Watching Betty eat a little something, Shiller asked Aisha to stay upstairs and play with her. Shiller went downstairs to handle the corpse.
Malafax might arrive at any time, but Shiller wasn't panicked.
If Malafax retained his sanity, paired with his strong physique and psychic ability, he could indeed be troublesome. But now he was just a perverted freak, lost in his evil desires. Shiller was most skilled at dealing with such people.
Earlier, when he went to the backyard, Shiller had already seen a small shed specially for storing gardening tools. He walked over and indeed found a raincoat, probably meant to be worn when spraying water with hoses.
Shiller put on the raincoat and then went down to the cellar to drag out the mother's corpse. After wrapping it with waterproof plastic sheeting, he placed it in the trunk of his car. Then he went back to the gardening tools room to grab a shovel.
Three days had passed, the corpse had already rotted severely, emitting an extremely strong odor. It had to be dealt with first.
Shiller didn't intend to dismember the body. This wasn't the city; it was a vast desolate countryside. You could just dump the body somewhere, and it might not be found even by the next year.
On the drive over, Shiller saw a nearby wasteland. From the vegetation growth, it was clear there was a rabbit infestation.
In America, these vast plains aren't all beneficial for agriculture. Besides the unhindered tornadoes, the overly proliferated rabbits are also troubling.
They don't just damage plant roots; they also dig holes everywhere, even connecting several miles underground. They breed rapidly, and the land they occupy basically becomes unusable for farming.
But inconveniently, animal protection laws don't allow modern weapons to be used against rabbits, only biological control. But bringing in wolves poses a danger to humans.
So, when land isn't scarce, people fence off such areas. They drive wire mesh several meters underground, and even the most skilled rabbits can't get past it.
Shiller got out of the car and saw that this area was fenced off with wire mesh. However, the wire mesh on the side was broken, likely from someone sneaking in to hunt rabbits.
Shiller swaggered over to the gap, first sending the corpse inside, then entering himself.
Experienced friends know that digging a pit to bury a body is the least efficient. Anyone who's done pit digging knows that manually digging a pit big enough for an adult to lie in overnight is almost impossible.
Even if you manage to dig it, it won't be very deep, just covered with a shallow layer of soil. To dig two or three meters deep, modern machinery is needed.
But that's for ordinary land, not land already tunneled horizontally and vertically into a rabbit hole network.
Here, digging is much easier. Find a rabbit hole, insert a shovel, probe inside, then knock down the top layer along the direction, and find the branch route. Continue following the branch route, removing the top layer.
The rabbit holes beneath the soil aren't flat; they are deep and shallow, crisscrossing complexly. Just follow a route down and deeper parts will eventually be found.
When finding passageways starting to deepen, begin digging a pit. At this point, the soil inside isn't solid but already honeycombed by rabbit holes, making digging much easier.
Shiller dug for over two hours and successfully made a pit barely big enough to accommodate an adult woman. He buried the corpse inside and then covered it up with the soil he had dug out.
Although it wasn't particularly deep, this place was in the middle of a rabbit-infested area, and people generally wouldn't come here.
Moreover, rabbits aren't vegetarians.
This isn't a metaphor; it's a fact. Although most people consider rabbits herbivores, no animal can refuse protein falling from the sky.
Every known herbivore can consume meat to supplement protein unless they have digestive issues. This includes common animals like cows, horses, and sheep. Though meat isn't their staple, they can eat it. Some even have meat powder added to their feed to enhance immunity.
In a rabbit infestation, the decomposition time of a corpse would inevitably be much shorter than normal. Even if someone discovered it, distinguishing features might be unclear and hard to recognize.
After finishing this, Shiller returned to Jotun's house. Aisha came down from upstairs and said, "Someone knocked on the door just now, but I didn't respond. I sneaked a peek; it seemed like a policeman."
"It's alright." Shiller patted Aisha's head, "You can go upstairs and sleep for a while. We'll go out later."
"I'm not sleepy. I'll go tell Betty a story." Aisha said, "She likes me a lot. She was just holding my hand, not wanting me to leave."
"No one could dislike you. Go, keep her company."
After Aisha went upstairs, Shiller began handling Jotun's corpse. This was not as simple as handling the mother.
To put it bluntly, Betty's mother was merely an innocent victim. If she had willingly agreed to stay at Jotun's house, she might bear some responsibility for insufficient vigilance. But if controlled by a mind power user, she was entirely innocent. Shiller would show the utmost respect for her body.
