The side chamber bedroom held a single bed. The whole room looked unusually plain, though not especially tidy—the floor and bed were clean, but for some reason, a corner of a bedsheet was caught in the crack of the closet door.
Jiang Xia glanced at it but did not pay it much attention for now. He walked straight to the hidden door by the window and looked outside.
Suzuki Sonoko curiously leaned over as well. Peering out at the smooth snow-covered ground, she could not help exclaiming, "What huge footprints!"
—A trail of footprints, clearly far larger than those of an ordinary person, began at this side chamber standing alone in one corner of the courtyard. It wound around the rock garden and shrubs, stretching all the way to the distant Main House.
"That is the shape of a boot." The old madam clutched her chest, her voice trembling. "General Shuyū—it must have been him! I actually saw him last night—I saw General Shuyū walking through the courtyard in armor with my own eyes.
"According to the legend, anyone who sees him will be cursed with misfortune. I spent the whole night prepared for it, but who would have thought the Curse would fall upon my husband instead..."
"..."
The others respected the old madam's tales of gods and ghosts, but they did not believe them.
After comforting the superstitious old woman, they quickly returned to a more scientific perspective and discussed it among themselves.
"After killing President Daimon in the side chamber, the murderer probably put on the armor, crossed the courtyard, and returned to the Main House by an inconspicuous path. Do not disturb these armored footprints yet. Let us return to the Main House along the route we came from and take a look."
The group