A week later, Jubilee hunkered over a desk in the corner of Detective Law’s office, only thirty minutes after she’d gotten out of an Introduction to Criminal Investigation class with Zhengyi Yang. The spring semester had just started at Peking University, and Jubilee hadn’t yet interacted directly with the girl, only discreetly observed her from afar. They were still in, as Detective Law called it, the surveillance phase, which was why Jubilee now sat in front of a giant-screened computer, staring glassy-eyed at public surveillance footage of Zhengyi. The monitor had been playing clips non-stop since Jubilee had gotten there, just as it had every day this week. Yet she had made zero progress on learning anything of significance that might help free the young woman.

On Jubilee’s right, Hellenos stood sentry as usual but offered absolutely no feedback. On her left was the detective, staring over her shoulder at the screen and asking the same question every five minutes—

“What do you see?” he prompted.

Jubilee’s jaw clenched. It was probably the hundredth time he’d asked her that this week. He’d been speaking in Mandarin the entire time, too—for total language immersion, as he put it.

“What I’ve been seeing,” she said, also in Mandarin. “Zhengyi and the demon, walking.” She didn’t even know what she should be looking for. Some kind of weapon? A drug transaction, maybe? But there was none. All she saw was Zhengyi walking from school to her apartment to the club in the evening before repeating the cycle all over again the next day. A dark haze still clung to the girl, presumably an indicator of her poor spiritual state, and the demon strolled alongside her in every clip—which, while disturbing to Jubilee at first, now bored her to tears. She couldn’t see what connection the girl had to the demon or what role she might play in the mysterious suicides, if any.

Jubilee’s head swiveled to the detective. “Could you give me some—” She made a shooing motion as she struggled to think of the right word in Chinese. “Some...space?” If she did figure anything out, she wouldn’t just automatically tell him. Who knew what he might do with any information she gave him? The last time she’d revealed something to him, he’d blackmailed her into working for him. She’d think more carefully about disclosure from now on.

“It’d be more contextually correct for you to say, ‘Stand a little further from me,’” the detective corrected, much to her irritation. Nevertheless, he took an obliging step backward, but only by half a foot. “What conclusions have you drawn so far?” he continued. At least, that’s what she thought he said.

Rubbing her temples, Jubilee switched to English. “She’s a social butterfly who likes to party and occasionally meet up with guys.” Which reminded her of her own college years. Ignoring the knot in the pit of her stomach that this brought up, she added, “But that’s normal for her age.”

“Not for the majority of Chinese students,” the detective noted, still in Mandarin.

Jubilee shrugged. “There are people who party in every culture,” she said, again in English. Briefly, she wondered if she was making excuses for Zhengyi or for herself.

He gave her an inscrutable look. “True.” He switched to English. “Are you going to practice the language you’re supposed to pull off being advanced in, or...?” Then he switched back to Mandarin, continuing on in a string of words that sounded like case details but which she couldn’t comprehend.

Jubilee pursed her lips. She didn’t have time for this nonsense. She needed to learn more about this girl and figure out exactly what connected her to the demon, without this man breathing down her neck and getting on to her for her inadequate Chinese every other sentence.

“Look,” Jubilee interrupted, flushing. “I—I don’t know half of what you just said. Can we just...stick to English for now when it comes to discussing the case, so I don’t miss anything important?”

He made an expression that looked like what teachers reserved for particularly slow students.

She glowered. “It’ll be less taxing on my ability.” It was true, even if it was an excuse. The anxiety caused by his proximity—and her ire at his constant prodding—had made her vision flicker more than once.

“Very well,” he said in English after a moment, then indicated the screen again with a nod of his head. “Better?”

Annoyed, she snapped, “No. You’re still too close.”

“You’re not even looking at the footage.”

“I’ve been looking at it for five days!” She turned back to the monitor. “There hasn’t been a single change in—”

The words died in her throat as the demon suddenly disappeared from the screen. What?

“What is it?” the detective pressed, leaning forward.

Ignoring him, Jubilee reached forward to stop and rewind the footage. She watched with perplexity as, again, the demon vanished from Zhengyi’s side. The girl didn’t seem to notice any difference—aside from what looked to be a slight, almost imperceptible nod just before the demon departed.

A chill shook Jubilee. She hoped that that nod had just been her imagination.

