Chapter Fifteen: Who Is the Fish

Luo Wei and Kang Ge each pulled up a chair and sat down at Yan Xue’s desk, where Song Chen was already seated. Given that Song Chen had admitted to attending the masquerade ball that night, but had only arrived in W City that very day and essentially had no friends here before, her likelihood of being the perpetrator was low. There was no need to treat her as a dangerous suspect, so they approached the conversation with less caution.

Of course, under these circumstances, Song Chen was hardly even a person of interest, let alone a suspect. Since Yan Xue was her cousin, there was no strict need for her to recuse herself. Kang Ge’s earlier suggestion had merely been out of concern that with Yan Xue and Song Chen together, the conversation would likely be anything but smooth—sparks would fly, but not in a good way; more like a wildfire threatening to blaze out of control.

Luo Wei had known Yan Xue for a while—not too long, but not too short—and he’d always known her to be quick-tempered. Still, she was usually quite restrained at work. To see her now, brimming with barely contained irritation, was a first.

“Boss Kang, is this really Yan Xue’s cousin?” Luo Wei whispered in Kang Ge’s ear.

“Of course,” Kang Ge chuckled. “There’s no reason to pretend otherwise. Besides, there’s nothing to be gained by faking it.”

“That’s true. It’s just… these two cousins are so different in style, it’s almost jarring,” Luo Wei muttered. But then, seeing Yan Xue’s reaction, he realized the discord between them was about more than just style, and wisely chose to drop his curiosity, focusing instead on questioning Song Chen about the events of the previous night’s masquerade.

Yan Xue sat at the desk behind them, watching coldly. She worried that if she spoke to Song Chen, she’d be so infuriated by her cousin’s demeanor that the anger would burn through her ribs. Yet she also feared that if she wasn’t present, and Song Chen tried any tricks, Kang Ge and Luo Wei might not handle her. So she stayed.

The previous day, Yan Xue had left midway to pick up a relative from home—something everyone at the dinner at Kang Ge’s house knew. Luo Wei had been confused at first, but hearing Song Chen was Yan Xue’s cousin and had just arrived in W City the day before cleared things up. He got straight to the point: “You arrived in W City yesterday. Who took you to the masquerade?”

Song Chen eyed Luo Wei—clearly uninterested in chatting with this average-looking young man, neither as tall nor as handsome as Kang Ge. Still, she answered, though her response seemed directed more at Kang Ge.

“A friend invited me. I came to work in W City because she helped me get the job. She felt sorry for me being alone here, so she said she had a friend who was going to a masquerade and invited me along. I didn’t want to go at first—everyone would be strangers, and I was nervous.”

She looked troubled as she spoke, earning a silent eyeroll from Yan Xue behind Kang Ge and Luo Wei.

Song Chen noticed, but pretended not to. She carried on in her soft, vulnerable tone: “But my friend kept insisting—said she’d have no one to go with otherwise, and it’d be no fun alone. I couldn’t refuse, so I agreed. Honestly, I had no interest in those kinds of parties.”

“What’s your friend’s name? What does she do?” Luo Wei pressed.

“She’s called…” Song Chen hesitated at this simple question. “She’s called… oh dear, I can’t quite remember right now.”

“A friend who got you a job and took you to a masquerade, and you can’t say her name?” Luo Wei’s professional instincts made him deeply suspicious of her answer.

Yan Xue, however, showed no surprise at Song Chen’s reply.

“What’s so strange about that? She really did help me find work and took me out to have fun. She’s definitely my friend. But we met online. If you ask her username, I know it; but her real name? How would I remember that? This was the first time we met in person!”

Luo Wei stared, then rubbed his temples. “You met someone online, barely know her real identity, and let her find you a job and take you out?”

“So what? Are all police this paranoid?” Song Chen propped her chin on her hand and laughed. “I’m an adult—what’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like she’d sell me off or something!”

“How many people were at the party? Did you notice anyone acting suspicious?” Luo Wei persisted, though clearly exasperated. This was no time for a lecture on personal safety.

“How many people…? I can’t say for sure,” Song Chen mused, whether truly recalling or just pretending. “I’d estimate thirty or forty, at least. The house was huge. The hostess said we could go anywhere except the locked room. So at first, everyone gathered in the living and dining rooms, but after some drinks, people spread out.

“As for suspicious behavior, I’m not sure what you mean. What counts as suspicious? You need to be clearer so I can help you remember.”

