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MY ROOMMATE IS A DETECTIVE

♔ Follow @skysoultan on Instagram ♔ Episode 7

I'm Sorry.

I really shouldn't accept this bottle of wine.

I warned you about this Jew,

didn't I?

You don't know how many dirty things

they've done

to make a profit.

But now,

we can convict them.

But he's innocent

in this case.

You want to make enemies with me

for the sake of an outsider? Are you sure?

I wouldn't.

But I can't stain the reputation

of an innocent man.

I'm sorry.

I'm leaving. Take care.

You shall pay for that.

I don't care.

Are you really selling it?

That's the only way.

It's okay.

We can buy one in the future when we have money.

Don't cry.

You...

Mr. Lu,

I've heard that it's you who cleared the murder charge against me.

I didn't do it on purpose.

I've compensated for the arson,

and Qingyuan Pavilion said they won't pursue the matter anymore.

I have regained my freedom,

for which I've come to thank you.

If you really want to thank me,

buy that pile of things.

Sorry, I'm not keen on such things.

Who painted this?

Me.

The style seems to resemble Picasso's very much.

Especially this stroke,

which is filled with fierce tension.

How can you even tell that?

Quote a price.

Quote a price.

I'll pay you 30 silver dollars.

If you produce any other works in the future,

remember to show them to me.

OK. No problem.

You're quite a connoisseur.

Hey, what on earth is this about?

He bought freedom with 30 silver dollars.

The price is reasonable.

That bastard escaped after all.

What's the reason for the rancor between you two?

Just say it.

I used to be a porter at Shiliupu Pier when I was young.

Once I accidentally dirtied his shoe ,

and he punished me brutally.

No wonder you treated him like that.

If I were you, I would burn him hard

with a lit cigar while he's in prison.

Wrong.

Qiao wouldn't have gained the position he has today

if he hadn't been severely bullied.

What does that mean?

After that incident, I told myself that

I must climb high (in the social hierarchy)

so that no one will dare to bully me.

In this regard,

I should thank him.

You should've said it earlier.

I would have made him stay in prison

for his whole life if I had known that.

Give him back the money.

Do you know that

Raymond bought one of his paintings

with 30 silver dollars in order to thank him.

And it is my portrait.

You should pay me the "portrait usage fee."

Let's split it fifty-fifty.

Forget it.

I'll hire a lawyer and sue you.

No problem. Go find your lawyer then.

How can anyone recognize you

in such an abstract portrait?

Inspector Qiao, someone is blackmailing me.

I'll call the police right now.

Call the police.

Call the police.

Just call the police.

Put it down.

Put it down. Put it down.

Don't you want to call the police?

Don't come over.

Call the police.

Dare you say "call the police" again?

-You... -And you wanna sue me?

How dare you do that?

Your wife will kill you

if you don't hurry and go home.

I don't care.

If she kills me,

my spirit will still go find you.

Don't talk nonsense.

Just go now and come back tomorrow.

I'll tell Xiaohong to open a jug of Huadiao wine for you to drink.

Go back, go back.

Then let me kiss you for the last time.

Just one kiss.

OK?

Go back.

Just go.

Come back tomorrow.

Yaoqin,

Mr. Chen has been waiting for you for quite a long time.

If you don't come,

I'll just invite him into my room.

Coming, coming.

Mr. Chen,

I'm coming now.

Mr. Chen!

Mr. Chen!

Mr. Chen!

What's going on?

What has happened?

No idea.

Murder! There's a murder! Help!

Why are you in such a hurry to leave?

We have just danced for two rounds.

I won't be able to come back if I stay here longer.

What? Are you afraid that I'll keep pestering you?

I fear that I might fall in love with you.

Haven't you fallen in love with me long ago?

Can it be that you didn't mean what you said before?

With such a good memory,

you really should go to the police station with me and be a cop.

No problem.

I'm willing to do anything you ask me to do

as long as I can stay with you every day.

What a sweet talker you are.

Ride Inspector Qiao's motorcycle here.

