By a stroke of miracle, no muftis nor imams had arrived at the scene after half an hour. Yet, the captain showed no signs of returning. The trip from here to the mortuary and back shouldn’t take this long. The crowd outside was growing larger and larger.
Qing Tian Yi bit her nails anxiously, but forced herself to stay calm. The waiting wasn’t helping. If anything, it was only making her doubt herself. Was she just doing this to get herself out of the trouble she was in?
She ran through all the clues and evidence that she had come across so far, pulling the threads together to examine them again and again to make sure that her deduction wasn’t wrong. What was common with all the victims? Why burn down a Malay funeral house? Why would the suspect kill himself? Why would Mrs. Shaffi try to kill her?
Everything pointed to a single answer, but somehow Tian Yi wasn’t fully convinced by herself. There was a glaring problem, a hole in the complex web weaved all around her. There were plenty of other questions that begged solving as well, but she would have to wait for the captain to return to find her answers.
Finally, sharp knocking came from the house’s entrance. Tian Yi turned around, hoping to see Captain Yue Ran’s face, but was sorely disappointed.
A tall, miserly man with a trimmed beard stood at the entrance, flanked by several other important-looking men, all dressed in nice, clean robes and wearing black songkok caps on their heads. These men were followed by a large group of a dozen other men that were clearly armed. The muftis had arrived with their entourage.
The miserly man who stood at the very front was sharing a few choice words with the two enforcers standing guard outside the house.
“Step aside, you pathetic dogs! You know well enough that you have only as much authority as the Malay Union allows you while you are within our jurisdiction.”
The two enforcers looked conflicted, but stood their ground as one of them replied, “I’m sorry, Mufti Aziz, but we are under strict orders from our captain not to allow anyone into the crime scene.”
“Your captain?” said Mufti Aziz with a sneer.
He then ignored the enforcers and walked straight toward the house. The two enforcers hurriedly stepped back and blocked his way.
“We’re sorry, sir, but—”
Mufti Aziz ignored their pleas and tried to shoulder his way into the house. The two men were stubborn and refused to budge.
Mufti Aziz’s stern face turned into one of anger and disdain. Without even a word from him, two younger, well-built men stepped forward, unsheathing their keris from their waists as they did so.
The two enforcers looked at each other and prepared to back off. They had orders to stand their ground, but it would be insane to fight the Malay Union’s people in their district. The political implications of overstepping their jurisdiction and treading on the Malay Union’s authority was far too great of a burden for two enforcers to bear. It was not a decision for them to make.
Mufti Aziz scoffed and was about to step into the house when a firm voice rang from behind, “I’m sorry, Mufti Aziz, but I am afraid I can’t let you in there.”
The mufti turned around to see a large, round figure walk toward him. A frail-looking man followed him by his side.
Mufti Aziz frowned and said, “What is the meaning of this, Yue Ran? I demand an explanation!”
The captain of the enforcers let out a sigh and replied professionally, “The enforcers are carrying out a crucial investigation vital to the Undercut’s security at this location. As per protocol, we are not allowed to divulge any details during the investigation. I’m sorry, Mufti, but I can’t tell you anything at this juncture.”
“Protocol demands that the enforcers report all their activities to the Malay Union while operating within our jurisdiction!”
Captain Yue shrugged and walked toward the house, replying calmly, “You can direct any complaints at my boss.”
Mufti Aziz was clearly dissatisfied with this response. He snapped his fingers and yelled, “Stop that man!”
A dozen fighters stepped forward, positioning themselves between Captain Yue and the house. Most wielded some sort of edged weapon, like knives, kerambits or kerises, but a few also held long staffs in their hands. One or two of them were completely barehanded.
Captain Yue towered over even the tallest of them, his shadow looming long and wide over the ground. He did not bat an eye at them. He said nothing more as he walked closer and closer to the group. The tension was palpable. The men shifted their weight and gripped their weapons nervously. The captain’s reputation preceded him. Even when he was just the second-in-command, his feats of martial prowess during the first Darktide had made his name known throughout the Undercity. No one moved a muscle, not even when he was well within striking range. For a moment, it seemed like they would just let him pass.
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“Stop him!” shouted Mufti Aziz.
Emboldened by their leader’s orders, and secure in the knowledge that the captain could not harm them lest he risk political upheaval within the Undercity, the men jumped into action.
Several knives swung at him in wide arcs. Captain Yue muttered something under his breath. A dull yellow light rippled outward from himself and the blades stopped right before his skin, unable to push further, as if restrained by some invisible force. Captain Yue waved his hand and all the knives and daggers were blown away, disarming their wielders.
The few men who had wooden staffs leapt forward in unison, thrusting their weapons at the captain. Captain Yue recited another spell. The staffs suddenly became waterlogged and rapidly decayed in the hands of the men. When they hit the captain, they simply splintered harmlessly into pieces of rotten wood.