“What do you see?” the detective asked. Again.

Jubilee almost snapped at him but managed to restrain herself, schooling her features into a neutral expression. “I’m not sure. Give me some time to concentrate, and...” She switched to Mandarin and added coolly, “Stand a little further from me.”

He measured her with an unreadable look. “Very well,” he said again and withdrew to his desk, where he promptly turned his attention to his own computer.

Jubilee turned back to the screen with a deep exhale. Replaying the footage, she watched as, once more, Zhengyi walked home from the club a week before. Again, the demon at her side vanished after two blocks...immediately following a slight dip of her head.

Jubilee’s heart began to pound. Surely it was just a coincidence. The girl could’ve been nodding at anything—her own thoughts, a passerby in the street, a crack in the sidewalk. It was nothing to jump to conclusions on, and certainly not enough to suggest that Zhengyi was actually aware of the demon. Right?

Unbidden, Jubilee remembered yet another disturbing coincidence—the day of her first meeting with Zhengyi, when the other girl had muttered something under her breath that may or may not have been a response to the demon.

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Jubilee passed a hand over her eyes. How many more of these “coincidences” was she going to find? She hoped the answer was none. If this girl turned out to be willingly involved with the demon—and even, God forbid, cooperating in or guilty of the crimes Detective Law suspected her of—then what was Jubilee even doing all this for? It wouldn’t be to free the girl from a demon that was harassing her. Because they might actually be working together.

The knot in her stomach twisted. No. That was too crazy. What were the odds of someone other than Jubilee being able to see demons? There must be some other explanation. She replayed the scene again, over and over, searching for something she’d missed. Why did the demon disappear when it did? What had changed? Beside Jubilee, Hellenos remained as silent and unhelpful as a statue. She sighed and cradled her head in her hands. It was starting to hurt.

“No luck?” Detective Law’s voice inquired amid the sounds of his ceaseless typing.

She shook her head.

“You should eat something.” He pressed a button on his desk phone before switching to Mandarin. “Officer Liang? Please come to my office.”

“Yes, Law Xian-sheng!” a woman’s voice responded through the speaker.

Moments later, a female police officer appeared at the door. “Detective,” she greeted with an enthusiastic salute.

Jubilee eyed the other woman warily. She looked to be in her early thirties, maybe younger. A baby blue aura hovered over her, and the air around her seemed to bubble with excitement.

“Officer,” Detective Law said, gesturing to Jubilee without bothering to turn from his computer, “This is Wong Xiao-jie, whom I told you about. Please see to it that she gets an adequate lunch.”

“Sir!” The policewoman bowed even though he wasn’t looking at her, then hurried to Jubilee’s side. “Ni hao! I am Officer Liang Mifei.” The woman gave Jubilee a friendly smile. “I’m new, just like you! You can call me Liang Jie—big sis. I’ve been assigned to assist you, so let me know if there’s ever anything I can do to help you.” She pulled out her phone, scrolling through it as she babbled on, “So! What do you prefer? Spicy food? Barbecue? Noodles?” She flipped the screen to face Jubilee. “There’s plenty nearby! Choose whatever you want, and I’ll go pick it up for you.”

“Er...” Jubilee’s brain raced to keep up. The woman’s Mandarin was simple enough to understand, even if she did talk like a whirlwind. But... “Assist me? That’s—not necessary. You don’t have to buy me lunch, I can just—”

“Oh I won’t, don’t worry,” Officer Liang waved off her protest. “It’s all reimbursed. So don’t hold back.” She grinned and leaned forward to whisper, “Turns out the famous Graeson Law is both a genius and generous. You must be very excited to get to work directly with him.”

The famous...what? Jubilee stared blankly at the other woman, whose attention had returned to her phone.

“I know, having so many options is overwhelming,” the officer said as she scrolled. “Why don’t I just get you a little of everything so you can see what you like? That way, you can have leftovers to take home!” She paused in her rapid clicking to look up. “Any special requests?”

Jubilee shook her head.

“OK! I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Officer Liang swept out of the room.

Jubilee turned to the detective, who was still typing, and switched back to English. “What is she supposed to assist me with?”

He didn’t turn to her. “Anything and everything work-related,” he responded, also in English. “Practical errands and such. Personally, I find it helpful for work performance when I can outsource smaller tasks. So, you get the same luxury.”

