Yan Qing trusted in Qiao Yiran’s ability to turn the tide of public opinion — and Qiao Yiran did not disappoint her.

By some means Yan Qing could not quite fathom, Qiao Yiran persuaded the publisher of the Xin Yue Newspaper. This established paper began to take Yan Qing’s side.

The Xin Yue Newspaper had long been renowned for its coverage of the Military Police Division’s various cases, and its lead reporter Qiao Yiran had an immense readership.

Qiao Yiran’s articles were vivid and heartfelt, offering a thorough analysis of the entire arc of the case from beginning to end. By comparison, Liu Ren’s piece was thin and unconvincing, its many details unable to withstand close scrutiny.

Through Qiao Yiran’s efforts, public opinion that had been on the verge of tipping over was pulled back. Still, readers waited to see how things would unfold — some believed the Xin Yue Newspaper, others believed the “hearsay.” In no time at all, supporters and opponents divided into two distinct camps.

The two camps even had their own informal leaders. These leaders clashed endlessly with each other, trading daily verbal salvos.

In the end, what people were paying attention to had shifted entirely away from the case itself and onto the battles between the camps’ respective leaders — for they had even opened a debate platform, and when words failed, they flung cabbages at one another.

People watched the spectacle and picked up free cabbages, and no one seemed truly concerned with how the case was progressing.

When Yan Qing heard all this from E’Yuan, she couldn’t help but find it amusing. She had only wanted Qiao Yiran to control the public narrative — she hadn’t expected Qiao Yiran to steer it entirely off course.

With Qiao Yiran’s uproar, the person behind this scheme was probably fuming. Because those two debate-camp leaders were now, quite apparently, more famous than the Military Police Division itself — and whether or not Yan Qing was a murderer had become something the public was treating as entertainment.

“Where’s Bai Jin?”

“Squad Leader Bai went to the Yan Mansion again.” Director Gu said. “At this rate, the threshold of the Yan Mansion will be worn flat by him.”

Under these circumstances, repeatedly revisiting the scene was the only way to uncover valuable leads.

Bai Jin arrived at the Yan Mansion again. Yan Xu was no longer willing to receive him, and merely had a servant lead him to the room where Madam Yan had been killed.

Bai Jin knelt with a magnifying glass and combed through the scene centimeter by centimeter.

The conditions for lifting footprints were poor to begin with, and the scene had been badly disturbed by the time Madam Yan’s body was discovered, leaving overlapping and tangled footprints with almost no value for extraction.

Bai Jin moved to the window on the western side. Beyond this window was a pond, where goldfish had been kept in warmer seasons — fish too delicate for the cold, which would have been moved to the heated room for winter. Looking out now, only a thin layer of ice covered the water’s surface, with no sign of any fish.

Bai Jin said to Xiao Liu beside him: “This room has only two windows — the west window and the east window. Outside the east window is the main courtyard. A killer couldn’t just walk openly through the main entrance and back out, could they? What if they ran into a maid?”

Xiao Liu nodded: “But if not through the east window, it would have to be the west window. Outside the west window is all water — would the killer have swum across?”

“Don’t forget — sister-in-law said the killer is likely someone with martial training. They may have another way.”

Bai Jin leaned out the window and looked upward. He could see the eaves high above, and on the other side of the eaves, a large banyan tree with thick, sweeping branches. One of the tree’s stout boughs extended directly over the eaves.

“Xiao Liu, go find a ladder. I want to get up on the roof.”

Xiao Liu quickly had a servant fetch a ladder, and the two climbed up to the rooftop.

The roof was laid with dark brown tiles, tightly packed layer upon layer.

“The Yan Family really is wealthy — look at the quality of these tiles. Top-grade. No leaks even in heavy rain.” Bai Jin murmured to himself as he made his way to the area above the west window.

He tested the tree branch with his hands. “The branch is very sturdy — easily capable of bearing a full-grown adult’s weight.”

“Squad Leader Bai, are you saying the killer climbed up from the banyan tree in the back, came across the rooftop, and entered through the west window?”

“At the moment, that seems to be the only possible route.”

Bai Jin crouched down and examined the area carefully with his magnifying glass. “Getting from this rooftop down into the room isn’t something an ordinary person could do — one misstep and you’d fall straight into the fish pond below. It wouldn’t be deep enough to drown in, but the noise would certainly alert anyone in the room.”

Xiao Liu looked straight down. It was a ninety-degree drop, roughly four meters, and the tiles were smooth — grabbing onto them to swing down would not be easy.

“I could do it, but I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t land in the fish pond.” Xiao Liu remarked.

As he spoke, he watched Bai Jin tie a rope around his own waist, the other end fastened to the banyan branch.

“Squad Leader Bai, what are you doing?” Xiao Liu asked urgently.