Yue Ran brushed the dumbfounded men aside and walked forward. A few men jumped in his way to try and stop him, but he simply kept walking, knocking the men off their feet. The coroner’s assistant followed gingerly by his side, awkwardly walking around the men on the ground.
Just as the captain arrived in front of Mufti Aziz, a man with sharp, brown eyes stepped in his way. Unlike the others, this man’s keris remained safely in his sheathe, as if the spell hadn’t affected the metal weapon at all. Yue Ran noticed that the keris gave off a faint white glow. A blessed weapon, immune to enchantments and capable of cutting through them. For all their disdain for sorcery, the Muslims were oddly fine with these ‘miracles’ of their own.
The captain looked at Mufti Aziz. The enraged mufti glared back at him furiously, no hint of fear in his eyes.
“You sure you want to do this?” said Captain Yue.
The mufti stood in place but said nothing. After a while, he finally said, “You will hear from us, Yue Ran. You can be sure of that.”
Mufti Aziz stepped aside and so did his bodyguard, leaving Yue Ran and the coroner’s assistant free to enter the house.
Tian Yi immediately led the two of them to the kitchen counter, where Mrs. Shaffi mangled body had been moved.
“Is this why you called me here?” asked the coroner’s assistant nervously as he winced at the horrible sight. Most of Mrs. Shaffi’s exposed skin had swollen and turned a hideous red from the flames of the explosion. Soot covered the wounds and her right leg was bent at an unnatural angle.
“Yes. We needed an autopsy,” said Tian Yi coolly.
“Are you sure we should be doing this? This is Malay Union territory and—” the coroner’s assistant shot a glance at the Malay woman.
“We need an autopsy urgently,” said Tian Yi again.
“Alright.”
The coroner’s assistant stepped forward for a closer look, but Tian Yi stood in his way. Meanwhile, Captain Yue Ran stayed right behind him like a stubborn shadow.
“I’m sorry? You wanted me to look at the body, right?” asked the puzzled coroner’s assistant.
“Of course, but do you mind if we watched the autopsy process?”
The coroner’s assistant seemed a bit unnerved by this request but nodded reluctantly.
The three of them gathered around the body as the assistant put on gloves and took out his tools.
“Extensive first and second-degree burns across the body, with signs of impact and trauma damage. The victim was likely killed by an explosion of some sort,” the coroner’s assistant reported as he examined the body.
“Keep going.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Anything unusual.”
The coroner’s assistant gulped anxiously, but took out a knife and started dissecting the body.
“Start with the stomach first,” said Tian Yi.
The assistant did as he was told and cut the stomach open to examine its contents. It was completely empty. Tian Yi tilted her head slightly, but said nothing.
“And the throat?”
“There’s some sort of inflammation but the cause is unclear.”
Tian Yi let the assistant do his job after that, watching everything with a sharp eye.
“Is the coroner still sick?” she asked midway through an examination of the liver.
“Unfortunately so.”
“How long has he been sick, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Six months.”
“Six months? I see,” Tian Yi nodded. No one saw that she was holding something in her hand.
She looked at the captain and asked, “What took you so long?”
“He was out on an errand. I had to wait at the morgue for twenty minutes before he came back,” Yue Ran said as he pointed at the assistant.
The autopsy proceeded but nothing extraordinary happened. Finally, the coroner’s assistant put down his tools and shook his head as he said, “I couldn’t find anything unusual again this time. I’m sorry.”
Tian Yi shook her head and said, “Don’t be. There’s one last spot I’ve noticed you haven’t checked. I’ve read your autopsy reports and I know the procedure. Do the brain.”
“The brain? I—” The assistant’s face went white as a sheet.
“Go on.”
Reluctantly, the assistant picked up his tools and slowly cut the skull open.
Nothing appeared wrong with the brain, as far as the three of them could tell. That was the case until Tian Yi made the coroner’s assistant remove the brain from the skull.
Suddenly, a tiny, black insect lunged out from within the skull, leaping for Tian Yi’s face. A large, sturdy hand intercepted the creature before it could reach its target. Yue Ran tightened his fist and crushed the insect to a pulp. He opened his hand and there was a small purple splotch in the center of his palm.
“What was that?” exclaimed the assistant.
Tian Yi ignored him. She turned to the captain and said, “There’s your physical evidence. Now, do you believe me?”
“This is still very much circumstantial evidence. I can’t arrest him with just—”
Tian Yi interrupted the captain sternly, “Strong circumstantial evidence. And considering the nature of these incidents, I would rather we get the wrong person than not at all.”
The coroner’s assistant looked confused.
“I’m sorry. What’s happening right now?”
“Wong Kar Wai, you are under arrest for suspicion of multiple murders,” said Captain Yue Ran as he turned around and stalked toward the assistant.