The atmosphere inside the room was hauntingly quiet, to the point of being startling. The most unaware of the tension certainly belonged to Xiao Song and Ran Yan. One retained a casual yet imposing demeanor, while the other, hidden behind the mask, lowered her eyes and calmly stared at her own tiptoes, oblivious to the fact that everyone else had long since been sweating profusely.
Footsteps sounded from outside, accompanied by Liu Pinrang’s inquiring voice. Promptly, Liu Pinrang, dressed in a red robe, hurried in. Seeing Xiao Song, he clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Inspector, we found a pair of cloth shoes in Master Jing Yuan’s room. The pattern on the sole of the shoes closely resembles the mark on the first victim’s chest, and there is dried mud from the back mountain on the shoes, which likely adhered there a month ago."
Jing Yuan did not hold authority in Yingmei Temple, and Ran Yan had only seen her once. In her recollection, Jing Yuan was a nun in her forties, not particularly good-looking, but she exuded a sense of serene composure. Beyond that, Ran Yan found it hard to recall any specific features.
"Inspector Liu will make the decision," Xiao Song replied.
"I plan to conduct interrogation within the temple. Only if we cannot clear the involvement should we take the person back to the Government Office," Liu Pinrang said, not immediately taking anyone away, as if he were cautious about something.
Xiao Song nodded, and said, "Then let’s go."
Liu Pinrang appeared calm and unruffled, but inside he was a bundle of anxiety. The impact of this case was terrible. The Emperor had sent the Inspector over, clearly giving him a chance. If he could crack the case beautifully, the matter would most likely be glossed over. However, if he failed to solve it, it would be adding insult to injury.
Xiao Song walked to the door but then halted. He turned to Ran Yan and said, "Seventeenth Wife might as well come along and listen."
This proposition suited Liu Pinrang perfectly. With Xiao Song present, he felt it inappropriate to openly suggest that a young lady should get involved. Now that Xiao Song had offered, he had no more qualms and promptly said, "Miss Ran has considerable insights in criminal justice. Please do not decline."
With two high-ranking officials of the Fourth Rank saying so, what could Ran Yan say? She demurred a bit and then followed them to the front hall.
By the time Xiao Song and the group reached the front hall, there were already twenty or thirty government officials and six nuns waiting inside. Observing the nuns, Ran Yan noted that three of them were dressed in wide belts and broad sleeves, donning Qing Hai robes with round collars and square lapels, solemn and dignified in bearing. They were none other than Jing Yuan, Jing Hui, and Jing Xue, each followed by a younger nun. Standing behind Master Jing Hui was Huan Kong.
Among the three high-ranking nuns, Jing Xue was the youngest, about twenty-four or twenty-five, with a round face and large eyes, plump lips, and always a hint of a smile at the corners of her eyes and lips, seeming extremely amiable; Jing Hui was tall and slender, likely around thirty, with a lean melon-seed shaped face and very faint eyebrows and eyes.
Ran Yan’s attention was mostly on Jing Yuan. The nun, around forty years old, of medium stature, seemed unremarkable at first glance. Her features were regular but not striking. Yet standing there quietly, she blended into the background like the air; if it weren’t for today’s interrogation specifically targeting her, most people would hardly notice her presence.
The nuns bowed to Xiao Song and Liu Pinrang, performing a Buddhist salutation.
Liu Pinrang glanced at Xiao Song and, seeing no inclination from him to intervene, invited the Masters to take their seats and then commenced his official yet impassioned preamble, "Respected Masters, as recluses from the worldly affairs, it should not be within my rights to disturb your meditation. However, this serial murder case is truly abhorrent and chilling to the bone. The people of Suzhou City are living in terror. If I, as the official, fail to capture the murderer, I would be failing the Emperor’s trust as well as the trust of the citizens..."
Xiao Song held a cup of tea, sipping it slightly as if possessing great patience. He gently set the cup back on the table, straightened his robe, and waited leisurely for Liu Pinrang to continue.
Liu Pinrang swept a glance out of the corner of his eye and, after clearing his throat twice, turned to say, "Today, upon searching your temple, we found these shoes in Master Jing Yuan’s room. Interestingly, the shoes are stained with mud from the back mountain, and the pattern on the soles closely matches the imprint found on a victim’s chest. I must ask, Master Jing Yuan, where were you from the end of the 21:00 hour to 1:00 in the morning on the eleventh day of the seventh month?"
This was the time of death Ran Yan had determined for the first body. If the body had been autopsied immediately, the time frame could have been narrowed down to within an hour, and if the death was recent, even reduced to a quarter of an hour. Unfortunately, a month had passed, and an autopsy now might not yield such accuracy.