868: Meat, gifts, ready

Putting away the thoughts in his mind, Mo De turned his attention back to the bone cleaver in his hand.

This was the murder weapon that directly dismembered Bosen, so it was not surprising that it could be exchanged for two new Weird Tales Rules and one System lie detection opportunity.

Now Mo De was thinking.

Why was this knife here? In this vegetable market?

If the murderer used this knife to kill someone, they should have destroyed it immediately!

How could they so brazenly let the knife flow into the vegetable market?

Indeed.

A bone cleaver in the meat product section of the vegetable market would not seem out of place at all.

If the murderer used this to conceal it, it really wouldn't attract much attention.

However, if the murderer treated it seriously enough, the best way to deal with it would be to melt the bone cleaver or even throw it into a river, which would be safer than leaving it here.

Is the murderer someone from the vegetable market?

This question popped into Mo De's mind.

In his memory, among those suspects, there was no one working in the vegetable market... but there were quite a few people who frequently interacted with the vegetable market.

And the only supplier of such knives in Town was Old Tang Na!

Could this knife have been brought to the vegetable market by Old Tang Na? !

But in the death scene of Pu Yinghao that he saw this morning, Mo De already knew that Old Tang Na had given the bone cleaver he forged to Corey!

In the previous interrogation, Corey also admitted that he took the bone cleaver.

So, this knife in his hand is the bone cleaver that passed through Corey's hands and circulated all the way down?

No!

The only source for bone cleavers is Old Tang Na!

If Corey had already taken the murder weapon, the bone cleaver, then it couldn't possibly appear in the vegetable market!

Suddenly, Mo De thought of something, and his breathing paused.

What if... there were two bone cleavers? !

Assume.

Old Tang Na is the murderer.

Then when he attacked Bosen, he would definitely keep it secret!

Forging a bone cleaver like this could never be seen by a woman who sells breakfast and is frequently in contact with the Sheriff!

Killing would only be done in secret.

Under this line of thinking, from a normal perspective, most of Old Tang Na's suspicious points can be cleared.

But if the murderer's thinking was advanced, he could think of more.

If the assumption that Old Tang Na is the murderer still holds true.

He and Bosen were already seen as having a feud by outsiders.

Once Bosen died, even if he hid himself perfectly, he would be investigated inside and out, and the risk of exposure would be extremely high!

So from the beginning, Old Tang Na didn't plan to hide it; he forged a bone cleaver in a high-profile manner!

So high-profile that even the person selling breakfast knew, and at the same time, let the Sheriff know this point!

Why do this?

Because Old Tang Na had a way to give the bone cleaver to someone else!

He could make everyone think that another person was the murderer!

Instead of creating his own alibi, etc., it's better to increase the suspicion on others!

Then the chosen scapegoat would at least meet three conditions.

1. No alibi.

2. Unable to clearly state what they did during the time they were not present.

3. Had contact with the murder weapon!

Sorting through the case, it should be that Old Tang Na drugged Bertha or communicated and cooperated with Bertha using money to lure Corey!

Then he directed and acted, hid his identity, and had Corey, who had something on him, take the bone cleaver from his hands as an 'innocent person' who only knew how to blacksmith!

After the 'murder weapon' was taken away.

Old Tang Na could then take out the real murder weapon that was prepared early from the house!

After killing the person, the bone cleaver used to dismember the body could be washed clean and sent to the vegetable market along with a new batch of bone cleavers!

Everyone would only think that the knife Corey took was the murder weapon, and that he, who was not present at the time, was the murderer!

And they wouldn't know that the real murder weapon had been sent to the vegetable market by Old Tang Na.

Nor would they have thought that Old Tang Na, who was the most suspicious but could most easily find a reason to prove he wasn't the murderer, was the real culprit!

At this moment, Mo De thought a lot, and his hypothetical ideas were very bold.

However, in solving a case, assumptions are unavoidable.

And precisely because these bold ideas ultimately held together logically, that was the most terrifying point!

As for why Old Tang Na, being a blacksmith, didn't melt the murder weapon, it's because the order for this batch of bone cleavers for the vegetable market was already made!

He had already forged these knives for the vegetable market.

If one was melted, in order to replenish it for the vegetable market, he would have to forge a new one.

The sound of blacksmithing cannot be concealed by a wooden house. Forging an extra one for Corey was to hope others would see it, but secretly forging another one to replace the melted murder weapon would be too risky.

Moreover, sending it to the vegetable market was in itself an excellent means of concealment!

Like now, after so many days, the knives have been used for cutting meat in the vegetable market for such a long time.

Even if the bone cleaver had the smell of human blood on it, it would have long been covered up by the fishy smell from other animals.

If it weren't for the System's evidence identification function.

If this knife were given to Mo De without the System, he really wouldn't have been able to recognize it!

Even the Weird Tales Rules would only appear after you held an important item in your hand and observed it for a while.

"Old Tang Na, it's you!"

"Shedding the cicada's shell, feigning a move while attacking elsewhere, a good strategy."

"It seems the case is solved!" At this moment, Mo De let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps by tomorrow, after finding Old Tang Na, all of this will be over!

Putting the bone cleaver aside for now, Mo De picked up another bone cleaver.

