53 — Checking The Scene Of The Crime

The sun shone brightly in the spring skies and provided a good source of light. A man strolled into a yard that didn’t belong to him, and when he saw that the person staying here was eating, he asked for a pair of chopsticks…

Qingqiao’s eyes bulged and she puffed her cheeks angrily. She wished she could yell at him, who do you think you are! How dare you come here uninvited!

But Song Caitang continued looking at her food. There was a twinkle in her eye as she instructed Qingqiao, “Get another bowl and chopsticks.”

Since the instruction came from her Young Mistress, she had to obey even if she didn’t want to. She quickly fetched another bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks and placed them in front of Zhao Zhi.

She could see that Zhao Zhi wanted to talk to Song Caitang, but she purposely continued to stand next to Song Caitang as though she were completely unaware of this. She did not take a step back or even look away. Her expression was stern as she kept her eye on Zhao Zhi, as if she were afraid that he would do something inappropriate.

Zhao Zhi didn’t mind and pretended he didn’t notice the way the maid was glaring at him. He looked straight at Song Caitang, “A man has just sauntered into your yard and wants to eat your food, and you’re not scared?”

A wind blew past the curtains, lifting the corners of the tablecloth and Song Caitang’s skirt slightly. But this man’s hair seemed as hard as his voice. It remained stubbornly behind his ears and the wind couldn’t get it to move at all.

Song Caitang felt like laughing, “And as that rude man who sauntered into my yard and wants to eat my food, do you think you have the right to ask this question, Surveillance Commissioner Zhao?”

Zhao Zhi nodded, “You have a point.”

Not only did he speak very informally, but he also wasn’t reserved in the way he behaved. He really just picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been very busy today and I’m really hungry. I can’t wait till I get back to my residence, so I thought I’d get free food from you instead,” he said as he held his bowl up to signal to Qingqiao to get him another bowl.

Qingqiao’s eyes nearly popped out of their socket from how hard she was glaring at him.

How was this man so thick-skinned?!

But since Song Caitang nodded at her, she didn’t have a choice. She took the bowl from Zhao Zhi and walked off to get him more rice.

“This maid of yours is not bad. Very obedient.”

“Oh well, that’s because she has an employer who has manners.”

Zhao Zhi looked like he didn’t understand what Song Caitang was implying. He took his refilled bowl from Qingqiao and continued eating in large mouthfuls.

Old Madam Li prepared a lot of food for Song Caitang each time. It didn’t matter even if Song Caitang couldn’t finish the food, as long as the young lady didn’t go hungry. This lunch was especially sumptuous. There was one main dish, four side dishes, one soup and two appetizers, plus some snacks. Song Caitang and her two maids couldn’t finish the food at all. Qinxiu didn’t have much appetite after the autopsy, while Qingqiao had eaten a whole pile of snacks in the morning during her break, so she wasn’t very hungry. So there was more than enough for Zhao Zhi to eat his fill.

In fact, that way, the food wouldn’t go to waste.

But then…

Qingqiao looked at the food on the table. The stir fried pig liver looked and smelled delicious, but this man had just gone with Song Caitang to examine the body. Would he dare to eat it?

To her, nobody could be as brave as her Young Mistress! Her Young Mistress had no change in expression even after she sliced a dead body open and even her appetite remained completely unaffected…

WAIT. What did she just see!

Zhao Zhi ate a piece of liver and nodded, “This tastes pretty good.”

Song Caitang didn’t eat that much rice and she had been eating for a while already, so she was almost done. She got herself a bowl of soup and blew at it gently to cool it down, “If you like it, you can eat more.”

“Well, don’t mind if I do.”

He wasn’t just saying that to be polite. He meant it literally – he polished off the entire plate of pig liver!

Qingqiao’s eyes seriously almost fell out of their sockets.

Song Caitang was surprised as well and she froze a little when drinking her soup.

Zhao Zhi ate very quickly, emptying the plates like a tornado, as though someone was hurrying him. But despite eating so quickly, his actions were not callous and there was an elegance in the way he moved. Not a single drop of gravy or soup spilled onto the table and there was barely any trace of food on his lips.

He was very, very well trained. It was shocking.

When Song Caitang finished her bowl of soup, Zhao Zhi put his chopsticks down at almost the same time. There was almost nothing left in the plates on the table.

Qingqiao was speechless.

Song Caitang was calmer than her own maid. She wiped her mouth elegantly, drank some tea to wash her palate and put the plates aside. After she had finished doing all that, she finally asked Zhao Zhi, “So, tell me, what help do you need from me?”

Zhao Zhi had just finished drinking a cup of tea. He froze for a moment when he heard her question and stared at her, “How did you…”

“How did I know?” Song Caitang smiled with an intelligent twinkle in her eye.

“Because I’m clever.”

“Aren’t you here because you’ve realized that?”

