Baofu heard the name, continued blinking, and said, “Barbi — what acid? What is that?”
“Barbituric acid is a form of sedative. When taken in small doses, it induces drowsiness and sleep.” Bai Jin fixed his eyes on him. “According to Zhuzhi, that bottle of baijiu was given to him by you. Why was a sedative found in the baijiu you provided?”
“I don’t know anything about that. I just bought a bottle of baijiu. Who knew there was any sedative in it?”
Bai Jin let out a cold sound and set a grimy wall clock in front of Baofu. “Recognize this?”
“I do. That’s the clock from the furnace room.”
“Does this clock keep accurate time?” Bai Jin took out a pocket watch and compared them.
“Very accurate. Don’t let the age fool you — it’s always been reliable. Never broken down once.” Baofu answered respectfully.
“Zhuzhi says the battery in this clock was replaced just last week. Yet we found several fresh fingerprints on its surface. If they had been left by whoever changed the battery, a week of soot from the furnace room would have buried them. These prints were left recently.” Bai Jin suddenly seized Baofu’s hand and pressed it down against the table. Baofu grimaced and hissed through his teeth.
“Ow, ow, ow — Officer, what are you doing?”
Bai Jin said, “When we compared them, the fingerprints on this clock are yours. How do you explain that?”
“I…” Baofu’s eyes shifted briefly. “One day it was two minutes fast, so I adjusted it.”
“You just said it never loses accuracy. Now it was two minutes fast?”
Baofu paused. A cold sweat began to seep down his back. “Well, occasionally it goes off a little.”
“Your story contradicts itself at every turn — the holes are everywhere now.” Shi Ting, who had been sitting to the side, suddenly spoke. “The method you used was quite simple. First you gave Zhuzhi the baijiu laced with the sedative. After Zhuzhi drank it and began to feel drowsy, you told him you were going to the toilet — and deliberately asked him the time. Zhuzhi noted it was 1:10 and then fell asleep. You slipped away. Over an hour later, you returned to the furnace room and turned the clock back to 1:20. Then you shook Zhuzhi awake and asked him the time again. Zhuzhi glanced at the clock and told you it was 1:20. After Zhuzhi had fallen fully back to sleep, you adjusted the clock back to the correct time. What’s strange, though, is this: the clock was right there on the wall. You have perfectly good eyes and ears — you could have looked at it yourself. Why go out of your way to ask Zhuzhi for the time, not once but repeatedly?”
Hearing Shi Ting lay it all out with such precise and deliberate delivery, Baofu slowly bowed his head and let out a long, heavy sigh. “All right. I admit it — that night, I did slip out. But I went out to drink. Yanque Tower has rules against attendants leaving without permission. I was afraid Zhuzhi would report me, so I did what I did. But all I did was go drink. Please don’t tell the madam — she’ll have my hide.”
Baofu’s manner was one of perfect innocence tinged with a plea. On this masterfully composed face, not a single crack seemed visible.
Bai Jin frowned slightly, though it quickly gave way to a calm smile. He had clearly anticipated this kind of deflection. He clapped his hands twice. A few more Yanque Tower attendants were brought in.
“Baofu, you claim you went to drink that night — can anyone corroborate that?”
“I found a quiet hillside and drank by myself and ate a chicken. That sort of thing you do precisely because you don’t want anyone to see you — so naturally I wasn’t going to let anyone witness it.”
“You’re certain you went to the hillside, and not to Darunfa with Mo Xiangrong?”
At the mention of Darunfa, a flicker passed through Baofu’s eyes — brief, quickly suppressed. “I did see Young Master Mo that day, but he’s a young master and I’m just an attendant. I’m not the type who’d have the face to go to Darunfa with him.”
“Then do you know how Mo Xiangrong died?”
Baofu quickly shook his head.
“Mo Xiangrong was locked inside a large vat in a private room at Darunfa and suffocated to death by the heat. At the time of Mo Xiangrong’s death, the other suspect in this case, Li Haotian, was still in his apartment in Nianyu Lane. Darunfa’s manager and staff also confirmed they did not see him that night.”
The roomful of observers outside hadn’t known how Mo Xiangrong had died. Hearing that he had been sealed in a vat and suffocated, they immediately broke into murmurs and exchanges. The reporters, in particular, had their eyes gleaming.
Zhao Gang, hearing this too, couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He had assumed he’d be listening in on some unrelated case. He had no idea it would be Mo Xiangrong’s case. His instincts told him this arrangement was far from accidental.
He couldn’t help but prick up his ears and listen intently.
Bai Jin continued, “After Mo Xiangrong’s death, a coal delivery worker discovered him and carried him out of Darunfa. According to Darunfa’s staff, the coal delivery worker said that Mo Xiangrong, before losing consciousness, had told him to bring him to the vehicle parked in the lane — where his attendant would be waiting. But our investigation found that only a rickshaw had been parked in that lane that day — no car, no attendant. A resident who happened to step outside that night to use the outhouse can confirm this.”
