“There are deep grooves on the beam from the rope sliding and rolling.” Bai Jin swept his torchlight across it. “The killer must have tied the noose, placed it around the victim’s neck, and then hauled her up.”

However elaborate the killer’s staging as a ghost murder, the things a ghost can do are things a human cannot replicate. Use human methods, and human traces will always give you away.

“She was definitely suspended after death.” E’Yuan had completed his initial surface examination of the body. “Master, this is something you taught me — to determine whether someone hanged themselves or was strung up post-mortem, you examine the ligature groove. The groove is present but shows no vital reaction in the surrounding tissue, which proves she was suspended after she was already dead.”

E’Yuan had unmistakably adopted the manner of a student hoping for praise, watching Yan Qing with expectant eyes. It was hard to imagine that this proud forensic examiner had a day when he would look so earnestly for approval.

“Correct.” Yan Qing gave him a thumbs up. “Any other findings?”

E’Yuan shook his head with a hint of disappointment. “No open surface wounds. Apart from the ligature groove at the neck, the external examination can’t determine a specific cause of death.”

A bad feeling stirred quietly in Yan Qing’s mind. Surely this body wouldn’t be the same as the last — no determinable cause of death?

Her intuition proved exactly right. After a full autopsy, no specific cause of death could be established. The manner of death remained a mystery.

“Strange — how exactly did the killer do it?” E’Yuan frowned in thought. “Could it really be poison? But the body shows no obvious signs of poisoning.”

Yan Qing didn’t answer him. Instead, she used forceps to extract small objects coated in blood from the victim’s esophagus and stomach, setting them in the tray one by one — each landing with a sharp metallic click.

“What is that—” Shi Ting looked closely, his eyes widening. “Thumbtacks.”

In total, Yan Qing removed twenty-six thumbtacks from the victim’s body. Washed clean with water, every one of them was brand new.

Shi Ting pinched one between his fingers. “These are the most ordinary type of thumbtack — sold in general goods shops of all sizes. Tracing the source would be practically impossible.”

Thumbtacks were standard items in schools, government offices, and institutions — hardly a rare commodity.

“The killer made Leng Yu swallow cotton, and made Fan Dongping swallow thumbtacks.” As Shi Ting turned this over in his mind, a faint light seemed to flicker at the edge of his thoughts — and he could almost grasp it.

“Director Shi, there is one more thing Leng Yu and Fan Dongping have in common — both showed signs of an old rupture, indicating prior experience of that nature.” After Yan Qing said this, she noticed that both Shi Ting and E’Yuan were looking at her with slightly peculiar expressions.

She asked, puzzled, “Do you have any questions?”

“No — no, not at all.” E’Yuan pressed his fist to his lips in a show of composure and looked away, as if to dispel the awkward atmosphere. This Sixth Miss was genuinely professional — she could state terms that any other young woman would blush to utter with complete composure.

“Nothing.” Shi Ting said. “This is, in fact, a very important lead. At the very least, it suggests from an indirect angle that Leng Yu and Fan Dongping had some kind of connection. Once we identify the key point that links them, solving the case will only be a matter of time.”

Based on their investigation so far, Leng Yu and Fan Dongping were in different classes and had no known contact with each other — they didn’t even appear to be acquainted.

“Fan Dongping’s mother is suspicious.” Yan Qing thought of the woman’s somewhat theatrical display of grief — she simply could not connect her to the image of a heartbroken mother who had just lost a child.

“She’s already been brought to the bureau. Zheng Yun is about to question her. I’ll take you over.”

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