“They were drinking homemade rice wine, with two taels of pig’s head meat as a side dish…”

……

In the corner, Grace Carter looked at the two kneeling below the hall and shook his head slightly.

He had already stayed up all night yesterday reading through all the case files. His father-in-law had asked this question countless times, but these two, Clark Harris, had clearly coordinated their stories in advance, so nothing could be extracted from them.

Or perhaps, Henry Clark was actually being wronged. If that was the case, this case would be even trickier.

He put down his pen, rubbed his stomach, and felt a bit hungry.

They had been interrogating for almost an hour, yet there was no progress in the case, and mealtime had already passed…

It would have been fine if he hadn’t rubbed his stomach, but as soon as he did, it immediately let out a loud “gurgle.”

The case had already hit a bottleneck, the county magistrate’s face was as dark as water, and everyone else was trembling with fear, not daring to make a sound. The noise from Grace Carter’s stomach was especially noticeable.

Charles Walker’s gaze turned to the corner and met Grace Carter’s eyes.

Ever since he had experienced extreme hunger last time, Grace Carter had become especially afraid of being hungry. He was a bit worried that if his father-in-law kept dragging things out, they might even miss lunch.

The case once again reached an impasse. Charles Walker was already feeling irritable, and he didn’t know what he had eaten in the morning, but his stomach was churning as well. He glanced at Grace Carter and said, “I’ll step out for a moment. If there’s anything that wasn’t recorded just now, you can ask the two of them again.”

With that, he clutched his stomach and hurried out.

Grace Carter could replay his memory at any time, so there was nothing he needed to ask, but he still picked up paper and pen and walked out from the corner.

The yamen runners standing on both sides looked at Grace Carter as he walked out, their faces showing odd expressions.

They had all heard of this bookish son-in-law from Judge Walker’s household. Rumor had it that he was rigid and only knew how to bury himself in books, locking himself in his room all day, and even ignored a beauty like Miss Walker…

There were also rumors that the reason the son-in-law of The Walker Family neglected Miss Walker so much was because he couldn’t get it up in the morning…

Grace Carter held a record book in one hand and a pen in the other, and walked up to Henry Clark.

“On the fifteenth of last month, you drank at Edward Harris’s house?” he asked as he opened the book.

“Yes, I drank with Edward Harris that night and didn’t leave until midnight,” Henry Clark nodded.

“What kind of wine did you drink, and what dishes did you eat?”

“We drank rice wine brewed by Edward Harris’s family, and had two taels of pig’s head meat as a side dish…”

Grace Carter took notes with paper and pen, while the yamen runners around looked bored—this round of questioning, they had already heard countless times.

Grace Carter looked at Henry Clark and continued, “Was the pig’s head meat tasty?”

Henry Clark was taken aback, then nodded again, “Yes, it was tasty…”

“Where did you buy it?” Grace Carter asked again.

“From Zheng the butcher in East Alley.”

“Does Zheng the butcher sell meat at a fair price?”

“Yes, yes, it’s fair…”

“Does Zheng the butcher ever bully or cheat customers?”

“No, no…”

“Do you know Zheng the butcher’s nickname is Zhen Guanxi?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Does Zheng the butcher know you killed Master Zhao?”

“I don’t…” Henry Clark instinctively started to answer, but was startled into a cold sweat and immediately said, “Sir, I didn’t kill anyone!”

“Don’t be nervous, wipe your sweat first, I’m just asking casually.” Grace Carter smiled and closed the book.

He turned and took a couple of steps, then suddenly turned back and asked, “By the way, it was the fifteenth that day. When you left Edward Harris’s house, the moon must have been very round, and it must have been bright outside, right?”

Henry Clark had just breathed a sigh of relief, but was stunned when he heard this, then immediately nodded, “Yes, I remember very clearly, the moon was big and round that night, and it was very bright outside…”

“You’re lying!”

Grace Carter’s tone suddenly changed, pointing at him and shouting sternly, “It was clearly overcast on the fifteenth last month—where did you see a big, round moon!”

The young clerk’s face turned from calm to stern, and Henry Clark was stunned on the spot.

Grace Carter looked at Henry Clark, raising his voice again, “Why are you lying? Tell me, what were you really doing that night? Was it you who killed Master Zhao?”

Henry Clark trembled, broke out in a cold sweat again, and hurriedly changed his answer, “Sir, I must have remembered wrong. I was drunk that night and can’t recall clearly. Now that I think about it, there was no moon that night…”

Grace Carter squatted down, looked into his eyes, and said, “Just now I was only saying that casually… Actually, there really was a moon that night.”

Henry Clark shuddered, cold sweat beading on his forehead, and changed his answer again, “Sir, I was drunk that night and don’t remember if there was a moon or not…”

“Your words are vague, inconsistent, and hesitant. You must be hiding something. What are you so guilty about?”

“I—I’m not guilty.”

“If you’re not guilty, why are you shaking and sweating… You look so haggard, you must have dreamed of Master Zhao quite a bit these days, right?”

“No…” Henry Clark was sweating profusely, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

Grace Carter’s tone suddenly changed, and he shouted, “Tell the truth! What were you really doing that night!”

His sudden shout startled even the yamen runners in the hall.