With Wang Laoliu present, Hu Cuihua was considerably more subdued. Yet the occasional glances exchanged between the two of them did not escape Zheng Yun’s notice.

Before long, Xiao Xu, who had left earlier, suddenly returned.

“Director Zheng, I’ve retrieved the items.” Xiao Xu handed over two evidence bags.

Zheng Yun took them and examined them carefully, his expression one of composed understanding.

“Hu Cuihua and Wang Laoliu are suspected of murdering villager Cheng Qingsong. They will now be taken to the Military Police Division for investigation.” Zheng Yun looked at the two stunned individuals. “The evidence is conclusive. What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“I didn’t kill anyone.” Wang Laoliu frantically waved his hands. “I didn’t kill anyone. How could I possibly kill someone? I say you’re making slanderous accusations.”

“This is the evidence of your guilt.” In Zheng Yun’s evidence bag was a piece of gray linen fabric. “This is from the trousers Cheng Qingsong was wearing at the time of his death. I had Xiao Xu return to the Military Police Division and asked a colleague in the forensics unit to examine the trouser legs. The results revealed two sets of five-finger impressions on them. The reason we can confirm these are five-finger impressions is that the prints all contain traces of blue dye.”

The security director leaned in for a closer look. Thanks to technical processing, the faintly blue-tinged fingerprints were very clear.

“Cheng Qingsong’s hands were completely clean, with no contact with blue pigment. So where did this pigment come from, and why did it appear on his trouser legs?” Zheng Yun had Xiao Xu produce the bedsheet Cheng Qingsong had slept on. “Similarly, comparable blue pigment was found on Cheng Qingsong’s bedsheet. After identification, this type of pigment is used for coloring ceramics.”

Wang Laoliu hastily argued, “In our village, eight out of ten households make ceramics. You’re using this dye to say I killed him? Is that evidence? Besides, this pigment might have rubbed off on Cheng Qingsong somewhere. After all, you can pick up dye all over the village.”

The onlooking villagers agreed — concluding that Wang Laoliu was the killer based solely on this pigment seemed a stretch.

Zheng Yun continued unhurriedly, “First, this pigment was not transferred to Cheng Qingsong on his own — transferred pigment would not produce five-finger impressions. Furthermore, though the pigments used are broadly similar, there are differences in the proportions of their constituent components. Even if you all use the same type of dye, the concentration of different substances in each batch varies.”

He turned to the security director. “Director, would you please go to Wang Laoliu’s home and check whether he has any blue dye currently in use?”

“Of course. I’ll go right away.”

At these words, Wang Laoliu visibly shrank with unease. He stole a glance at Hu Cuihua, who was blinking at him.

“Allow me to explain why blue pigment that doesn’t exist at his home would appear on Cheng Qingsong’s trouser legs and bedsheet.” Zheng Yun turned to face the crowd of watching villagers. “For that, we must begin with the cause of Cheng Qingsong’s death.”

“Didn’t Cheng Qingsong drink poison and kill himself?” a villager called out.

“Pesticide compounds were indeed detected in Cheng Qingsong’s stomach, yet his liver and kidneys showed not the slightest trace of pesticide residue. If the deceased was strangled to death before pesticide was poured into his mouth, the pesticide could enter the stomach, but because metabolic processes had ceased, it could not reach the liver or kidneys. This is the precise conclusion reached after forensic autopsy and technical analysis.”

“So Cheng Qingsong wasn’t actually poisoned!” The crowd erupted in clamor.

“Then how did he die?” someone asked curiously.

“The forensic examiner found deep muscular hemorrhaging in Cheng Qingsong’s neck, caused by external force applied to the neck during his lifetime. Because no marks were left on the surface of the skin, the forensic examiner concluded that the murder weapon used to strangle Cheng Qingsong was something soft — such as a cloth towel.”

Zheng Yun’s gaze settled on Hu Cuihua. “Someone wrapped a towel around Cheng Qingsong’s neck. Cheng Qingsong must have struggled violently. At the same time, another person pinned down his legs. In his struggle, his hands attempted to push the attacker away — and so, beneath his fingernails, we found several textile fibers. These fibers came from a red knitted garment.”

At that moment, Hu Cuihua — handcuffed to the railing — was wearing a thin red knitted sweater.

Upon hearing this, the color drained instantly from Hu Cuihua’s face.

“Based on my reconstruction, this is what took place at the scene.” Zheng Yun’s voice was calm and steady, like someone telling a story, drawing the crowd to listen with rapt attention.

“Hu Cuihua and Wang Laoliu had been carrying on an illicit affair throughout Cheng Qingsong’s absences from home. On that night, the two of them happened to be together at Cheng Qingsong’s house when he unexpectedly returned and discovered their relationship. He was furious. Wang Laoliu, who has a wife and children, could not afford to have the affair exposed. Hu Cuihua, who had remained childless through many years with Cheng Qingsong and despised him for his failings and vices, agreed to act. Hu Cuihua strangled Cheng Qingsong while Wang Laoliu pinned down his legs. After Cheng Qingsong was dead, fearing their crime would be discovered, the two found a bottle of concentrated pesticide and poured it into his mouth.”