Someone rode it away just now.

Rode it away?

Yeah.

He said that he's your subordinate,

and that you asked him to fetch the motorcycle.

My subordinate?

What's his surname? And what does he look like?

Over there.

Go stop him and take the motorcycle back.

You can go now.

Mr. Lu, you haven't died?

Don't you know how to talk politely?

I didn't expect that this shabby motorcycle of yours is so hard to ride.

Do you have any idea how much it costed?

Isn't it inappropriate for good friends

like us to talk about money?

Look.

I was heavily injured because of your shabby vehicle.

As for the medical expense, lost labor cost,

mental injury compensation, and so on,

I'll just let them pass.

No no no, don't let them pass.

I'll pay you your medical expense,

and you pay me the repair cost of my motorcycle.

The saddle and the spring need to be changed, and the bodywork needs repainting.

These things are not available in the country,

so we need to ship the vehicle back to Britain.

So as for the shipping cost...

Is that Salim?

Don't fool me with such tricks.

Let me inform you that

you'll be imprisoned for a least one month

for driving without license coupled with vandalism.

Honestly, I'm not afraid of going to jail

as long as the food is good in there.

If I'm imprisoned,

I can save one month's rent.

Thank you for that, Inspector Qiao.

Do you think I dare not arrest you?

Good evening, sir!

What have you come here for?

There's a case.

Inspector Qiao,

a guest in Three-dollar Hall has just died,

and we're heading to the scene.

How did he die?

He was said to be haunted,

hanging himself dead from the ceiling.

Where's the body?

The body is still hanging

in Miss Yaoqin's room.

Yaoqin?

The dead man was a customer of Miss Yaoqin.

Why are you looking at me?

I'll be put in jail.

After all, driving without license isn't a minor crime.

You know,

I'm a supernumerary policeman,

but it's still unpardonable for me to deliberately break the law,

isn't it?

Yaoqin is an old friend of mine.

So?

Do me a favor

and solve the case.

As for the repair cost of the motorcycle, I'll just let it pass.

No.

Lu Yao,

don't challenge my bottom line.

Ah, my arm hurts,

and my feet are abraded.

I'll pay you your medical expense.

Look,

such an unexpected accident

has frightened me

and given me a huge mental blow.

I'll pay for your mental injury, too.

Twenty silver dollars.

And look at my clothes...

My leather jacket has been worn out.

Ten silver dollars.

And the shoes.

The shoes are from Italy.

Calf leather, and custom-made by craftsmen.

You can't buy them with money.

Look at this.

Take him back (to the police station)

and put him into Ward No. 2.

Don't feed him without permission.

Take him away.

Yes.

Go.

Let's negotiate peacefully.

Isn't there a major case to be solved?

Let's hurry. There must be no delay.

How should you address me?

Inspector Qiao,

please!

This way.

Salim,

ride the motorcycle back.

How am I supposed to know?

He died in your room,

so how can you not know?

Get out, all of you!

Brother Chusheng.

Don't be afraid. Don't worry.

I've brought an expert here this time.

He used to be a high achiever at Cambridge University in Britain,

and has helped me solve many cases.

Let me introduce him to you.

Lu Yao...

What are you doing here?

I haven't had dinner.

Sorry.

Lu Yao.

Tell me what you saw on the night when the incident occurred.

When Mr. Chen went upstairs,

I happened to be seeing a customer out.

Quite unexpectedly,

no sooner had I seen the guest off

than I turned around and saw something

on that glass window.

There seemed to be someone hanging in there.

When I ran upstairs,

Mr. Chen was already dead.

Did anyone enter or exit the room before or after the incident?

That's the weird thing, I suppose.

Nobody was ever seen

entering or exiting through the door or the front window.

How about the rear window?

The rear window...

It's been raining hard all the day.

And the backyard is a patch of muddy ground.

So there must have been a few footprints left

if there really had been someone going that way.

What did that Mr. Chen do?

He was a master of porcelain carving.

I do have heard about "porcelain bumping" (pengci),

but what is porcelain carving?

