Shi Ting held out his credentials. “Military Police Bureau. Please cooperate with our investigation.”

“Military Police Bureau?” Long Yue looked mildly startled. He examined the credentials carefully, then looked at Shi Ting with admiration. “So you’re the renowned Director Shi.”

He turned to Yan Qing. “And Miss Mingming is—?”

“I’m not Mingming. My name is Yan Qing.” Yan Qing sighed. “I’m the forensic consultant for the Military Police Bureau.”

“Forensic consultant? You’re so young and already a forensic consultant?” Recalling their encounter at the market, Long Yue believed it.

Shi Ting gestured toward the room where the cat had been shut away. “Is that cat yours?”

“No—a client hired me to find it.” Long Yue said. “That cat eats an enormous amount. I’ve been trying to contact its owner. If they don’t come collect it soon, I’ll be bankrupt.”

“Do you recognize this person?” Shi Ting placed a photograph of Cailing in front of Long Yue.

“That’s her—Cailing, right? She came to me about two months ago and paid me to find her cat. A great detective like me doing a job like finding a lost cat—a bit beneath my talents, wouldn’t you say?”

Yan Qing thought back to the words Long Yue had called out when they first entered: “Looking for a person, or looking for a cat or a dog?”

“This was your very first case, wasn’t it?” Yan Qing cut through the pretense.

Long Yue laughed awkwardly. “Well, I thought of it as practice. Finding a cat—how hard could it be?”

Yan Qing reflected that in this era, with no surveillance cameras and no tracking devices, finding even a person was extraordinarily difficult—let alone a cat.

Long Yue might put on a showy front, but he was no fool. He had actually succeeded in finding the cat. She had underestimated him.

Shi Ting asked, “How did you find the cat?”

“Simple.” Long Yue raised an eyebrow, his handsome face lit with confidence. “I plastered advertisements all over the city and offered a substantial reward. Spent thirty silver yuan and finally tracked it down.”

“And how much did your client pay you?”

“Ten copper coins.”

Shi Ting: “…”

Yan Qing: “…”

Never mind. She took back her earlier generous assessment. She had read him correctly all along.

“Please have a seat.” Long Yue gestured for them to sit on the sofa, then brought out a tea set and began brewing. “What brings you here? What’s happened to this girl—and when is she coming to collect her cat?”

“She’s dead.”

Long Yue’s hand paused over the tea set. “Dead?”

“She was murdered and her body was dumped in a reservoir. Her diary mentions you repeatedly. What was your relationship with her?”

“Detective and client—nothing more.” Long Yue grew flustered and turned to Yan Qing to explain. “Miss Mingming, there was truly nothing between me and Cailing. Please don’t misunderstand.”

Yan Qing: “…”

What did any of this have to do with her?

“You were in a romantic relationship with her, weren’t you?”

“Absolutely not. All I knew was that her name was Cailing and she’d lost a cat.”

“But she came here frequently.”

“She had—she was anxious about the cat and kept coming by to ask for updates. She was pushing me so hard that I finally resorted to offering a large reward.”

“I need to search your rooms.”

“Go ahead. Fair warning—it’s a bit untidy.”

Shi Ting rose to inspect the rooms. Long Yue took the opportunity to approach Yan Qing. “I didn’t realize you were a forensic specialist. My apologies for the presumption earlier.”

“No need to apologize.”

“What is your relationship with Director Shi, exactly?” Long Yue asked carefully.

Yan Qing said, “What do you think?”

“The two of you were just in each other’s arms…”

“I’m afraid of cats.”

“I see.” He seemed to exhale with something like relief. “Actually, the reason I wanted to speak with you is—would you consider working at my detective agency? I’d pay you more than the Military Police Bureau, and the hours are entirely flexible. Come when you want, leave when you want. I’d even pay you on days without cases.”

“She doesn’t need to.” The reply came from Shi Ting.

Shi Ting had returned, and his expression made his displeasure at Long Yue’s attempt to poach his colleague quite clear.