The man in front of her had a special sort of aura. He had that brash attitude of a martial artist, but was also cautious and mindful of the situation like a wise person. He seemed…to have some sort of psychological trauma from the past, but it was hard to see what it was clearly and it was a bit difficult to understand. Under normal circumstances, Song Caitang wouldn’t try to understand what someone else was thinking about like that. But now, she was trying to crack a case.

The Yun Nianyao case had required an autopsy and questioning of the suspects. She wanted to guess what was needed next.

That was also why she had purposely displayed her conjecturing skills during the autopsy.

She wanted to have greater participation in the investigation!

And she also wanted to help this surveillance commissioner to broaden his horizons. This man didn’t like women and wasn’t willing to get close to any woman, huh.

She was going to teach him that not every woman behaved the way he imagined they did!

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes, “Miss Song is indeed an extraordinary person.”

Song Caitang smiled, “Thank you for the compliment.”

“You’re right, I’m here to ask something of you.” Zhao Zhi stood up. His tall stature blocked the sun and cast a shadow on Song Caitang, “Would Miss Song be bold enough to come and view the scene of the crime?”

Song Caitang had a confident look on her face as she smiled more brightly, “I’ve already dared to slice a body open. I don’t think there’s anything else that could possibly frighten me off.”

“This way then, Miss Song.”

“Please lead the way, Surveillance Commissioner Zhao.”

The two of them walked out of the yard and made their way toward the VIP residence where Yun Nianyao had stayed.

The first impression Song Caitang had of this residence was that it was very clean.

In most cases, a place where a woman stayed would be full of things, and an aristocratic woman would have even more things. Even if they were only staying here temporarily, just the items for display purposes would take up a lot of space. But this place was very clean and everything was extremely tidy. It was pleasant to look at.

The scene of the crime would be preserved, so it couldn’t be the authorities who cleared this place. It was the person who stayed here. This person loved keeping the place tidy.

The residence was very big, the walls were a little high and the corridors were long. The main section faced the south and the first room was the living room. It was wide and bright and there weren’t many things. A pearl curtain hung on the left side, which led to where the victim slept.

The bed was placed facing north against the wall. A rack for clothing was placed in front of the bed and a screen with scenery painted on it was also there to block the wind and prevent anyone from looking at the bed. Against the wall was a closet, a cupboard and a row of shelves. They differed in size and the pattern carved into it, so they looked like they belonged to different sets but were put together as one. Even so, the way they were arranged together were still pleasant to the eye. All sorts of display items were placed on top of the shelves. Regardless of whether they were made from gold, jade, bamboo or wood, or whether they were expensive or not, they all matched the room very well.

The window faced north. It was large and sufficient for air circulation. A small vase with a plum blossom painted on it sat on the window sill and one almond flower stalk was placed in it. Because nobody took care of it, the flower had lost almost all its petals already. A few had fallen onto the reclining chair in front of the window, giving the chair a lonely look.

The reclining chair was fairly long and wide, so it was enough for a woman to lie on it. A small table was placed next to it and there were a few book scrolls left open. It was clear that Yun Nianyao enjoyed lying on this chair to read.

After she was done looking at the room from the door, Song Caitang walked in. She paused for a moment when she came to the table, the side of the shelves and in front of the window, then proceeded to walk behind the screen to look at the house slippers on the foot stool next to the bed and the neatly folded blanket on the bed…

Zhao Zhi had stood quietly to one side as Song Caitang moved around the room and waited for her to finish looking.

When he saw that she was finally standing still and her brows were slightly knit, he asked, “Do you sense anything amiss anywhere?”

Song Caitang frowned, “Someone cleaned up the room before.”

She walked to the round table in the middle and pointed at an area near the edge, “There’s a little stain here which isn’t very obvious because of the pattern on the table, but if you look closely, you’ll notice it. And if you sniff hard enough, there’s the faint smell of alcohol.”

Zhao Zhi had noticed that stain but he hadn’t smelled any alcohol. He had his suspicions before, but they were confirmed now, “Yun Nianyao sat here to eat the sweet fermented rice balls.”

Song Caitang nodded. After looking at the entire room, this was the only place with a small stain that carried the faint smell of alcohol, so the sweet fermented rice balls must have been consumed here.

“Yun Nianyao had gotten in the middle of the night after going to bed and was wearing her pajamas. She didn’t get changed and didn’t meet her guest in the living room, but let them in here.” Song Caitang frowned, “Either she was very close to the killer, or they had some secrets to discuss and they didn’t want anyone else to hear their conversation.”

As Song Caitang spoke, she came to the side of the reclining chair. She tilted her head slightly and slowly squatted down.

“Surveillance Commissioner Zhao, take a look.”

Near one leg of the chair, beneath the chair, was a deep dent, as though something heavy had rested here for a while, and it looked like it was outward facing.

