“The forensic department concluded that the murderer wore rubber gloves during the crime, but none were found either at the home or in the trash bins outside. Either the murderer took them home or disposed of them elsewhere, and given the vast area to search, they are likely untraceable.”
—The murderer came prepared.
“The victim’s home was wiped clean; visitors are required to wear slippers, and the only footprints found belonged to slippers from the victim’s household. Even if the murderer wore slippers, it’s difficult to find clues based on differences in walking gait or pressure due to the small size of the rooms, the slow walking pace inside, and the limited number of steps, which are insufficient for analytical conclusions. There were too many residents coming and going outside, and no suspicious footprints were found.”
—The murderer left no significant traces, proving to be very cunning.
“The victim was quite close to a few people at the Daliyuan Court nightclub, shown in a group photo, and she recently discussed with Manager Yun about switching careers to run a different business, no longer wanting to be a bar hostess. Yun was willing to provide startup capital for her, investing in a small fishball shop together. The victim was knowledgeable about seafood and spoke confidently about various costs and how to make delicious fishballs, and Yun trusted her completely. The reason they planned to view a shop space today was related to this.”
—There might be a business or financial dispute, but none of the investigated individuals had a motive for murder. Yun wanted to make money with the victim’s expertise, having no reason to kill her.
“Only a few patrons who bought drinks and tipped because of her are considered. After initial inquiries with Yun and other hostesses, it was determined that the victim had no recent disputes with these individuals. The victim’s heart wasn’t in it anymore, somewhat distancing herself from the patrons.”
—The preliminary judgment is that she didn’t die due to romantic disputes with patrons.
“The most suspicious person is still Clara, who had a big argument with the victim just last night, accusing the victim of stealing her regulars and being unethical. Other ladies and Yun said that wasn’t the victim’s character; it was just a misunderstanding. It’s all because Clara has a strong, volatile personality and tends to lose her temper.”
—The only one with a motive to kill is the competitor for clients.
“Today, Clara and her roommate Qin Hongliang were not at home; we went but no one answered the door. We will visit Clara’s home again or confront her at the Daliyuan Court nightclub. Regular patrons who were in frequent contact with the victim will also be interviewed.”
After everyone gradually reported their findings, it was finally the last to return, Jiayi and Uncle Jiu’s turn.
Uncle Jiu looked down, hesitant to speak, so Fang Zhenyue called on Jiayi.
Jiayi, overwhelmed with information, took a while to organize her thoughts before speaking slowly:
“The victim’s mother refuses to talk about this daughter. The victim’s father is a fisherman who returns home early in the morning every other day. The victim also has an elder sister, married to a former patron, now living in Sham Shui Po.
“I and Uncle Jiu visited the nearby neighbors, gathering some information:”
“The victim’s family was a typical poor household, with the parents making a living by fishing. Unsold fish were processed into salted fish and other seafood products for sale, which supported the upbringing of two daughters. The victim also learned to make fishballs and other seafood snacks during her upbringing, hence her interest in starting a business with Yun.”
“From a young age, the deceased was more beautiful and intelligent than most people around her, and was especially favored by her parents. Before adolescence, her academic performance was decent, but perhaps due to her attractiveness, she became a target for some delinquent children.”
Initially, these delinquents would give her nicknames, calling her “Salted Fish Sister.”
‘Salted fish’ is not a term of endearment; in police circles, it’s even a slang term for a corpse.
Eventually, for reasons unknown, instead of becoming enemies with those who targeted and mocked her, the deceased ended up joining them.
“She gradually began to wear expensive clothes her parents had never seen, wore watches worth hundreds of Hong Kong dollars, and associated with dubious characters like Little Ah Fei.”
“Her parents feared she was heading down the wrong path and scolded and beat her, but this had no effect on the sensitive adolescent. Exposed to a flashy world she didn’t yet understand, she became vain and disdainful of her humble parents and old-fashioned sister. She would curse back when scolded and fight back when hit. The most violent incident involved her biting her father’s arm so severely that she drew blood, cursing him with particularly filthy words, and declaring she would never return to a home worse than a horse stable or a dung pit.”
“After that, she ran away and was not seen for a long time. People said she went to the city to work as a call girl, and rumors circulated for many years that she was beaten to death by a client.”
In such a small, close-knit village community, such rumors were particularly damaging.
Some neighbors said that for a long time, the deceased’s father could not lift his head in the community, becoming silent and sensitive. He would suddenly get hurt by trivial things and burst into conflicts with others.
Their family gradually became distant from their neighbors, especially from those who were particularly good at sarcasm.
After a moment of silence, Jiayi blinked and continued:
“The deceased’s elder sister is Zhao Meizhi, who works at an employment center in Sham Shui Po, caring for some elderly who live alone. Although she charges more than Filipino maids, her clean background and reliable character have won her many clients’ favor. Because she is particularly good at household chores and caring for the elderly, she worked in one family for nearly a year, and then married the young male homeowner at the end of the year before last. Although the man was just a typist at a company, he was devoted to earning money for the family, and both were hardworking and kind. They lived a prosperous life and often helped support their elderly parents.”
