Chen Shi was about to leave when Jia Xingyun and a glamorous female secretary came out of the elevator. The two were talking and laughing. Chen Shi glanced at the front desk lady. The lady at the front desk was embarrassed and said, “It was what CEO Jia told me to say.”

“Have you been well, Mr. Jia?” Chen Shi greeted.

“Officer Chen! What wind brought you here?” Then, Jia Xingyun instructed the female secretary, “Little Hua, go to the car and wait for me.”

“Are you available to talk?”

“This way, please!”

There was a rest room in the company which looked like a high-end coffee shop. Jia Xingyun poured three cups of coffee from the coffee machine and brought it over. He sat down and looked at Lin Dongxue with a smile. “Miss Lin changed her hairstyle today. You look more and more beautiful the more I look at you.”

Lin Dongxue brushed her hair in embarrassment.

Chen Shi asked, “How much do you know about the kidnapping of the second son of the Lu family five years ago?”

Jia Xingyun spread his hands out. “I was just an outsider at the time, so I probably don’t know much more than you all.”

“Do you know someone named Shi Sijin?”

Jia Xingyun poked his temple with his finger as if he was trying to remember. “I know him. He was an employee of our company who misappropriated public funds for investing in stocks and was fired. I didn’t sue him and just told him to show himself out… Is this relevant to the case five years ago?”

Chen Shi stared into his eyes. “Please repeat the last sentence again.”

“Does this have anything to do with the case five years ago?”

Chen Shi didn't see anything unusual and Jia Xingyun smiled. “I have a wide range of interests and psychology is amongst them. When people lie, they pay too much attention to the sentence itself. They will use the left-side of their brain more, which is the logical side. The right half of the body would unconsciously create a small action... Officer Chen, did you suspect that I was lying?”

“You know a lot.”

“Did I lie?”

Chen Shi smiled, “It seems Mr. Jia is quite innocent.”

“If it’s convenient to disclose, what case are you investigating this time?” Jia Xingyun looked at Lin Dongxue.

Chen Shi replied, “It can be disclosed, but you must keep it a secret... We may catch the killer who killed Lu Zhenjie and the mastermind behind the scenes in the near future!”

The last sentence was like a heavy bombshell that just got chucked out. Even Lin Dongxue was very surprised. Jia Xingyun's expression was still calm, but his pupils narrowed suddenly for a brief moment. Then, he grinned. “I wish you a speedy resolution for the case to make it fair for Zhenjie.”

After they left, Lin Dongxue couldn't help but ask, “What did you mean by mastermind behind the scenes? Did you make that up just now?”

Chen Shi stopped walking. “I speculate that Ji Chunma has been able to live securely the past five years happily with a surplus of money because there’s someone “sponsoring” him. This person participated in the kidnapping five years ago. Even the police did not know of his existence. He must be very rich. Why didn't he kill him right there and then to tie up loose ends? I think Ji Chunma has something on him, a piece of evidence that would send them both to their dooms!”

“Evidence?”

“Ji Chunma was crazy about withdrawing and depositing money before killing. I’m guessing he was looking for a banknote with a special mark on it. The killing was the next best thing he could do after he didn’t retrieve the evidence. Now Ji Chunma has revealed himself, and he also doesn’t have the evidence to threaten the mastermind. What do you think he’ll do?”

“Drag him to hell with him!”

Chen Shi smiled and shook his head. “That's your God's perspective[1]. The mastermind doesn't know that Ji Chunma's evidence is gone. Ji Chunma may be desperate to find him and ask for protection or help, but Ji Chunma would have to be fast. Once the evidence falls into the hands of the police, he’ll have run out of cards.”

Lin Dongxue muttered, “I don't understand. That banknote can only condemn Ji Chunma. Why can it threaten the mastermind?”

“There should be something else on the banknote. Something that can reveal the identity of the mastermind!”

“So, do you doubt Jia Xingyun?”

“Jia Xingyun is the most suspicious person in our sight at present. I’m just making a guess right now.”

Chen Shi did not leave immediately but played the same tricks yet again. He and Lin Dongxue monitored Jia Xingyun from an alley near the company. Five minutes later, Jia Xingyun drove away and got to a crosswalk where the female secretary who accompanied him got out of the car and he drove away alone.

“Suspicious!” Lin Dongxue remarked.

“Yes, the level of suspicion has risen.”

It wasn't early so Chen Shi sent Lin Dongxue home. On the way, Lin Dongxue said, “Let’s go and see Old Lady Liu!”

“Sure!”

Lin Dongxue called Xu Xiaodong and asked about the progress of the task force. Xu Xiaodong responded, “Don't even talk about it. The Bank of China said that the manager is off work and the vault can’t be opened. We have to go again tomorrow. Oh yes, the wanted order has arrived. I’ll send you two a copy.”

The two phones rang together and Chen Shi picked it up. “Why is this Ji Chunma so young?”

Xu Xiaodong said through the phone, “The face captured in the surveillance footage is too blurry. There was no other way about it but to use his previous ID photo to print the wanted order.”

Chen Shi said “Oh” thoughtfully as if he thought of something.

“How’s progress over there on your end?” Xu Xiaodong asked.

Chen Shi made a motion with his finger towards himself to gesture for Lin Dongxue to hand the phone over to him. “Ask Captain Lin to send someone to monitor Jia Xingyun. Where he’s been and who he’s met with all need to be noted. I want to know everything!”

After hanging up the phone, Lin Dongxue queried, “We’ve just greeted him but he needs to be monitored already?”

“This time we're catching a wanted man. Of course we need to put in extra effort!”

Back at home, Old Lady Liu had already cooked and cleaned up the house, making it shine as if it were new. This surprised Chen Shi. Old Lady Liu rubbed her hands together and smiled. “This is our thanks to Master Chen for taking us in. We made some common dishes today, but I don’t know if it’ll be to your liking.”

Looking at a table of food, Chen Shi said, “It looks delicious.”

“Hungry, right? Eat quickly!”

Dog Egg was playing games in the bedroom. From time to time, he would slap the keyboard and yell, “Kill you! I’ll kill you!” He seemed very drawn to the game.

Chen Shi whispered to Tao Yueyue, “How are you two getting along?”

“He’s just an ordinary boy.” Tao Yueyue pointed to herself. “But this sister here acted properly.”

“Did he speak?”

“No!”

Old Lady Liu took a long time before she was able to drag Dog Egg over to eat. Dog Egg sat on her lap and Old Lady Liu fed him spoonful by spoonful. When he noticed everyone’s line of sight, he felt embarrassed and started feeding himself.

Old Lady Liu explained, “Dog Egg’s parents are working out of town, so he follows me all year round. I give him whatever he wants, so he’s already very spoiled.”

Dog Egg kicked Old Lady Liu's feet underneath and seemed a little unhappy about her exposing his bad qualities. Old Lady Liu soothed, “Okay, okay. Grandma won't say anything more.”

“Children should still be a bit more independent,” Chen Shi said.

“That's easier said than done. I only have this precious grandson at home. How could he not be more treasured?” As she was saying this, Old Lady Liu grabbed a piece of seaweed with her chopsticks and fed it to Dog Egg.

Old Lady Liu asked, “Are Master Chen and Miss Lin dating right now?”

The two immediately denied, “No, no.”

“I think the two of you look quite good together. I’ve seen many people in my life. I shouldn’t be wrong.”

Lin Dongxue glanced at Chen Shi subconsciously, wondering how on earth they looked good together.

1. Feeling like she can see everything in the world in a glance.