Zhao Lin didn’t take Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San back to the yamen. Instead, he brought them to his own residence on Shuncheng Street.

At first, the two gamblers refused to cooperate, but they both piped down after seeing Tao Erleng.

Zhao Lin found this odd. He asked and learned that Tao Erleng had such a fearsome reputation that every rogue in the city had heard of him. To them, he was a cat, and they were the mice.

’This will be easy, then.’

Zhao Lin asked them directly, "You testified that Chai Jie was at the casino all night. In that case, let me ask you: how many times did he relieve himself?"

"Don’t speak. Put your hands behind your backs and use your fingers to show me the number. If you two show me different numbers, that means someone is lying!"

The two exchanged a glance. Gao Xiaoliu said awkwardly, "Constable, I was busy gambling myself. How could I have been watching him the whole time?"

Zhao Lin shot back, "Since you weren’t watching him the whole time, how do you know he didn’t leave the casino at some point?"

"Well..."

Gao Xiaoliu was speechless. Duan San chimed in, "We weren’t following him, but the casino isn’t that big. You can’t help but run into people. He won a lot of money that day; we saw it with our own eyes."

"Right, that’s how it was," Gao Xiaoliu chimed in hastily.

"So you won’t talk, is that it?"

Zhao Lin had no time to waste. He grabbed them both by the collar, lifted them off the ground, and said to Tao Erleng, "Let’s have a little sparring match."

Tao Erleng’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together. "How are we competing?"

"You try to punch them in the head. If you land a hit, you win. If you miss, I win."

The moment Zhao Lin finished speaking, the two gamblers shrieked in terror. "Sir, put us down!" "You’re going to kill someone!"

Tao Erleng paid them no mind and threw a punch at Gao Xiaoliu’s head.

The fist whistled through the air. Gao Xiaoliu squeezed his eyes shut in terror.

Just as the punch was about to connect, Zhao Lin abruptly took two steps back, narrowly avoiding it.

Tao Erleng froze for a second before leaping forward to pursue them, swinging a fist at Duan San.

Duan San, trembling from head to toe, screamed at the top of his lungs, "I’ll talk! Let me down!"

Zhao Lin felt they hadn’t been scared enough. ’To deal with lazy street scum like this, you have to show them what real trouble looks like.’

He deliberately maneuvered Tao Erleng next to a stack of bricks. When Tao Erleng threw his next punch, Zhao Lin dodged so the fist grazed past the two gamblers’ cheeks and slammed into the brick pile.

CRASH! Dust and debris flew as a large chunk of the brick pile collapsed.

Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San were on the verge of tears, scrambling over each other to speak. "Spare us, Sir! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!" "Me too! Let me go first!"

"Stop!"

Zhao Lin stopped Tao Erleng and tossed the two men to the ground.

The moment their feet touched the ground, Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San collapsed into a boneless heap.

Tao Erleng seemed disappointed. "Why’d we stop halfway through the match?"

Zhao Lin stared at them and said coldly, "Speak. How much did Chai Jie pay you to lie?"

"Five pieces of silver."

Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San said in unison.

He Qingquan’s eyes widened. ’Could it really have been Chai Jie?’ he thought.

"Very good."

Zhao Lin nodded. "But this alone isn’t enough. We have to prove he went out that night, specifically around seven in the evening."

"I can prove it."

Gao Xiaoliu looked up and spoke rapidly. "That day, I had some business and left home late. I was just getting to the casino when I saw Chai Jie coming out."

"I asked him where he was off to, and he said he was going out to eat."

Zhao Lin asked, "What time was this?"

Gao Xiaoliu thought for a moment. "It wasn’t dark out yet. It must have been right around seven o’clock."

Duan San chimed in, "Later, when it was dark, I went outside to relieve myself and saw Chai Jie running back in. I nearly collided with him."

"The time."

"It was already pitch black. Must have been around nine o’clock."

