Chapter 53: Enlightened 2/2

“The roof beam does not only have footprints. This meant that the culprit was on top for some time while he was waiting for the best opportunity, definitely not just a short while. Beforehand, he had lined the inner walls of the teapot with drugs so that it would be effective when hot water was poured in. He initially wanted to knock out Xi Que but who knew that Xi Que did not drink the water. As the time ticks and he was going to miss his predetermined time of escape, he began to worry. He let out the small snake. His snake brought an odd thread and lured Xi Que away.”

“Following on, he agilely captured the fifth young master up onto the roof beam. The roof beam does not one but two pair of footprints; this explains that there were two people on the beam. And when Xi Que realized that something was not right and wanted to call for help, he was afraid that it would attract the attention of the patrol guards. He could only use the toy in the hands of the fifth young master, for example, that small wooden ball, to aim at Xi Que, leaving a wound on her chest. While Xi Que was in excruciating pain, he quickly escaped from the windows. However, he was unable to run far. He took advantage of the chaotic situation in the residence to quickly come back to pour away the drugged water from the teapot, and then took his snake away. After he was done, he thoroughly left.”

What she said made so much sense that was as if she had witnessed the whole scene. The crowd of people did not know whether to believe or not — every one of them looked at each other in dismay.

Instead, when Qiao Xin heard this, she quickly ran to the room next to them and repeated to her lady.

The Lady was silent. After a while, she asked, “Then where is my Feng Er now? Since he knows all these, does that mean that he knows how my Feng Er is doing now?”

In Qiao Xin’s heart, she thought, the lady is muddle-headed. She thinks that since Sir Liu knows all this information with clues just from a corpse and a room, he would know the whereabouts of the fifth young master out of nothing. Such a marvel!

But the fifth young master was brought away by someone. There are innumerable numbers of roads in this whole world and all they found out is the reason for the disappearance of the fifth young master, not the culprit. How can they be able to find the fifth young master?

But although that is what she thought, she could not say it. She returned to the room and continued to listen.

And in the room, Liu Wei continued, “Doesn’t anyone find it strange? I have looked through the records of the cases in the Capital Magistrate. For the past three years, twenty to thirty people have been reported missing intermittently. Those children were not an exception — they are all aged between half a month to two-years-old. I reckon the oldest is the grandchild of the imperial tutor which was two and a half years old. Doesn’t anyone feel it is weird that the culprit only captures children between these ages?”

Indeed, it was weird. But then again, who would know why is that so?

“Very simple.” Liu Wei softly chuckled. Her voice was clear, “It is easier to hide a small kid. Based on the scoundrel tactics of the culprit abducting the child — such as hiding on the roof beam and spiking the water — how is it possible for him to run around the victim’s manor while carrying a decently big child? Obviously, a smaller child would be easier to abduct; a child too big would have a larger risk to be caught.”

Sounds logical.

Both father and son — Liu Cheng and Liu Yu — looked at each other, and suddenly felt enlightened. In the last few years, the disappearance of children has been the biggest unsolvable case in the capital. Liu Yu is in the Ministry of Personnel while Liu Cheng is in the Secretariat. They know most all the government officials; how would it be possible for them to not be mindful about this matter?

When it first happened, it was only three children; but they are children of somewhat important government officials. More importantly, they were from the same political faction. Many differing opinions came up. At that time, Liu Yu had secretly investigated, thinking that it was revenge by their political enemy. But who knew that this case is impossible to unravel?

It was only until today, that this mystery was slowly getting unravelled by the veiled coroner in front of them.

The surroundings fell into dead silence. Liu Cheng was first to speak.

He changed his haughty attitude and clasped his hands — which was a rare sight — at the plain-clothed Liu Wei.

His attitude became much polite, “I am really impressed to be able to witness Sir’s tactical resourcefulness! It is just that the unlawful crime doer is roaming free outside which makes me feel intolerable. Does Sir have any ideas to find out the identity of the culprit and find my child? This would provide an explanation to the court officials too!”

Liu Wei softly chuckled, “The Prime Minister is too polite. The culprit’s identity is definitely to be further investigated. Of course, since I have been invited by Lord Rong to help, I will solve this case. But in the end, the clues are still too little; without any definite clue, it is difficult for me to pinpoint the culprit’s identity.”