“Director Shi—did you find anything?”

“How long have you been open?” Shi Ting asked.

“Just over two months. Cailing was my first client—and, up to now, my only one.”

“All right, we’re done here.” Shi Ting had Long Yue sign the statement. “Thank you for your time.”

“You no longer suspect me?”

Shi Ting said, “You enjoy watching horse races?”

“I do—how did you know?”

“Your drawer contains dozens of race admission tickets. On the morning of the tenth, between nine and twelve o’clock, there was a championship performance. Your ticket bears two stamps—one for entry, one for exit—showing that you were at the race from nine until twelve. You had no opportunity to commit the crime.”

“You could have just asked me.”

“Why ask when I can see for myself?”

Shi Ting finished speaking and pushed Yan Qing’s wheelchair toward the door. Long Yue hurried after them.

“I can offer you a lead.”

Shi Ting stopped.

“The last time Cailing came to see me, she seemed to have something weighing on her mind. She was a client—I couldn’t very well ask her about it. But the way she looked at me was strange.”

“Strange how?”

“It felt like… like someone who had done something they felt guilty about toward me.” Long Yue paused to scratch his head, then looked over at Yan Qing again. “There really was nothing between us.”

“Noted. Thank you.” Shi Ting pushed Yan Qing toward the exit.

Long Yue followed a couple of steps. “Miss Mingming, please do consider my offer.”

Yan Qing let out a gentle sigh. “Mr. Long, have you ever thought about changing careers?”

“Not at all. I think I’m doing rather well.”

Yan Qing nodded. “If it suits you, then that’s what matters. Goodbye.”

By the time they left Long Yue’s detective agency, dusk had fallen.

Shi Ting took Yan Qing home first, then returned to the Military Police Bureau for a meeting.

“Director, the families of Nannan and Xiaoqiu have come to collect them.” An officer stepped forward with the report as soon as he walked in.

Nannan and Xiaoqiu had been brought in for questioning. Because they were students, a parent or guardian had to sign for their release before they could leave. Hu Yang had already been taken home by Principal Hu; the families of these two had only now arrived.

“This is Xiaoqiu’s brother, Ma Tao.” The officer said. “He has already signed.”

Ma Tao was wearing an old but neatly kept Western suit. When he spotted Shi Ting, he hurried over. “Officer, my little sister has always been a handful, but if she’s done anything wrong, please go easy on her. I’ll make sure to discipline her properly when we get home.”

“She hasn’t done anything wrong. We only brought her in for routine questioning.”

Shi Ting glanced at him. “You deal in herbal medicine?”

“Yes, sir—you have a sharp eye.”

It wasn’t sharp eyes. It was the smell of medicinal herbs.

“Do you know Cailing, Xiaoqiu’s good friend?”

“I do—a lovely girl, very close with Xiaoqiu.”

“She’s dead.”

“Dead?” Ma Tao’s shock was followed immediately by a frantic denial. “Officer, Xiaoqiu didn’t do it. She wouldn’t dare.”

“We don’t accuse innocent people. Take your sister home.”

Ma Tao thanked him repeatedly and left with Xiaoqiu.

As Xiaoqiu came out, Nannan emerged at the same time, her brow furrowed in thought about something unknown.

“You wretched girl.” Nannan’s father lunged forward as if to strike her, but the officer beside him quickly intervened.

“Your daughter hasn’t broken any law—she only came in to assist with our investigation. Why would you hit her?”

Nannan’s father, a man named Old Liu, shouted with a red face, “I’ll hit her anyway.”

“That’s completely unreasonable.” The officer spoke up indignantly on the girl’s behalf. “What kind of father acts like this—striking without even knowing what happened?”

“I do know what happened—you suspected her of murder, didn’t you?”

At that, Shi Ting looked over sharply. “How did you know?”

Old Liu’s eyes flickered. “I heard about it at the hospital.”

“The hospital? How would the hospital know about this case?”

