TEFSCBSS Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Continuing the Investigation (Part 2)

Group Two continued combing through the case files until they finally compiled a full list of all the missing women this year.

From Moon Immortal House alone, five women had vanished—three young maids and two courtesans who were just about to make their debut.

According to Madam Qin’s testimony in the documents, they were all considered “lucky” to have been chosen by noble households to become personal maids—essentially bed companions—for the young masters.

Reading that statement made everyone’s expressions twist in discomfort.

The idea of bed companions was already frowned upon in their current dynasty. If you truly liked a girl, you were expected to propose marriage properly. And if, for some reason, marriage wasn’t possible, the honorable route was to take her as a formal concubine from a respectable family.

Especially here in the capital, regardless of what went on in other regions, most families upheld the image of strict household discipline, and the majority of officials had only one official wife.

Personal maids?
Brazenly arranged?
And from a brothel, no less?

None of them could quite believe it.

Besides that, there were twelve other reported disappearances of ordinary girls in the southern part of the city—and that was just the number of people who had filed reports. Who knew how many others had gone missing without anyone noticing?

Breaking down the numbers, they realized that within a single month this year, as many as three girls had vanished.

A chill crept up their spines.

If these were just cases of kidnapping without fatal outcomes, they could still find the victims and save them.

But after witnessing two murders involving the mindless corpses, and now the silencing of Little Fish right in front of them at Moon Immortal House, a grim sense of foreboding settled in their hearts. They feared all those girls were already…

“No. 2,” one of them said, steadying his thoughts, “No. 6, go over all the files again carefully. If the same person is responsible, there must be a pattern in their victim selection.”

“If the perpetrator didn’t care who they took, they could’ve just grabbed orphans from the streets. Why go through the trouble of elaborate marriage proposals?”

“These women probably share something in common. Please, look into it closely.”

No. 6 nodded. “And you two?”

No. 2 looked toward another stack of older case files, his voice cool and sharp. “Didn’t someone mention that the disappearances didn’t just start this year? That they go back several years?”

“We’re going to look into that. I have a feeling these cases are linked somehow. There might be traces in the older records that can help us narrow down the suspect.”

“After all,” he said, his eyes darkening as if seeing the snake that once slithered through shadows, “a criminal’s first few crimes are usually sloppy. That’s when they leave behind clues.”

In the audience, Su Li looked up in surprise. This No. 2 was a sharp one.

In modern times, players tracking a serial killer would start the same way—first identifying what the victims had in common: appearance, clothing, social background, relationships, etc.

Next, they’d organize the cases by timeline, analyzing each incident to spot differences—changes in behavior that might reflect the killer’s evolving mindset or even reveal professional knowledge.

Su Li gave No. 2 a long, thoughtful look, then nodded discreetly toward a plain-dressed “spectator.”

The “spectator”—the Minister of Justice—stroked his mustache, seemingly intrigued. Even if this candidate didn’t win the final appointment, he’d be given a chance to prove himself.

Back to No. 2, who was now buried in the older files.

There were far more case scrolls in this batch than in the last.

This was already a curated selection. Once they were truly in charge of such investigations, they’d be dealing with thousands of files, not just hundreds.

No. 2 felt deeply the weight of what it meant to be a public servant. He found himself once again silently praising the officials who handled these duties year-round.

Despite the daunting pile, they found what they were looking for.

In total, they uncovered twenty missing girls from five years ago.

Their analysis confirmed a disturbing pattern—the perpetrator had a consistent rhythm: three victims per month.

Toward the final months of that year, however, the tempo increased—four or five per month—suggesting a rushed operation. In fact, by November and December, the disappearances stopped altogether.

But No. 2 had a theory: the authorities likely caught wind of the pattern halfway through the year and stepped up patrols, forcing the criminal to act faster and gather victims early, hiding them until it was time to execute whatever sinister plan they had in mind.

Maybe… some of those victims were still alive for a time—held somewhere, awaiting their fates.

No. 2 kept that theory to himself. He still didn’t know the killer’s motive.

He and No. 4 brought the compiled scrolls back to No. 6, just as the other two teams wrapped up their questioning and investigations and joined them.

They all huddled around the table, writing furiously, listing out each victim’s name, age, personality, background, and birth month.

“Liu Xiaolan, 14, lively and active, born in August of the Guiyou year, disappeared in August of Year 35 of the Great Yin Dynasty.”

“Zhang Xiaohua, 13, quiet temperament, born in May of XX year, disappeared in May of Year 35.”

“Chen Lanlan, 15, gentle nature, born in May of XX year, disappeared in May of Year 35.”

…

“Niu Shaoyao, 16, beautiful and calm, born in March of XX year, disappeared in March of Year 30.”

One by one, the victims’ profiles flashed past No. 5’s eyes—until something clicked.

He suddenly lit up. “I’ve found it. They all disappeared in the same month they were born!”

“No doubt about it!” No. 2 said, eyes meeting No. 5’s, both sparking with the same hope.

No. 8 scratched his head. “Okay, sure, but what good does that do us? We still don’t know who the killer is.”

No. 5’s lips curled in a cold smirk. “That’s more than enough. We might already be holding the killer’s mask. If we keep pulling on this thread, that foul creature will soon show its true face.”

No. 8 leaned in eagerly. “What do you mean?”

No. 5 raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what month I was born?”

No. 8 frowned. “Isn’t that kind of a weird question?”

No. 5 chuckled. “Okay, then—do you know when No. 1 was born?”

No. 8’s eyes lit up. “That, I do know!”

No. 5 clapped. “Exactly. People’s birth dates are usually known only by family or close acquaintances. But our killer? He somehow knew the birth month of all those girls. Do you think he was personally acquainted with all of them?”

“Of course not!” No. 8 said.

“Exactly. But someone would know that kind of information.”

“Who?”

“Matchmakers.”

“In all of these case files, there’s always one recurring figure—or rather, one recurring profession: the matchmaker.”

“There aren’t that many matchmakers in the southern city. Some of them may have been tempted by power or wealth. And they wouldn’t even need to know what the client was after—just that he wanted to ‘propose’ and needed a girl with a specific zodiac sign and birth month.”

“And just like that, they’d spill everything.”