Andrew Bennett nodded: “So, if it was a thief, it must have been someone very familiar with Kangping Street.”

“How can you tell?” The constables were taken aback.

“The thief was able to enter and leave the house at night without being discovered by the patrolling soldiers, which means he had already scoped out the place and was well aware of the patrol patterns of the Imperial Blade Guards.” As Andrew Bennett analyzed, he instinctively reached into his pocket for a cigarette.

But his hand came up empty.

He couldn’t help but recall his days working at the police station, when everyone would sit together in small groups, smoking and discussing cases.

That was how he picked up the habit of smoking.

Several colleagues looked at Andrew Bennett in surprise, scrutinizing him:

“That makes a lot of sense.”

“How come we didn’t think of that?”

“Charles Bennett, after spending time in prison, you’ve gotten a lot sharper.”

In these times, there were no systematic training courses; constables solved cases purely based on experience, and the best performers could become captains.

“You all didn’t think of it, but Walker definitely did. Have you asked around in the west side of the city?” Andrew Bennett kept a low profile, not showing off.

A colleague replied, “We’ve been asking for two days, but haven’t pinned down a suspect.”

The west side was a slum, full of petty thieves and all sorts of shady characters. Whenever there was a public security issue, the constables would bring along the white-clad assistants, and they’d always catch someone.

“How much silver was stolen?” Andrew Bennett subconsciously began reasoning in his mind and asked.

A colleague glanced at Andrew Bennett, thinking his tone sounded a bit like a county magistrate, and answered, “Nothing was stolen. The deceased had just come back from collecting rent, and all he had were small pieces of silver, copper coins, and grain. How could the thief escape with a big chest of silver after committing murder?”

That’s not right!

Andrew Bennett narrowed his eyes. If I were the thief and had already scoped out the place, I would definitely come back to steal the next day, not today.

He didn’t voice this doubt, just cracked some sunflower seeds and continued listening to his colleagues chat.

“What a pity about that beautiful young widow, having to live alone at such a young age. That figure, that chest—tsk tsk, you couldn’t find a woman like her even in the brothels. I’d pay a tael of silver for a night with her, no question.”

“She’s not that young, just twenty years younger than that Zhang fellow, probably in her early thirties. Women at that age are the least likely to stay chaste.”

Hearing this, Andrew Bennett sighed, “Women in their thirties are great—they know more about bedroom matters, and the experience is incomparable.”

His mature comment didn’t win any approval; everyone looked at him and burst out laughing, teasing, “You’re a virgin who’s never even been to a brothel—what do you know!”

To walk the path of martial arts, if you don’t break through the Qi Refining stage, you can’t lose your virginity. Once your vital yang is lost, it’s hard to open the Heavenly Gate.

So Andrew Bennett had carried his “calming sea needle” for nineteen years, yet to conquer any female demons.

.....

The rear hall where the county magistrate resided.

Walker, with skin as dark as a seasoned farmer, hung his head, listlessly enduring the magistrate’s scolding.

The county magistrate’s surname was Zhu. He was plump and fair, a native of Yanzhou, a third-rank Jinshi from the 20th year of Yuanjing. He was skilled at maneuvering in officialdom but not at actual administration—a scholar with mediocre professional ability but a keen sense of how to be an official.

His merits: he had a conscience, was only a minor grafter, not a major one, and though incompetent, he didn’t trouble the people.

His flaws: he had a bad temper with his subordinates and was prone to foul language.

“Incompetent, utterly incompetent.”

Learning that Walker still had no results as of yesterday, Edward Harris was furious.

“You’re supposed to be an experienced veteran, yet after so many days, you have no leads on a simple homicide.”

Sweat beaded on Walker’s forehead, and he felt a prickling on his back.

With the capital inspection approaching, Edward Harris was getting more and more irritable... David Carter didn’t dare interrupt, even though he and Walker had been friends for over a decade.

David Carter knew that the magistrate had always wanted a promotion, which required two things: backing and achievements!

With only backing and no achievements, it was easy to be impeached and lose your position.

With both achievements and backing, you could rise steadily.

Where do achievements come from?

The capital inspection was a key assessment.

After a quarter of an hour, Edward Harris withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

In officialdom, serving tea meant seeing the guest out!

Seeing this, David Carter tugged at the silent, head-hanging Walker, and the two of them left in embarrassment.

......

Walker returned to the break room with a grim face. The noisy room fell silent at once, and everyone looked at him cautiously.

“Boss, did Edward Harris scold you again?”

Walker rolled his eyes, grabbed his teacup, and took a gulp: “Damn it, the man’s dead and the thief’s gone—where am I supposed to find them? Today’s just unlucky, I even lost a mace of silver.”

So it was you who lost that money... Andrew Bennett shrank his neck and sipped his tea to hide his guilt.

Clearly, silver and you are not meant to be.

After hearing Walker’s complaints, a junior constable offered a bad idea: “How about we fish for a scapegoat?”

Andrew Bennett’s eyebrow twitched.

“Fishing for a scapegoat” was a technical term in the lower ranks of officialdom!

It meant: finding a fall guy.

Due to limited technology and equipment, most cases in ancient times were unsolved, with a very low clearance rate. Sometimes, for the sake of officials’ achievements or under pressure from superiors, they would find a scapegoat to close the case.