“I previously thought that the killer stood here.” Zhao Zhi used his eyes to measure the distance between the leg of the chair and the bed, “When you did the autopsy, you discovered that Yun Nianyao had been dragged along, so I began to suspect that after Yun Nianyao ate the sweet fermented rice balls, she sat or lay on the reclining chair and met her demise here. And then after she died, she was dragged onto the bed.”

Based on the distance it made sense for her to have been dragged from the chair to the bed.

But why were there no marks on the floor?

Of course, the killer had removed all traces.

Song Caitang nodded, “That would match the degree of rubbing the house slippers on the foot stool have. The truth is probably the same as your conjecture.”

When looking at the scene of the crime, one had to make bold conjectures, then cautiously see if there was anything to support the conjecture. Once armed with clues and evidence, then as long as no other possibilities existed, the conjecture was very likely to be the truth.

The thing was, what sort of murder method or method of agitation would require Yun Nianyao to sit or lie on the reclining chair in order to carry out? Why couldn’t it be done at the table?

Song Caitang shook her head. She couldn’t think of anything.

Since she couldn’t think of anything, she was going to continue making observations.

“Not only the table top. The floor, the bed, the shelves…they all look like they’ve been cleaned before.” As Song Caitang walked around the room, she analyzed each observation she made and told Zhao Zhi her conclusions she drew from them.

Zhao Zhi had come here before, so as she spoke, he would also tell her what he thought. For the most part, they agreed. But sometimes, they didn’t, so they would spend time discussing it.

They would inadvertently be reminded by the other person, or enlightened, and come to a new conclusion as a result.

“The bowl containing the sweet fermented rice balls had probably been placed here before. What happened to it after that? Was it thrown away or taken away? I think we need to add one more thing to the list of things we should investigate. We need to check if there are any bowls in the vicinity, including broken pieces…”

“Yun Nianyao liked things to be tidy and kept her things very neatly. There’s only one reason why the murderer would have to tidy the room again – the original state of the room had been ruined. It had become messy and left too many marks behind.”

“Yun Nianyao died very suddenly and didn’t even have the time to defend herself. She didn’t struggle at all, so she couldn’t have messed up anything in the room. So why was the room messy?”

“There’s only one reason – the killer did it.”

“They looked through her things.”

Yun Nianyao must have been holding onto something that the killer wanted very much…

They finished each other’s sentences as their minds moved quickly. Their thoughts coincided and their conclusions were the same. There was great camaraderie between them.

This time, even without Governor Zhang grumbling about it behind their backs, they noticed this pleasant way they thought alike. Zhao Zhi’s gaze was intense when he looked at Song Caitang.

Song Caitang…had been a coroner for many years and had worked with many detectives. But there was no one who was at such a similar frequency as she was.

Could two people truly be on the exact same wavelength?

But that was nothing to be shy about. The world was huge, so anything was possible.

Song Caitang met Zhao Zhi’s eyes and was still able to smile gently at him.

The atmosphere was just so difficult to grasp. If Song Caitang had looked away shyly, then Zhao Zhi might have taken a bit more time to look at her for a while. But because she smiled back, Zhao Zhi couldn’t just keep staring at her anymore.

He turned away to avoid Song Caitang’s gaze, “Earlier on when I was questioning the suspects, it seems An Pengyi appeared around this residence too, but he didn’t admit to it. The person who saw him said their memories were hazy, so their statement cannot be proof.”

Song Caitang fell into deep thought, “This man accompanied his two brothers as their partner in crime, stealing and pickpocketing must have been something they did often. The victim was an aristocrat, so she would definitely have very valuable items on herself. It’s only normal for a thief to target her.”

But thieves stole for money. If they killed someone for it…

“Did you see any traces of other people coming here?”

Zhao Zhi shook his head, “I came a little late. The crime of the scene has been preserved mostly, but some traces have already been destroyed and cannot be listed as evidence. For example, there were men’s footprints along the outside of the wall, but officials have indeed come here to get evidence before me. So…my suspicions remain merely suspicions.”

He suspected that An Pengyi had come before with the intention to steal.

Song Caitang hummed for a while, “But An Pengyi is not local, and he’s basically a ruffian. I don’t think the victim would have been willing to go too close to him.”

Allowing him to come into her bedroom and all that didn’t match the victim’s usual behavior.

“Or perhaps two people came by. One was An Pengyi, and the other was the killer. Both of them wanted to steal something, but for different reasons.”

“If An Pengyi is the killer, then he’s definitely not just some small time thief.”

That made things even more complicated.

And…it didn’t seem to be the case, really.

Zhao Zhi said, “So, the question now is, did the two people who wanted something from Yun Nianyao get what they wanted?”

Song Caitang shook her head. Her gaze landed on a three-legged round table that was only half a palm wide. It sat on top of the shelf and it was definitely for purely decorative purposes, “No, one of them must have already gotten what they wanted.”