“After that, Yu Cuicui gave up. On top of everything, Gap Tooth was generous with women despite his lecherous ways, and always had a knack for sweet-talking and coaxing. Over time, Yu Cuicui went along with him willingly. By then, Gap Tooth had told her about Fan Dabao and Xiao Feng, and Yu Cuicui became utterly despairing of Fan Dabao — which is why his death left her so unmoved.”

“No wonder when we mentioned Xiao Feng, Yu Cuicui looked blank, as if she knew nothing about it — she’d already given up long ago. Regardless, Fan Dabao was still the father of her children. The man is gone just like that. Does she really plan to spend her life with Gap Tooth? If Gap Tooth were capable of settling down, he wouldn’t still be a bachelor.” Bai Jin was somewhat indignant.

“Never mind — why do you concern yourself with other people’s affairs? Everyone has their own fate. Perhaps for Yu Cuicui, this is a liberation.”

“What about them — where are they now?”

“Still in the interrogation room. Yu Cuicui brought her son along.”

When Bai Jin saw Little Kun, the boy’s eyes visibly brightened for a moment, though the grief of losing his father still weighed on him, leaving him listless.

“Little Kun, are you hungry?” Bai Jin felt an inexplicable warmth toward this child.

Little Kun nodded.

“Wait here — I’ll check the canteen. There should still be leftovers from lunch. I’ll have the cook heat something up for you.”

“Thank you, big brother.” Little Kun was deeply grateful.

While Bai Jin was at the canteen, Shi Ting had already asked Yuan Hang from the records office to pull the case file on the killing in the textile factory grove.

Yuan Hang was head of the records office, and custodian of all documents and case files in the military police department. He had a gift no one else could match — an extraordinary sensitivity to numbers. If you wrote out a hundred numbers in scrambled order, one look was all he needed to recite them back without a single mistake.

The records room was packed floor to ceiling with case files, yet all you had to do was give him a time and he could pinpoint every case from that period and location, then retrieve the file you needed from what amounted to a labyrinth.

Yuan Hang found the file in under half a minute.

Shi Ting took it back to his office.

At the time, the Shun Cheng Law had just been promulgated. Shun Cheng was far less orderly than it was now — violent crimes were frequent and the military police department worked until they barely knew day from night. Even today, a large number of unsolved cases remained.

Three years prior, a murder had taken place in the small grove beside the Mingan Textile Factory. The victim was a fifteen-year-old girl named Little Peach Blossom.

She had been raped in the grove. The killer not only strangled her afterward, he also dragged her intestines out and hung them from the tree branches. When she was found, she had been hung upside down in her own intestines. The manner of her death was utterly horrifying.

The killer did not flee. Three days later, the military police department apprehended a forty-two-year-old factory worker named Zhao Mingsi on the textile factory grounds.

Through comparison of scene evidence and witness testimony, Zhao Mingsi confessed to the crime without reservation, and was executed by firing squad one week after the murder.

Zhao Mingsi was unmarried and had no one to claim his body afterward. His remains were sent to the medical department of Shun Cheng University to be used as a specimen.

According to Zhao Mingsi’s confession, he had been going in for his night shift when he felt the urgent need to relieve himself and went into the grove. He spotted Little Peach Blossom sitting among the trees. Immediately seized by malicious intent, he feigned friendliness. When she told him she was waiting for her brother, he lied and said her brother had already left. In her alarm, she tried to go. Zhao Mingsi grabbed her from behind and dragged her deep into the grove, to the foot of the gnarled locust tree.

After raping Little Peach Blossom, he further violated her body before departing satisfied.

Dozens of photographs had been taken at the scene at the time. Even in black and white, one could almost smell the overwhelming stench of blood. The killer’s cruelty made one’s teeth grind.

Shi Ting turned through the photographs one by one until he stopped at several close-up shots of Little Peach Blossom. His gaze turned abruptly grave.

Setting down the photographs, he picked up the witness statements from the Fan Dabao case and paused at a particular page.

“Seventh Brother, can we release Yu Cuicui and the others now?” Zheng Yun walked in to ask.

“One moment.” Shi Ting’s eyes were deep and still. He took one of the photographs and handed it to Zheng Yun. “Look at this photo — isn’t there a mark just below the victim’s collarbone?”

Zheng Yun examined it carefully. “This mark — what is it? It looks like it was left by some kind of ornament pressing against the skin.”

“I believe Little Peach Blossom had a pendant around her neck. When she was pinned to the ground by the killer, the pendant left this impression on her chest.”

Zheng Yun was puzzled: “This case is from three years ago, and the killer has already been executed. Is there still reason to investigate further?”

“Do you remember Gou Sheng saying he had a younger sister who was raped and murdered three years ago?”

“He did say that.” Zheng Yun understood what was coming. “Does Seventh Brother mean that the girl killed in the grove three years ago — Little Peach Blossom — was Gou Sheng’s sister?”

“Have someone bring in Gou Sheng, Triangle Eyes, Bald Two, and Big Gap Tooth. I have a question for them.”

“Yes, sir.” Zheng Yun gave a salute and turned to leave.

She had barely reached the doorway when she nearly walked into the plump doctor coming the other way. The two gave each other a nod, and Zheng Yun strode on.