It's the carving of various patterns on vases.

Mr. Chen was second to none

in porcelain carving in Shanghai.

His works are worth a fortune!

A rich man.

I don't know if he was rich,

but he really made a lot of money and spent a lot, too.

Oh, it reminds me that

apart from coming here a lot,

he really liked to go to casinos.

Can it be that he was killed because he couldn't afford

to pay his gambling debt?

The creditor wants money, not the death of the debtor.

From whom shall him collect the debt

if he kills the debtor?

Has your brain been damaged during that motorcycle accident?

I haven't had dinner, so my brain doesn't work well.

Ma'am, do you have any food?

Take your time. No one is grabbing your food.

No need to hurry.

Sir,

give me a bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup.

Are you not afraid of dying of overeating?

How can this be called "overeating?"

When I was in Paris,

I once ate in seven restaurants

from seven in the evening to early morning.

That French girl was so pretty.

A foreign girl?

Were you able to endure the exertion (of bedding her)?

Then how about that Yaoqin?

Can you endure the exertion?

Don't talk nonsense.

We're from the same hometown.

After a natural disaster happened in our village,

we fled to Shanghai together.

Afterwards, I became a porter at the pier,

while she was sold to the Three-dollar Hall.

We don't contact much in normal times,

but would help each other when help is needed.

She's sort of my younger sister.

If you really regard her as your sister,

why don't you buy back her freedom?

How can you bear to see her sell her body?

Don't you know the difference

between a Qinglou ("green mansion") and a whorehouse?

Is there any difference?

A girl from a Qinglou

is allowed to "sell art skills" but not her body,

while a whore

can only sell her body since she has no art skills to sell.

Whore?

You went to the whorehouse again?

What do you mean by "again?"

When have I ever gone to a whorehouse?

How can you say that without any basis?

Fine, I know you haven't been there.

Why are you so agitated?

It's obvious that you have a guilty conscience.

What case are you two investigating?

Mind your own business.

And why do you show up here so early?

Are you stalking the two of us?

I don't have time for such boring things.

Postmortem report?

It's about the case that happened last night.

The dead, Chen Guangzhi,

died of asphyxia.

I almost kowtowed to the coroner

in order to get this report.

How did you know there is a case?

There are only two possibilities for his staying out at night.

First, indulging in debauchery,

but he had paid the rent,

so he didn't have the money for that.

Therefore, the only possibility left

is that he was called away to investigate a case.

Why isn't it possible that I was going out on a date?

Throughout the whole Shanghai,

there's no woman to whom you take a fancy and who also takes a fancy to you,

at least for the time being.

I wonder whether this character was carved

before or after his death.

It must hurt a lot.

"Died of asphyxia."

So he was indeed strangled to death.

And why is there

the character "nie" (sin) carved on his forehead?

What does it mean?

Who would strangle a person

and carve a character on his forehead?

Did the killer want to scare someone?

So you two stayed at the Three-dollar Hall for a whole night

without obtaining any information, is that so?

Of course not.

We've found out the identity of the dead man.

Porcelain carver.

Good for you.

I'm just a little cleverer

and a little more diligent than you two.

Inquiring about hearsay is after all

a basic skill of the reporter.

Do you guys want to know

what day yesterday is ?

No, I don't.

Come on, think about it!

Yesterday

is the first death anniversary of Chen Guangzhi's respected teacher.

Chen Guangzhi

was one of the top porcelain carving masters in Shanghai.

One year ago,

he succeeded his teacher, Mr. Wang,

and rose to fame.

Chen Guangzhi was a handsome man with a dignified mien.

His porcelain carving ability was inferior to that of his teacher,

but he had nonetheless achieved an incomparable fame during the past year

and the market prices of his works had even exceeded those of other masters' works,

all as a result of his teacher's public recommendation and paving the way for him

before the former passed away.

However,

Chen Guangzhi fell prey to gambling

soon after achieving such a big success,

and often ran into gambling debts.

Hence he spent less and less time in porcelain carving.

