seconds remaining , she reached for her handbag , but darkness completely blanketed her vision , and everything went blurry .
“ Anything in there ?” General Zhao barked to his officers . He stood with an alert expression , surveying the scene . The general turned his head around to find an officer saluting him , before gesturing towards a room inside the clinic .
“ Sir , we have found a body . Seems to be suicide ,” the officer informed .
“ What !?” Fuming , Zhao strode into the room . A string of rope hung from the isolated light bulb on the ceiling . Dangling from the rope was an aging woman who seemed to be in her mid-fifties . There was no blood anywhere on her body . No evidence of murder was left behind . The only thing which looked out of place was an emerald ring , neatly placed on the wooden table at the woman ’ s bedside . The ring gave off a strong lavender scent and had a smooth feel to it , as if it had been polished many times . On the ring , a name was engraved . Three characters , written using a thin tool , circled the outside , which read an anonymous name . There were no marks on any of her fingers , which meant she wasn ’ t the owner .
Pointing to the ring , the general demanded , “ Find something about the owner of this ring !” After moments of silence had passed , the general , infuriated , stormed out of the scene and headed back to Shanghai Municipal Police headquarters . “ Why are you still standing there ? Meet me back in my office when you ’ ve found something !” Echoes could be heard from down the street as the general yelled in rage .
The view from the dim sum restaurant was simply breath-taking . It never got boring , no matter how much one admired the busy streets crowded with carts and noises , and shops all around . As mouth-watering dishes of dim sum were served in bamboo steamers , one could overlook the looming wall separating home from the moat and the outside world .
“ Mr . Wu , your dumplings are here ,” a waiter said , bringing a dish of dim sum to an elderly man sitting by the balcony of the restaurant . Old age seemed to have got the better of him . Aching joints , haunted memories and weariness were his troublesome companions , always by his side , yet he remained cheerful to everyone who met him . Tufts of white hair were visible on the man ’ s bald scalp . His face was heavily lined with wrinkles and bulging eye bags were ready to pop out of his eyes . Whenever he smiled , the dimples on either side of his cheeks started to appear .
Mr . Wu greeted the waiter with a smile and a nod . The waiter clumsily tripped over his own legs and sent the dish of dumplings flying . The dish struck his cup of tea square in the middle , and it toppled over . “ I am so sorry .” The waiter breathed a heavy sigh of relief . “ I will clean up this mess immediately and get you another cup of tea .” A few minutes later , the waiter appeared with an identical cup and placed it down where the previous cup had been . “ Enjoy your meal ,” the waiter said with a light and warm tone .
“ I will ,” replied Mr . Wu , taking a sip of his tea .
“ Another one !?” Zhao slammed the file in his hand down on his desk . Standing in front of him , two officers were scared out of their skin . “ So you ’ re telling me that out of the blue , an old man makes his way past the wall and drowns himself in the moat !? What evidence do you have ?”
“ S-s-sir , we have no concrete evidence , but we do believe the suicide is somewhat connected with the death of the woman . It ’ s no coincidence that these two events would happen subsequently ,” an officer stammered timidly .