Chapter Fifty: The Burlap Sack

“May I ask your surname?” Li Changqing inquired.

“Ye,” the boatman replied.

Li Changqing was taken aback, thinking how fate truly works in mysterious ways. He’d intended to ask this boatman about Boatman Ye, only to discover he was speaking to the man himself.

Boatman Ye stood at the stern, skillfully maneuvering the oar. At that moment, another boat approached from the opposite direction. The two boats brushed past each other. Ye exchanged a few words and a smile with the other boatman.

Afterward, Boatman Ye pointed to a figure wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat, his back turned. “That’s Master Xie, the real veteran here. They say he’s been ferrying people across for over twenty years.”

Li Changqing glanced at Master Xie, surprised to find the man looking back into his own cabin. Their eyes met, and Li Changqing offered a brief smile.

Soon, the boat reached the opposite bank. However, Li Changqing showed no intention of disembarking and asked, “Master Ye, I’m a private investigator. I came to take this boat because two employees under Boss Huang at Linjiang Wharf have gone missing.”

“I heard the two had an argument with you before they disappeared. Boss Huang suspects you.”

Hearing this, Master Ye recalled that a few days prior, two workers from the wharf had indeed come over, complaining that his ferrying business was affecting wharf operations. Such incidents were not uncommon, but those two were particularly rude, and the quarrel had escalated into a heated argument.

Master Ye spat, “Those two bastards are missing? Serves them right.” But worry soon clouded his face, fearing he’d be implicated. “But I had nothing to do with it.”

Li Changqing studied Ye’s expression closely. Judging by his demeanor, the matter seemed unrelated to him. Of course, it was still possible that Master Ye was exceptionally good at masking his emotions and hadn’t revealed a single flaw.

Sensing Li’s scrutiny, Master Ye explained, “I’m just a boatman. Arguments like that are commonplace here. Besides, those two were both big, burly men, stronger than I am. What could I possibly do to them?”

Those bastards might have deserved their fate, but he wanted to make things clear.

Truly, he didn’t look like someone who could overpower two grown men on his own.

“Oh, right,” Master Ye suddenly remembered, slapping his forehead. “The night before last, I got up to relieve myself and saw someone throwing something into the river over by the wharf.”

“It was pitch dark, so I couldn’t see clearly. From a distance, I just saw someone kick something into the water.”

At the time, Master Ye had assumed it was just a night-shift worker discarding some useless junk and hadn’t given it any thought.

Hearing this, Li Changqing asked, “Roughly which direction was it?”

“Over there, by the wharf.” Master Ye pointed to a spot near the dock. Li Changqing made a mental note and thanked him.

The boat returned to the original side. Li Changqing paid twenty Lang coins, covering both trips. In this regard, he was not stingy.

Tang Xiaoyu followed behind Li Changqing and asked, “Could it be that those two wharf workers were murdered and their bodies sunk to the bottom of the river?”

“That’s how it usually goes in TV dramas,” she added.

Li Changqing paused, his gaze falling on the spot Master Ye had indicated. “I don’t know yet. We have too few clues to analyze or deduce anything. Let’s meet up with Kelly and see if he’s found anything at the wharf.”

At present, there were indeed very few leads. All they knew was that the two workers had vanished inside the wharf, and on the night they disappeared, Master Ye happened to see someone throw something into the river at midnight.

Judging by these two clues alone, things might be just as Tang Xiaoyu suspected.

The two returned to the wharf, where Kelly Losetti, under the guidance of Huang Chao, was investigating the premises.

“They were supposed to be on duty here the night before last,” Huang explained.

Within the wharf’s storage area, among the containers, there was a guard booth. The booth was small, simply furnished with a bedroll, a wooden table with a logbook, and an old electric fan.

It served as a resting place for those guarding the goods.

Kelly Losetti entered, casually leafing through the logbook, then asked, “Aren’t there security cameras here?”

“There are, but when we checked after the incident, it turned out the cameras malfunctioned that night,” Huang Chao replied, pointing up at the many cameras mounted above the booth.

This was where valuable cargo was kept; much of it was extremely expensive. If anything went missing, the compensation would be considerable, not to mention the blow to Linjiang Wharf’s reputation.

In fact, there were security cameras everywhere, but on that particular night, they all failed at once.

Just then, Li Changqing and Tang Xiaoyu returned.

Kelly Losetti coughed, adopting the posture of a great detective. “My two assistants, did you find anything?” he asked Li Changqing with a broad smile.

Li Changqing recounted what he’d just learned from Master Ye, then asked, “What about you? Any useful leads?”

Kelly replied with a knowing smile—everything was hidden within that expression.

“The boatman saw someone dump something in the river?” Huang Chao asked urgently. “Detective Li, can you pinpoint the spot? I’ll have someone dive down and check.”

The wharf’s workers were all exceptional swimmers. Soon, Huang Chao rounded up two of the best and led them to the riverbank.

At the water’s edge, countless cargo ships were moored, with workers busy loading and unloading.

Li Changqing walked to the area Master Ye had indicated. “It should be around here.”

He only knew the approximate location; so did Master Ye. After all, it had been pitch dark that night—nothing was as clear as in daylight.

Both missing workers were in their twenties, locals who’d grown up on the river. Swiftly, they stripped down to their underwear and dove into the water, moving like fish. After taking a deep breath, both disappeared into the slightly murky depths. The ripples soon faded, and the river grew silent.

“If we don’t find any clues, this case will be a tough one,” Kelly Losetti whispered in Li Changqing’s ear.

With the cameras out of order and this possible lead still uncertain, there was little to go on.

Soon, bubbles broke the surface, and the two workers emerged, gasping for air and wiping water from their faces. “Boss Huang, there are two burlap sacks at the bottom, weighted down with rocks. No idea what’s inside,” they reported from the water’s edge.