It's unbelievable that a leading master in this field should degenerate like that,

so his peers had been critical of him.

So you mean that

he was killed by his peers?

Wrong.

I think, judging from the way he was killed,

this case is full of rancor.

Therefore, in my opinion...

It was his teacher's spirit

that punished this unworthy pupil.

That's right.

Think about it,

when the spirit of his deceased teacher

saw him degenerate like this,

degrading the reputation of his teacher,

how could it , the spirit, bear this?

So the spirit imposed this punishment,

which is called "The Punishment from a Deceased Teacher."

You even come up with a news title?

Good for you.

With such an article,

30,000 more copies of a newspaper can be sold.

What should be the title

if you publish it in Ta Kung Pao?

National Art on the Verge of Extinction

After Porcelain Carving Master Dies in Regret

It is Hoped Government Gives More Supports

to Traditional Arts

What about Shanghai News?

Murder Reoccurs at Three-dollar Hall

Public Security at Concession Deteriorates

We Appeal to Authority

to Ban Brothels ASAP

so as to Make Shanghai a Pure Land Again

What? Did I say anything wrong?

Seems that no newspaper suits you except for Crescent Daily.

Just keep working there.

The character "nie" was neatly carved.

Besides, it was not cut in strokes,

but in punctured dots that form the lines.

It's very hard to make these dots with ordinary tools.

Only a drilling graver

specially used by porcelain carvers can do that.

You even have some knowledge of porcelain carving?

Let me put it this way:

I know a smattering of anything

that are both valuable and useless.

There are only a dozen of porcelain carvers

in total across Shanghai.

I'm going now to investigate

what they did last night.

There's another thing.

What is it?

This steamed bun is quite tasty.

I'll have another 200 grams to go.

How come you're so familiar with this place?

Have you been here before?

I came here a lot when I was a child.

What did you come here for?

Fetching my dad home.

At that time,

he often met uncle Huang and uncle Du here to talk about businesses

while playing mahjong and drinking tea.

If it was too late and he hadn't come back home,

my mom would bring me here to wait for him.

If he refused to go, I would cry and make a scene.

After that, my uncles would have no choice

but let my dad go home with us.

I can see he loved you dearly.

He did when I was a girl.

But we have become at daggers drawn

since I graduated from college.

What's the reason for that?

It's a personal secret.

Don't inquire about that.

Is this the place?

Yeah.

I'll go take a look at the backyard.

Why do you come here?

Who would go in this way?

It's not a main road.

It rained yesterday,

and this is a muddy ground.

If the murderer really

escaped through the rear window of Yaoqin's room,

there must be some footprints.

What is this?

Mr. Lu, you have come!

Sister Yaoqin,

how come there's a dent?

That might be caused by a clothesline that dropped on the ground.

It happens quite often.

You hang a few heavy things on it and it would drop.

How could a clothesline make such a deep dent?

What a fool you are.

What's so weird about it

if the clothesline was pressed down by heavy things?

Do you remember when it dropped?

I still saw it the day before yesterday,

so perhaps it dropped yesterday.

Now I understand.

What do you understand?

The murderer came out through the rear window,

hung himself on the clothesline and climbed into the adjacent room.

At this time, all attentions

were drawn to Yaoqin's room,

so he managed to escape from the forecourt without a hitch.

Of course there isn't a single footprint in the backyard.

And the clothesline was of course pulled down by the murderer.

How's it possible?

The clothesline would drop if there are many clothes hanging on it,

let alone when there is a person on it.

You don't believe my words?

How about we make a bet?

If you want to bet, let's bet big.

We'll just bet on this handbag of yours.

Why do you want a handbag for ladies?

I can pawn it, can't I?

Fine.

If I win,

that gramophone of yours will be mine.

Deal.

What are they doing?

It doesn't look very high,

but this act is too dangerous.

It is a reporter's obligation to work on the battlefront!

How about we cancel the bet?

Otherwise your dad would blame me

if you fall to death.

No worry.

He has been wishing me to die.

