Chapter 4

Suddenly, an ingratiating voice came from the corridor.

“Mr. Jun, thank you for booking our newest 2,888-yuan package.”

Then came a voice that sounded familiar.

“I tried the 288-yuan package before, and that technician was amazing. For 2,888, this ought to be heaven!”

I looked through the round pane in the door.

My breath caught.

I pulled my feet away from the technician, stood, and leaned close to Zeng Ziming's ear.

“Ziming. That was Zhang Jun in the corridor.”

He sprang up.

“Really?”

I nodded.

He sent the technicians out, and we slipped cautiously from the room. I put on a mask to keep Zhang Jun from recognizing me.

We found him in the Imperial Supreme VIP room at the end of the corridor.

He looked drunk. Waving a stack of hundred-yuan notes, he was muttering:

“I've got plenty of money. Get Meiqi in here. Once she comes, she's staying. I'll keep paying for extra time. All night if I want.”

The manager's eyes lit up at the money. Beaming, she left to fetch the woman.

And found Zeng Ziming and me eavesdropping outside.

She stopped.

“You two...”

Zeng Ziming clapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her to another corner of the corridor.

After we showed our identification, I asked her to bring us the technician named Meiqi.

Meiqi was distinctly unenthusiastic when we explained.

“What's in it for me? I'm not doing it.”

I looked at the manager. She spread her hands helplessly.

Apparently Meiqi was the star attraction at Happy Feet.

And she had a mind of her own.

Zeng Ziming was about to lose his temper when I spoke first.

“Ziming, perhaps it's time for a thorough inspection of this establishment. What do you think?”

“Absolutely.”

He nodded vigorously and covertly gave me a thumbs-up.

The manager caught on at once. She nudged Meiqi gently.

“As a law-abiding, exemplary employee of Happy Feet, where's your sense of responsibility? Your professional ethics? Be a dear and do what the officers ask. The house won't take a cut of this booking. You can keep every yuan.”

Meiqi smiled immediately, made an OK sign, and entered the room.

We intended to keep listening outside the door, but the manager, wearing a knowing smile, led us to a discreet surveillance room.

She quickly brought up the feed from Zhang Jun's room.

I nodded solemnly.

“A quick learner.”

She rubbed her hands together.

“About that inspection...”

“Inspection? What inspection? I don't see any need. Do you, Ziming?”

“None at all.”

Satisfied, she left us a radio.

“Call if you need anything. Meiqi's wearing an earpiece. Channel six will connect you directly.”

Then she left, all smiles.

We fixed our eyes on the screen, following every movement.

Zhang Jun was full of swagger.

He looked down at Meiqi as she massaged his feet.

“Ha! You used to ignore me. Now I'm out of your league.”

“What are you talking about? When did I ever ignore you? In this business, we go where the money is. If I had another way to make a living, do you think I'd spend every day rubbing people's feet?”

She even began to sniffle.

Watching through a screen, I still had to admire her performance.

Zhang Jun panicked at the sight of her tears.

“Come on, I was joking. Don't cry. I'll put some money on a membership card with you later.”

She stopped crying. Still massaging his feet, she asked casually:

“What business are you in these days, Mr. Zhang? You look like you've really made it. A different man. If you've found a way to get rich, take me along.”

Her flattery made him puff out his chest.

“Well... I have come into some money lately. But it's not something you could learn. Be good and keep working on my feet. Make me comfortable and I'll let you earn a little.”

Meiqi pouted and pressed hard on a point in his sole.

He winced.

“Easy! I'm serious.”

On our side of the screen, we watched wide-eyed, straining not to miss a word.

“They say fortune favors those who take risks,” Zhang Jun said. “You couldn't do what I do. But if you really want to know, let's just say it involves science.”

Then he said no more.

Damn it. Come on!

I picked up the radio and switched to channel six.

“Needle him.”

Meiqi covered her mouth and giggled.

“Show me your academic credentials, then. I heard you didn't even finish high school, and here you are talking about science.”

Zhang Jun jerked his feet away.

He sat cross-legged and spoke seriously.

“I dropped out because my family was poor. Later, I went to night college. Studied computer networks and chemistry. Especially chemistry. I'm not bragging—I can extract toxins from plants. Believe me?”

Meiqi pulled his legs straight again.

“Tell me more.”

But he would reveal nothing else. He folded his hands behind his head and said smugly:

“Can't tell you. Can't tell you.”

A few minutes later, he was snoring.