He had Xiao Xu display the bedsheet in hand. “Look here — there are large pesticide stains around the area where the deceased’s head would have been. Consider this: how did these stains come to be splashed about? Would someone drink poison while lying flat on their back? And if not lying down, how could such a small bottle opening cause so much to spill across the entire bed?”

The crowd nodded in agreement.

“Therefore, there is only one explanation. After Cheng Qingsong was dead, the killers forcibly poured pesticide into his mouth. This is also why the pesticide was found only in the stomach and nowhere in the liver or kidneys.”

“Cheng Qingsong was really murdered?”

“That Hu Cuihua is truly vicious.”

“So Hu Cuihua and Wang Laoliu were having an affair? No one could tell before. Wang Laoliu’s wife is a fierce woman — if she finds out, she’ll have his hide.”

Amid the villagers’ discussion, Wang Laoliu’s face cycled between red and white. He shouted his defense loudly: “You say it was me based on a handprint and some blue dye — isn’t that completely arbitrary? Plenty of people in this village have hands and blue dye in their homes. Why single me out? And as for saying I had an affair with Hu Cuihua — do you have evidence?”

Zheng Yun regarded him with cool eyes. “Have you not noticed something distinctive about this fingerprint? The index finger portion is missing a section.”

He grabbed Wang Laoliu’s right wrist and held up his hand for all to see. “Wang Laoliu, your right index finger is missing its lower half — which is why it left a fingerprint with a missing section on Cheng Qingsong’s trousers.”

Wang Laoliu had lost that portion of his finger in an accident while doing ceramic work. He had never imagined it would leave evidence like this.

“Director Zheng, I found it.” The security director came hurrying back, carrying a bucket filled with blue pigment. “This was found at Wang Laoliu’s home. A freshly opened batch of dye — yet his ceramics are already painted and nearly finished products.”

“If your ceramics were already done, why did you come asking Cheng Qingsong for help?” Zheng Yun’s dark eyes bore into him. “Asking for help was the pretense. The true purpose was to use the opportunity to make everyone think he had drunk poison and killed himself.”

“I — I didn’t.”

“The evidence is conclusive. Can you still deny it?”

“Hu Cuihua and I have no illicit relationship.” Wang Laoliu shouted in desperation. “Why would I kill Cheng Qingsong?”

“Unless I’m mistaken, Hu Cuihua must currently be pregnant.” Ling’ai stood behind Zheng Yun, her voice clear and composed. “Hu Cuihua’s vivid, carefully chosen attire marks her as someone who takes great pride in her appearance — yet on her feet she wears a pair of flat cloth shoes, which is entirely out of keeping with the rest of her clothing. I believe there are two possible explanations: either she put on the wrong shoes in a hurry, or there is some reason she must wear comfortable flat shoes.”

Ling’ai looked Hu Cuihua over. Hu Cuihua instinctively drew her feet back.

“She has dressed herself so meticulously — clearly she put effort into it — so it is impossible that she put on the wrong shoes. That leaves only one possibility: she is pregnant. Because she has never had children before, she is precious about this sudden pregnancy. No matter how much she loves beauty, she is willing to wear flat shoes that are better for the child.”

A collective expression of understanding passed over the gathered onlookers.

Zheng Yun did not turn around, but the corner of his mouth curved slightly upward in an expression of quiet admiration. He had not expected Ling’ai to be so observant — not only had she spotted the furtive Wang Laoliu, but she had also uncovered Hu Cuihua’s pregnancy.

Wang Laoliu still seemed about to deny it when Hu Cuihua suddenly crumbled emotionally, crouching down on the ground and wailing aloud, “Wang Laoliu — I’m pregnant. The child is yours.”

Wang Laoliu’s face was equally stunned. He had only just learned of this.

After it became clear Cheng Qingsong could not father children, Hu Cuihua had spent her days fighting with him. One time, after storming out of the house, she had run into Wang Laoliu, who was himself nursing a grievance from a quarrel with his wife. The two had drunk together and shortly after began a private affair.

With Cheng Qingsong away in another village, his home had become a secret haven for the two of them, and this arrangement had continued for several years.

Then one day Cheng Qingsong came home and walked in on them. Hu Cuihua, who was carrying Wang Laoliu’s child, knew that if Cheng Qingsong did not die, the child she bore would be subjected to ridicule, so she urged Wang Laoliu to kill him together.

After Cheng Qingsong was dead, they staged a false scene of suicide by poisoning, and had Wang Laoliu be the one to “discover” the body.

Everything should have been ruled a suicide — but the security office had seen fit to involve itself, sending Cheng Qingsong’s body to the Military Police Division. Under an agreement with the Medical Academy, the Military Police Division periodically provided unclaimed bodies for instruction.

As the first body to be sent, Cheng Qingsong was examined by Yan Qing during her lecture, who determined it to be a homicide. In some unseen way, all things find their reckoning in the end.

With the case seemingly wrapped up, Zheng Yun had Xiao Xu remove Hu Cuihua’s cuffs in preparation to take her back to the Military Police Division. At that very moment, as Zheng Yun turned away, the powerfully built Hu Cuihua suddenly shoved Xiao Xu aside, snatched the nearby shovel, and swung it hard at Zheng Yun’s head.

—