You're the first person I know who might die of stupidity.

What is she doing?

Take her down.

Are you crazy?

Are you all right?

I...

My fall doesn't disprove my theory.

The murderer might be a kid,

or a dwarf acrobat.

Anyway, his weight is low enough.

Clean your clothes.

I'm fine.

How about we let a child try it?

Why don't you just hang a bag of rice on it?

You can even control the weight by doing so.

Why didn't you tell me earlier?

Was it you who let her climb on the rope?

She said that a good reporter should "work on the battlefront."

No one forced her.

The suspect has been found.

Who?

There are 13 identifiable persons

in total in Shanghai

who had dealt with Mr. Chen.

One of them wasn't in Shanghai yesterday.

Among the rest 12 persons,

there is one called Li Mohan

who had a conflict with Mr. Chen

at a previous auction.

I don't think he would kill him just because of that.

The key fact is that

he entered his studio at seven last evening,

and no one knows if he ever came out after that.

Let's go find him then.

You'd better change your clothes

and go to the hospital to have a check.

I'll go with Lu Yao.

I'm fine.

Take her away!

I'm really fine.

I...

How could you let her climb on the rope when you knew she would fall

just because you wanted to make a small gain

at her expense?

Don't you know her temperament?

All her family members always give in to her,

but what about you?

Abandoning your gentlemanly conduct just in order to get a handbag.

Let me warn you this:

if anything should happen to her,

you shall compensate with your life.

A fall into the pit, a gain in her wit.

If she never suffers setbacks,

she would be a pampered lady

all her life.

You're making me speechless.

I was also spoiled when I was a boy.

My dad thought that I would be a useless man

if they kept spoiling me,

so he sent me abroad.

I haven't become a good-for-nothing only because

the life abroad had taught me numerous lessons.

So you don't think you're a good-for-nothing?

What can you do except for doing detective work?

But some people can't even do that.

Get off.

Why are you having such a hot temper as if having "eaten gunpowder?"

This is not a major case, but not a minor one, either.

Ostensibly it seems

to be an ordinary murder case,

but it is a case that happened at Three-dollar Hall,

a "gossip center."

Many moguls in Shanghai are waiting for the result,

so my reputation will be destroyed

if I don't solve the case in time.

No big deal.

When we arrive at the place later,

you stay in the car.

Why?

You guys have always been a drag on me in normal times,

so this time I'll show you

how efficient I am when I investigate by myself.

You can't arrest me!

You can't arrest me!

Don't struggle!

I'm a law-abiding citizen.

A law-abiding citizen!

You can't arrest me!

Let go of me. I'm a law-abiding citizen!

So you're Li Mohan?

You... Who are you?

How can you arrest me?

I'm Lu Yao,

a senior detective consultant at the Concession Police Station.

Handkerchief!

I'm beaten by the police!

I'm beaten by the police!

Handkerchief, handkerchief.

I... I don't have it.

Enough. Stop beating him.

Yeah, they should stop that.

You're really efficient, Inspector Lu.

I don't think you would do better

in dealing with such a rogue.

Really?

I'll give it a try.

Qiao...

So you know me?

Then our problem is simpler.

You're now a suspect,

so talk honestly and politely if you want to be freed.

Don't make me impatient.

Fine.

What do you want to ask about?

Just go ahead.

Why are you being so polite to him?

These porcelains in your room

must be worth a fortune.

The gongbi-style (fine, delicate strokes) carving is in vogue,

so the works of our school, the xieyi (freehand style) school,

have become unsaleable.

Otherwise I wouldn't have kept so many products to myself.

Do you think that's what I want to hear?

I really stayed here all night last night.

Besides,

why would I kill that Chen Guangzhi?

There was no enmity between us.

But he was your competitor.

Any one of his works is worth at least 10 times as much as yours.

I heard that you had a conflict

with him at a previous auction,

and that you cursed him,

saying that he will die a tragic death sooner or later.

But it's not enough to kill him only (if I were the killer).

There are 13 porcelain carvers in total in Shanghai,

and Chen Guangzhi's school is the most popular one.

