Gao Cai, Elder Jing and Elder Mu reached the foot of the stage. Although the villagers made way for Elders Mu and Jing when they noticed them, they were still slower than Trip and Wukong at making their way through the crowd. Gao Cai and Elder Jing looked ready for a fight, while Elder Mu had a grim expression on his face, as though preparing himself for something.

From across the village square, four men walked towards the stage, bearing Gao Xin’s body on a plank. Madam Shu and Gao Luan, Elder Mu’s mother and wife, had been walking behind them. Upon seeing Elder Mu at the foot of the stage, the two ladies joined him there. The men set down Gao Xin’s body at a tilted angle on a wooden stand, letting the crowd see her clearly.

“Mama, why is sister Xin sleeping up there?”

“She’s… well, something happened, and… sigh…”

“Was it really Bajie who killed Little Xin? Are they gonna execute him?”

“But isn’t it weird? I thought they were childhood friends…?”

Trip examined the crowd, but did not see the person she was looking for. In the first place, that person would be the type to stand out, so the fact that she couldn’t see him, meant that he wasn’t in the village square at all. She beckoned to Wukong, whispering in his ear when he came forward. When she was done, Wukong stood up straight and said “At once, Mistress!” then ran off the stage and out of the village square.

Trip went to stand in front of Bajie, beside Gao Xin’s body. Clenching her fists behind her back, she took a deep breath. Her voice rang out, crisp and clear.

“People of Gao Village! My name is Trip. I was brought in by Elder Mu and Elder Jing to investigate Gao Xin’s murder. They have been with me every step of the way, making sure things were done right.”

At this, the Elders Mu and Jing nodded their heads, lending authenticity to Trip’s words.

“Let me share with you what I’ve found.” said Trip.

The crowd went silent. Their dearest Gao Xin had been murdered, and they were about to find out what happened. They listened intently.

“All of you know Gao Xin. She liked to play with your children and give them flowers, spreading joy wherever she went, asking for nothing in return. Sweet, kind, gentle Gao Xin, so loved by so many. She would never harm anyone, but someone brought harm to her!”

“Some people think that Bajie was the one who harmed her. Bajie, who had been Gao Xin’s precious friend since they were little. So precious was he to Gao Xin, that she would sneak off to spend time with him. Why did she prefer his company so much? The answer can be found in a piece of wisdom passed down from our ancestors. They said ‘birds of a feather flock together’. Gao Xin saw something within Bajie that made her feel that they were so alike, making her feel comfortable in his company!”

“Did you ever wonder where Gao Xin got all her flowers from? Did you think she was always so lucky as to find wild flowers to pick, every single time? No! She grew those flowers with her own hands! The Elders and I, we found a secret flower garden deep in a wild bamboo grove. It was clear that it had been tended to with great love and care. It was also clear that it was too much work for just one person to do.”

“How much water do you think was needed for the flowers, every day? We found two water pails, so large that any one of your could fit inside it. Do you think Gao Xin could have carried those pails, full of water, every day? No, she was helped by someone else. We know this, because other than Gao Xin’s footprints, we found another set of footprints in the flower garden. Footprints bigger and much, much deeper than that of any ordinary person. That means her helper was someone big and very, very heavy. Also, her helper was someone who was willing to do extra work every day, just so Gao Xin could give flowers to everyone. That helper was content with that. They didn’t need any thanks or appreciation from any of you, and they didn’t need anyone to know of the good they did.”

“Very, very heavy? That could only be Bajie, right?”

“It was definitely Bajie! He would give me flowers sometimes, saying it was to brighten up my home… just like Gao Xin…”

Gao Cai and the Elders Mu and Jing were barely listening to the murmurs of the crowd. They were too busy being amazed at Trip’s speech. They had no idea she could speak this way. In fact, Elder Jing had almost expected Trip to jump on stage, point at Gao Lang and say “He’s guilty!”, shoot him, and settle the matter that way.

Unaware of Elder Jing’s shattered expectations, Trip continued. “We’ve talked about the person who helped Gao Xin. Now, I want to talk about another person. The person who harmed Gao XIn. Just… what kind of person would do such a thing?”

“When Gao Xin was found, she had cuts and bruises all over her, with blood coming out of her nose and mouth. There were bruises where she was held down. There were cuts and more bruises where she was beaten. There was even blood in her teeth, where she bit the person holding her down. She did everything she could to get away. She must have struggled, screamed. She must have been so afraid.”

“But here’s the thing. Gao Xin was found near the fields, lying in the grass. Based on the bruises on her, we know that she struggled with everything she had. But when she was found, there wasn’t any mud or dirt on her. From that, we know that whatever was done to her, was not done in that place near the fields. It was done in a clean place, and it was indoors in a private place, because not even those working in the fields nearby heard her screams. So we know that her murderer did so in a clean and private place indoors. After he was done, he dumped her in that spot near the fields.”

“We also know some other things about her murderer. We know what his hands look like. All the bruises on Gao Xin that looked like someone was gripping her as hard as they could, as though they would crush her bones if they could… the combination of all those finger and hand-shaped bruises look like... this.”

Trip help up the hand imprint she had taken earlier. Beside it, she held up her own hand.

“As you can see, the hand of Gao Xin’s murderer, is not much bigger than mine. You will notice that their fingers are long, narrow, and tapered. Does anyone think this hand belongs to Bajie?”

Many among the crowd were shaking their heads.

“Nah, that can’t be Bajie’s hands.”

“I told you! I told you it couldn’t be Bajie!”

“Bajie’s got sausage fingers, nothing like those.”

“There is one final thing we know about Gao Xin’s murderer. We know that she bit him hard. I’ve taken down an imprint from Gao Xin’s own mouth, showing what the result of that bite would look like. So the murderer would have wounds that look like... this!”

She held up the pieces of paper, joined together to show the perfect crescent-shape of Gao Xin’s bite marks.

“Wukong!” she called out.

“Here!” came Wukong’s reply at the back of the crowd.

-- Chapter 31, End --