Chapter 5: The Real Killer Is Close at Hand (Part 1)
I stared at Elena's back, my heart pierced by something I couldn't name. I wanted to reach out and hold her—but I was the last person who had any right to extend that hand.
Not me...
She'd handed over her cash, even given up her inheritance—all of it to reduce whatever sentence I might receive.
How much more misery was I going to bring her?
I clenched my jaw, forcing down the fury burning inside me, and kept climbing.
There were too many people down here. I couldn't sneak into the apartment now—I'd have to wait until the crowd thinned.
Wendy Xu followed me up to the rooftop, where at last we found a patch of quiet. She studied me with curiosity. "That girl... was she pleading for your forgiveness?"
"I told you—it's none of your business."
I found a corner and sat down to wait. She settled beside me and asked, "Don't you want to talk to someone about it? Ever since you saw her, you've looked strange."
"How well do I know you? We're allies of convenience, nothing more. You want me to bawl my eyes out and tell you my sob story? Then you can cry too, and tell me your tragic tale of how you ended up a premium hostess? Then we'll hug like idiots and cry until it's dark—a perfect urban melodrama?"
She muttered, "If you don't want to talk, just say so. No need to be cruel about it. I have my story, but I got into that business because I didn't want to suffer. I wanted easy money."
I didn't engage. Elena filled my mind. I closed my eyes and said nothing.
Wendy Xu left me alone with my silence. I waited until deep into the night before creeping back downstairs.
The family members seemed to have left—either to rest or attend to business. Only Howard Li remained, burning spirit money and occasionally dictating voice messages into his phone: "Just route it through the Greatstride Logistics unit. Have you shown the documents to the manager?"
He was discussing work matters. It struck me as bitterly ironic—he'd been fury itself when confronting Elena, but now he couldn't stop chatting about business.
Howard Li continued on the phone for a while, then snapped: "Are you useless? I told you to show the documents to the manager first, then stamp them under Greatstride Logistics. Is that so hard? Forget it—don't even bother. Just bring the paperwork to me. Call me when you're at the complex gate."
I frowned deeply. Even with his father dead, this guy couldn't stop obsessing over money. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Howard Li took another call and headed for the elevator. I knew he was going to pick up his documents. I moved quickly toward the apartment.
The front door was still sealed with yellow tape, but the hallway window was open—the same route I'd used before.
I climbed onto the windowsill and dropped onto the balcony. There was a gap in the balustrade—the same one Victor Li had smashed through—and dried blood still stained the floor.
Wendy Xu peered over the edge and looked down. She paled. "That's way too high. I can't climb down there. Can I wait out here?"
"Fine. Stay put."
I slipped inside. The apartment was pitch black. I turned on my phone's flashlight and navigated by the blueprint.
The entire place was charred. The walls were blackened, and the acrid smell of smoke hung thick—far worse than the chemical odor of the original renovation materials.
I found the location shown on the blueprint—the living room of Victor Li's unit, right where I'd hidden behind the sofa. Now that sofa was nothing but ash.
Strange... there didn't seem to be any kind of passage here.
I studied the wall in confusion. Nothing about it looked out of the ordinary. Perplexed, I turned off my phone's flashlight to conserve battery.
The moment the light died and the room plunged into darkness, something uncanny happened.
A faint line of light appeared along the bottom of the wall.
I crouched down and examined it closely. There it was—a hairline gap in the wall. When I pressed against it, I was stunned to discover the bottom section of the wall was movable!
Found it!
I dropped to the floor and pushed harder. The bottom panel slid open, revealing a passage straight through to the adjacent unit.
Light was on next door, but I could see nobody. I scrambled through and carefully pushed the wall panel back into place.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom. The main living area was empty, but on the coffee table sat an elegant box—the same kind that had held the pure gold zodiac figurines.
It was empty now.
The very items that had vanished from the fire scene were sitting right here in the next-door apartment?
Also on the coffee table was an ashtray holding several cigarette butts, all smoked down to the filter. The same distinctive pattern as the butts in Tai Sun's apartment.
I was certain: Tai Sun had been hiding out in this unit!
The water kept running in the bathroom. My heart rate climbed. I made a thorough sweep of the apartment—aside from the bathroom, there was no one else. Then I went into the kitchen and picked up the meat cleaver...
No. Assault with a deadly weapon was a serious crime. I set the cleaver back and grabbed a rolling pin instead. But to make sure no one else could get their hands on a better weapon, I closed the kitchen door and wedged a chair under the handle.
Such is the burden of trying to stay on the right side of the law—even when you're trying to clear your own name, you have to be careful not to commit a crime.
Rolling pin in hand, I positioned myself beside the bathroom door. I barely dared to breathe.
Whoever was inside was showering. When the water stopped and the door opened, I ducked behind it.
A figure stepped out of the bathroom. I didn't hesitate—I swung the rolling pin with all my might!
The blow connected with the back of their head. The person yelped in pain and crumpled to the floor. Only then did I see who it was.
Nora Zhao—the woman who'd vanished without a trace!
Her hair was still wet, a bathrobe wrapped around her. She stared at me in sheer terror, and my fury boiled over. I raised the rolling pin and struck again. She clutched her head and screamed, "Stop! Stop hitting me!"
"You vicious woman—you set a fire that killed a man, and now the blame's all fallen on me! You've nearly gotten me killed!"
Still not satisfied, I hit her twice more, then grabbed her by the hair and hauled her to the door. I wrenched her arms behind her back, yanked off my belt, and lashed her wrists to the door handle.
Nora Zhao slumped, unable to resist. She panted heavily, her wet hair disheveled, her face a mask of fear. She stammered, "D-don't hit a woman. Let's talk this out. Please stop hitting me... I may be just a woman, but—"
"Now you remember you're a woman? Since when do women set fires that burn people alive?"
Nora Zhao had no answer. With her secured, I swept the rest of the apartment to confirm we were truly alone. How did I know she hadn't just been sharing a romantic bath with someone?
The bathroom was empty. The sink counter was bare—almost. A pregnancy test sat on it. I glanced at the display: two pink lines.
I walked back to the living room and looked down at Nora Zhao, who was still catching her breath. "You're pregnant?"
She nodded.
I sighed and said I was sorry. Then I grabbed a cushion from the sofa and put it under her so she wasn't sitting on the cold floor.
I cracked the door open—Howard Li hadn't returned yet—and gestured for Wendy Xu to come in.
She hurried inside and clocked Nora Zhao immediately. "Who's this?"
I said coldly, "This is the real arsonist."
I sat down across from Nora Zhao, running my hands through my hair in frustration. "What the hell is going on? You're in here taking a nice hot shower while I'm out there losing my mind! Start talking, or we all go down together!"
She asked weakly, "What do you want me to say?"
"Start with why you're here. And Tai Sun—I know he's been here. And why is the gold zodiac box in this apartment? Tell me everything you know."
She blinked. "You've seen Tai Sun?"