Shi Ting did not answer. Instead he continued, “Before he went to the toilet, did he give you a bottle of baijiu?”

The surprise had not yet left Zhuzhi’s face. “Yes — yes, he did.”

He thought to himself: this officer wasn’t even there at the time, yet he speaks as though he witnessed it himself.

“And after he came back, did he also ask you what time it was?”

“Yes.” Zhuzhi blinked.

Shi Ting now had a clear picture forming in his mind. “The baijiu you drank in the early hours of that morning — do you still remember which bottle it was?”

“Let me see if I can find it.” Zhuzhi walked over to the corner and rummaged through the pile of bottles for a while before pulling out a glass bottle with a colorful label that read “Jingbei Old Baijiu.” “This one. The liquor was quite sharp. I remember noticing the name at the time.”

Shi Ting took the bottle from him. With some luck, he found a small amount of residual liquid at the bottom — Zhuzhi had evidently not drunk it down to the very last drop.

He handed the bottle to Bai Jin. “Take this back and have it tested.”

“Yes, sir.” Bai Jin carefully took it and placed it in an evidence bag.

Shi Ting turned and pointed at the grimy clock on the wall. “Does this clock keep good time?”

“Very good time.” Zhuzhi seemed to recall something and furrowed his brow. “Now that you mention it — that night was strange. I only dozed off for what felt like ten minutes, but when I woke up I felt as though I’d slept for over an hour. Yet when I looked at the clock, only ten minutes had passed.”

“And it was Baofu who woke you?”

“Yes. He shook me awake and asked what time it was and why I was still sleeping. I looked at the clock right then.”

“Bai Jin, take the clock down.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bai Jin put on gloves. Zhuzhi found a ladder, and together the two of them carefully took down the clock.

Bai Jin, standing on the ladder, examined it closely. “Seventh Brother, there are fresh smudges on the wall — they’re new. Someone must have tampered with this.”

He then took the clock down and couldn’t help but break into a grin. “Seventh Brother, there are fingerprints. Fresh ones. We can lift them.”

Because soot drifted through the room every day and naturally settled on the clock, any contact with it would leave clear, visible fingerprints.

“Zhuzhi, are you certain no one has touched this clock recently?”

“The battery was just replaced last week. The time was accurate and there’d be no reason for anyone to touch it.” The clocks of this era ran on large lantern batteries. In a clock, such a battery was extremely long-lasting — a single battery could run for a year. If the battery had just been replaced last week and the clock was still keeping perfect time, there would have been no reason for anyone to interfere with it.

The killer had acted with careful precision, meticulous about every detail — but killing Mo Xiangrong and Xianglan without leaving a trace, while also manufacturing an alibi, inevitably created the conditions for mistakes.

When there is too much to manage, disorder follows. And from disorder comes error.

Every crime leaves a trace. The killer was not infallible.

Shi Ting had Bai Jin bring the evidence back to the precinct. As they passed through the main hall, the madam hurried over. “Officers, is Zhuzhi being taken away too?”

“He needs to come to the station to provide testimony. He’ll be back later.” Shi Ting glanced at her. “As for Baofu — the others I’ll release. But not him.”

“Truly? Oh, thank you so much, Officer.” The madam paused, then blinked. “And why is Baofu being held back?”

“How is Baofu’s relationship with Li Haotian, generally speaking?”

“Young Master Li is a regular at our establishment. Whenever he visits Yanque Tower, Xianglan handles his personal attention, and Baofu takes care of the practical matters. Baofu is quite capable — whatever Young Master Li asks of him, he always sees it done properly.”

“Where does Baofu live?”

“There’s a row of tile-roofed rooms behind us. All the attendants live there. Baofu is the head of the lot — he has his own single room.”

The madam finished, then ventured to ask, “Officer… has Baofu done something wrong?”

“Don’t pry.” Bai Jin said. “In a moment, cooperate with us — we’ll be searching Baofu’s room.”

“Of course, of course.” The madam didn’t dare ask more and simply agreed.

Once they had stepped outside Yanque Tower, Shi Ting said, “Those reporters from the press — the ones we called in for questioning last time. Have them brought to the station again.”

Bai Jin was briefly puzzled, then quickly grasped what Shi Ting had in mind. What the other side could use as a weapon against the Military Police was equally a weapon that could be turned back against them.

“Go to Baofu’s room.”

Bai Jin said, “Baofu works cleanly. He’s unlikely to have left any useful evidence there.”

“It’s not something conspicuous. He wouldn’t carry it on his person — most likely it’s at his lodgings.”

Bai Jin recalled that when they had been looking over Mo Xiangrong’s belongings, Shi Ting had seemed to say something was missing. He had spent a long time trying to figure out what it was but had never been able to pin it down.

