It wasn't until noon that the two tasks I asked the youngest brother to handle were finally done. When Wang Dali and I stepped out, I felt completely drained. Honestly, I'd rather examine a corpse that had been rotting for two months than endure any more of the verbal and physical torment from that brat!
Just then, Huang Xiaotao called, inviting us out for a meal.
We met her by the school gate, where she was leaning against a sleek black BMW. A beautiful woman with a luxury car—no wonder passing students couldn't help but stare. She seemed used to the attention, paying it no mind.
Wang Dali exaggeratedly asked, "Xiaotao sis, is this your car?"
"Yeah! One day I'll take you guys out for a spin. Come on, let's grab something good near campus, it's on me!"
We found a grilled fish restaurant and ordered fish, fried shrimp, and a bunch of drinks. After a busy morning, my stomach was growling, so Wang Dali and I dug in like there was no tomorrow.
Huang Xiaotao sipped her milkshake and smiled at us, making me a little embarrassed. She asked, "Are we eating too messily?"
"No, seeing you enjoy your food makes me a bit jealous. Being cops means irregular life, high stress, sleepless nights, and no appetite," she said with a hint of sadness.
Wang Dali asked, "Xiaotao sis, being a cop is so tough, why do you stick with it? Your family seems well-off, so it can't be just for the paycheck, right?"
...
"You don't make much money as a cop. It's because I love it! It's the job I dreamed of since I was a kid. I used to be shy, but wearing this uniform made me confident and outgoing," Huang Xiaotao answered.
"Hard to believe!" I said.
"Work changes people," she smiled. "Enough about that—I just went to that plastic surgery clinic, and you were right. Deng Chao did get surgery."
"Surgery on his hands?" I asked.
"Exactly."
"I'm lost here!" Wang Dali looked confused.
I summarized what I'd found. The female handprints on two victims were my biggest mystery, but now it made sense: Deng Chao had hand surgery. His roommate said he'd been wearing gloves lately to hide that his hands had become smaller and slimmer!
Wang Dali exclaimed, "Can a man's hands really be made to look like a woman's? Hands aren't the same size."
"Not necessarily. Some men have small hands; some women have big hands. From Deng Chao's photos, his hands looked thick but his bone structure wasn't big. Hand surgery basically removes fat and trims muscle, so the hands appear smaller," I explained.
Huang Xiaotao held out her delicate, fair hand. "See, my fingers are thinner than yours, but in length, they're not shorter."
Wang Dali was amazed. "No way! I've only heard of destroying fingerprints to avoid leaving prints, never hand surgery. Where would a student get that kind of money?"
"Scholarship, probably. His roommate said he got nearly twenty thousand in scholarship money, and maybe he didn't return it. That would be enough for cosmetic surgery," I said thoughtfully.
"Life's so unfair. A wicked guy like him can get scholarships, but why not me, who's so kind?" Wang Dali muttered, shoveling food with a scowl. I laughed—scholarships aren't handed out like that.
Huang Xiaotao sucked her straw. "But I have a question: Deng Chao made his hands look like a woman's to lead the police toward the White-clad Ghost and the Cursed Piano. That idea is ridiculous—police would never believe a ghost did the killing."
"He underestimated the police. No matter how smart, experience matters," I said.
"No, Yangzi, you're wrong!" Wang Dali suddenly said. "The Cursed Piano is real."
"I don't buy it!" Huang Xiaotao scoffed.
"It is!" Wang Dali wiped grease from his mouth. "I was bored in the youngest brother's dorm and checked the school forum. Lots of people say they saw a girl in white with long hair in the music classroom late at night, and many heard Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. That building was sealed off for ten years because of the haunting!"
"What's the story behind the Cursed Piano?" Huang Xiaotao asked.
"Let me tell you," Wang Dali said. "Ten years ago, there was a couple at school. The guy was a handsome student council president; the girl was beautiful and a talented pianist. They were the perfect couple, envied by all.
"But no one knew the girl's parents divorced when she was young. She was closed-off and insecure, treating the guy as her whole world. He was outgoing, with many female friends, and busy with student council duties.
"She grew jealous and controlling, throwing tantrums if he didn't answer quickly or talked to other girls. She even threatened suicide by wrist-cutting.
"The guy couldn't take it anymore and wrote a breakup letter. She saw it before he could send it, and to her, it was like the sky had fallen.
"Believing he'd fallen out of love, she planned to kill him and then herself that night.
"She lured him to the music classroom, knife in hand. When he arrived, she was crying while playing piano. The atmosphere was tense.
"She accused him of breaking up, he stammered his confession, she poured out her pain. Then she suddenly tried to stab him.
"They struggled. He pushed her onto the piano with force, and she accidentally died from hitting her head.
"He panicked—manslaughter meant jail, and jail meant his future was ruined.
"He couldn't let this twisted love ruin his life. He thought the relationship was a curse; even dead, she was still cursing him.
"So, he chopped up her body and stuffed the pieces inside the piano.
"As he put the last pieces in, the piano suddenly played a note. He thought he'd hit a string by accident, but each piece made the piano play notes in sequence.
"It was the melody she loved most—the Moonlight Sonata.
"He was terrified but controlled himself, cleaned the blood, and fled. Behind him, the eerie piano music continued to play…"