then waved a couple of officers over to scrape off the snow. 

The surface of the well was revealed. Lu Hui put his hands on the side of the well, narrowing his eyes as he peered in; he seemed more like a police dog than the one beside him. 

“They could’ve gone far.” Ji Fanyang said, “Do you think you can really find some clues beside the well?”

“Quiet.” Lu Hui bent down and stuck his hand to the ice, “Seems quite thick.”

“Yes, the villagers said that the kids scamper around on the ice frequently.” The officer said, “We had thought that the children could have fallen in, but there were no signs of cracking, so we abandoned that idea.”

Lu Hui lifted his palm, then looked up at the rather dazzling sun hanging in the sky and said: “It’s sunny today.”

“It’s been snowing continuously for the past two days. It started clearing up yesterday.” Ji Fanyang said, wrapping himself tighter in his overcoat, “It’s sunny, but not warm at all.”

Lu Hui stuck his hands in his pockets to warm them up a bit, then leaned over and walked in a circle around the well, his steps unhurried and his expression serious. He suddenly halted. He touched the rim around the ice lightly, not daring to melt the ice with too much contact. 

“What did you find out?” Ji Fanyang asked. 

Lu Hui pursed his lips. He circled the well and used the sunlight to closely inspect the surface of the ice: “There’s a protrusion.”

“What?” Ji Fanyang leaned over to look, too. 

“There’s a protrusion on the ice, on the edge.” Lu Hui said. He straightened up and stepped over the side of the well with one leg, scaring Ji Fanyang into pulling on his arm: “What are you doing?!”

“I have an idea.” Lu Hui gripped Ji Fanyang’s hand, “Hold on tight to me.”

Hand in hand, Ji Fanyang’s warm and dry, Lu Hui’s cold as snow, a confrontation between sunlight and darkness. The two of them were unaware of how naturally and how closely their hands were locked together. 

Lu Hui stepped onto the ice by himself. He tilted his body to press close to the sides of the well. The sturdy layer of ice did not shake at all. 

“What do you want to do?” Ji Fanyang asked. 

Lu Hui frowned: “I need someone to come in.” He jumped around on the ice, frightening Ji Fanyang into reaching out his other hand to grab his arm. 

“What?” The officer standing to the side asked dumbfoundedly. 

Lu Hui quickly stated his thought process: “There are portions of ice protruding along the edge of the well. It snowed a few days ago, leaving behind a loose layer of snow on the ice. The children trampled on the snow while playing on the ice. You all just cleared the snow away, so, where did the protruding ice come from?”

Ji Fanyang tilted his head as he thought. He did not dare lighten his grip on Lu Hui: “Could it have been a villager pouring water in it?”

Lu Hui rolled his eyes: “Yeah, they poured it especially along the sides of the well, not in the middle. Life is sooo boring, so they dump out water for fun.”

Ji Fanyang shook his head: “Alright, tell me what you think it is.”

“Six children, about five or six years old, were playing on the surface of the ice. Their body weights should add up to about one hundred twenty kilograms.” Lu Hui said, “I’m not heavy enough. I need the body weight of another adult male.”

“Hold on.” Ji Fanyang stopped the officer beside him who wanted to go ahead, then continued asking Lu Hui, “Say your conclusion, first.”

Lu Hui cast a sidelong look at him, his expression full of both ridicule and obligation. He explained: “Six children. If they were playing separately, their weight would be equally distributed and would not break the ice. But what if they were standing on the same side?”

“They would flip the ice?” Ji Fanyang followed Lu Hui’s line of thinking and said, “They would slide into the well, the ice would return to its original position, and they would be sealed in the well…”

“And drown.” Lu Hui said, “As they all fell, the surface of the ice would scoop out water from the well. The ice surface returned to normal, the crevices refroze, and at the same time, the additional scooped-out water would freeze. So, the surface of the ice has protrusions.” 

“…You both are saying that the children are at the bottom of the well?” The officer beside them could not help getting a word in. 

“It’s possible.” Lu Hui said, “We’re going to drill through the ice.”

Ji Fanyang’s expression was solemn: “We are talking about the lives of six children.”

“Yes. Drill through the ice.” Lu Hui supported himself on the side of the well as he stepped out onto the ground. 

The officer wore a dignified expression: “Understood. I’ll go find some people.”

Lu Hui and Ji Fanyang waited beside the well. Lu Hui opened his mouth to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but he was stopped by Ji Fanyang’s gloomy face.

The people called in by the officer were quick, and in no time, the well was surrounded by villagers, each person working to cut through the ice. The thick layer of ice started to crack apart. 

“I’ve never wished you made an error in judgment this imperatively before.” Ji Fanyang said. His voice was filled with indescribable sorrow, “Six children…”

Lu Hui did not utter a word. He stood quietly by the well, watching the cracks in the ice grow larger. 

Ji Fanyang looked even more worried than the villagers. He held his breath. 

“Breathe. I don’t want you to suffocate to death here.” Lu Hui said unkindly, “I won’t give you mouth to mouth.”

Ji Fanyang relaxed slightly. 

But his relief had not lasted very long before the first body floated up through the broken ice—

The crowd stirred. 

“You were right again.” Ji Fanyang sighed. He watched as deathly pale, ice-cold heads floated to the top of the well one after the other and placed his shaking hands behind his back, “Why have you never been wrong?”

Lu Hui unyieldingly broke through the young man’s brokenheartedness: “We should go take a look at that old corpse.” He reached out to pull on Ji Fanyang’s elbow, “Don’t cry.”

“I’m not.” Ji Fanyang blinked his moist eyes. He could not stop himself from looking back at the well as a small child’s body was fished out of the well and laid down on the snowy ground. He sniffled. 

Lu Hui forcefully twisted his head away: “Don’t cry. Didn’t you hear me.”

The young man’s tawny eyes were covered in glistening sheen, and when the howling, bereaved cries of a mother sounded from the crowd, Ji Fanyang threw himself on Lu Hui, burying his face into the crook of Lu Hui’s neck. 

“You’re getting snot on my jacket.” Lu Hui said with extreme reluctance. He’d only been embraced a few times, nevermind an embrace as tight as this one. He waves his arms embarrassedly, like a raccoon unsteady on its feet. 

“Six children died. Do you feel sad at all?” Ji Fanyang’s dejected voice entered Lu Hui’s ear. 

Lu Hui looked askance at the well: “People die every day. The number of children who die in car accidents are far greater.”

“They died right in front of you.” Ji Fanyang said. 

“To be more precise, their bodies are right in front of me.” Lu Hui corrected. He patted the young man in his embrace’s back, “I’ve been a police officer for seven years. It wouldn’t be normal for me to cry every time I see a dead person.”

“I’ve only been a police officer for one year.” Ji Fanyang said. 

Lu Hui was silent for a moment: “Then you’re allowed to hug me for one minute.”