Baofu listened, his head dipping a little lower, as though turning something over in his mind.
“Though Darunfa’s staff could not recall the coal delivery worker’s appearance, they did exchange a few words with him. We’ve brought the Darunfa staff here today — they’re in the next room.” Bai Jin addressed the Yanque Tower attendants who had just been brought in: “Each of you take this paper tube and say the following line, one at a time: ‘His vehicle is parked in the lane — his attendant will take him to the hospital.’ The staff cannot see your faces. They can only hear your voices. They have no reason to falsely accuse anyone.”
Bai Jin handed the paper tube to Zhuzhi first. Zhuzhi took it and read the line as instructed.
This was, in essence, a simple voice transmission device. Sound spoken into one end traveled through a cord to another room.
In that other room, Tongfa and two staff members listened carefully to the voices coming through the tube.
When the tube reached Baofu, there was a visible hesitation before he steeled himself and took it. Bai Jin said, “You’re number five. Go ahead.”
Once Baofu had spoken, the results came back from the other room: after listening carefully, all three staff members unanimously identified the voice of number five as closely matching the coal delivery worker from that night.
Baofu immediately grew agitated. “Similar voices don’t prove I was actually at Darunfa that night.”
“I knew you wouldn’t admit it.” Bai Jin let out a light laugh and placed another evidence bag in front of him. Inside the transparent bag were two keys — both of an unusual shape, clearly custom-made.
At the sight of them, Baofu’s face visibly darkened.
Shi Ting observed the shift in his expression. His lips curved faintly. “If you never went to Darunfa, how did the two keys found on Mo Xiangrong’s body come to be in your quarters?”
Baofu said nothing.
“Mo Xiangrong had secretly made copies of the keys to his brother-in-law Wen Xu’s collection room and used them to steal a box of prized cigars and tobacco. Afraid that Wen Xu would discover the theft, he naturally didn’t dare keep the keys at home. In your conversations with Mo Xiangrong, you learned about the keys. Mo Xiangrong, who hadn’t hidden from you how he’d obtained the cigars, had even told you in detail, with no small amount of pride, exactly how he’d pulled off the theft. Seeing an opportunity, you immediately arranged a transaction between Mo Xiangrong and Li Haotian. After the deal was concluded, Mo Xiangrong, as a gesture of thanks, offered to treat you to a meal. You told him you wanted to take a bath. Mo Xiangrong shared that particular habit, and naturally he agreed at once. You told him to go to Darunfa ahead of you — that you’d join him once you’d arranged things on your end. Once he’d gone, you manufactured your alibi, then pulled a rickshaw to the lane behind Darunfa. Disguised as a coal delivery worker, you entered the private room and sealed Mo Xiangrong alive inside the vat, killing him with the heat. After his death, you told the staff he had suffered heatstroke and needed to be taken to a hospital. Then you placed his body in your rickshaw, pulled it to Nianyu Lane, and dumped Mo Xiangrong’s corpse in Li Haotian’s courtyard.”
Baofu listened. As Shi Ting spoke each word with precise, cutting clarity, a thin sheen of sweat began to form on Baofu’s forehead.
“After discarding the body, you stayed hidden nearby and watched. You saw Li Haotian discover Mo Xiangrong’s corpse. Li Haotian, fearing unnecessary trouble, chose to try to move the body and dispose of it at the seaside. Once Li Haotian had left, you entered the house and strangled Xianglan. You also opened the cellar and threw Mo Xiangrong’s clothing and bag inside — all to frame Li Haotian. While discarding the bag, you noticed those keys. The thought of the collection room and its treasures took hold of you. Driven by greed, you decided to keep the two keys and find an opportunity to pay a visit to the Wen residence at night. That single moment of greed is what left us with evidence that cannot be argued away.”
Bai Jin added from the side, “I went back and examined the footprints at the scene more carefully. Every other attendant who came in to look for Xianglan left exactly two sets of prints — one going in, one going out. Only yours showed four sets — two in, two out. Everyone else present that day confirmed that when they found Xianglan dead, they went in and immediately came back out. How do you explain that additional set of prints?”
Baofu’s face had gone completely bloodless. His lips parted and closed several times. In the end, he had nothing to say.
“And the rickshaw you used to transport the body — we found that as well. On it were not only your fingerprints, but the clothing you wore when you disguised yourself as the coal delivery worker. Baofu — the evidence is overwhelming. You murdered Mo Xiangrong and Xianglan, and framed Li Haotian. There is no longer any way to deny these crimes. Do you have anything left to say?”
The head that had been bowed for so long suddenly lifted. What followed was a string of cold laughs that seemed to scrape out from between his teeth. Before anyone could react, Baofu fell backward with a loud crash, and great streams of white foam began pouring from his mouth.