He Yunqin leaned back casually against his chair: “Commissioner Bai.”

His tone was quite offhand, but his smile was thin.

Commissioner Bai had dealt with He Yunqin a few times before, and knew this man came from a good family with a rich education, and in his usual dealings with people was most particular about self-restraint, rarely showing displeasure on his face. For him to wear his displeasure so plainly, as he did today, was truly a rare thing.

Puzzled, he took a draw on his cigar, and though he didn’t know where he’d offended the man, he had no interest in courting a rebuff on his own account, so he gave a dry laugh and sat down opposite them at his leisure, waving to Yu Chongyi: “Are you two discussing business with Young Master He?”

Yu Chongyi went over to report: “Just asking Mr. He about something—I’ll be back at the station shortly.”

Commissioner Bai looked at Hongdou and softened his tone: “Don’t leave once you’ve finished your business. Once I’m done here, let me treat you two to dinner at the Da Wanguo—how about it?”

Yu Chongyi lowered his eyes: “Thank you for the kind offer, Commissioner, but my sister is young and doesn’t know better—I’m afraid she might say something to displease you. Besides, Mother has already made dinner at home and is waiting for her to come back and eat.”

Commissioner Bai looked displeased: “Yu Chongyi, this afternoon when I asked you to introduce your sister, you kept making excuses. Now I merely want to play host, and you’re stalling again. What, does old Bai here not even get to invite a subordinate to dinner?”

Yu Chongyi’s mouth turned bitter: “Commissioner Bai—”

“Enough of that.” Commissioner Bai cut off his words decisively, in a tone that brooked no argument. “I’ll have Yu Rong call the Da Wanguo right now to book a table.” He disliked nothing more than a subordinate trying to bargain with him—this meal would be eaten today whether they liked it or not.

Hongdou had already sensed something was off about Commissioner Bai’s attitude, but mindful that this man was her brother’s direct superior, she dared not act rashly for the moment. Hearing this, she forced down her rising anger and stood, smiling, meaning to find some words to dissuade the man.

Before she could speak, He Yunqin casually set the tea bill down on the table and rose: “Commissioner Bai, that offer comes rather too late. I’ve already booked a restaurant nearby to take Miss Yu to dinner tonight—we should be going now.”

Commissioner Bai was startled for a moment, then laughed in surprise: “Young Master He, are you joking?”

He Yunqin said: “Commissioner Bai, you’re the one joking. I’m sincerely inviting Miss Yu to dinner—where’s the joke in that? Miss Yu, it’s getting late, let’s be off. Commissioner Bai, we’ll take our leave.”

Hongdou looked at He Yunqin in mild surprise, and He Yunqin was looking right back at her.

His expression was earnest, not in the least like he was joking.

She froze for only a second, then hurriedly gathered her things as fast as she could and, keeping her face composed, followed after He Yunqin.

Commissioner Bai watched Hongdou’s retreating figure disappear through the doorway, then turned to Yu Chongyi with a cold smile: “Yu Chongyi, what’s going on here? Don’t tell me He Mengmei’s second son is pursuing your sister.”

Yu Chongyi had never once told a lie in his life, but now, to make Commissioner Bai give up the idea, he gave a vague murmur of assent.

Commissioner Bai mulled this over, and the more he thought about it, the darker his expression grew. What had started as barely three parts interest had, under this provocation, hardened into something he was now determined to see through. He ground his cigar hard into the ashtray and gave a cold snort through his nose: “No wonder you two look down on old Bai here. Yu Chongyi, don’t say I didn’t warn you—a young master from a family like the He clan pursuing some girl is nothing much. Only if she actually marries into the family will it count as your sister’s achievement. Unless you can invite me to your sister’s wedding feast someday, that dinner at the Da Wanguo will catch up with her sooner or later.”

Hongdou and He Yunqin walked out one after the other, neither saying a word.

After a moment of silence, Hongdou glanced at He Yunqin: “Thank you, Mr. He, for earlier.”

He Yunqin didn’t look at her, only gazing idly at the lane entrance across the way, and said with a smile: “I was just thinking I have a case to work tonight, and didn’t want to waste time on something so pointless.”

Hongdou closed her mouth and said nothing more. He Yunqin’s words seemed meant to keep her from reading too much into things, but even if she were prone to flattering herself, she wouldn’t mistake this for any sign that He Yunqin had feelings for her.

