The office was not big, but for a holiday home it was expansive and neat. It was nicely, if sparsely, decorated - an expensive desk, chairs and wall hangings, but the only personal touch a guan dao mounted on the wall opposite the door.

  Xiong immediately walked over to the window. “So, who should we talk to first, grandfather?”

  Sheng sat in the main chair at the writing table, working out what Tai could have seen from his seated position. Now, let's see, Tai would have been sitting at his desk, favouring the leg injured in that final battle. The chair was far higher than normally found in an office like this, but it meant that when Sheng looked sideways he could see the exits on two sides of the compound. Sheng felt a ripple of military pride in his subordinate remembering the tactics lessons Sheng had drilled into him. “Hmm. Who would you suggest?”

  Xiong looked out of the window for a moment to think. “I… do not think it was Mei. She dislikes getting her hands dirty, and would rather defeat someone and know that they are defeated. Killing them is so crude…” Xiong shook himself out of the self-induced flashback and continued, “After all, you can't rub in the fact you won if they're dead and gone.”

  There was a loud bang, then a softer slide. Xiong looked down at the courtyard and a frown crossed his face and he beckoned for his grandfather to join him. “Ah, grandfather? Flowing Silk just left the bathhouse and... I think you may want to see for yourself.”

  When Sheng did so it was obvious why Xiong was concerned. The priest's robes were askew and he was clearly furious in that hot-cold way of his, though to a greater extent than the last time they had seen his grip on his temper fray. Not only that but his body language was tight and sharp. Unfortunately the first person to spot him in the courtyard was Wan, and even the most oblivious observer could tell nothing good would come of the swagger in Wan’s step.

  Sheng sighed, “I see. I suppose it would be too much to hope for that this case would be simple.”

  Xiong gave him a flat look. “The Zhou were involved, it was never going to be. I think we should postpone our enquiry and get down there. Now.”

  Sheng took a glance down at the courtyard where Flowing Silk was only just managing not to punch Wan in the face. “You may be right.”

  Xiong didn't exactly run, but walked quickly to the door of the office and down the stairs to reach the Courtyard as fast as was polite, Sheng right behind him.

  —

  “... Of course.” Wan drawled as Sheng and Xiong made it back to the courtyard where everyone was milling around, “And once Silk Petal is convicted, I am sure that they will take... pains to ensure that she tells them.”

  Flowing Silk’s voice rose, openly distressed and furious in a way that they had never seen before, sleeve flying as he flung his hand wide in emphasis. “People lie under torture you ignorant-! It is not a guaranteed method of finding out who did this! We cannot afford to get this wrong, as right now Ren's soul is imprisoned and unable to reach the Heavens!”

  “What's this?” Xiong asked and Flowing Silk’s head jerked round to look at him, the sharpness leaving his voice, but no less upset and angry.

  “They sealed Ren's soul against using the Honour of the Ghost by taking his grave money. I should not have to explain how serious that is.”

  Sheng ground his teeth and looked to his grandson, knowing they had more experience in the Inhuman arts than he did. Xiong seemed half distracted by Yi, who was pestering the cook and asking why she smelt of wine.

  Xiong shook his head after taking a moment to think, “That does not sound like something a maid would be able to do. Yet she was found with blood on her hands, though that could be from finding the body.”

  Flowing Silk nodded, automatically shifting to a neutral tone and stance as he reported what he had seen, “Easily. His body had been moved to the side of the pool, the water was stained with blood.”

  The magistrate hovering near the bathhouse nodded, taking a similar stance and tone, “Yes, he was floating face-down when she found him.”

  Sheng stroked his beard and compared the two, “Is that stance taught?”

  “Yes, Honourable Elder, it is a basic part of magisterial training.” The magistrate supplied, giving a nod of acknowledgement to Flowing Silk, who returned it.

  “I did wonder. What was the murder weapon?”

  “The knife said 'Hua' and had a pearl handle.” Flowing Silk supplied.

