Chapter 17: The Missing Finger

"We suddenly received a call from Liang Ming saying the guesthouse had caught fire and my sister had been burned and taken to the hospital. He spoke so lightly that we thought the situation was fine, but who knew that when we arrived at the hospital and saw Leilei's condition, my mother fainted on the spot!" Yao Beibei was already choking back sobs as she spoke. "Leilei's entire body was burned; there wasn't a single patch of good skin left. Both her hands were completely destroyed except for her left index finger, and her nose was burned away..." She couldn't help but cover her face and cry. "That beast's hands were also burned, and he told the police it was all my sister's own carelessness and that he was injured while trying to save her. I could see the blood and tears flowing from my sister's eyes when she heard him say that!"

"When did this happen?"

"The spring of three years ago. I will never forget it." Yao Beibei was already sobbing uncontrollably.

Hearing this date, Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu felt a complex mix of emotions—it was in the summer of that same year that Gu Ruyun and "Yang Jinhan" had met.

This meant that while his wife was still hospitalized and his own hands hadn't even healed, this Liang Ming had already changed his name and was luring his next victim into his trap.

"So, while your sister was hospitalized, was Liang Ming managing the guesthouse?" Qi Fei asked.

"My mother and I were busy taking care of my sister. At first, this person stayed by my sister's side day and night, but later, after hearing from the doctor that the chances of her waking up were very low, he started to slack off, using the excuse that the guesthouse needed tending to, and he didn't come by much." Yao Beibei said indignantly, "But he never imagined that my sister would wake up! She told us intermittently that it wasn't an accident at all—it was Liang Ming who, during an argument, poured gasoline on her and lit it. Who knew that by the time the police arrived at the guesthouse, this Liang Ming had already run off, disappearing without a trace. My sister, such an excellent person..." Yao Beibei wiped her tears and opened a photo on her phone to show Qi Fei. "This is Leilei before the incident."

In the photo was a woman in a red dress, playing the cello, elegant and dignified. Thinking of the tragic state Yao Beibei had just described, one couldn't help but sigh.

Yao Beibei looked with nostalgia at the flower stand by the tea table, which held a variety of trophies and certificates: "My sister played the cello beautifully; these are all the awards and trophies she won. She was multi-talented and always wanted to help others. Heaven is too unfair."

Out of respect for the deceased, Qi Fei looked carefully at these honors. His gaze stopped on a golden medal, the size of a photo frame, which had a pair of hands embossed on it—slender fingers that seemed to carry a natural rhythm.

However, the details on the fingers caught Qi Fei's extreme attention. He stood up abruptly, reached out to take the frame down, looked at it closely, and then handed it to Wu Shanqiu.

Wu Shanqiu couldn't help but let out a soft gasp after looking at it.

Seeing their unusual behavior, Yao Beibei was a bit confused and asked, "This is a commemorative medal my sister won at an art festival. Is there a problem?"

"Whose handprint is this?" Qi Fei asked with a serious expression.

"My sister's, of course. Why?"

Qi Fei placed the medal on the tea table and pointed to the index finger of the handprint. There was a long mark on the pad of the index finger; both its length and the angle of its slant were exactly the same as the fingerprints they had collected from the two crime scenes.

Yao Beibei, unaware of the reason, was dismissive: "Oh, this? My sister had been playing the cello since she was a child; this is the mark left by pressing the strings."

"You said Yao Leilei has already passed away. When did that happen?" Qi Fei asked.

"Last spring," Yao Beibei sighed.

But Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu were astonished to hear this date, because not to mention that Zhu Ming'en had just died, even Yang Jinhan's case was from last winter. If the fingerprints at the scene really matched Yao Leilei's, wouldn't the suspect be a dead person?

Qi Fei hesitated, then asked, "Are you sure your sister is dead?"

Yao Beibei was shocked by this question and said displeasedly, "What is the meaning of this? I handled all of my sister's funeral arrangements. All of our family members said our final goodbyes to her and watched her body be cremated. Do you think I would lie to you?"

Qi Fei's brow furrowed even tighter, his voice low: "The police found the suspect's fingerprints at the scene where Yang Jinhan, also known as Liang Ming, was murdered." As he spoke, he took out a copy of the fingerprints he carried with him and handed it to Yao Beibei.

Sure enough, the moment Yao Beibei saw the fingerprint, she said without hesitation, "This is my sister's fingerprint."

Such a quick reaction caught Qi Fei's attention, and he asked suspiciously, "You're sure just by looking at it?"

Yao Beibei took a deep breath: "My sister and I grew up together; of course I know. But there is an even more important reason. As I just said, all of my sister's fingers were destroyed in the fire, except for her index finger, which was intact. However, at the funeral home, when my sister's body was lying among the flowers and I was saying my final goodbye to her, I discovered that her index finger was missing."

"Hmm? Don't you find that strange?" Wu Shanqiu said in disbelief upon hearing this.

"Because my sister was unrecognizable before she passed away, I wanted her to leave looking beautiful, so I hired someone from the funeral home to do her mortuary makeup. The body was already very fragile. At the time, I just thought the person who prepared her remains had been careless. Since she was already gone, I didn't want to make a fuss, so I didn't pursue it. But you say you found my sister's fingerprint at the place where Liang Ming died? This... how is this possible? Didn't you say Liang Ming only died last year..." Yao Beibei realized and said in astonishment.

"Is it possible your sister knew this person?" Qi Fei showed Zhu Ming'en's photo to Yao Beibei.

Sure enough, Yao Beibei shook her head: "I haven't seen this person. My sister ran a guesthouse, and people came and went; she came into contact with many more people than the average person. I don't know if this person ever visited the guesthouse, but the check-in records should be searchable."

"This person died a few days ago, and a fingerprint suspected to be your sister's was also left at the scene," Qi Fei said.

His words were like a bolt from the blue, making it hard for Yao Beibei to accept: "My God, is someone still framing my sister even after she's dead? Who exactly is it?"

"You said your sister's finger was missing after the mortuary makeup was finished?"

"That's right, I'm sure of that. After all, she only had that one finger intact when she left; I couldn't help but notice."

"I'm sorry, but we have to take this medal," Qi Fei said. He picked up his car keys and headed straight for the Lanhe Funeral Home with Wu Shanqiu. It seemed the mortuary makeup artist was a major suspect. ===== CHAPTER 18 =====