She gave a light purse of her lips and looked the other way.

The two of them went a good while without speaking again. After a while, Yu Chongyi finally managed to get free and came out to find them.

In front of He Yunqin, Yu Chongyi said not a word about what had just happened, only wheeling the bicycle over: “Mr. He, thank you for earlier.”

He Yunqin said: “Wang Bide should be back home by now—let’s go to his place again to look for materials. Chen Baidie went missing from her residence in the French Concession; the residence should currently be sealed. I don’t know if Mr. Yu has a key to it—if you do, I think it best we get in to search tonight.”

Yu Chongyi said: “I do have a key to Chen Baidie’s residence, but it’s been ten days since she disappeared, and the police have already gone through and searched it several times. Even if there were any traces there, they’ve likely long since been disturbed.”

He Yunqin pondered a moment, then nodded: “Having it is better than not. Too many people around right now is inconvenient—we’ll go take a look once there are fewer people around tonight.”

Hongdou climbed onto the back seat of her brother’s bicycle on her own. Yu Chongyi said gently, trying to persuade her: “There’s a lot to do tonight—it might take all night. You still have class tomorrow, go home in a bit, don’t come along with us to Wang Bide’s place.”

Hongdou shook her head: “Brother, don’t forget I have a good memory. Even if I can’t help with anything else, I can certainly help find materials. Wang Meiping died so horribly—right now I’m most afraid Cousin Yuqi will meet the same fate. Even if I go home, I definitely won’t sleep peacefully.”

Yu Chongyi hesitated, unwilling to give in, and Hongdou grew anxious, shaking his arm: “Brother, just let me come along.”

This was the first time He Yunqin had heard Hongdou act coquettish in front of her brother. Though it was unconscious on her part, her voice was extremely soft and sweet-sounding; after a few sentences, that voice seemed to be right at his ear, tickling as if blowing softly against him. As if possessed, he actually reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, still feeling somewhat uneasy, and so took out a cigarette from his trouser pocket and put it in his mouth.

Having been pestered by Hongdou for a while, Yu Chongyi looked over at He Yunqin, worried, but seeing that He Yunqin showed not the slightest sign of objection, he secretly relaxed, and said to Hongdou: “Then call home first, so Mother doesn’t worry. You can help us find materials tonight, and when we go to the French Concession later, I’ll take you home.”

Wang Bide had indeed returned from being out. Hearing from Luo Dai that He Yunqin had come to call, he was at first delighted, but the moment he saw He Yunqin swagger in bringing the Yu siblings along, his face immediately fell. Back in the sitting room, he propped both legs up high on the table, covered his face with a newspaper, and didn’t bother greeting them.

He Yunqin walked to the study, crouched down on his own to rummage through a pile of books in a corner, and said to Hongdou and Yu Chongyi: “All Inspector Wang’s materials on strange folk legends are right here. You two go ahead and search through them properly, and let me know if you find anything. I’ll take another good look at Wang Meiping’s autopsy report.”

Hongdou nodded and divided the materials roughly into two piles, taking one with her brother to each handle a stack.

He Yunqin sat down on the flannel-covered armchair to one side and looked over the autopsy report.

The three of them rifled through things and talked inside the room, while outside, Wang Bide made no sound at all—whether he thought the materials irrelevant, or simply preferred not to see what he didn’t want to see, no one could say.

He Yunqin said nothing at first, but once he’d finished reading through the entire autopsy report, he frowned and said: “All the wounds on Wang Meiping’s body were inflicted within the past week or so, and judging from the several areas of extensive soft tissue bruising and the fatal penetrating wound to the chest, the killer acted with near-total cold-bloodedness when committing the crime. That doesn’t add up—if the killer was this cruel, why would they have treated Wang Meiping well for the past three months?”

There was a creak outside, as though Wang Bide had shifted his chair.

Yu Chongyi lowered his voice to reply: “The medical examiner confirmed that Wang Meiping had not been violated before her death, nor had she suffered any abuse over the past three months.”

Hongdou, still bent over the materials, said: “Brother, how much did Wang Meiping’s appearance change compared to before?”

“When Wang Meiping’s body was found, her hair had been neatly combed, and her face had been wiped clean. Her head and face were undamaged, and she was very easily identifiable as herself.”

