Chen Shi said, “You mean Miss Jiang[1] ate here?”

“Yeah, do you know the female police officer?”

“Yes, she’s in charge of this case.”

The head chef said foolishly, “No way, right? Can you tell her I have a clue?!”

“What clue do you have?”

“I heard what she said to that woman last night!” The chef said seriously.

Chen Shi smiled. “Wouldn’t she know the contents of that conversation better than you?”

“That’s true...” The chef sulked as he continued to make sushi.

Chen Shi called Peng Sijue and asked if the victim's mobile phone was turned on yet. Peng Sijue said, “It's on. It was all full of the messages he sent to Miss Jiang and the phone calls he made.”

“Look at recent contacts. Is there this number...” Chen Shi read the takeaway phone number on the wall out to him.

Later, Peng Sijue replied, “Yes, he called them around noon.”

“Thank you. Don't eat yet. I'll invite you to eat Japanese food later.”

Chen Shi hung up the phone and said, “In fact, you can provide some clues.”

“Really?” The head chef was very excited.

“The victim ordered takeaways from here yesterday at noon. Do you have any impression of this?”

“I don’t, but Little Gu probably knows about it.”

“Who is Little Gu?”

“It's the other waitress. She's in charge of delivering the food as well. She’s very tall. If we used the words from the Internet, she counts as a manly gal.”

The waitress reminded, “Don't say that in front of Little Gu or she’ll tell you off again.”

The head chef laughed. “We’re just talking about it in private!”

Chen Shi asked, “Where is she?”

“Still delivering food. She should be back in a while... Officer, the victim ordered our takeaway? Can we get on the news?”

“Maybe!” Chen Shi smiled.

The head chef was very happy. “This is great. Our little old shop can go on the news? I’ll give you more salmon sushi then!”

“Thank you!”

After a while, the head chef said that Little Gu was back. Chen Shi turned his head and saw a bulky girl riding a red electric motorcycle and wearing a red helmet stop at the door. She walked into the store and took a big mouthful of water, then wiped her mouth with her hand.

The head chef coughed. “Little Gu, this is a police officer. He has something to ask you.”

“Yesterday at noon, did you deliver a meal to the victim, Ma Jianjun?”

Little Gu squinted but said nothing.

“It's Room 102 in the third block.”

Little Gu shook her head.

“His cell phone has this store’s number on it. He called in at noon yesterday.”

Little Gu still shook her head and the chef translated, “Little Gu wants to say that she doesn't remember. We deliver dozens of orders a day, so it’s impossible to remember... Officer, Little Gu is very introverted and doesn’t like to speak.

Chen Shi pulled out his mobile phone and pulled up a photo of the victim. “Do you have an impression of this man?”

Little Gu nodded.

“When you saw him at noon, was there anything unusual?”

Little Gu shook her head.

“Thank you. I’ll drop by in the future and ask if I need anything. Are you going to be open the next two days?” The last sentence was directed to the head chef.

The head chef nodded desperately. “We’re open for business and won’t rest until the New Year. Please help us promote our store more.”

Chen Shi smiled. “What's so good about this spot?”

Chen Shi took the sushi takeaway back to the bureau. In the forensics department, everyone else was off for lunch. Peng Sijue was reading a book by himself. Chen Shi put the takeaway box down. “A small finding. There’s a Japanese restaurant near the community. They delivered takeaway to the victim. I bought some by the way.”

Chen Shi squeezed some wasabi and soy sauce onto the lid. Peng Sijue tried it and said, “The taste is alright. It's quite authentic.”

“I don't understand what’s so delicious about Japanese food. A piece of raw fish on top of rice?”

“It saves trouble!”

“If you like it, I'll buy some salmon and make it myself for you.”

“Why should I go to your house?”

“I can send it over.”

“No need. Don't pretend to be attentive to me!”

“Look at how low your emotional intelligence is. You’re eating something from other people, but you’re saying something awful!” Chen Shi picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks and stuffed it in Peng Sijue’s mouth.

Peng Sijue glared at him but swallowed.

At this time, Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong returned. Xu Xiaodong's eyes lit up. “How luxurious. Having sushi for lunch?” Then, he took a piece with his hands.

Peng Sijue threw his chopsticks down. “I won’t have anymore. Bacterial contamination.”

Xu Xiaodong said innocently, “Captain Peng, I didn't mean it. Don’t you have to grab sushi with your hands?” Then, he took another piece, “Fuck, is this real fish roe?”

“How could it be real fish roe? Do you know how expensive that is?!” Lin Dongxue said, “Huh? This place also sells sakura rolls[2]?”

Chen Shi said, “I bought it where you had dinner with Miss Jiang last night.”

“You're awesome. You actually already found that place.”

“How is Miss Jiang?”

“She’s alright. She found out about her boyfriend's death this morning. She wasn't very sad. I asked about the key. Miss Jiang said that the key was for the door. She showed me her keychain. She had three keys in total: the car key, her father's house key, and this key. They all look different, so she wouldn’t have been mistaken.”

Lin Dongxue wanted to try a piece of sushi and Chen Shi gave her her chopsticks. Lin Dongxue clipped a sakura roll for herself.

“Did someone switch it?” Chen Shi said.

“Switch it?” Lin Dongxue swallowed the sushi. “It's impossible. Her keys were on her the whole time... Wait, when we went to the Japanese restaurant to eat, the bag was left there. We only picked it up later on. It was a particularly bulky waitress that handed it to us.”

“Waitress? She’s quite memorable to me. She also delivered the food for the victim at noon.”

“Wow, what a coincidence!”

“Whether it’s coincidence or if there’s a connection… Well, we’ll have to wait until the lock comparison results are out to find out!”

Peng Sijue answered a phone call and said, “We need to go to the garage.”

The four people arrived at the underground garage where the forensics squad had borrowed a fixed frame and a cutting machine. Considering the noise as well as the sparks of fire, they had been working in the underground garage.

After Peng Sijue nodded his head, the men wearing protective glasses began to cut into the lock. As the sharp metal-cutting sound resounded, the sparks flew out as well. Lin Dongxue thought the sound was too sharp and kept covering her ears.

Chen Shi said, “Open your mouth.”

Lin Dongxue couldn't hear. The entire garage was full of the sounds of the deafening cuts. Chen Shi reached out and pulled her chin down.

Lin Dongxue thought he was teasing her and bit his finger. Chen Shi quickly retracted his hand.

Seeing this scene by accident, Xu Xiaodong kept making heart shapes with his hands, but everyone ignored him.

The lock was finally opened. After the metal cooled down, Peng Sijue checked the key of the victim and said, “This is the correct one.”

Then, they compared Miss Jiang's key. “This one is obviously not the correct one.”

Chen Shi reasoned, “There are two possibilities. Miss Jiang gave the wrong key or the key was switched.”

Lin Dongxue said, “If it was switched, then it would have only happened when the bag was left at the Japanese restaurant. Should we go there again?”

1. Previously, the author called this character “Miss Dong”.

2. A type of sushi design that’s usually pink with sakura powder and arranged like sakura (cherry blossoms in Japanese).