To make our xieyi school prosper,

shouldn't I have killed

all his disciples?

You said you didn't go out for the whole night last night.

Who can testify for you?

There's no need for someone to testify for him.

Why's that?

I noticed his sleeve.

Porcelain carvers usually put the porcelain plate (they're carving)

on a basin of fine sand,

which is shock-absorbing as well as noise-reducing.

If he had gone out to do the killing last night,

not only the fine sand would have fallen from his sleeve on the way,

but there should have been a little fine sand on Chen Guangzhi's face,

since there is a character carved on his forehead.

What if he killed him first

and then went back to work?

That's impossible, either.

Look at this.

Bu Shi Ren Jian Zao Nie Qian (Not using sinful money).

The character "nie" is neatly carved,

but its style is totally different from the "nie" on Chen Guangzhi's forehead.

There are two schools of porcelain carving:

the gongbi school and the xieyi school.

These two schools use different techniques and different tools,

and are independent from each other.

The knife tool of the xieyi school

is more like an ordinary bit,

while the graver of the gongbi school

is in the shape of a small cone.

Only the tool of the gongbi school can carve characters of the same style

as that on Chen Guangzhi's forehead.

Then it must be Xu Lin.

Who's Xu Lin?

He's Chen Guangzhi's junior fellow disciple of the same teacher.

As far as carving ability is concerned,

he is far better than Chen Guangzhi.

Then why didn't their teacher let him be the successor?

There was a careful consideration

from the late teacher.

Carving as a profession

originated in the Qin Dynasty.

At first it was a means of marking.

Later, men of letters found that

calligraphy and pictures carved on porcelains

can be preserved longer than those on papers.

This trade has thus developed into today's size.

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu,

Chen Guangzhi's teacher had lectured

at the Craft School started by Shuntian Prefecture (equivalent to today's Beijing Municipality),

and founded the gongbi school.

Moreover, by acquiring scenography introduced by foreigners,

the pictures he carved became more stereoscopic

and belonged to an independent genre.

But this old man also found that

no matter how remarkable one's porcelain carving skill is,

we the carvers

cannot produce better pictures than professional painters,

neither can we

carve better calligraphy than calligraphists.

Even wood carving and stone carving

are more popular than porcelain carving.

This is really a tough profession,

so there are less and less people

learning porcelain carving.

I see.

He highly recommended Chen Guangzhi before

presumably because the latter was handsome

and eloquent.

He wanted to make use of Chen's charisma

to attract public attention to porcelain carving,

which he did.

During the past year,

not only did newspapers report about him,

but the Green Dragon Gang

also received two big vases carved by him.

Quite a few rich ladies from aristocratic families

lavished money in order to

come into contact with him.

Afterwards, his works became so popular that no one could bought one without reservation.

If I were Xu Lin,

who is so much more capable than Chen Guangzhi

but who remains obscure just because he is plain-looking,

I would regard him as an eyesore, too.

Why don't you arrest

such a dubious man?

I wanted to arrest him,

but he was not in Shanghai yesterday.

What?

You guys go check

when Xu Lin, Chen Guangzhi's junior fellow disciple,

came back to Shanghai.

Yes, sir!

Go!

Are you all right?

I'm fine. Just some minor injuries.

Go to the hospital to have a check.

I'm good, I'm good.

It's all because of you

that I get freed.

It's because of me that you're freed.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Lu.

Why do you fear him so much?

Were you beaten by him before?

Aren't you his colleague?

How should you not know his background?

Anything remarkable about his background?

In the martial world in Shanghai, there are the Eight "Warrior Attendants."

Continue.

Who are these eight "Warrior Attendants?"

Is he one of them?

You'd better ask him yourself.

Take care, sirs. I will not see you out anymore.

How were you selected as a warrior attendant?

Don't ask about what you shouldn't ask.

I'm just curious.

Was there a voting process,

or were you directly chosen by a boss?

I've only heard about the Four Warrior Attendants.

Why are there eight of you?

