Chapter 680: Face Down

Tang Xiaonan quickly said, "She fell in during the middle of the night. By the time they found her this morning, she was already stiff. Jim said that’s what happens."

She threw her hands up, feigning a look of terror. Jim Thorne couldn’t help but laugh, but Patrick Thorne smacked him on the back of his head. "Stop telling Xiaonan these things! Are you asking for it?"

"I only told her because Xiaonan asked!"

Jim Thorne protested indignantly. ’It’s not like I brought it up myself. Why hit me for it?’

"You don’t tell her, even if she asks!"

Patrick Thorne shot him a glare. ’What if their sister gets scared and has nightmares? What an idiot. His head’s just for show.’

"Patrick, I’m not scared!" Tang Xiaonan declared.

Patrick Thorne’s expression immediately softened into a smile. He coaxed her gently, "How about we talk about Snow White and The Little Mermaid, okay? What’s so interesting to hear about dead people?"

"I don’t want Snow White and The Little Mermaid. I just want to hear about the dead person."

Tang Xiaonan squirmed. ’There’s definitely something suspicious about Phoenix Golding’s death. The prime suspect is Jacqueline Spann. It might sound incredible for a ten-year-old girl to personally kill her own mother, but with Jacqueline, nothing’s impossible.’

’That girl is vicious and merciless; she’s capable of anything.’

’But still, why would Jacqueline want to kill Phoenix Golding? What was her motive?’

"It sounds like the cause of death for this Phoenix Golding woman is highly questionable," Ellie Ashton mused aloud. "My gut tells me it was murder, ten to one."

"Ellie, what’s ’murder’?" Tang Xiaonan asked, feigning ignorance.

"It means someone killed her—that she didn’t just fall in on her own. By the way, when they found her, was she face-up or face-down?" Ellie Ashton asked Jim.

Jim Thorne scratched the back of his head, confused. ’Why are my future sister-in-law and my little sister asking the same question? Do all girls think alike?’

"I don’t know. It was my fourth great-uncle who got a group together to pull her out. Want me to go ask?"

"Go ask, Jim! Hurry!" Tang Xiaonan urged. ’If she was face-down, it’s even more likely to be murder. She could have been pushed from behind.’

Jim Thorne had no choice but to climb out, wash his feet, put on his shoes, and go find out. Meanwhile, Ellie Ashton analyzed the situation with the others. "If she was face-down, the possibility that she was pushed is extremely high. But who would wait for her to go to the toilet in the dead of night just to push her in? Especially on a night this cold. The killer would have to be incredibly patient."

"There’s another problem," Patrick added. "We all use chamber pots in the winter here. No one goes outside to use the toilet when it’s this cold. Phoenix Golding must have suddenly decided to go out. It would have been a spur-of-the-moment decision that a killer couldn’t have predicted. So it was probably an accident after all. Maybe fate just decided she was a bad person and took care of her."

Patrick still didn’t buy the murder theory. ’Phoenix Golding’s biggest enemy in the village was his own mother. If it was a revenge killing, his mom would be the prime suspect. But she would never, ever hurt anyone. For one, his mother didn’t have the brains for it, and for another, she definitely didn’t have that kind of patience.’

Ellie Ashton wavered. "You have a point. Everyone takes care of business indoors during the winter. It’s rare for anyone to go outside to use the toilet. Could it really have been an accident?"

Tang Xiaonan began to hesitate too. ’Could I have been wrong about Jacqueline?’

’She was her own mother, after all. Jacqueline couldn’t be that cruel, could she?’

Jim Thorne came running back. "She was face-down!"

He hopped back down into the paddy and felt around for a moment. Suddenly, his hand shot out like lightning, and he pulled up a writhing eel. It was as thick as his thumb and thrashed wildly. Jim tossed the eel into a bucket and boasted to Patrick, "Patrick, there aren’t many left on your side. I already cleared them out earlier."

When it came to catching eels and loaches, if he said he was second best, no one in the village would dare claim to be the best. Jim was just that confident.