“Testing whether it’s viable.” Bai Jin was already at the spot above the west window. He found a good grip and seized the tiles with both hands, then lowered his body until he hung from the eaves. Just as he was about to swing his legs through the west window, something beneath the tiles caught his eye.

“What is this?” In that moment, Bai Jin forgot he was hanging in midair. When his right hand reached out, his left could no longer hold — and he slipped.

Fortunately, the rope attached to the tree pulled taut and caught him. He swung back and forth, dangling beside the west window.

Bai Jin paid no attention to any of this, and shouted upward: “Xiao Liu — quick — evidence bag, tweezers!”

Xiao Liu hurriedly lay flat against the tiles and passed the items down, and Bai Jin used the tweezers to extract a thin thread from beneath the tiles.

He carefully placed the thread in the evidence bag. “Xiao Liu, pull me up.”

Once Xiao Liu hauled him back up, he asked with excitement: “Squad Leader Bai, did you find something?”

“Look at this.” Bai Jin’s head was beaded with sweat. He held up the evidence bag. “What do you think this is?”

Xiao Liu pressed his eyes almost to the bag and stared for a long moment. “It looks like a thread from a piece of clothing.”

“Exactly.” Bai Jin grinned. “When the killer swung down from the eaves, they must have snagged their clothing on the tiles. This thread was left behind beneath the tiles — if I hadn’t gone down from above, I never would have found it.”

“A single thread — what can it tell us?”

“Take it back and let Director Gu examine it. He may know something. And the tiles here must also have fingerprints left by the killer.”

Bai Jin brought the evidence bag to the interrogation room. Director Gu’s office had now essentially relocated there from the forensics department.

He and Yan Qing were taking shifts around the clock, barely paying attention to anything outside.

“Let me see.” When Director Gu heard there was a new lead, he quickly stripped off his gloves.

Yan Qing said: “You go first — I’ll watch things here.”

Director Gu took the thread to the lab. Before long, he had results.

“This is a coarse hemp fiber — taken from the stem of a plant, very easy to identify. Furthermore, this coarse hemp fiber has been dyed: dark blue in color. The dye used is also of inferior quality.”

Bai Jin listened and frowned. “If this fiber comes from a piece of clothing, the garment would have to be rough and cheaply made.”

“The servants of the Yan Mansion — in winter, they all wear a uniform dark blue padded jacket.” Yan Qing said from the side. “These jackets are purchased collectively by the household. Every servant wears the same thing. You could go to the Yan Mansion and bring one back for comparison.”

Bai Jin quickly sent someone on yet another run to the Yan Mansion, and soon a servant’s padded jacket was delivered to Director Gu.

Director Gu said with excitement: “Wait for me a moment — I’ll be quick.”

Director Gu was as efficient as his word. Before long he emerged again. “Sister-in-law was right — this fiber matches perfectly with the fabric from the Yan Mansion servants’ clothing. Both are coarse hemp fiber with inferior dark blue dye.”

Xiao Liu was so pleased he was nearly clapping: “Wonderful! So the killer was among the Yan Mansion’s servants.”

Bai Jin cut him off: “We can’t conclude that just because someone wore servant’s clothing, they are a servant. What if the killer deliberately dressed in servant’s attire as a disguise?”

“Squad Leader Bai is right.” Xiao Liu scratched his head. “I was too hasty.”

“Don’t forget — the killer has burn marks on their hands and forearms.” E’Yuan reminded them. “Whether or not the killer disguised themselves as a Yan Mansion servant, the burns on their hands cannot be disguised.”

“Our lead forensic examiner makes an excellent point.” Bai Jin clapped E’Yuan on the shoulder twice — and with his considerable strength, nearly knocked E’Yuan flat.

E’Yuan glared at him with dissatisfaction and let out a loud snort.

“Sister-in-law, how do you suggest we go about finding this person?” Bai Jin asked for guidance. “If all else fails, we check every master and servant in the Yan Mansion and see whose hands show burn marks.”

Yan Qing shook her head: “You’ve been going back and forth to the Yan Mansion so many times — they’re lucky Yan Xu hasn’t thrown you out yet. He will not cooperate with you checking every person in the Yan Mansion. If you provoke him, he really will go to the Inspection Bureau to file a complaint.”

“Sister-in-law, your elder brother is truly pigheaded. I’m just trying to find out who killed his Mother as soon as possible!”

“In their eyes, they have already decided I’m the killer. They believe what you’re doing is unnecessary — or worse, that you’re trying to shield me. So they will not cooperate.”

Yan Qing thought for a moment: “Tomorrow is New Year. Every year at this time, the Yan Mansion has new outfits made for its servants. Tailors come to the house to measure everyone individually.”

“If we could blend in somehow…” Bai Jin rubbed his hands together.

“This is handled by the Yan Family’s steward Song Cheng. Steward Song is my Father’s trusted confidant. You only need to find him and explain what we’re hoping to do — he’ll know how to arrange it.”