Jotun was different. Though he died somewhat abruptly, his body was intact. It was time for Malafax to reassess his partner.
By the time Shiller prepared the necessary tools, it was already dark. But he patiently waited until Aisha lulled Betty to sleep. Then they both left Jotun's house under the cover of night.
Jotun's house was not far from the big pit in the wheat field, reachable by foot. Shiller wrapped Jotun's body in plastic sheeting and moved to the center of the big pit in the wheat field under the night cover.
Although for the size of an alien spaceship, this pit was small, but it was more than enough to accommodate an adult.
Shiller placed the corpse at the center of the pit and asked Aisha to keep watch nearby. He then got busy with the task at hand.
The scent of blood drifted away in the night breeze, soon merging into the wind further away. Shiller worked for most of the night. It was deep into the night when he called Aisha to return.
Returning to the house, he burned the blood-stained raincoat. Though he didn't get any stains on himself, Shiller still took a shower and cleaned the floor.
No bloodstains remained in the house, as Jotun died from cardiac arrest with no external injuries, thus no bloodshed. Shiller cleaned any possible traces of hair from the floor. No evidence suggested this as the primary crime scene.
When everything was done, it was almost dawn. Shiller took out his phone to make a report call. He had seen the local town police station's number on the missing person's notice.
"Hello, I'm Rodriguez, currently staying at Jotun Farm. Yesterday evening, Jotun mentioned he had to go out. He left the farmhouse and hasn't returned yet."
"Earlier, a policeman warned us about frequent disappearance cases recently. Asking us to be more cautious. I wonder if Jotun might be missing. Could you come by and check?"
"Alright, I'm inside the house waiting for you. See you soon."
Shiller hung up the phone. Aisha, who had just gotten up, looked worried, "They'll search the house. What about Betty then?"
"Is she awake already?" Shiller asked.
"Yes, we slept together last night. When I woke up, she woke up too. She looks much better."
"You should be able to make her faint, right?"
"Yes, you mean…"
"Make her faint first and put her back in the clothes she wore yesterday. Hurry, the police will be here soon."
Aisha nodded and quickly ran upstairs. Soon, she came back ready. Betty's previous clothes were a bit dirty but mostly didn't touch her bruises.
Shiller carried her back to the cellar, found a clean spot near the bathtub, and placed her there. He then cleared all traces of his presence in the cellar.
Just as he left the cellar and returned to the living room in the main house, the police car pulled up. Two officers got out and knocked on Jotun's house door.
Shiller opened the door to let them in and briefly explained the situation. The police looked quite grim-faced.
"We couldn't reach him either." The policewoman began, "We called before coming, but no one answered. He might have met with misfortune already."
"It seems I and my daughter can't stay here anymore. We're planning to leave later. If you have any questions, ask now."
Just when the policewoman was about to say something, her communicator rang. She took off her walkie talkie and answered outside. On her return, her face was noticeably paler.
"Jotun's body was found." The policewoman said. Her partner promptly drew his gun and cautiously eyed Shiller.
Shiller quickly raised his hands, "I don't know what happened. All I know is he didn't come back all night. I stayed with my daughter the whole time."
Just then, Aisha pretended to be just waking up and came downstairs, sniffing, "Dad, I think I saw aliens last night."
"What?" Shiller curiously looked at her.
"Yes, last night. It seemed like aliens landed outside the window. There were noises. Even the sound of spaceship engines."
"Alright, let's not talk about that now." Shiller said, "Officer, Jotun already…"
"Right, he's dead. And…"
"No, we shouldn't discuss this here." Shiller glanced at Aisha, and the police also realized it wasn't the time. The policewoman said, "There's been a murder, and you were the last to see Jotun. You can't leave now."
"Fine. I anticipated that. Should I accompany you to the town?"
"Yes, you need to come to the station. But we'll ensure someone looks after your daughter...no, I'll watch over her personally. She won't be harmed."
"I want her to stay in my sight." Shiller said.
"No problem." The policewoman nodded.
The police took Shiller away from the house. As they left, Aisha kept looking at the shed. The male officer couldn't help but stop. He patted Aisha's head, "What are you looking at?"
"The aliens took off from there last night. I heard the sound. But dad says there are no aliens in this world…"
The male officer thoughtfully glanced at the shed. The wind made its door sway slightly. The dust at the doorway seemed recently cleaned. Only the weeds growing between the tiles swayed gently in the breeze.