  “That’s my knife!” Tai’s daughter said, finally looking up from her book, “It went missing last week, after that break in, we thought it had been stolen.”

  “Break in?” Flowing Silk asked, glancing at Sheng.

  “Yes, in the servants' quarters. Didn't Father tell you?” Hua replied.

  Flowing Silk shook his head, “My apologies, I was occupied with looking over the crime scene.”

  Hua nodded, “During the break in when we got to the courtyard Baozhai was shouting about shadowy men, and Jing and the maid had run off. Jing was trying to chase them down, but the maid just never came back.”

  “So why was your knife taken if it was the servants' room that was broken into?” Xiong asked.

  Hua shrugged, “It must have been near to the door - the scullery is right there next to the servant's quarters. If it was on the side drying, it would have been easy to take it.”

  Sheng stroked his beard again, “Did you find anything else, Flowing Silk?”

  “A few things. The initial inspector of the scene did not check inside the towels, or check the eyes for bruising.” His expression clouded over, “We must find his grave money. They cannot have made it far to do the spell circle required and then get back.”

  Sheng folded his arms. He tapped his arm in thought. If Flowing Silk had been deliberately trained as an investigative magistrate then perhaps he could take advantage of that. When he next opened his mouth he used the tone for directing those under his command, as if Flowing Silk was just another soldier, “Would you elaborate on the time scale that would take and consequences of not retrieving the money?”

  It worked, the priest straightened subconsciously, looking more like his normal self now that he'd been given a specific task, “The grave money contains the soul of the person. As such whoever has control of the money has control of the ghost.” He gave his usual preoccupied frown as he calculated, “The quickest ritual would be to seal it. This would probably take somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes to cast, possibly quicker if the circle was pre-drawn. However the ghost cannot be actively controlled unless the sorcerer is present.”

  “And everyone who had access to the bathhouse is here, so their spirit is probably just sealed for now.” Xiong added, “We need to check with Baozhai, but I don’t think the maid had enough time to do the ritual.”

  “So if it wasn't the maid, how did they get into the locked room?” Mei asked.

  Flowing Silk frowned slightly again, “I checked the store to see if the grave money was there or a hole cut into the wall but found nothing. There were no sigils for Might of the God anywhere either, even the back of the door. The store is big enough for one person to hide there though. Are there more keys? So that they could lock it and hide inside?”

  “There are only two keys to that lock, which were with Ren and Silk Petal.” Wan stated, “Making another would take a mastercraftsman. Congratulations on proving your client guilty, Orphan.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "I was ruling out possibilities, like any decent magistrate should." Flowing Silk replied, voice flat with dislike.

  “You may want to look into the possibility of a third key just in case.” Sheng replied, carefully redirecting their attention back to him, “You mentioned the towels earlier, Flowing Silk, did you find something there?”

  Flowing Silk's shoulders relaxed again now that he was focussing on the case instead of Wan, “Yes, but I suspect it may only complicate matters.” Flowing Silk pulled a South Wind tile from his sleeve to show to Sheng.

  “A mahjong tile?” Wan asked, confused.

  “Yes.”

  Sheng raised an eyebrow, “Now that is a coincidence.” He pulled out his tile to compare the backs, “The same set.”

  “But does that make the one carrying the tiles more or less trustworthy?” Flowing Silk asked before he shook the question off. “Either way, that grave money should be found. If we can free him we can ask Ren what happened.”

  “What do you suggest, that we get everyone to turn their pockets out?” Wan said sarcastically.

  Flowing Silk glared at him, voice far too forced to be truly calm, “... It is going to be in a spell circle. Otherwise his soul would not have been sealed from my reach.”

  This time Xiong stepped forward to draw their focus away from each other, “Then clearly as the hosts who know this compound the best you should ask your family if they can find anything inside the walls? After all, it would be rude for us... ‘Outsiders’ to pry into your home too much.” He turned to Sheng, neatly cutting Wan off and causing him to splutter in outrage, “In the meantime, Honoured Elder, perhaps we should ask the maid about this tile?”

