Right then, Song Xingchen suddenly ran out without saying so much as a word. I followed him out the door and asked, "Where are you going?"

"It’s a trick!" Song Xingchen pointed to the footprints on the stairs and said, "When we first entered the house, the middle-aged man had already left."

Listening to the sound of a car engine starting below, I knew it impossible to chase him.

But I didn't understand what the point of losing the pawn to keep the rook was[1]? The man’s motive was clearly to protect the four young masters so this wasn’t losing the pawn to keep the rook but the other way around.

Could there be some sort of conspiracy?

When I returned to the flat, Xiaotao was reprimanding the men and women, ordering them to obediently squat down by the bed. Having smoked quite a few and already on a high, their movements were rather clumsy. The oldest one was still putting on airs, "You fucking bitch, do you know who my dad is? If I tell you his name, you’ll be so scared you’ll piss yourself!"

“Go ahead then,” Xiaotao spread her hands.

"Listen up! My dad is the richest man in Nanjiang City!" he said, holding his head up high.

"So you must be my long lost brother who’s been gone for many years?" scoffed Xiaotao.

The boy pointed his thumb at his nose, "Don't try to worm your way into my family. My dad is Qin Guozhu. You can ask around on the streets. Who in Nanjiang City doesn't know him?"

I was familiar with the name; he was a famous entrepreneur. "Is he the richest man in Nanjiang?" I whispered to Xiaotao.

"He used to be,” replied Xiaotao. “But the richest man in the past three years has been an entrepreneur named Huang."

"Oh,” I chuckled. “How I wish I knew his daughter."

Soon, reinforcements arrived and handcuffed the men and women, escorting them away. We followed the police cars back to the station and registered our detainees. The oldest one was named Qin Aonan, son of Qin Guozhu, an entrepreneur in the petrochemical industry. The one wearing glasses was called Hong Chao and his father had started an automotive repair chain. The third one was our old acquaintance, Zhao Dapeng. And the youngest of the group was Bai Xiaowei, son of a bank president.

The two women were ladies who worked in a nightclub.

WIth the combined wealth of the four men’s fathers, they could probably buy half of Nanjiang City. They were out-and-out second-generation rich kids! Since their surnames were Qin, Hong, Zhao and Bai respectively, the police nicknamed them “The Four Rights and Wrongs[2].”

Taking drugs wasn’t a crime but it was a justifiable reason to arrest them. The four young men showed completely different attitudes upon entering the interrogation room. Qin Aonan was unreasonable and threatened to deal with us. Hong Chao trembled, claiming the drugs were brought by the others and he had never touched them before. Meanwhile, Zhao Dapeng remained silent, though he repeatedly kicked the table and overturned several cups. Bai Xiaowei merely stared at his interrogators with stony eyes.

Xiaotao and I stood outside the interrogation room to observe them. However, the absurdity of their arrest indicated it must be some sort of trick.

The four young men refused to admit to the crimes. With no evidence and no breakthroughs, we were once again at a stalemate. By 7 in the evening, Bingxin came running, holding a lab report in her hand. "Song Yang-gege, I’ve made a discovery!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?"

Bingxin had taken the cups used by the four suspects for testing. One of them was a perfect match to the DNA found in the breeding compound, and the man was Qin Aonan.

Of course, Bingxin accomplished this on her own. It was under Xiaotao’s secret orders.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I turned to Xiaotao.

"Then there wouldn’t be any suspense!” she chuckled. “Come on, let's go out, have a celebratory dinner and come back later to interrogate Qin Aonan. Let’s see what he has to say."

As the three of us were leaving the station, we suddenly heard a noise in the corridor. Several officers stopped an old man who was shouting, "I want to see my daughter! Let me in!"

The man was about sixty years old, tough-looking, with cold, sharp features like a knife, and two white eyebrows that extended upwards without a curve.

When Xiaotao asked what happened, the old man claimed to be the father of the female victim from the second case. Because we hadn’t yet confirmed her identity at the time, the police posted a notice on the Internet which the old man came across. He immediately hurried down to the station but refused to cooperate when the officers told him to register.

"What’s your name!" asked Xiaotao.

"I am Wang Xuebing. My daughter Wang Lulu is the girl in the news. She’s only twenty-four years old this year. She just started working! How could this..." The old man trailed off, his eyes turning red as tears streamed down his wrinkled face.

Xiaotao invited the old man down to the morgue with us. Fortunately, the body hadn’t been dissected so he could say goodbye to his daughter.

Upon seeing the corpse, the old man’s emotions burst out like a dam, sobbing as his eyes traced his daughter’s every feature. We tried consoling the old man but our words had little effect.

After exiting the morgue, the old man turned to Xiaotao, "Officer, can you tell me which animal killed my daughter?"

"Don't be impulsive,” advised Xiaotao. “We’re trying our best to solve the case. We will definitely redress your daughter's grievance."

"I don't want to hear this! Tell me who it is!" demanded the old man.

Xiaotao bowed her head helplessly, "I’m sorry, the details of the case cannot be disclosed!"

The old man began to remove his coat. Just as I wondered what he was up to, I noticed the old green military uniform underneath with medals on his chest. "I am a veteran from the Third Regiment of the Dagger Battalion of the Yunnan Military Region. I once participated in the attack against Vietnam and charged to the frontlines. I shed blood, sweat and tears fighting with my life for this country! Lulu is my only relative. I watched her grow up. She is everything to me! Officer, put yourself in my shoes. If this unfortunate thing happened to you, would you like to hear such perfunctory words?"

Xiaotao sighed and held the old man's hand, "I understand how you feel but..."

"Old man, don’t worry,” interrupted Bingxin. “In fact, we have caught the murderers and are currently interrogating them.”

Xiaotao glared at Bingxin as the old man added, "Can I see them?"

The old man insisted on seeing the murderers, even kneeling down to beg us. Xiaotao tried desperately to persuade him and only managed to deter him with the crime of obstructing justice. From her standpoint, this wasn’t something she could be partial about.

After the old man left, Xiaotao immediately blew up and shouted at Bingxin, "Miss Sun, the Public Security Bureau isn’t some place you come to play house! How can you casually disclose such important information to an outsider? What if he does something extreme and causes serious consequences? Would you be able to bear the responsibility?"

"I just find the old man really pitiful," argued Bingxin.

"Do you even think of yourself as a personnel of the law? Justice and sympathy mustn’t be confused. Go home and write me a self-evaluation tonight. If you make this mistake again, then leave the criminal police team! Go back to the laboratory and dissect your monkeys!"

With that, Xiaotao strode away angrily, leaving a weeping Bingxin behind. In truth, I wasn’t sure what to say either. I patted her on the shoulder and comforted her, "Don't be sad. Who among us hasn't made a mistake?"

Bingxin sobbed even louder, holding onto my shoulder as tears slid down her cheeks. I patted her gently on the back to soothe her.

At the door, Xiaotao suddenly turned around and said, her voice carrying a hint of gentleness, "What are you still doing? Let’s go get dinner. We still have work to do!"

Bingxin wiped her tears, "I won't eat tonight. I think I deserve some punishment!"

"How can you skip your meals? Why don't you switch to a different punishment? You can buy us dinner," I suggested.

"Then I'll treat you to a good meal to express my apologies," sniffled Bingxin.

"Don't worry,” smiled Xiaotao. “I’ll make sure to go all out for dinner and vent some of that frustration!"

[1] A Chinese metaphor meaning to give up something less important to keep something of priority.

[2] 青紅皂白 (qīng hóng zào bái) is a homonym of their surnames combined which means the rights and wrongs of a matter.