Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Captain Liu stared at me for a long moment, then said, “Fine. I’ll give you one hour. But if you dare waste my time and fail to identify the real killer in the end, you can spend a few days in jail to clear your head!”

I accepted readily. “Thank you, Captain Liu!”

Once Captain Liu raised no further objections, everyone in the brothel fell silent.

Some even looked excited, as if they were waiting to watch a show.

Seeing them all staring at me, I sighed and said softly, “Everything begins with the night of the twenty-third of August.”

Jinlan Courtyard usually opened at the shen hour-around four in the afternoon-and stayed open all night.

The girls slept during the day so they would have energy at night.

The brothel had two floors. The first floor had ten private rooms, as well as a main hall for walk-in guests. The second floor had five private rooms for distinguished patrons.

On any given night, at least a hundred or so people came through its doors.

I swept my gaze around the room, taking in everyone’s expressions before continuing slowly, “In my opinion, there are two main reasons the authorities have investigated for so long without finding any clues.”

“The first is that a brothel is crowded and chaotic, with all sorts of people coming and going. It is impossible to fully track every visitor’s movements. I heard the constables questioned every regular customer Yuanyang had contact with, and even investigated those who did not come that night, but found no one suspicious.”

Captain Liu’s face tightened. “We investigated more than twenty people. My men haven’t closed their eyes for days…”

They had gone through no small amount of trouble, yet still could not find a suspect. No wonder they were frustrated.

I continued, “The second reason is that the investigation has been headed in the wrong direction. Based on the… state Miss Yuanyang was in before her death, most people assumed it was a crime of passion. But if you keep following that line of thought, naturally, it becomes easy to overlook the true culprit…”

Captain Liu raised an eyebrow. “You mean it wasn’t a crime of passion?”

I shook my head and said firmly, “It was not.”

Captain Liu said, “Then cut the crap and get to the point!”

I was speechless.

“I can reconstruct the truth for everyone, step by step.”

“Now, will everyone who stayed on the second floor on the night Miss Yuanyang was murdered please step forward?”

“The second floor? Why the second floor?”

Whispers rose from the crowd.

Captain Liu frowned. “Yuanyang’s room was indeed on the second floor, but anyone could have gone up from the first floor to kill her. Isn’t it a bit arbitrary for you to narrow the range to the second floor?”

I said, “This case is actually not complicated. The difficulty lies precisely here.”

Jinlan Courtyard might look filthy and disorderly from the outside, but in truth, it was run in a very organized manner.

Which girl accompanied which guest, which turtle servant was responsible for which tables-everything was perfectly clear.

“Although it is easy for people on the first floor to go up to the second, in reality, not many do. More importantly, there is a turtle servant specifically assigned to the guests on the second floor: Song Qi. He waits at the corner of the second floor all night. Anyone who comes up, he can see.”

Captain Liu’s eyes flashed. “An amateur really is an amateur. How could it be as simple as you say? Song Qi, let me ask you. On the night of the twenty-third of August, how many people went up to the second floor?”

Song Qi was one of the turtle servants of Jinlan Courtyard. He was about thirty years old, with a sleazy appearance.

Seeing Captain Liu question him, he said ingratiatingly, “In reply to Captain Liu, this humble one has talked about that night many times already. Lots of people came up to the second floor that night.”

He counted on his fingers. “There was Boss Zhao from Longfeng Store, Boss Song from the grocery shop, Young Master Li, Young Master Song, and a few regulars who came up midway to offer toasts, like Young Master Yuan and Young Master Huang… There were also the girls-Xuerui, Xueling, and Xue’e… This humble one, this humble one really can’t count them all!”

Captain Liu looked at me with disdain, as if to say, Do you understand now?

I smiled and said to Song Qi, “I did not ask you to list everyone you saw the entire night. I only need those between the zi hour and the chou hour.”

Even in a brothel, most people were asleep around the chou hour.

Song Qi thought for a while, then said, “At that hour, only Xuerui and Xue’e had guests, and they had all gone to sleep. No one else went up.”

With his shifty eyes, he added, “The guest in Xuerui’s room was Boss Zhao, and the one in Xue’e’s room was Young Master Yuan. Besides them, there were three other rooms occupied: Xueling, Yuanyang, and Madam Jinlan. Oh, and me.”

Excluding the dead Yuanyang, there were seven suspects that night.

I had counted several times. There was no mistake.