14

Chemistry. Plants. Extracting toxins.

Looking at those three phrases on the whiteboard, I felt we were getting closer to the truth.

Only when my vision blurred from staring did I realize my brain had stopped working.

I looked at Zeng Ziming.

He was already fast asleep.

I was exhausted too. Time to rest.

I stood, stretched, and yawned my way toward the bench in the corner.

15

The next morning, I grabbed a quick breakfast and called my mentor and Qin Ming to report our findings.

My mentor praised the progress and suggested making discreet inquiries into Zhang Jun's finances and social contacts before March 31. What had he bought? What had he done? Perhaps something would turn up.

Qin Ming's suggestion was more specific.

Visit Mingzhou's flower and plant markets. Find out whether Zhang Jun had bought large quantities of any particular plant.

Especially something used both as an ornamental plant and in traditional Chinese medicine.

In 2007, mobile payments were not widespread. There was no purchase history we could simply pull from a vast database. We had to investigate in person.

After discussing it, Zeng Ziming and I agreed to follow Qin Ming's suggestion.

We would start with the flower markets.

On the return journey, I called my mentor and Qin Ming in turn to report the leads I had gathered.

After leaving the expressway toll station, I drove straight to the forensic medicine college and handed Qin Ming the monkshood plants I had just bought.

Then I returned to the unit.

There was nothing to do now but wait for his test results.

If he could establish that the thirty-milliliter sample of blood from Li Zihan's heart contained aconitine, Zhang Jun's crime would be confirmed.

My mentor and I barely slept. By noon the next day, we still had no news.

I felt like an ant on a hot pan. I kept picking up my phone and putting it down.

I wanted to call Qin Ming, but I was afraid of interrupting his work.

Restless, as though something were clawing at me from inside, I tried to distract myself.

I searched online for information about aconitine.

Unlike many other poisons, it generally did not cause structural damage to the body.

Other toxins did. Snake venom, for instance, could readily be identified as the cause of poisoning through the physical damage it left.

Aconitine was also extremely difficult to detect. Testing required great precision, complex reagents, and comparisons between multiple samples.

Several more hours passed. Still nothing.

Unable to bear it, I called him.

The phone rang and rang. No answer.

At dinnertime, a message arrived.

“I know you're anxious, but calm down first. Results soon. Wait. Stop chasing me. The more you chase, the more anxious I get. The more anxious I get, the more likely I am to make a mess of it.”

I stared at it for a long time.

How could I not be anxious?

Even my big toe was anxiously scratching the floor. At this rate, I could scratch out a three-bedroom apartment.

My mentor tried to comfort me.

“Solving cases takes patience. Worrying won't help. Wash your face and get some rest.”

He all but pushed me into the rest room.

I was just about to lie down when hurried footsteps sounded outside.

Qin Ming shouted:

“Yan Hao! Liu Tiankai! Get out here!”

We rushed out and snatched the report from him.

The result read:

“Detailed testing and sample analysis confirm the presence of a toxic substance in the deceased. The substance responsible for the poisoning is aconitine.”

I leaped for joy.

“Sir, can we arrest Zhang Jun now?”

My mentor slapped the desk.

“Do it! Tiankai, contact Mingzhou immediately. We'll make a joint arrest.”

“No.”

Qin Ming stopped us.

I turned. He was frowning, thinking aloud.

“As I recall, Li Zihan took the capsule at six p.m. Symptoms didn't begin until eight. That's a full two-hour interval.”

“Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Aconitine is highly toxic. Three to five milligrams can kill within ten minutes. Even an additional capsule shell would delay its action by only another ten or twenty minutes at most. Whatever happened, she could not have survived past seven. Yet she died at eight twenty-five.”

“Impossible. It simply isn't possible.”

He kept shaking his head.

Then he looked at us regretfully.

“Proving that she died of aconitine poisoning would actually clear Zhang Jun. The timing gives him a perfect defense.”

The room filled with disappointment and a stifling sense of defeat.

We must still have missed something.

After Qin Ming left, I sank into my chair.

My mentor handed me a cigarette and lit it.

“Cases aren't solved in one leap, Tiankai. This will be a valuable test for you. Pull yourself together.”

I nodded hard.

For the past few days, I had needed sedatives to sleep.

Sometimes one tablet was not enough. I had to take two.

On the third day after returning to Mingzhou, I was still asleep early in the morning when I dimly heard someone hammering on the door.

I shook my head clear, got up, and went to open it.