Huo Yuan emerged supported by E’Yuan’s arm. The moment her parents saw her face, they already had some sense of what had happened — yet they still refused to believe it, and pressed her frantically for answers.

“It isn’t your sister, is it?” Madam Huo clutched Huo Yuan’s hands desperately, only then noticing that they were as cold as ice.

“Father, Mother…” Huo Yuan opened her mouth, but she could not find the courage to speak the cruel words aloud. She could only pull Madam Huo into a tight embrace and break into open sobs.

Watching the family of three weep together, E’Yuan glanced over at Yan Qing — but Yan Qing was reading the autopsy report and did not notice his gaze.

“Director Shi, I beg you to seek justice for my daughter. Find the person who killed her.” When Shi Ting came downstairs from the second floor, the Huo family gathered around him at once.

“It was Liu Fei. It must have been him — he killed my daughter.” Madam Huo’s face was flushed as she cried out. “I told Ah Li time and again not to associate with that man. All he wanted was her money. But she refused to listen.”

“That’s right — Liu Fei. He’s addicted to gambling. When he couldn’t get money from Ah Li, he killed her out of rage.”

Just then, Bai Jin came through the front door with a young man in tow. The man wore a brown jacket, grey straight-leg trousers, and round-toed black leather shoes. His hair was slicked back neatly with pomade, and at first glance, he was not bad-looking.

“That’s him — he’s the one who killed my daughter!” The Huo family spotted the young man and lunged forward, eyes red-rimmed with grief. It took two officers their full strength to pull them back.

To manage the family’s emotions, Bai Jin led Liu Fei into the interrogation room inside.

Liu Fei’s right hand was cuffed to the chair. He kept insisting he was innocent.

“Innocent, my foot.” Bai Jin planted one foot on a chair and slapped a file down in front of Liu Fei. “This woman. You know her?”

Liu Fei glanced at the photograph and blinked. “I — I know her. But we weren’t very close…”

“Tell the truth.” Bai Jin slammed the table. “Her family’s right outside. Want me to hand you over to them to reason things out?”

At the memory of the Huo family’s expressions — as if they wanted to tear him apart alive — Liu Fei’s facial muscles twitched. He surrendered. “She — she’s really dead?”

“Less talk.”

“All right, we were together.”

“Be more specific.”

“It — it’s like this. I met Huo Li at a dance hall. We got to know each other over time and eventually became a couple. Her family was wealthy, but they were all against our relationship. After Huo Li argued with her family, she moved in with me. But this woman was a terrible flirt. Not long after we got together, she was behind my back seeing another man. I lost my temper and beat her up — and then she ran away.” Liu Fei said urgently. “After she ran, we lost contact entirely. That’s the truth.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“About a month ago — I can’t remember the exact date. I’d been drinking, and I’d lost money gambling. Then I caught her going out dancing with another man, so I hit her harder than I meant to. When I sobered up, she was gone. I looked for her but couldn’t find her.”

“So you didn’t kill her and throw her body in the river?”

“I didn’t. I didn’t kill anyone. How would I dare?” Liu Fei shook both hands. “You could give me a hundred times the guts and I still wouldn’t dare.”

“Liu Fei, you’d better confess right now, or else —”

“Step outside.” At that moment, Shi Ting pushed the door open. “I’ll handle this.”

—