Jubilee mulled this over. That seemed...almost considerate. What was the catch?

“Also,” the detective continued, “She will act as extra security and escort you to and from your apartment.”

So she was a watchdog. Jubilee opened her mouth to protest when Detective Law stopped his typing and swiveled to face her.

“Speaking of which, is it to your liking?” he asked.

She stopped. “Is what?”

“Your new apartment.”

She hesitated. It was better than anything she’d ever imagined living in during the course of her lifetime. The place was five stars—huge yet fully furnished to be homey and welcoming. It even had air filters. “It’s nice,” she admitted grudgingly.

“If you ever need something repaired or altered to suit your taste, please let Wayne know,” he said, then swiveled back to his computer.

Her eyebrows rose. For someone who’d gotten her arrested and almost deported, he was unexpectedly accommodating. Was it because he felt bad for what he’d done? “Alright,” she said slowly, before forcing herself to add, “Thank you, by the way.” He didn’t respond immediately, so she clarified, “For the apartment. And lunch. You didn’t have to go to such expense for me.”

“There is no need to thank me,” Detective Law said. “Your wellbeing and comfort seem to directly affect your ability and are therefore paramount to this case. As such, I simply see them as professional priorities.”

Ah. So that was why.

“Also, Miss Wong...I expect an emailed progress report by the end of this week and every week thereafter.”

She frowned. “Why can’t I just take notes for myself and then let you know when I figure out a clue?”

“With all due respect, Miss Wong, that is an overly optimistic estimation of your deductive reasoning skills.”

She blinked, affronted. “You don’t know that.”

“Have you managed to deduce anything case-related in the five days since you began working?”

Possibly, but she wasn’t telling him that. “No—but I’m still new to this.”

“Exactly.” His tone was matter-of-fact.

“It’s not like I have much to go on so far!” she protested, gesturing at her screen even though he wasn’t looking. “Who would’ve figured out something just from this?”

“I would have.”

“Yeah? Then why don’t you?”

The detective finally glanced over his shoulder to pierce her with a look. “Because you haven’t told me everything you’ve seen.”

Her mouth snapped shut.

“I cannot train you in developing your deduction skills if you refuse to give me anything to go on,” he said with a shrug and returned his attention to his screen.

She considered his back for a long moment. “Tell me something,” she said at last. “What will happen to this girl if we do find evidence tying her to the deaths?”

“It all depends on her level of involvement,” he answered without looking back. “But the judicial system in this country can be quite stringent and, as you may already know, capital punishment is allowed here. It is a common sentence for those convicted of murder.”

Jubilee went cold. “You mean the death sentence? But—surely she wouldn’t get that. She’s so young.”

“She’s nineteen,” he pointed out. “She would be charged as an adult.”

Nineteen. That was the age Jubilee had started stealing. “But we don’t know that she’ll be convicted of that.”

“No,” the detective agreed. “Though neither do we know that she won’t be.” He glanced over his shoulder at her again. “I strongly suggest that you remain unbiased, Miss Wong. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see things objectively. ”

Jubilee’s hands balled into fists, and she turned to the window. Outside, the bare branches of a cherry tree shook against the wind, its closed buds trembling with agitation.

Detective Law may have been the more objective one, but he also seemed to care more about solving the case than he did about the wellbeing of any people involved—Jubilee included. She was just a tool to him, and Zhengyi just some miscreant to nab.

“Understood,” Jubilee said coolly, turning back to her computer. “I’ll let you know when I have something definitive to share.” And that won’t automatically land this girl with a death sentence. Because until Jubilee figured out more about what was going on, it wasn’t clear yet whether or not Zhengyi actually deserved that. Even if she were somehow involved with the deaths, it might not be knowingly or willingly.

Then again, it could be.

Jubilee shivered. If that were the case, then it would change things. She’d have to rethink her whole purpose behind doing all this. But the reality was that kids often did dumb things without fully understanding what they were getting themselves into. She knew that better than anyone. And this girl was still just a kid, no matter what the legal age was. Nineteen was too young for someone to have to die over making a stupid mistake.

Especially, Jubilee thought, her eyes squeezing shut to force down memories, Without getting the chance to make amends.

So, for now, she would keep digging. Until she was sure.