“Wake up.” Bai Jin slapped the table, startling Li Haotian awake with a jolt. He looked up at the two people standing before him and hastily rubbed his eyes. “Director Shi, you’re back — please let me go.”

“Did you kill Chunlan?” Shi Ting’s penetrating gaze fell on him.

“Why would I kill Chunlan? Have I got nothing better to do?” Li Haotian was indignant. “She’s just a lowly woman. Even if I wanted her dead, I wouldn’t do it with my own hands.”

“You say you didn’t kill Chunlan, yet Chunlan was found dead in your apartment. Besides you, who else would go there to kill a woman from a pleasure house?”

“But what reason would I have to kill her?” Li Haotian’s brow creased.

Bai Jin spoke up from the side. “On the day Mo Xiangrong died, besides that meeting at Yanque Tower, are you certain you never saw him again?”

“Never.” Li Haotian was adamant.

“And you still deny it?” Bai Jin glared at him furiously. “You think you can lie to us and we won’t see through it?”

Bai Jin picked up two evidence bags. “These are two paint chips. One was found on Mo Xiangrong’s back — Mo Xiangrong had a postmortem abrasion wound on his back, consistent with being dragged across a surface. As it happens, we found paint chips of the same blue color on the window of your apartment in Catfish Alley. After comparison, the chips from the window and the chips found on Mo Xiangrong’s body were chemically identical. Moreover, we found drag marks in your courtyard. This indicates that after Mo Xiangrong died, you moved his body out through the window. In the process of moving the body, it scraped against the window frame, picking up paint chips. You then dragged him across the snowy courtyard and loaded him onto your Laifu automobile.”

At the words Laifu automobile, Li Haotian’s gaze noticeably flickered.

“And speaking of your oil-leaking Laifu automobile — it has already been brought to the branch office. Upon thorough examination, we found identical blue paint chips in the trunk. You placed Mo Xiangrong’s body in that trunk. This is now an established fact.”

Li Haotian looked at Bai Jin and said nothing.

“You may choose not to admit to killing Mo Xiangrong, but Chunlan died in your apartment. And at the scene, aside from those errand boys who came searching for her, only your footprints and Chunlan’s were present. Chunlan was strangled to death. If it wasn’t you who did it, was it a ghost? The evidence that you killed Chunlan is airtight. On that charge alone, you could be sentenced to death.”

Li Haotian was thunderstruck. He leapt to his feet. “Chunlan was nothing but a lowly woman. Even if I killed her, who would dare do anything to me?”

Shi Ting threw the copy of the Shun Cheng Law directly at Li Haotian’s face. “Don’t make a mockery of the law. If I decide to hold you accountable, not even the Commander himself coming here could save you — let alone Commander Li.”

Li Haotian’s bluster deflated instantly. He had heard from Li Yongqi that this Director Shi was merciless and resolute — just recently he had dealt with the Minister of Finance. In his eyes, there was no one he didn’t dare to go after.

After a brief standoff, Li Haotian quickly folded. “Fine, I’ll talk. I’ll talk, alright?”

Shi Ting gave a cold laugh. “If you are guilty, no one can protect you. Conversely, if you are innocent, no one can frame you.”

Li Haotian deflated entirely. “Fine, fine — ask me whatever you want.”

Li Haotian said listlessly, “Late last night, while Chunlan and I were together in the room, I heard a thud outside — as though something had been thrown into the courtyard. I wasn’t going to bother with it, but Chunlan was frightened and said someone had come in. I had no choice but to put my clothes on and open the window to look. What I saw nearly scared me half to death. A man was lying completely naked in my back courtyard.”

“Was it Mo Xiangrong?”

Li Haotian nodded.

“I didn’t intend to deal with it, but with so many residents nearby, if someone spotted him, they’d think I was responsible. So Chunlan and I pulled the man in through the window together.”

Li Haotian let out a long sigh. “I recognized this person as Mo Xiangrong, the one I’d done business with, but I had no idea how he’d ended up there. After discussing it with Chunlan, we decided to dispose of the body. So I stuffed Mo Xiangrong’s body into the trunk and drove off to dump it somewhere. Since Catfish Alley is fairly close to the sea, I thought I’d throw him out onto the ice. Even if someone found him, they’d think he froze to death.”

Li Haotian’s tone was earnest. “Director Shi, everything I’ve said is the truth. I had no grievance whatsoever with Mo Xiangrong. Why would I kill him? I’m being framed.”

“And Chunlan?”

“I got back to the apartment and Chunlan was already asleep. I was uneasy thinking about what had happened and didn’t want to stay there anymore, so I went straight home. As for how Chunlan died, I genuinely don’t know.”

“Everything you’ve said is your version alone — there’s nothing and no one to corroborate it.”

“A killing requires motive. I had none,” Li Haotian insisted.

“No motive?” Chief Li walked in from outside and slapped a document down on the table in front of Li Haotian. “You paid one thousand silver yuan for Mo Xiangrong’s cigars and tobacco, and you handed him a bank check in front of witnesses — but upon investigation, that check was completely fraudulent.”

Shi Ting picked up the document envelope and pulled out a check. He frowned. “Chief Li, when we found Mo Xiangrong, he had nothing on his person. Where did this check come from?”

“Sir, we found an abandoned cellar in Li Haotian’s apartment. This check and Mo Xiangrong’s clothing were both discarded inside. I just had someone verify it with the bank — the check is fake and cannot be cashed.”

Chief Li looked at Li Haotian. “Mo Xiangrong must have discovered the check was fraudulent and gone to confront you. You didn’t want to pay out the money, so you killed him. After killing Mo Xiangrong and fearing exposure, you dumped the body at the seashore. When you returned to the apartment, you killed Chunlan to silence her. Li Haotian, no matter what you say, it’s useless now — the evidence against you is conclusive.”

“This is injustice!” Li Haotian shouted. “I’m being framed — I didn’t kill anyone.”

“There’s nothing you can say now that will make a difference.” Chief Li snorted. “You delinquents like you — throwing your weight around every day, causing trouble wherever you go. I’ve had enough of you for a long time.”

“I want to see my father.” Li Haotian suddenly grabbed hold of Shi Ting. “Director Shi, I want to see my father. Let him come — he’ll prove my innocence.”