Is it because your gang likes this auspicious number?

Have you ever fought the other warrior attendants?

Will one be dismissed if he lose the fight?

Or will one be a warrior attendant for all his life

no matter he wins or loses?

If the latter is the case,

how can a new member be selected?

Have you finished asking?

Get in the car if you have.

Just tell me.

I'll have a cup of Pu'er tea.

We drink Biluochun at such a time.

No one drinks Pu'er.

How ignorant you are.

I asked a lot of questions just now,

but why didn't you answer a single one?

The lesser you know

about the martial world, the better.

Do you still belong to the martial world now?

Where there are humans, there is a martial world.

You also belong to the martial world.

Do I?

Should I get a tattoo?

Such as having a pig tattoo

on my arm, a pink one.

No problem.

Once you have selected the image, I'll take you to do it.

Inspector Qiao,

Xu Lin came back at noon by train,

and Salim has brought him here.

Take him in.

Mr. Xu, please.

Inspectors,

I've heard that brother Chen...

We're sorry, Mr. Xu.

Please.

Who would have thought this would happen?

I managed to book a standing ticket with difficulty

and hurried back to Shanghai.

You must have had a good relationship with Mr. Chen.

We were taught by the same teacher, after all.

Brother Chen never married,

so I should have been the one

to arrange his funeral.

I heard that you attended

a symposium yesterday in Nanjing.

It's just a colloquium

about the integration of gongbi and xieyi.

Brother Chen should have attended it,

but he was busy,

so I attended it instead.

Who else were present?

All of them are people in the field of porcelain carving,

like Mr. Wang Yang from Beijing,

Mr. Zhang Leping from Nanjing,

Mr. Su Peilun from Yangzhou,

and me.

You must be travel-worn, Mr. Xu.

Come on, drink some tea to quench your thirst.

Thank you, thank you.

The third-class carriage was really crowded.

Although today isn't one of the hottest days in a year,

I still sweated profusely in the carriage.

We have confirmed with men in Nanjing.

The attendees of yesterday's symposium were indeed those four men.

You must be very tired, Mr. Xu,

after hurrying here the moment you got off the train.

If there's no other question...

We have no question now.

Inspector Qiao,

please see Mr. Xu out.

If you don't have any question, I'll just leave.

If you have any question later,

I'll surely cooperate.

Mr. Xu, are your shoes

made by Heming Shoes and Hats Shop?

You're really a connoisseur, Mr. Lu.

I like wearing leather shoes,

but my old man

is crazy about the cloth shoes produced by Heming,

saying that their shoe soles

are solid and fit one's feet well.

That's right.

If you have no further question, I'll take leave now.

Thank you for carrying out the investigation

of brother Chen's death.

You're welcome.

Rickshaw.

Wait a sec.

Catch him back.

Why? He isn't the killer.

Did you notice nothing

when I was praising his shoes just now?

Notice what?

Let me ask you this.

What class of carriage did he say he was in?

Third-class carriage.

Still none the wiser?

Why are you taking me here?

Wanna have some?

If you still don't tell me,

I'll feed you ice creams only for the rest of your life.

Why are you in such a frenzy?

Look at that yourself.

Don't you want to say that the third-class carriage is crowded,

and that the passenger would get bedraggled,

just like Xu Lin?

Look down.

I'm back finally.

I should have come back yesterday.

Who would have thought that the carriage was switched to the front?

Excuse me,

when was the third-class carriage switched to the front?

Today.

Spring came earlier this year, so we also switched it earlier than before.

Thank you.

Can we arrest him now, Inspector Qiao?

Why didn't you tell me earlier?

Now he has been set free,

how can we arrest him after he changes his clothes

and throws his shoes away?

Do you really think that we can make him confess

just by means of a pair of shoes?

What do you mean?

Mr. Lu, we've found it.

There is indeed a gap in the front.

Wait a second.

No, thanks.

Help me throw it in a bin.

Yes.

Let's go, Inspector Qiao.

Where?

It's time to show up in front of sister Yaoqin.