“About last year, Zhao Meini began to return home intermittently. But her parents never let her in, threw out everything she bought, even money. It’s said she wanted to talk to her elder sister, but her sister wouldn’t even tell her her current address, afraid of getting involved with someone like her and attracting trouble.”
Later, Zhao Meini died mysteriously at home.
From these pieced-together snippets, everyone gradually put together the deceased’s story.
“Looking at it this way, her family relationships were distant, and it’s very likely her parents didn’t even know where she lived. Her father was fishing at sea yesterday, so it seems unrelated to her death,” Gary continued.
Jiayi was certain that the deceased’s parents were not the murderers, but she had yet to meet the sister.
“Tomorrow we will visit the deceased’s sister’s home. We’ve basically ruled out the parents’ suspicion, but the sister’s suspicion has not been fully cleared yet,” Uncle Jiu continued, playing with his cigarette.
In such a family environment, the deceased’s sister might also have had motives for murder, possibly out of resentment towards her sister, not wanting her family to be involved with her.
Many things the police don’t know the inside story of, so they can’t rule out suspects; they must dig deep to find the clear truth.
“Okay,” Fang Zhenyue wrote a few more words on the whiteboard.
“Now the evidence chain is actually very clear, everything points to Clara, and the motive for murder is clear,” Liu Jiaming felt it was time to say this. After staring at the whiteboard for a while, he continued:
“Clara and the victim were ostensibly friends, appearing like sisters in the nightclub, but in reality, they were wary competitors, confronting each other over stealing clients and jockeying for position. After a major conflict early yesterday morning, Clara harbored resentment and plotted to kill the victim.”
“We haven’t seen Clara yet, haven’t confirmed the time of the victim’s death, or whether Clara has an alibi. Other clues are still very vague; it’s better to continue deducing after we meet,” Qiu Sushan waved her hand, many clues still untouched, it’s too early to tell.
Fang Zhenyue nodded, drew a line under Clara’s name, glanced at the time, and suggested:
“Let’s go have dinner first, then make another trip to Clara’s house together.”
“Okay,” they all agreed in unison.
When leaving, Fang Zhenyue picked up his keys and saw Jiayi walking slowly out, clearly distracted.
He approached her and asked, “What’s on your mind? You didn’t talk much during the discussion. What are you thinking?”
“I always feel these clues were left too deliberately.” Jiayi raised her head, stretched out her finger, and argued with Fang Zhenyue:
“If the killer cleaned the house so cleanly, why leave behind a few strands of hair?”
“If the killer was someone who would deliberate before committing murder, why would they leave their earring under the couch, unnoticed?”
“If it was Clara who killed, why wouldn’t she take the photo of herself and the victim, instead of tearing it up and throwing it in the trash? Couldn’t she think that the police would piece the photo together?”
“If it was a crime of passion, an argument with the victim leading to tearing up the photo and discarding it before killing, forgetting about the photo… that contradicts the cleaned-up crime scene.”
“There are just too many contradictions, Brother Yue.”
“It’s like a smart person doing stupid things, a tidy person making a mess, a person carefully handling the scene but overlooking important evidence… Don’t you find that strange?”
Fang Zhenyue couldn’t help but chuckle, nodded, and said, “Maintain this questioning spirit; this is one of the most important abilities of an excellent detective. Note down these questions, and as we slowly uncover the truth of the case, we’ll find the answers, how about that?”
Jiayi nodded.
…
During dinner, the conversation inevitably returned to speculations about the identity of the murderer. They discussed the victim Zhao Meini’s sister and also Sister Yun, guessing wildly with all sorts of bizarre reasons. Ultimately, the focus returned to Clara, who remained the prime suspect.
With this curiosity in mind, everyone quickly finished their dinner as if chewing wax and directly headed to Portland Street.
This time, when they knocked on the door, someone finally responded. The door was opened by a tall woman with black hair, not the brownish-red-haired Clara, but her roommate Qin Hongliang.
Jiayi was somewhat disappointed. She was eager to see for herself if the ‘flaw-riddled’ Clara was indeed the murderer.
Standing behind Uncle Jiu, Jiayi sighed and looked up through the crack of the door:
Qin Hongliang was tall and broad-shouldered.
Suddenly, Jiayi recalled the photo of three tall women, one of whom was Qin Hongliang. Her gaze then shifted back to Qin’s physique.
Her eyes traced Qin Hongliang’s limbs and torso as Jiayi tried to recall the ruthless silhouette she had seen in the flow of her thoughts.
She soon realized that even though Qin’s clothes were loose, the muscles were still discernible in her sleeves and pants when she moved.
It was an exact match with the silhouette in her mind’s eye!
Jiayi held her breath, thinking maybe both she and Clara were tall and muscular, perhaps roommates who took dance or fitness classes together.
But in the next instant, Jiayi dismissed the thought.
“Clatter.”
“Clatter, clatter…”
That sound!
In her mental flow imagery, she had heard such a sound, which she had guessed might be keys.
This was the noise made by Qin Hongliang as she moved aside to let them in.
Jiayi felt the hairs on her body stand up as she stiffly stepped through the door. As she passed by Qin Hongliang, her eyes dropped to Qin’s waist, where she saw a bunch of keys hanging from the belt.
It was a common practice for many people of that era to hang keys on their waist, and clearly, Qin Hongliang was one of them.