“Commissioner, we have a find.” One of the junior officers who had been sifting through the ash walked over. Inside an evidence bag was a small, gleaming metallic object.

“Is this a woman’s hair clip?” Yan Qing recognized it at once. “It’s a newer style.”

“It seems one of the bodies is female.”

The bodies had been charred beyond identification, and without an autopsy it was too early to determine sex. But since a woman’s hair clip had been found in the car — discovered in the passenger seat area, specifically — it was very possible the person in the passenger seat was a young woman.

“If the deceased is Xie Jun, this matter is unlikely to be simple.” Shi Ting returned the evidence bag to the officer.

“Who is Xie Jun?” Yan Qing sensed that they all reacted with a certain peculiarity when the name came up.

Bai Jin was quick to answer. “Xie Jun is the son of Xie Zhiming, head of the Investigation Bureau.”

Now that name Xie Zhiming — Yan Qing had a very distinct impression of him. When they had handled the case involving Li Haotian in Taishan, Xie Zhiming had dispatched people from Shun Cheng to Taishan, insisting on taking Li Haotian back to Shun Cheng for interrogation.

Xie Zhiming’s action at the time had been to guard against Shi Ting misusing his authority rather than targeting him specifically — for Xie Zhiming was famously incorruptible and single-mindedly principled. Even the Marshal’s face meant nothing to him, let alone Shi Ting’s.

“Xie Zhiming is upright and unbending. But this son of his is an idle layabout who spends his days drifting between entertainment venues,” Shi Ting said.

“Yes — Xie Zhiming has a son like that, yet he can’t even manage his own household. And he has the nerve to go around managing other people’s, like Li Yongqi’s son.” Bai Jin couldn’t help griping.

“Take the bodies back to the Bureau for autopsy first,” Shi Ting said. “The car belongs to Xie Jun, but the people in the car aren’t necessarily Xie Jun.”

Yan Qing, hearing Shi Ting put it that way, understood that he had already concluded this was a homicide — otherwise, he would not order an autopsy without family members present.

“Any leads?” Yan Qing asked.

Shi Ting indicated the position of the car. “This is the original state in which the vehicle was discovered. The car is in neutral. The right front wheel has rolled off the road base and is hanging in the air. Look at this slope — it’s roughly forty degrees, and nearly a thousand meters long. If a car in neutral rolls downhill and gathers speed, an accident could cause it to be thrown off the road or even flip over. But this car’s front right wheel is suspended in the air, which clearly doesn’t match the physics of a car rolling downhill in neutral.”

Yan Qing did not know much about vehicles, but after Shi Ting’s explanation she had a rough idea: if the car had been in neutral, its final resting position should have looked different. There was a possibility of human intervention.

“Look at the seat backs — all of them are reclined to their lowest position. No driver would recline the seat that far while operating a vehicle. It doesn’t match normal driving habits.”

“I see,” Yan Qing nodded several times.

“Furthermore, the fire originated at the driver and passenger seats — that area is most severely burned, and the bodies there are most heavily damaged.”

“How did you determine the point of origin?”

“Simply put: spontaneous vehicle fires fall into a few categories. One is aged and deteriorated electrical wiring — but this is a year-201 imported luxury car, too new for that. If not electrical failure, then in summer heat, the engine temperature combined with external heat could ignite accumulated oil residue. In either scenario, the fire would begin at the fuel tank — not at the driver’s position.”

“So you suspect deliberate arson?”

Shi Ting nodded. “You go back to the Bureau first. I need to visit Qingyuan Manor.”

“Alright.” Yan Qing gave his hand a light squeeze. “Then I’ll wait for you at the Bureau.”

Yan Qing led her team in transporting the bodies back to the Military Police Bureau. After Shi Ting finished his on-site examination, he took Bai Jin with him to Qingyuan Manor.

Qingyuan Manor only operated at night; the front gate was now firmly closed.

“Seven-brother, I already had someone check out the person who reported the case — just a herdsman from a nearby village. Early that morning, he was driving his sheep down to the foot of the slope to graze, noticed a burned-out car, went over out of curiosity, and found two charred bodies inside. He reported it to the local public security office.”

As they spoke, someone inside Qingyuan Manor heard the doorbell and came out. Upon seeing two officers in uniform, the man immediately broke into a practiced smile.

“What can I do for you, two officers?” He was dressed in a Western suit, wearing a tie, his hair combed straight back with pomade. “I am the manager here — my name is Tian Jian.”

He handed over his business card.

Bai Jin took it and glanced at it. “Manager Tian, we’re from the Military Police Bureau and have a few questions for you.”

Tian Jian looked the two men over. Seeing that they both carried themselves with gravity and composure, he immediately stepped aside. “Please come in, officers.”

The two entered the main hall. Tian Jian brewed two cups of coffee and set them on the tea table. “For the two officers. Imported from the Grand Alliance — the flavor is exceptionally pure.”

