Either he would have to ignore the law and make a living by doing things like rowing the boat to the middle of the river and asking the passengers whether they wanted sliced noodles or wonton noodles.

Both choices were so bitter that he actually started having the same daydream as David Walker—how wonderful it would be if he could clear his father’s name!

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself. So even David Walker’s self-abandonment had its pitiful side...

“Brother, you’re still in the mood to smile?” Grace pouted and said, “At a time like this, do you really think your Sister Foster is still coming?”

Henry Walker snapped back to his senses and smiled, “She’ll come when it’s time.”

“Brother, you’ve really changed.” Grace looked at him for a long while and said seriously, “You’re like an old man now.”

Henry Walker smiled silently and thought, how could he ever explain it to her? Maybe it’s best to never explain at all.

“You used to be noisy all day, always picking fights with me for no reason.” The little girl actually sounded a bit sad. “Ever since you got better, you’ve never started a conversation, let alone argued with me.”

“You just talk, I’m listening.” Henry Walker smiled. “Besides, you’re so sensible now, wouldn’t it be silly for me to argue with you?”

“Sigh, actually, arguing once in a while isn’t so bad...” Truly her mother’s daughter, she had such a strong fighting spirit.

“Heh heh...” Henry Walker just smiled and ignored her, focusing on exercising his legs.

It wasn’t until late morning that there was finally a knock at the door. Grace jumped three feet high and hurried to open it. Sure enough, it was Emily Foster wearing a veiled hat, with her old family servant Uncle George following behind.

“Sorry, there was something at home today, I just managed to get away.” Taking off her veil, Emily Foster first apologized to Grace. She was still dressed in plain clothes, her face pale, lips bloodless, looking sickly and making one feel sorry for her.

“Are you sick?” Grace welcomed her in and asked with concern, “Why do you look so unwell?”

“I’m fine.” Emily Foster shook her head and smiled. In fact, her condition was closely tied to Henry Walker. If he hadn’t destroyed her hope, Miss Foster could have kept going on sheer willpower, at least until she finally broke down.

These past few days, she’d been like a lost soul. Last night was the Mid-Autumn Festival, but she spent it with only her mother. Thinking of her brother dying unjustly in prison and her father gone, how could this be the festival of reunion on the fifteenth of August? It was more like the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth of July!

Miss Foster’s grief was overwhelming, and she finally fell ill overnight. This morning she woke up dizzy and weak, not wanting to go out at all. Besides, after calming down, she didn’t really believe that David Walker could help her with anything. She only dragged herself here out of a sense of obligation...

Grace led her into the room. Their mother had cleaned the west wing spotless that morning—even her most cherished spiderwebs hadn’t been spared. She’d even put out a pot of chrysanthemums... According to Grace, they were apparently stolen from in front of the county yamen. Unfortunately, Miss Foster was so preoccupied that she didn’t even glance at them.

Their wise mother had finally made a miscalculation.

Henry Walker was actually puzzled as to why his mother was suddenly being so nice, even setting up a room for him, but she had her own plans—how could he dare ask more?

The two of them sat down across the square table as before, only now there was a pot of chrysanthemums between them. Henry Walker carefully looked through the case records that Miss Foster had brought. He had already made up his mind: even if there was only the slightest hope of overturning the case, he would give it his all!

Through the case files, he finally saw the whole picture of the case... It all began as an ordinary missing person case. At the time, the Foster family’s eldest son, Richard Foster’s second wife, Mrs. Harris, went missing. Mrs. Harris’s father reported it to the county, accusing his son-in-law of murdering his daughter.

At the time, the magistrate Judge Brooks didn’t believe it, because the Foster family was not only the richest in the county, but also the most charitable. When the county built bridges, roads, schools, and granaries, they had given the magistrate great support. Moreover, Richard Foster was a student at the county academy, known for his good character and reputation. Naturally, Judge Brooks wanted to protect the Foster family as much as possible.

So Judge Brooks, using the reasoning “if alive, produce the person; if dead, produce the body,” temporarily refused to try the case, instead ordering both families to search for Mrs. Harris with all their might. The county also sent people to help search, even requesting assistance from neighboring counties. Two months later, the local constable of Lingqiao Town reported that a woman’s body had been found on the riverbank.

In these peaceful times, a murder in the county was a huge event. Judge Brooks immediately connected the body to the missing Mrs. Harris, ordering the criminal office clerk William Walker—that is, Henry Walker’s father—to bring the coroner and accompany him to the scene, and notified the family to identify the body.

At the scene, the Harris family immediately identified the body as Mrs. Harris and wailed in grief. But Scholar Foster adamantly denied it, insisting that although the woman’s face had been mangled by wild dogs, it was still possible to see differences from his wife.

In the end, after the coroner’s examination, it was determined that although the woman’s age was similar to Mrs. Harris, she had been dead for no more than seven days, while Mrs. Harris had been missing for two months, so it clearly wasn’t the same person.

The Harris family made a huge commotion at the time, but were suppressed by the constables. In the end, Judge Brooks accepted the coroner’s conclusion, treated the woman’s body as a separate case, and ordered both families to continue searching for Mrs. Harris.

Just then, the circuit inspector for western Zhejiang came to the county to review judicial matters and accept complaints. The Harris family boldly filed a lawsuit—not only against the Foster family, but also against Judge Brooks and William Walker, accusing them of corruption, shielding the wealthy, and fabricating the coroner’s report!

Chapter 0008: There Is Only One Truth!