  The magistrate took the hint immediately, “I'll bring her to the office for you.”

  ---

  The three Xia were once more shown up to the office, Sheng settling into Tai’s chair and spreading the case brief in front of him in the time they had while the maid was fetched. Flowing Silk added his notes to the diagram of the bathhouse from his investigation but couldn't help himself from occasionally glancing towards the bathhouse.

  “So, how can we find this grave money?” Xiong asked from where he leant against the window.

  Flowing Silk shook his head, “Search. If we had someone who could see chi lines... but no, it could be anywhere within an hours walk, or hidden well inside the compound.” He bit his lip, worry swirling round his mind as it tried to crowd with possible outcomes, “If we kill the person who did it that would also break the spell. That said we wouldn't be able to confirm with Ren first whether they were the killer, and I would still wish for the grave money to be returned.”

  “Calm yourself, wise one.” Sheng said, “We will solve this and grant him rest. It seems to help when you focus on the case, is there anything else you can add?”

  Flowing Silk winced at being so easily seen through, “My apologies, Honoured Elder.” He breathed out and forced his shoulders to relax, attempting to adopt the neutral reporting stance. How could he explain that Wan was trying to cover the fact that Ren wasn't 'normal' by society's standards without giving himself away? That the instinctive instinct to try and save face or the family would lead to a murderer escaping while an innocent woman died? “I can guarantee that the motive Wan gave for the maid isn't true. He would not make inappropriate advances toward her, she is not his type.”

  “I suspected as much.” Sheng replied, and Flowing Silk had the distinct feeling Sheng had seen straight through that polite phrasing too. Admittedly it probably wasn't difficult to piece together that they'd been in love, even a baby would be able to tell Flowing Silk was barely holding together right now.

  They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Sheng lifted his head, a general in complete control of his domain. “Come in.”

  The red-robed magistrate entered with the maid following him, her eyes downcast and looking anywhere except the three Xia. Silk Petal's hair and clothes were rumpled and her face was streaked with dried tears. Thankfully she didn't seem to have been struck by anyone at least.

  Sheng nodded in greeting, “Please, sit down. Take a moment to rest. This has been a troubling experience for you.”

  Silk Petal went to the centre of the room where a patch of floor was worn smooth and knelt facing the desk, head bowed in submission. “It... Ren was…” she visibly paused, trying to maintain her composure, “Yes, troubling is certainly close to the mark.”

  Sheng shook his head, “Please, do not kneel to us. Come sit on a cushion, and we will send for some tea. We are not your masters, we are here to listen to your story.”

  She moved to one of the cushions gratefully, smoothing her dress.

  Flowing Silk studied her carefully, drawing on his magisterial training to help put his own personal feelings aside and focus. Something was off, here. Silk Petal was definitely scared, but the cut off seemed a little too neatly placed, almost like it was designed to intrigue them. “What was Ren, if I may ask?”

  “I - what? What was he?” The maid seemed confused.

  “You said 'Ren was', and then stopped, I wondered what the rest of the sentence was.”

  She blinked, “Oh, that was - I was thinking of the moment when I…” she trailed off, “Maybe I should just tell this from the start.”

  Again, an artful trail off. Flowing Silk clung to that suspicion of hidden secrets in a vain attempt to fight off the numbness in his chest.

  “Please do.” Sheng said, signalling the red robed magistrate to get some tea, “And take your time.” The Red Phoenix magistrate should recognise the technique of 'let her feel comfortable so she's more likely to talk' if even Flowing Silk could spot it in his current state. He wondered how many interrogations Sheng had been in to act so naturally.

  Silk Petal breathed out and took a few moments to compose herself. “It was about eight in the morning. Ren always took his bath at seven, and I was to bring him towels at eight. I took the key from the box in the kitchen, and went through the laundry. The door was already open, but I didn't think too much of it.”

