Chapter 350: The Slow Clock (2/2)

”Yes, we follow the time shown on the TV!” she maintained.

Glancing at my cell phone, I added, ”It's 1:46 pm now. What time is it on your clock?”

She left and returned, holding her head in bewilderment. ”That’s strange. Why is the clock slow? It's only 1:36 on my clock!”

”Thank you!” I smiled.

Still flummoxed, the woman exchanged some pleasantries and closed the door.

Judging from Xiaotao's expression, she seemed to have realized something as well. ”How did you confirm the time? Mr. Ding supposedly left his home at 8:00 pm, the neighbors noticed something unusual at 8:10, and at 8:30, Mr. Ding returned.”

”Both Mr. Ding and his neighbor reported that he left the house at 8:00. The neighbor gave the statement for the discovery at 8:10 and everyone unanimously stated Mr. Ding returned at 8:30. At the time, because of the seriousness of the matter, many people were alarmed.”

”I get it now!” I shouted. “This is what happened. Earlier yesterday, the murderer entered the neighbor's home and dialed the clock back by ten minutes. Mr. Ding left his home at 8 when the neighbor's clock showed 7:50. The murderer immediately entered the Dings’ home and killed Mrs. Ding, then slammed the door. It was 8:10 but only 8 on the neighbor’s clock. At 8:10, which was actually 8:20, the neighbor noticed something unusual and called Mr. Ding. It took him ten minutes to get back, but when he got home, it was 8:30, which perfectly answers why Mr. Ding took ten minutes to reach the nearby park but 20 minutes to get back.”

”That’s so complicated!” Bingxin looked at me, tongue-tied.

I shook my finger. ”It's not complicated at all. To simplify things, the murderer created the illusion of Mr. Ding leaving by slamming the door, which the neighbor overheard!”

”Why didn't he leave quietly after murdering the victim?” puzzled Xiaotao. “I mean, why make such a loud noise?”

”To frame Mr. Ding of course!”

”But the old man in the parking lot said that no one left the building between 8:00 to 8:30,” Xiaotao raised another point of contradiction.

”That’s easy to solve!” I assured her. “Wait here for a minute!”

I quickly went downstairs, grabbed my Autopsy Umbrella and hurried back up. When the elevator reached their floor, I told Bingxin and Xiaotao to join me. Then, I hit another button and waited till we reached the top floor to explain, ”The roofs are connected, so the murderer could’ve left the building via the other buildings!”

Sunlight spilled in as soon as I opened the door to the roof. I opened the Autopsy Umbrella and found a trail of footprints on the stairs.

The footprints were size 39 and tended to extend forward, each print clear and distinct. After Xiaotao snapped a photo of the footprints, we followed the trail all the way to another building where they continued down the stairs.

With how cautious the murderer was, he would certainly avoid the elevator. There was no need to check the middle floors either. First off, there wasn’t any sunlight, and secondly, the stairwell and corridors were often frequented so the footprints would’ve long been destroyed.

I now had a clear outline of the crime. While Mr. Ding was quarreling with his wife, the murderer was hiding in the corridor upstairs. As soon as Mr. Ding left, he immediately entered the home, killed Mrs. Ding and fled via the roof.

”Song Yang-gege, you’re amazing!” Bingxin applauded. “You managed to overturn the case just like that!”

”Hold on, I’m waiting for a photo from the bureau!” Xiaotao interjected.

Shortly after, she handed me her cell phone and scrolled back and forth between two photos–Mr. Ding's footprint and the one we had just discovered. The two footprints were an exact match. But how could that be just a coincidence? The way a person walked was distinct, with subtle differences from person to person, depending on how they distributed their weight. Some people placed more weight on the heels while others had the habit of lifting their heels.

Based on these two sets of footprints, even I had to admit they were left by the same person.

”The murderer is very smart indeed, but his footprints betrayed him.” Xiaotao concluded, “The murderer is Mr. Ding himself. After leaving at 8, he quickly turned around and killed his wife.”

”And then pointed the evidence towards himself?” I arched an eyebrow.

If Mr. Ding was as smart as Xiaotao thought he was, would he have been arrested immediately?