Zhao Lin calculated internally. ’Out at seven, back at nine. The timeline fits.’

"Right. What was he wearing when you saw him?"

"A moon-white long robe."

"A blue silk shirt."

Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San answered, respectively. The moment the words were out, the color drained from their faces.

Even they, fools that they were, understood now. Chai Jie had changed his clothes late at night. Something was definitely wrong!

Coincidentally, Chai Qihong had died during that exact time frame. To say that this had nothing to do with Chai Jie would be utterly unbelievable.

"Figured it out yet?" Zhao Lin’s voice turned to ice. "This is a capital case, punishable by beheading. You dared to commit perjury and harbor a murderer. Do you have a death wish?"

Terrified, Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San dropped to their knees and kowtowed. "Please, Sir, give us a chance to live! We’ll never do it again!"

Zhao Lin let them grovel for a moment before speaking. "I can give you a chance to redeem yourselves. But if you screw it up, you can look forward to rotting in jail!"

...

That morning, Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San arrived at the Chai family’s front gate and started hammering on it with the door knocker.

"Who is it?"

After a long moment, a lazy voice drifted from the courtyard.

"It’s us! Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San!" they shouted.

"What’s with all the racket so early in the morning?"

Cursing, Chai Jie opened the gate. He glanced behind the two men and said sourly, "What do you want?"

Gao Xiaoliu grinned. "My brother and I are a little short on cash. We were hoping Brother Chai could lend us a little something to tide us over."

Duan San sidled up. "We heard you sold off your old man’s lumber shop. You must have made a pretty penny, huh?"

"I have no money. Get lost!"

Before they could finish, Chai Jie slammed the gate shut. BANG!

"Hey, what’s with Master Chai?"

"I know, right? When the Officials came asking questions yesterday, we stuck to the plan."

"Since Master Chai is so ungrateful, maybe we should just tell the truth next time the Officials come around."

"You’ve got a point. It’s not worth taking such a huge risk for nothing..."

The two went back and forth, their voices getting louder and louder.

"Get in here and talk."

Chai Jie opened the gate again, his face grim...

"Constable Zhao, we’re not posting anyone to watch them. Aren’t you worried they’ll run for it?"

The four of them—Zhao Lin included—were sitting in a private room of a tavern on the next street over, feasting on a table full of food and wine.

Seeing Zhao Lin’s composure, He Qingquan couldn’t help but ask the question.

Zhao Lin, of course, wasn’t about to tell them he could hear the pair’s every move. He just said calmly, "They can run, but they can’t hide. Those two aren’t stupid; they know what’s at stake."

He Qingquan said admiringly, "Constable Zhao, you found the suspects in a single day and even devised this plan to lure the snake from its hole. In all my years at the yamen, I’ve truly never seen anything like it..."

"You’re too kind." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Zhao Lin raised a hand to cut off the flattery. He walked to the window, cocking an ear to listen for any sounds from the Chai residence.

Sending Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San to find Chai Jie had been a spur-of-the-moment idea.

The Chai residence wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t small, either.

If they were to just barge in and search, with only the few men he had, it could take ages.

And if he asked to borrow men from Sun Zhang, there was no question that Sun Zhang would take all the credit, leaving Zhao Lin with nothing.

Besides, if the evidence wasn’t in the Chai residence to begin with, a failed search would only alert Chai Jie, making it that much harder to ever find it.

After thinking it over, Zhao Lin had devised a plan.

In a crowded place, if someone shouts, "Watch out for pickpockets!" most people will instinctively check their wallets.

They don’t realize that in doing so, they’re revealing exactly where their money is, creating an opportunity for a thief.

Zhao Lin had initially thought of being the one to "shout about pickpockets" himself. But Chai Jie was smart and cunning; Zhao Lin showing up in person would surely make him suspicious. That’s why he sent Gao Xiaoliu and Duan San to probe him instead.

As for what to say and how to say it, he had already rehearsed the entire script with them beforehand.