“I mean, did she show anything like what Western medicine calls ‘malnutrition’? I saw photos of Wang Meiping from before she went missing—she was slightly plump and sturdy in build. When you found her body, was she much thinner?”

Yu Chongyi looked puzzled.

He Yunqin had already been studying this very question; hearing this, he readily quoted the figure from the foreign coroner’s report: “122 pounds.”

Hongdou tried to recall Wang Meiping’s actual photograph: “How tall was she?”

He Yunqin answered concisely: “Four feet eight inches.”

Hongdou nodded very slowly: “For that height, 122 pounds counts as quite plump. That means ever since Wang Meiping was kidnapped, she was well fed and cared for the whole time—after three months, far from growing thin and sallow, she actually got even heavier.”

Having said this, she went back to searching through the materials.

Wang Bide coughed once outside, and getting no response from He Yunqin, his chair creaked again a few seconds later.

He Yunqin acted as though he hadn’t heard, still poring seriously over the autopsy report: “When Wang Meiping was found, she wasn’t wearing the blue cotton jacket and trousers she’d worn coming to Shanghai, but rather a light purple brocade qipao. What’s strange is that the fabric of that qipao seemed quite good—which suggests she was not short on food or clothing during her captivity. Mr. Yu, have you looked into the origin of this qipao—was it custom-made, or bought at a ready-made clothing shop?”

Yu Chongyi said awkwardly: “We did ask, but this kind of dress is everywhere on the streets. We asked several department stores at the time and none of them recognized it, and there was no department store label on the back of the dress either, so we guessed it must have been made at a tailor’s shop—”

Wang Bide, who had come in at some point without anyone noticing, gave a cold snort through his nose upon hearing this: “But Shanghai has hundreds, even thousands of tailor shops. You found it too much trouble to search through them all, so you didn’t pursue it further, and naturally missed the critical moment for finding a clue to the killer.”

Yu Chongyi’s face was full of shame.

Hongdou couldn’t bear to watch her brother be criticized, and hurriedly changed the subject: “If we can confirm this qipao didn’t come from a department store, that’s even stranger. While Wang Meiping was kidnapped, who made her a qipao? If they treated her so well before, why use such a strange method to kill her afterward?”

She had originally assumed Wang Meiping must have been locked away somewhere she’d never see daylight, tormented the whole time, but from these pieced-together clues, it seemed that at least for the first few months, Wang Meiping had not only been well-fed, but had new clothes to wear as well.

He Yunqin rubbed his chin: “There are a few possibilities. One is that for some reason, the killer couldn’t harm Wang Meiping for the past three months, and had to keep her well provided for—I don’t know if this has anything to do with the so-called ritual. Another possibility is—”

Wang Bide leaned against the doorframe, took out his flask, and had a drink: “A case within a case.”

Hongdou was puzzled: “What do you mean, a case within a case?”

He Yunqin said: “It means the people who kidnapped Wang Meiping and the people who killed Wang Meiping weren’t the same group.”

He thought a moment, then said: “Mr. Yu, let’s set the ritual matter aside for now—there are two urgent things that need doing, and we’ll have to split into two groups. First, you go back to the station and get the clothes from Wang Meiping’s body, and using your position as a policeman, along with your colleagues, go through the tailor shops near the train station one by one—we must find the origin of that qipao before dawn. Second, use your key to open Chen Baidie’s residence in the French Concession, and let me and Inspector Wang go in to collect clues and analyze traces—”

Wang Bide’s eyes bulged: “Who said I’m going?”

Hongdou glanced at him, betting he’d go eighty percent for sure.

Seeing Yu Chongyi’s face show reluctance, He Yunqin said: “If all goes smoothly, we might be able to find the person who actually kidnapped Wang Meiping three months ago by tomorrow morning. It’s just that Chen Baidie’s residence is currently still sealed, and it wouldn’t be convenient to let the police know we’re going in to search for evidence. If Mr. Yu is truly uneasy about it, you could have Miss Yu come along with us.”

Yu Chongyi was taken aback: “Hongdou? How could she—she knows nothing at all about evidence collection or trace analysis. What if she disturbs something? Besides, she has class tomorrow and needs to go home to sleep tonight.”

Wang Bide crossed his arms: “With Dr. He there, he’ll surely keep a close eye on Miss Yu—he certainly won’t let her disturb the scene.”

He Yunqin glanced at the Western clock on the wall: “Mr. Yu, time is short—please decide quickly.”