“How would I know? The nurses were talking about it.” Old Liu didn’t want to pursue the subject. He grabbed Nannan by the arm and headed for the door.

The young officer grew anxious. “Director, shouldn’t we detain him? It makes sense that news would spread around the school—Cailing had been missing for days and her family had been going to the school to search for her. But why would the hospital know?”

“Hospital staff can have connections to people at the school. Information sometimes travels between places.” Shi Ting paused, then his eyes suddenly sharpened. “Get a car ready immediately. We’re going to the hospital. Bring Zheng Yun.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once Zheng Yun was in the car, he asked, “Seventh Brother, which hospital are we going to?”

The white bedsheet could be found not only in school dormitories but also in hospitals.

“The First Hospital,” Shi Ting said. “We don’t need to go anywhere else.”

“Are you certain the sheet came from the First Hospital, Seventh Brother?”

Shi Ting nodded. “Let’s go.”

When the two arrived at the hospital, they went straight to the inpatient ward at the rear of the building.

After showing their credentials to the head nurse, she cooperated fully and retrieved a freshly laundered sheet. “Officers, this is the standard sheet used in our inpatient ward. We’ve been using the same design since the hospital was established—it’s never been changed.”

Zheng Yun took the sheet and unfolded it. The size matched the sheet that had wrapped the body almost exactly. In the lower corner, printed in red text in a semi-circular arc, were clearly legible words: Shun Cheng First Hospital Inpatient Ward.

Zheng Yun said, “The three characters remaining on the body’s sheet—’Cheng,’ ‘Yi,’ and ‘Bu’—are all present here.”

Shi Ting said, “The position is exactly the same. The sheet used to wrap the body is the same type.”

“But Seventh Brother, didn’t you also find a white sheet at the Shun Cheng University dormitory with those same three characters—’Cheng,’ ‘Yi,’ and ‘Bu’?”

“Think carefully about the body sheet—specifically where the missing characters would go—and then try fitting the text from both sheets into those gaps.”

Shun Cheng University First-Year Women’s Dormitory

Shun Cheng First Hospital Inpatient Ward

“You’ll find that if you use the university sheet’s text, one character is left over with no place to fit. So the sheet used to wrap the body is the hospital’s sheet.”

“The killer is from the hospital? I recall that Nannan’s father, Old Liu, works at the hospital—and his behavior today was quite suspicious. As Cailing’s friend, Nannan’s father may have been driven by lust. He has motive.”

Shi Ting turned to the head nurse. “Who has access to the sheets here?”

“The nurses and doctors on duty, and the logistics staff responsible for laundry.”

“Is inventory strictly managed?”

The head nurse said, “Items are logged and recorded, but with something like sheets, no one truly pays attention if there’s one more or one less. Old sheets, torn ones—if staff need them, they’re free to take them home. No one questions it.”

“Could you please provide a complete list of all medical staff who have had access to the sheets in the inpatient ward—ideally from when the hospital first opened until now.”

Given that the sheet used by the killer showed heavy wear suggesting it was several years old, and given the staff turnover over those years, the killer might no longer be employed at the hospital.

“That’s… rather a lot to ask.” The head nurse hesitated, but apparently conceded something on account of the handsome face before her. “All right. I’ll go speak with the personnel office—my husband runs it.”

“One more thing, if you don’t mind.” Shi Ting called after her. “You have a furnace worker here by the surname Liu?”

“You mean Old Liu?” the head nurse said. “He’s down in the boiler room.”

“Is there anyone at your hospital who knows about the female student’s murder case at Shun Cheng University?”

“Everyone does—the whole hospital knows.” The head nurse helpfully explained, “Our deputy director’s wife is a teacher at Shun Cheng University—she teaches the very class the victim was in.”

In a place like this, any news of significance spread quickly from person to person until it reached every corner of the building—including the boiler room.

Shi Ting and Zheng Yun exchanged a glance.

It was no longer surprising that Old Liu, Nannan’s father, knew about Cailing’s case.

That said, it didn’t rule him out as a suspect either.