“I mean, did anyone seem to be there for reasons other than just having fun—like they had another agenda?” Luo Wei tried to clarify. He was no party animal himself, and the question stumped him, especially when Song Chen turned it back on him.

“Oh, you must be joking!” Song Chen burst into a giggly, slightly affected laugh for someone nearing thirty. “You don’t really think everyone at a masquerade is just there to drink and mingle, do you?”

“Then what are they there for?” Luo Wei countered.

“Isn’t it obvious? To ‘go fishing’! There were thirty or forty people. Aside from the initial handful personally invited by the hostess, everyone else was brought by friends, who brought more friends, and so on, to make up the numbers.

“It was a gorgeous house—most people wouldn’t even get to see a model home in a new development, let alone play in one. Anyone who could host a party like that wasn’t ordinary. Like attracts like; rich people hang out with other rich people. Party guests weren’t exactly poor.

“You went too—does that make you rich?” Luo Wei challenged.

“Me? I’m just average. My family’s not the wealthiest, but we’re comfortable.” Song Chen smiled, and as she said ‘comfortable,’ she shot a glance—perhaps intentional, perhaps not—at Yan Xue before looking away. “Like I said, the first batch invited were the hostess’s own circle, so definitely well-off. Those they invited might be a bit less so.

“But once the numbers swelled, outsiders inevitably slipped in—hoping to chat up rich, attractive guests, maybe network their way into that circle, or even find someone special.”

“So by that logic, the wealthy guests are the ‘fish’?”

“Not necessarily. Even rabbits don’t eat grass near their burrow, right? Sometimes those in the inner circle are too familiar with each other for anything to happen—they don’t want complications. So they spend money to entertain and hope to meet new faces who are easier to handle.

“In the end, everyone’s fishing, and everyone’s a potential catch—it’s mutual.” Song Chen’s words carried the jaded air of experience, but suddenly realizing this didn’t reflect well on her, she quickly amended, “That’s just what I’ve heard. I was only there to pass the time.”

“Did you meet the hostess? Did you talk to her?” Luo Wei continued.

“Are you kidding?” Song Chen replied in a coy, playful tone. “Of course I saw her, but why would she bother with me? She was busy with all the handsome guys. I just went over to say hi—it would be rude not to, since I was a guest in her home. But she barely had time for me; she was deep in conversation with a very young man.”

“A who? Oh… I see!” It took Luo Wei a moment to catch on to her slang, but he understood. “This young man—how old was he? What did he look like?”

“Not very old—maybe just over twenty, or just a baby face. He was really handsome! Tall and slim, very fair skin, a straight nose—he looked like someone who could be a celebrity. When he talked to her, it was almost as if he was being coquettish.”

“Do you know his name?”

“Of course not! How would I know that?”

“But you observed him so closely—you remember his looks perfectly!”

“That’s different! If I see a handsome guy, I look—that’s not a crime! He didn’t stay long, maybe two or three hours, always by the hostess’s side like a little shadow. Then I didn’t see him again—probably left early.”

“What about other guests? Can you recall anyone else you knew by their real names, or anyone who interacted a lot with the hostess?” Luo Wei sensed from her answers that Song Chen was far from the clueless bystander she pretended to be. Throughout the night, she’d clearly paid much attention to the deceased, Bai Yueni, and her companions. It was unlikely she was as uninformed as she claimed.

Most people go their whole lives without ever interacting with the police, aside from renewing IDs or registering household information—especially with detectives. The experience can make people nervous and uneasy. But Song Chen was an anomaly—she seemed completely at ease, even playful.

She propped her chin on her hands and said, almost lazily, “It’s late, and tomorrow’s my first day at work. I’d planned to get a good night’s sleep so I’d look my best for my new job, but you called me here! Now you want me to help you recall all these details—what’s in it for me?”

Had it been anyone else, Luo Wei would have ignored such bargaining or snapped back. But since Song Chen was Yan Xue’s cousin, he felt obliged to soften his tone.

At this moment, Yan Xue abruptly stood up—so suddenly that Luo Wei and Kang Ge just turned around, but Song Chen, sitting opposite, was genuinely startled, shrinking back into her chair as if Yan Xue might leap across and devour her.

“I think you should take her to the interrogation room. I’ll excuse myself,” Yan Xue said to Kang Ge and Luo Wei. “Song Chen was present before and after the incident. Now, when questioned about key information, she dodges the answers. By our usual procedures, that makes her a significant suspect, doesn’t it? So, I’ll recuse myself. Handle it as you see fit.”

With that, she stood and, leaving a stunned Song Chen behind, strode purposefully out of the office.