A man like Mo Xiangrong — he had gone out with a cloth bag, and the contents of that bag were all perfectly ordinary. It was hard to imagine what could be missing.

Shi Ting leaned over and murmured two words in Bai Jin’s ear. Bai Jin immediately stepped out of the car.

Back at the precinct, Chief Li came over and lowered his voice. “Director Xie’s people are back.”

“Back for what — to ask us to return their man?” Shi Ting was unconcerned.

Chief Li was suppressing a laugh. “This time they’re here to ask for our help. Would you like to see them, Director Shi?”

“Then let’s see them.”

Chief Li led the way, pushed open a door, and the seated Zhao Gang and a few of the Inspection Office’s officers all looked up in surprise.

“Director Shi.” Zhao Gang quickly rose to his feet, his expression a mixture of urgency and embarrassment.

Shi Ting feigned surprise. “Officer Zhao? Shouldn’t you be on the train to Shun Cheng by now? Don’t tell me you left in such a hurry you couldn’t get your tickets?”

Hearing the mockery in Shi Ting’s words, Zhao Gang could only endure it quietly. “Director Shi, there was an incident on the way. Li Haotian escaped. The station was crowded, and I’d gone to buy tickets, leaving two men to watch him. The young man was remarkably agile — he shoved the men aside and disappeared into the crowd. We turned the entire station inside out and still couldn’t find him.”

“So your men lost an important suspect. Is Director Xie holding you personally responsible?”

“Director Shi, I understand your displeasure. But we all serve the government. I hope, for the sake of our being colleagues, you might help us find Li Haotian.”

“Finding him is possible — but I have a case to investigate first.” Shi Ting did not refuse.

Zhao Gang thought to himself: of all times for there to suddenly be a case at the station. Whether there truly was a case or whether this was Shi Ting making excuses, he couldn’t say. Either way, he was in Tai Shan now, with no resources of his own. If he wanted to find Li Haotian, he had no choice but to rely on the Military Police.

Losing the man was his fault, and now Shi Ting could berate and blame him all he liked — he would have to swallow it, because he still needed to ask for their help.

“I see Officer Zhao has nothing else to attend to. Perhaps he’d like to observe?”

Zhao Gang blinked. “Observe?”

“Doesn’t Officer Zhao have an interest in how interrogations are conducted?”

Hearing that the invitation was deliberate, Zhao Gang found it hard to decline. He nodded. “I’ll do whatever Director Shi arranges.”

“Observing” meant watching through a long, narrow pane of glass.

The glass was positioned with great ingenuity — those in the observation room could see and hear everything in the room beyond, while those on the other side could not see into the observation room at all.

When Zhao Gang entered, he found several people already inside whom he didn’t recognize. They were dressed in a variety of ways and he had no idea what they did, though their purpose was presumably the same as his — to observe. Since he didn’t know them, Zhao Gang gave a brief nod in their direction and found a chair to sit down.

Through the glass, he could see a young man sitting in the interrogation room. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with a crew-cut, wearing a gray cloth tunic, black cloth shoes, and a matching dark padded jacket.

The young man gave an impression of extreme deference — he kept his head lowered when speaking, yet when he lifted his eyes to look at someone, there was something deep and inscrutable in his gaze that was difficult to read.

“Name.” Bai Jin opened the register beside him.

“Baofu.” The attendant called Baofu smiled eagerly and nodded. “Officer, you’ve asked me that several times already. It’s getting late — I need to get back to Yanque Tower for my shift. If I’m late, the madam will dock my pay.”

Bai Jin gave him a look. “We’re not releasing you because you’re in trouble.”

“In trouble?” Baofu cried out his innocence. “I may only be a humble attendant at Yanque Tower, but I’ve never stooped to stealing or any other crooked business. Officers, you can’t wrongly accuse a good man.”

Bai Jin said flatly, “Where were you in the early hours of the 22nd?”

“Officer, someone already asked me this. In the early hours of the 22nd, I was in the furnace room tending the underfloor heating. Zhuzhi can vouch for me.”

“Zhuzhi says you stepped away for ten minutes.”

“Right — I had an upset stomach and needed the toilet. I don’t remember how long I was gone. Zhuzhi said ten minutes, so it was probably ten minutes.”

“And you’re still lying.” Bai Jin suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

Shi Ting, watching, noted that Baofu only performed a startled jolt — there was no actual fear in his eyes. Clearly this was a man of deep cunning and iron composure.

“Officer, I’m not lying. Zhuzhi can vouch for me.”

“Zhuzhi? Ha.” Bai Jin gave a cold laugh. He placed a glass tube on the table. “In here is the remaining baijiu that Zhuzhi drank that night. Want to guess what we found inside?”

Baofu frowned slightly but maintained a look of perfect blankness. “What does that have to do with me?”

“We found barbituric acid.”

—