While the head nurse went to retrieve the records, Zheng Yun asked curiously, “How did you know Old Liu worked in the boiler room, Seventh Brother?”

“All ten of his fingers were blackened. Coal dust under his nails, coal residue on the soles of his shoes. The only place in a hospital where you’d pick up something like that is the boiler room.”

The head nurse was remarkably efficient. Half an hour later, she returned with a list.

“This is the record of all staff who have worked in the inpatient ward and had access to the sheets since the hospital was founded.” She added, “Many of the people on this list have already left the hospital. Please don’t ask me for their current addresses or contact information—I genuinely can’t obtain those.”

Zheng Yun took it and looked at the page filled with densely packed names. His head immediately ached at the sight.

“Do we have to investigate every single one of these people, Seventh Brother?”

Shi Ting said, “For now, that appears to be the only way.”

“Understood.” Zheng Yun was undaunted. “The sheet is the most direct evidence leading us to the killer. Work through everyone on this list and we’ll flush them out.”

“Wait.” Shi Ting’s gaze locked onto a name. “Why is this person on the list?”

Zheng Yun followed the direction of his finger, and his brow drew together slightly. “This is unexpected.”

Shi Ting pointed to the name and asked the head nurse, “Do you remember this person?”

The head nurse wasn’t certain at first. “I’ve been here since the hospital opened, but with staff coming and going over the years, I can’t remember every face.”

She glanced at the name—and then recognition came immediately. “Oh, him. I remember. He left the hospital two years ago.”

“Did he resign voluntarily?”

“No.” The memory clearly remained fresh. “There was a patient who had a growth on his leg. He didn’t want to pay hospital prices for surgery, so he found this man and paid him to perform the operation privately. The surgery went badly—the patient’s condition only worsened—and eventually the patient came back to the hospital demanding compensation. The hospital let the man go.”

“He was a doctor?”

“No—he handled medication distribution in the inpatient ward.”

Zheng Yun was incredulous. “Someone in charge of handing out medicine had the nerve to perform surgery on a patient?”

“Everyone who works here has some kind of medical training—it just depends on what role they end up in.” The head nurse seemed unsurprised. “His misfortune was the location of the growth.”

Zheng Yun was at a loss for words.

Just then, a young officer came running up, breathless, and saluted. “Report, Director—Miss Yan has called.”

The officer had rushed all the way over; his uniform was soaked through with sweat.

Communication in this era was slow and cumbersome—information often had to travel through many indirect channels. Yan Qing had called the Military Police Bureau, and an officer had then driven to the hospital to find Shi Ting and deliver the message in person.

“What did Yan Qing say?” Shi Ting knew that Yan Qing wouldn’t be calling at this hour unless she had thought of something connected to the case.

The young officer steadied his breathing and tried to compose himself.

“Miss Yan said—she said she knows why the killer used scissors to cut open the ties on the victim’s undergarment.”

Shi Ting and Zheng Yun’s eyes lit up simultaneously.

“Miss Yan said the killer was performing cardiac compression on the victim.”

“Cardiac compression—isn’t that an emergency resuscitation technique? Why would the killer try to resuscitate the person they were killing?”

The young officer’s breathing had finally settled, and he was able to speak in full sentences again. “Miss Yan said that the victim was in respiratory distress at the time. The killer used scissors to cut open the ties of her undergarment in order to help her breathe. The skin beneath the ties was undamaged, which means the killer’s movements were careful and deliberate—afraid of injuring the victim. So the killer had medical knowledge and had ready access to scissors. Cutting the undergarment ties was done to clear her airway—the most fundamental step before performing cardiac compression.”

Zheng Yun was even more confused. “According to Miss Yan, the killer was trying to save the victim, not kill her? Then why dump the body in the reservoir—isn’t that an attempt to conceal the crime?”

“I understand now.” The shadow lifted from Shi Ting’s eyes, replaced by sudden clarity. “Let’s go. We’re making an arrest.”

—