He certainly couldn't use the murder weapon to cut the pork he was going to eat; it was disgusting.

Cutting off a large piece of lean and fatty meat on the cutting board, Mo De felt much more relaxed.

At least, the basic requirement, bringing meat home, he had completed!

But there was still one condition...

Recalling the phone call he heard at the police station earlier, Mo De knew that tonight was also his Hong Lei's daughter's birthday.

He had to prepare a gift.

Choosing a gift was bound to be a headache.

He looked at the time.

8:20

It was already late.

According to normal working hours, he should have parked his car at his doorstep by now.

Adding some permissible delay time, he had at most no more than half an hour left!

At least before 9:00 PM, he had to appear at the doorstep!

What gift should he choose?

Mo De brought the fresh meat to the car, closed his eyes, and pondered.

Vaguely, a sentence reappeared in his ears.

"Oh? Hehehe, you still have money to buy such an expensive gift for your Hong Lei's daughter? It seems you have quite a bit of hidden private money?"

This was what the non-existent Lin Yue's wife said on the phone at the police station earlier.

"An expensive gift?" Mo De turned to look at the bag of money next to him.

The vehicle started.

After stopping, A Man arrived at a children's toy store.

This store... did not exist in the Town before.

Another newcomer.

However, it was also because the previous merchant in this storefront left that this new tenant existed.

[Mee Mee Toy Store]

Looking across the entire Town street, only these two or three businesses that moved in from outside were still open.

Taking a look at the well-behaved Weird Tales Rules, Mo De stepped inside.

"Welcome."

At the counter in front of the door, a female receptionist said somewhat hastily.

Mo De glanced at her, slightly surprised.

This was a person.

Similar to him, an ordinary person chosen to come to the Tales of the Weird world and experience the instance.

It seemed that her current profession was a toy store salesperson.

After the woman finished speaking hastily, she also saw Mo De clearly.

Her expression showed a hint of surprise.

This customer was different from the two terrifying creatures she had served before; this guy actually looked very much like a real person!

"Do you have dolls?" Mo De asked.

Dolls.

This was the birthday gift he came here to prepare for his Hong Lei's daughter.

In the previous story 'Sister', the doll appeared several times.

At the same time, his little Hong Lei's daughter Betty at home was also holding a doll.

Therefore, Mo De also boldly estimated that the gift he should prepare was a doll.

"Dolls? Yes, we do. Customer, please follow me." The woman's mood relaxed quite a bit.

Compared to facing those Ghosts with three heads and six tongues, her state of mind was naturally much better when facing an existence that wasn't much different from a person.

Following the woman all the way to the doll section.

Mo De was instantly dazzled by the various dolls.

While scanning with his gaze, he was instantly attracted by a familiar doll.

"How much is this?" Mo De took down a medium-sized doll and asked the salesperson.

"This is a bit expensive, 2000." The woman replied with a slight hesitation.

Every time she quoted a price, it was the time she worried the most.

Because when introducing products and reaching this stage, the various monsters in this Tales of the Weird world would reveal different emotions.

And mostly, it was anger caused by the price being too high and not meeting expectations.

Consequently, she would also be subjected to the customer's anger!

As a small employee, she had no right to survive at all!

Meeting a good-tempered customer was fine; at most, she would be dismembered like the colleague who cleaned the store before.

Meeting a bad-tempered one, well, she would really become a pile of meat paste!

The store manager was completely indifferent to this.

He treated all the dead people as cheap sandbags used by customers and charged them to the customers' accounts.

People in this World were truly at the bottom!

But this time.

Her worry was clearly gone.

"Help me wrap it up."

When a stack of banknotes was handed to her, the woman's heart suddenly relaxed: "Okay, customer."

As she spoke, the woman's voice was filled with excitement.

This kind of customer was good.

No nitpicking, no dragging, just spending.

If she encountered more of them, she could switch to a lower-risk position and live longer!

She handed the wrapped doll to Mo De.

The woman then looked at the stack of money in her hand.

As she watched, she frowned slightly in confusion.

She counted them one by one...

"30 bills?!"

... ...

"Splash ~"

The vehicle splashed a sheet of water and quickly drove towards the room of his home.

Mo De glanced at the toy store in the rearview mirror, which gradually moved away and disappeared, and let out a sigh of relief.

After all, they were a group of unfortunate people who were chosen.

The difference was that he had survived until now by relying on the System.

Others would only live a harder life.

After seeing these people, if he could help a little, he would help.

There was no entanglement between them, and he happened to have such a large sum of money, so he just pulled out a few bills casually.

Perhaps this store would disappear by tomorrow.

He didn't know how long the other party's journey would last.

Gathering his thoughts.

Mo De glanced at the doll gift bag next to him.

He didn't choose this doll randomly.

If he remembered correctly, this doll was exactly the one his Hong Lei's daughter Betty was holding!

In the storybook.

The story 'Sister'.

It told how the younger sister got a doll and felt that the doll was like her Sister, so she stopped crying.

So it was very likely that the doll originally belonged to the Sister!

And his former self, on his Hong Lei's daughter's birthday, gave this gift.

A price of two thousand US dollars.

For his job, it was not a small amount, which also matched the label of an expensive gift.

The gift, the meat, they were all prepared. He just hoped that nothing unexpected would happen tonight.