“Director, the analysis results are in.” The doctor’s face was bright with excitement. “I extracted carbon fiber from the gloves you brought back — identical to the carbon fiber found on the murder weapon.”

The result matched Shi Ting’s deductions. This complex case was becoming clearer in his mind. Though one final knot remained untied, the case was beginning to show the first glimmer of resolution.

The doctor pushed up his glasses, curious: “Director, may I ask — what led you to reason that the carbon fiber on the glass came from this type of glove?”

“Carbon fiber is heat-resistant, commonly used in insulation materials. I visited the textile factory previously and observed that their dyeing process is unique — it involves repeated exposure to high temperatures. So I guessed that the dyeing workshop must have some form of heat-resistant equipment.”

The doctor looked at him with admiration. Carbon fiber has a wide range of applications; without careful logic and deduction, it would have been nearly impossible to trace it to this clue.

“If the killer wore these gloves during the crime, the glass would not have cut back into his own hands — which is why we found no wounds on the killer’s hands during examination.”

“But if the killer came to see Fan Dabao wearing those large gloves, wouldn’t Fan Dabao have been suspicious?”

Shi Ting said: “The killer didn’t set out to take revenge — killing Fan Dabao was an impulse. I asked Director Qian, who told me the workers take their belongings with them when they clock off. Bald Two, Triangle Eyes, Gou Sheng, and Big Gap Tooth all returned to their lodgings after finishing the night shift. So what reason would the killer have to go back out again wearing gloves?”

The doctor could not think of one.

“Let’s reason through this. The killer, passing by the guardhouse, noticed that Fan Dabao’s window glass had been broken. Out of goodwill, he offered to go home and bring a replacement piece. The edges of rough-cut glass are sharp and can easily cut the hands. So the killer thought of the thick insulating gloves and put them on before carrying the glass over to Fan Dabao. Arriving there, Fan Dabao vented about being beaten, and in low spirits, he brought out two bottles of liquor and a bag of peanuts. The two of them drank and talked. In the course of conversation, Fan Dabao let something slip — something about the night Gou Sheng’s sister was killed, when Fan Dabao had refused to help. The killer felt that everything he had believed for years had been a lie. The alcohol stripped away his reason. He put on the gloves that were still nearby, picked up a piece of broken glass, and drove it into Fan Dabao’s heart. Then, still not satisfied, he sliced Fan Dabao’s throat and stabbed him dozens more times. He cut out his heart and threw it into the stove. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered that payday had been that day at the factory, so he searched the room — but found nothing. In frustration, he took Fan Dabao’s watch. If I’m not mistaken, the investigators should be on their way back right now with the glass, the watch, and the gloves found in that person’s room.”

The doctor nodded vigorously: “Director, I don’t think that’s a deduction. I think you just described exactly what happened.”

“Deduction requires evidence before we can make an arrest.” He glanced at his watch. “Notify Shi Hao — have him take people to check which of the four men has glass stored at home. Since the glass wasn’t found at the scene, the killer must have taken it home. If it’s found, there should be traces on it.”

“Understood. I’ll go now.”

Half an hour later, Bald Two and the others were brought back to the military police department.

“Officer, I really didn’t kill anyone — I even have night shifts coming up!” Triangle Eyes groaned.

“As long as you cooperate honestly, we’ll let you go shortly.”

In another interrogation room, Zheng Yun sat across from the twenty-something Gou Sheng.

“You said your sister was murdered three years ago. What was her name?”

“Little Peach Blossom.” Gou Sheng’s voice was muffled.

“Is this her?” Zheng Yun placed a photograph on the table.

Gou Sheng looked at it and was seized with agitation, lunging forward — only to be restrained by the secured chair beneath him.

The so-called tiger chair was not a torture device but a chair enclosed on all four sides, designed to prevent agitated subjects from making sudden movements.

“Little Peach Blossom, Little Peach Blossom.” Gou Sheng began to sob. “You died so horribly.”

“This case has already been solved, and the killer has been executed.” Zheng Yun regarded him steadily. “Little Peach Blossom was murdered in June three years ago. Why did you go to the scene last night to make offerings for her?”

“I — I didn’t go.” Gou Sheng looked away.

“Your original testimony from that time is in the case file. You said Little Peach Blossom loved peaches and chicken legs, and once got chased down three streets for stealing a chicken leg. If you hadn’t known her well, why would you have placed exactly a peach and a chicken leg under that tree?”

Seeing there was no way to deny it, Gou Sheng admitted: “Yes, it was me. I just suddenly found myself missing her.”

“Where did the chicken leg come from? You can’t buy a chicken leg in the middle of the night.”

“I bought it the day before — there happened to be one left over.”

“What time did you go to the grove?”

“I can’t remember.”

“You didn’t get home until nearly eleven o’clock. You must have gone to the grove after eleven. Did you see Fan Dabao when you went?”

“No.”

“You’re lying. You and Fan Dabao were so close — there’s no way you passed by his guardhouse without going in. Isn’t that right?”

“What are you implying? Do you suspect it was me who killed Brother Dabao?” Gou Sheng was furious. “I had no quarrel with Brother Dabao — on the contrary, he always helped me. What reason would I have to kill him?”

“The reason is quite simple.” The reply came from Shi Ting, who pushed through the door.

—

*Final verdict tomorrow — a sweet resolution is coming!*

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