Yaoqin.

Yaoqin, Inspector Qiao has come.

Coming, coming.

Brother Chusheng, have you caught the murderer?

Who's that?

Does it look like what you saw when Chen Guangzhi

died last night?

Exactly the same.

Let's go.

Have you seen it clearly?

Yes I have.

Put him down first.

What on earth is all this about?

A small experiment

to make you guys perceive directly

the modus operandi of the murderer.

The principle is quite simple.

I once saw a magician

performing on the street in Paris.

He put a person in a box,

and the shadow of the person couldn't be seen from all sides.

Actually, by adjusting the relative position between the light and the person,

we can make the projected shadow

appear

or disappear on the window.

I see.

The dead body was behind the oil lamp,

while you (observer) were in front of it.

In that case,

we could only see the shadow of the body.

Bingo.

Nevertheless,

how did the murderer escape?

The road was so muddy last night,

but there is not a single footprint left in the backyard.

Sister Yaoqin,

do you remember

the fallen clothesline in the backyard?

Have you ever thought that

perhaps that clothesline didn't fall accidentally

after the murderer escaped with the help of it,

and that, instead, someone had purposefully made it drop

so as to cover up the trail of his escape?

Inspector Qiao,

Why do you send for me

over and again?

Mr. Xu,

it's me who asked them to invite you back.

Mr. Lu,

how can I help you?

Did you escape from this backyard

after killing the person last night?

What do you mean by that?

You were not in Nanjing last night.

You let some guy pretend to be you and attend the symposium,

while you yourself hid in the railway station,

and when the right time came,

pretended as if you had just hurried back from Nanjing,

so as to create an alibi for yourself.

Nonsense.

Do you guys have any evidence to prove your words?

Of course, I've done the investigation.

You were a disciple of Mr. Wang,

but it had always been your senior fellow disciple,

that is, the dead man Chen Guangzhi,

who got the chance to appear in public.

The attendees

of the symposium that night

had never met each other before,

so it's not difficult at all for you

to let someone pretend to be you.

Besides...

What?

You said you were in the third-class carriage.

Yeah.

I have the ticket as evidence.

You might not know that

the classes of the train carriages are indeed determined by season,

but the carriage-switching time can vary.

What does that mean?

In winters,

the closer a carriage is to the locomotive, where the boiler is located,

the warmer it is in the carriage,

therefore the third-class carriage is at the rear of the train.

In summers,

vice versa,

the farther a carriage is to the locomotive , the cooler it is in the carriage.

Besides, you can open the window wide

without cinders coming in.

Therefore, in summers,

the third-class carriage is in the front.

Mr. Xu, you might not know that

since spring came earlier this year,

the classes of all the carriages

were switched early this morning,

with the third-class carriage

being switched to the front of the train.

Therefore,

apart from wrinkled clothes and profuse sweat,

all the passengers in the third-class carriage have other things in common

after getting off the train:

grimy faces,

and cinders on the shoes.

Even if that's so,

it can only prove that I didn't take the train,

but cannot prove that

I was the one who killed brother Chen.

Now we're going to explain

how the murderer escaped.

We had thought for a time

that this dent was caused by a clothesline

that dropped on the ground.

But a careful observation revealed that

the depth of this dent

far exceeds the thickness of the rope.

Then what on earth is it (that caused the dent)?

Is the prop ready?

Yes!

Ride over there.

Next,

the murderer parked the bike against the wall,

stepped on the saddle, and climbed on second floor.

After killing the person,

he rode back along the same trace.

Not a single footprint was left during the whole process.

You're truly a renowned detective,

discovering the whole fact from small clues.

But—

After the killing, you escaped by riding the bike

and hid in the railway station for a whole night.

By the way,

there is a gap on the west side of the station,

through which you entered the station, I suppose.

It is not difficult to find a lost bike

from Laole Society to Tianmu Road East.

And you should know, Mr. Xu,

that only a few people can afford to buy a bike in this era.

The owner of the bike would be found

easily by checking the serial number.