At the magistrates office

Pei, Su and Fei Yuan reached the supplier of old master Li first. On the grounds they saw a small home, a large warehouse and the entrance way to a small mine. When Pei called out a man came from the mine. "Boss, can you help us?" Pei called out. "With what can I help you?" the man came towards the three. "We would like to know about one of your former clients, Mr. Li?" Su responded. The man thought a few moments and then said: "Oh, yes, Mr. Li, but didn't he pass away a few years ago?"

"He did." Su said. "but we were wondering about the deliveries you used to do for him. Did you fill his storage jars or did he get new storage jars when you delivered your goods?" If this question surprised the man, he didn't show it. "We always refill, only new clients get the option to have the goods delivered in storage jars, after which they are required to buy or return them. But Mr. Li had his own, we always filled them at his warehouse." The man explained.

"Did you mark the storage jars when they were restocked?" Su continued.

"We have standard measures, we don't mark storage jars. I know master Li did mark the amount on the vessels." The man seemed to become quite curious, though he didn't voice it yet.

"It has been some years since Mr. Li died. How can you be so sure?" Su asked. This seemed to offend the man a little bit. "He was a very loyal client. I make it my business to know my clients and their wishes. Besides that Mr. Li was very meticulous, he always made sure everything was as it should be. If there was something wrong with the delivery he would tell and he was always right about the amounts."

"Did you notice something strange about him during the last time you had dealings with him?" Su didn't notice the man had been offended. "Yes, the last few time he ordered more then usual. And there was no reason for him to do so, no celebrations that required extra fireworks. Because this was unusual for him I asked him about it. Master Li acknowledged there were no extra celebrations, but he suspected someone was stealing from him. He was heading to the magistrate office at court to report it. I gave him directions. The next time I heard about Mr. Li was the innkeeper from his village, who told me Mr. Li had died. Why are you so interested in master Li's business?" the man asked, no longer able to keep his curiosity to himself. "Master Li thought someone was stealing from him?" Pei asked. "Yes." The man replied. Su remained silent to consider this new information, leaving it to Pei to come up with a plausible reason for them to be interested in the dealings of old master Li. She heard something about wanting to start a business in the village for a subordinate, who was interested in fireworks. Pei then thanked the man and they took their leave. As they walked back to their horses Pei spoke up: "Maybe the markings on the storage jars are off because someone stole from him." Su nodded. "I would say that is most likely. Let's see what the records in the magistrates office say." They quickly guided their horses to the town center where the magistrate office would be.

They found the offices quickly and as always Su was the one who took the lead. Detective Su was a name that had enough weight to open doors and get answers. 'Prince Qi' always waited in the background, only taking center stage if there was trouble or more weight was needed. "Detective Su from Mingjing Office." Su presented her badge to the magistrate. The magistrate took in the badge and then bowed. Su reciprocated as did Pei and Fei Yuan. "Please come in detective Su. We were not notified of your arrival. Please excuse our poor welcome."

"There is no need to apologize, it only became necessary to visit the county court yesterday." Su told the magistrate. They followed the magistrate and set down at the table. After they were served tea the magistrate asked them what he could help them with. "We are interested in the death of a master Li from the next village. He died about five years ago. The innkeeper from his village reported his death." Su explained. The magistrate remained silent for a while. "The death of Mr. Li… We will have to check the records. Five years ago…that puts it around the time of the battle of Honggu. We were asked to help with the aftermath. As you can understand memories from that time are not always accurate. But if the death was reported there should be something in our archives. Please follow me." Together they went to the large archive, situated in another building. The room was large, but the shelves weren't overflowing. That is until they came to what the magistrate called 'the Honggu reports'. The reports were numerous. "The report of Mr. Li should be here, as we archive chronologically." Pei, Su and Fei Yuan were silenced by the amount of reports before them. For the first time since coming to the magistrates offices Pei spoke up: "What is in these reports?" he felt Su slip her hand in his and he held it. If the magistrate noticed this, he did not comment. "As you might know, the army was defeated by Fan Yan Na at Honggu, but the fight with Fan Yan Na still raged around the northern border. Normally the army would do the report on the casualties, but they couldn't, so the Marquis asked us to report on the casualties. Afterwards we gave a general report, but no one answered it or came for the reports, so we kept them." The magistrate replied. Pei didn't comment only nodded to indicate he had heard the magistrate.

"Where would the report on the death of master Li be located?" Su asked, thinking it might be good to first focus on that case. It was obvious that something about the Honggu reports had struck Pei. Worried she looked up at his face, his gaze was still on the shelves overflowing with files. The magistrate took some steps past the different shelves. Su noticed he passed all Honggu files: "We understood his death was after the battle." She commented. The magistrate shook his head: "No, if my memory is slightly correct I handled the case myself. I wasn't the magistrate back then, but I did work for the magistrate. I think master Li's death was reported just before the battle, like one or two days. Because we had to help with the aftermath of the battle I hadn't time to write the report in time and only did it afterwards. At least I think that how it went, so I want to check the records before the battle first." It took the magistrate a few minutes to locate the report. In the mean time Pei had picked up some of the reports on Honggu. Su watched him closely, thinking back to last night and early morning.

"Ah, here it is." The magistrate called out, opening the document in his hand and perusing it. "Ah, right. I was right. The death of master Li was first reported by the boss of the inn. I checked the scene, there was blood on the stairs were he fell. The blood spatter suggested Mr. Li had not died right asway. He bled to death."

"Do you check all reported deaths?" Su inquired. "No, but master Li had shortly before his death reported that he thought someone was stealing from him. I checked that too, but there was no sign of breaking and entering in the warehouse. And the warehouse was properly closed. Two more people had the key, but those had not been lent to others or misplaced." While he had been explaining, the magistrate searched for another report, locating it quickly close to the place were the first report had been found. The magistrate then presented the reports to Su, who thanked the magistrate. "If you follow me, I will show you a room to work in. And I'll have a clerk make a copy for you." Before the magistrate turned around Pei stopped him: "Can I take some of these files to study? And could I get a copy of the general report?" Pei indicated the Honggu reports. The magistrate seemed hesitant, so Pei looked at Fei Yuan, who presented the token of Prince Qi. "Prince Qi would be most appreciative of your help." Pei stated. Confronted with the token the magistrate had no other choice then to acquiescence with the request.