  Flowing Silk forced himself to keep watching her expression rather than look away as she continued talking, “I opened the door - it was still locked - and went in. When I saw the body, I screamed. I must have dropped - I must have dropped the towels then, yes - I ran over to him and tried to do something, but he was already dead. That's when Tai and Lo arrived.”

  “Together?” Flowing Silk asked.

  “Yes, they entered together.” she confirmed, “Lo grabbed me and dragged me out - Tai just stood there with a face like ashes. Everyone else saw me being dragged out with blood on my hands - well, everyone except Jing, but he was out in town.”

  Sheng spoke up, “To clarify, the laundry door was open but the bathhouse door locked?”

  “Yes, the laundry room has a back door to the main house.” She pointed to the diagram on the desk, “There.”

  Flowing Silk looked over the diagram and left the talking to Sheng for now, “The laundry is customarily kept locked I presume?”

  The laundry was unsurprisingly connected to the kitchen and the scullery to keep all the water usage in one place. The laundry appeared to have been the side door the cook was lurking near earlier, just around the corner so the servants had access to the main courtyard easily without the door itself being visible.

  Flowing Silk frowned. Why was it not attached to the bathhouse? Was the water there not suitable for drinking? The words faded slightly as he studied the diagram, absorbed passively rather than actively being listened to.

  “No, it doesn't lock, except by the bar - if someone hadn't closed the door properly, I guess.” She suddenly looked up in recollection, “Oh, I saw Baozhai on the way out. I guess she'd been drinking overnight, because she'd fallen asleep at the table.”

  Sheng nodded again, “The bathhouse door, I suppose there is no way to tell if it was locked from the outside or the inside?”

  Ah, the bathhouse was fed from a hot spring, that explained the current he'd seen. It would have too many minerals to be good for washing clothes or cutlery, hence having a separate well. But if it was a hot spring, surely that meant there were underground tunnels feeding and connecting the two sides?

  “Well, the only other key was in there with him.” she explained. “Each side of the bathhouse has two keys. One of each is kept in the-”

  “Could you get between them through the spring?” Flowing Silk murmured to himself, pouring over the diagram again with a slight frown.

  Xiong raised an eyebrow at how quickly the maid had cut herself off at the quiet thought. That was a good point, Flowing Silk hadn't spoken loudly enough to interrupt. She was very on edge if that had been enough to stop her, though that could be put down to her servant training of the murder charge hanging over her head.

  Silk Petal thought for a moment. “Not from the outside; it flows down a fall just outside the grounds - but if you went in the other side…”

  “Speaking of the other side, there is a much simpler way.” Sheng said, “What if someone were to make regular use of the woman's bathhouse, and over time cut a hole in the wall to the male bathhouse?”

  Flowing Silk shook his head, "I considered that, but did not see anything when I was looking for the grave money, and I searched quite thoroughly for hidden evidence. So no, unless it is very well disguised I don't think it is possible. Also it would have required all of the servants to not notice anything, and it seems unlikely that every servant would have missed it or be in on the plot. Additionally there weren't any indications of sorcery in the bathhouse itself either, so we can rule out using the Might of the God. ”

  “It does seem unlikely, but let us not rule a conspiracy among the older servants out completely, the previous maid dying and an oblivious new one being hired so soon before has me wary." Sheng noted, but changed tacks, “Let us consider the other option, is there anyone here who could breathe underwater for a short time?”

  She looked uncertain, “For long enough? I don't know. I don't think Hua could do it, she's not big or strong enough, and I don't think Lo would fit through the spring tunnels. So that leaves Ren, Wan and Mei, me, Baozhai, and Jing.”

  Flowing Silk returned his attention to her face. That speech had been too rehearsed. Too clean. She was far more intelligent than she seemed, as as long as they played into the questions she had predicted they might ask she'd be able to counter everything they threw at her.

  Hopefully she wouldn't expect them to change their line of questioning this quickly.

  “Additionally we have another question, if you would care to tell us about this.” Flowing Silk asked as he removed the South Wind tile from his sleeve and lifted it for her to see.

  The light slid across ivory and ink like an accusation in and of itself in the silence.

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