“Thank you.” Bai Jin withdrew his gaze from roaming the room — in truth there was little to observe. This was just an ordinary lobby; the entertainment venues were behind it, still locked since business had not yet opened for the day.

Bai Jin picked up the coffee cup and took a small sip. The coffee was extremely rich and fragrant, which genuinely surprised him.

“Officers, what is it you wish to ask?” Tian Jian sat down across from them.

“Do you know a Xie Jun?”

“Young Master Xie?” Tian Jian blinked. “Young Master Xie was here just last night.”

“Who did he come with?”

“Young Master Xie brought a young woman with him — she appeared to be from the Ega’erde dance hall. I heard Young Master Xie call her Xiao Yan. About seventeen or eighteen years old.”

“Describe Xie Jun’s activities here last night in detail.”

Tian Jian considered for a moment. “There were so many guests here last night that once I’d shown Young Master Xie and his companion in, I went off to attend to other matters. During the evening I saw Young Master Xie drinking and dancing with his companion, and later he went to the gambling hall and played a few rounds — his luck didn’t seem good; he lost quite a bit.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s all.” Tian Jian’s hands were clasped together on his knees, his two thumbs gently rubbing against each other. “At around one in the morning, Young Master Xie left with his companion.”

“During that time, apart from this companion, did he come into contact with anyone else?”

Tian Jian shook his head. “Young Master Xie is aloof by nature. A few people did take the initiative to greet him, but he waved them all away.”

“Does he come here often?”

“At least once or twice a week. He just changes his female companion frequently.”

At that moment, someone walked in from outside and looked in Tian Jian’s direction. “Manager Tian, the kitchen staff need you.”

Tian Jian quickly stood up. “Officers, I apologize — I have something to attend to.”

“May we look around?”

Tian Jian looked somewhat reluctant.

Bai Jin said, “Manager Tian — the gentleman you described, Young Master Xie, may well have been murdered. And Qingyuan Manor may be the primary crime scene.”

“What?” Tian Jian was greatly shocked. “Young Master Xie is dead?”

“This is a matter of great importance. We ask for your cooperation, Manager Tian.”

Tian Jian lowered his eyes for a moment, then reluctantly said, “I’ll send someone to guide you.”

While Tian Jian went to get someone, Bai Jin said quietly, “Seven-brother, this Tian Jian is hiding something from us.”

Shi Ting had clearly noticed as well, gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment, and said, “Let’s see first.”

Meanwhile, in the forensic autopsy room of the Military Police Bureau, one of the charred bodies had been hoisted onto the examination table. E’Yuan was away, so Gu Zhen had come to assist.

Gu Zhen ordinarily helped E’Yuan with autopsies fairly often. Although he was a laboratory analyst, spending so much time around E’Yuan had given him some knowledge of bodies.

This was his first time assisting Yan Qing with an autopsy. Watching this sister-in-law raise the knife and bring it down with practiced ease, the admiration within him quietly deepened by another measure.

An ordinary woman who caught sight of such a scene would surely have screamed and fled. Not just the looking — even the touching would be unthinkable. Yet under Yan Qing’s hands, the flesh was gradually parting in layers.

“Boil the bone,” Yan Qing said, separating out the pubic symphysis and passing it to Gu Zhen.

Looking at that bloodied piece of bone, Gu Zhen felt his scalp crawl. But the things he handled in his usual work were not exactly clean either, and he managed to hold it together.

This was Gu Zhen’s first time boiling a human bone. He suspected the memory would accompany him for the rest of his life.

Yan Qing looked up at Gu Zhen’s rigid face and said with a smile, “If you’re not up to it, I’ll boil it myself.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, absolutely fine.” Gu Zhen had no desire to be looked down upon by a woman. He picked up the bone and walked to the pot nearby, reviewing the steps Yan Qing had described as he dropped the bone in to cook.

“Sister-in-law, how did these two die? Were they burned to death?” Gu Zhen asked curiously as the bone boiled.

“Tray.” Yan Qing raised her forceps.

Gu Zhen hurriedly held out a white ceramic tray. There was a clear ringing sound as a blood-streaked metal object was set down on it.

“A bullet?” Gu Zhen was startled. “Wasn’t this person burned to death?”

“Never assume. Bodies found at fire scenes aren’t necessarily burned to death.” Yan Qing used her hemostatic forceps to point at the cut-open section of the corpse’s throat. “A person caught in a fire will inhale large volumes of thick smoke. The soot from that smoke will adhere to the throat, trachea, esophagus, and bronchi. In severe cases it can even be swallowed into the stomach in large quantities. But look — the deceased’s trachea is completely clean. This means that when the vehicle caught fire, his breathing had already ceased. Once breathing has stopped, naturally no smoke can be inhaled.”

“I understand now,” Gu Zhen said with sudden clarity.

“The deceased did not develop heat-induced respiratory airway syndrome. The lungs show no significant congestion or hemorrhaging. I can say with certainty that this person was not burned to death.”

Gu Zhen looked at the bullet in the evidence tray. “I understand — he was shot.”