27 27.Hopeless Harmony

"Damn this letter!Only the important facts had to be untranslatable."Mark scoffed.

"At least we know where to begin with."Akio touted.

They both went to the Ren house once again.Wang Xiu's casket was no longer there. Mark breathed a sigh of relief.He felt satisfied that Wang Xiu had reached her final destination.She no longer had to go through the torture to which she was entitled to.

They entered the house through the open door.Upon entering,they saw and old lady,probably a servant,who was standing by the door.She had swollen eyes,mostly due to excessive crying.

"Excuse me,may we know where is Mr.Ren?"Akio asked.

"He did not return back yet.You can wait for him there",She said,pointing to the couches placed in the middle of the living room.

Akio and Mark sat down on the couches.Mark looked up.He saw someone's reflection in the mirror chandelier.He looked back at the staircase.However,there was no one.The old lady brought in glasses of water and handed one to each of them.Mark gulped the water in a single sip.

Akio noticed this. "What is wrong?"He questioned.

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud sound.The sound of glass breaking.It came from upstairs.

"Seems like you are back."The person stuttered.

They both turned back.It was Gu Ren,descending down the stairs.

"Gu Ren,be careful!"Some one exclaimed.They came along him,holding him by the arm.it was Li Wei,the police officer who they met on that unfortunate day.However,today he was dressed up like a normal person.He came and sat beside Akio,who was shocked.

"Only a person who read the letter would know that GuRen is not the culprit.Then,Why is he here?"Akio thought to himself.

However,Mark was not one of those people who know when to speak and when not to.He immediately shot the question, "Why are you with Wang Xiu's culprit?"

Li Wei seemed shocked but he eventually gained his composure."I came here to check this fact,but being with him for just one day has made me feel that he cannot be the culprit."

Gu Ren threw his flask on the floor.Akio picked it up.He took a close look at the flask.It was a silver one with black leather over it.It also had a company embedding,done with silver brocade.He opened it to smell it.It had an offensive smell of alcohol.

"Seems very new."He complemented.

"It has to be.He got it as a gift two days ago."The lady spoke up.

"Ok then.We will take your leave."Akio said as he grabbed Mark's hand and dragged him along,outside the house.

Akio dropped Mark at their house and went out in search of something.He went to a souvenir shop located nearby the Ren house.

"Excuse me,May I know something?"He asked as he entered the shop.

"Yes sir.How may I help you?"One of the attendees asked.

"I need to know about an item that was bought two days ago."Mark said,as he took out the flask from his pocket.

"This one was custom made for one of the customers.We wanted them to avoid this at all costs but they did not listen to us."

"In what way did they not listen?"Akio questioned

"We told them that the metal they chose for the flask,aluminum has very strong reactivity with alcohol,which can be dangerous."

"May I see the CCTV footage,if you don't mind?"Akio asked.

"No sir."he replied.

"Please help me.It can help someone get justice."Akio pleaded.

"I can show you the records of the past month."

"That would be fine."Akio replied.

After fifteen minutes of rigorous checking,Akio thanked the attendee and exited the shop.He called up Mark.

"Seems like we have found our culprit."Akio breathed a sigh of relief.

Who could the culprit be?