Chapter 24: Piano
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Fifty-three days! Needless to say, I think all parents already know how important these fifty-three days are to the children?" On the stage, a white-haired middle-aged man was knocking on the table with his index finger. "The objective of having this parent conference today is to discuss how parents can coordinate accurately with their children and how to dispel their tension. I think…"
This person was Jiang Xiaoqing’s class teacher. He was concentrating on explaining to the parents the important things to take note of before the mid-year examinations. Who would have thought that while he was speaking enthusiastically, a cellphone started to ring from somewhere in the audience.
"Ah, Hero, please chase the dream with me…Ah, Hero..." the cellphone rang. The parents were all listening attentively, but the ringtone was so loud that the parents gave a menacing glance all at once, and even the class teacher on stage was forced to stop his speech. What happened next was even more unbelievable. Not only did the owner of the cell phone not silent their phone, but they picked up their phone as if there was no one else around.
"Hello!" He looked up and answered. With all eyes directed toward him, he listened carefully to the phone call with his eyes wide open, disregarding the situation in front of him.
The parents stared at one another in bewilderment. The class teacher looked awkward, not knowing whether or not to continue his speech.
The person answering the phone was not bothered in the slightest. He seemed very interested to his phone call, listening very attentively. Suddenly, he shouted in surprise, "What!? What you said is true? You sure!? Arrghh! How could that be!!!"
At that moment, the parents inside the hall were petrified. Even the air seemed to have stopped moving.
"Hello...say that again!!" This person still did not feel any sense of embarrassment. He left his seat and walked confidently out of the auditorium. On his way out, he was still shouting into his phone, "Hold on, let me write this down…"
After this person left the hall, the parents who were present recovered quickly from the horror and an uproar followed.
"Who was that? Which child’s parent?" Someone whispered in a low voice, "What kind of class? Is this a food market?"
"Exactly...indeed...with this kind of parent, how would the child be taught well!" Another said with a disgusted face, "I’m sure his child must be ranked last...hey? Xiaoyu’s mom, what’s wrong with you, why do you look so pale?"
A female parent sitting on the side was in disbelief. Shivering, she said, "No...that’s impossible? When I arrived, I saw...I saw that person on the phone, he came with Jiang Xiaoqing! Could he be…"
"Jiang Xiaoqing? Second Middle School’s top student?" that person asked in shock. "That’s not possible? Could you be mistaken? How could Jiang Xiaoqing have such a parent?"
"Parents! Parents! Silence! Silence!" the teacher saw that tensions were running high. He knocked on the table hastily to calm everyone down, "Let us continue...let’s continue…"
Without a doubt, the person being condemned by the parents was Zhao Yu! Other than him, who would have such energy?
Outside the hall, Zhao Yu found a table, took out a small notepad, and recorded the information that Li Beini had gathered for him. While recording, Zhao Yu was filled with excitement to the brim, and he felt the blood in his whole body boiling.
"Heh heh…Murderer, oh murderer! Finally I’m gonna catch you!" he thought to himself.
"Liu Changhu! Qu Ping! Open your eyes wide and see how I’m gonna arrest the murderer of the Lost Hand Case!" After blabbering, he hit himself hard on the head and praised with sincerity, "The great miracle system, how I love you so!"
The reason why Zhao Yu was so excited to the point of acting like a lunatic was because he had found a new clue about the Lost Hand Case! Zhao Yu thought that this clue, which had been overlooked by the others, was crucial in solving the case!
In fact, when Shanshan’s mother had been playing the piano earlier on stage, Zhao Yu had come up with a daring and unusual guess.
The murderer chopped off the victims’ hands. Other than spending money excessively, could there be other reasons? Such as playing the piano? The murder saw that one played the piano well, and chopped off their hand out of jealousy? As he pondered over the piano, the first thing that came to his mind was the second victim of this case, Yuan Lili.
Yuan Lili was a college music teacher. Before her hand had been chopped off, she was giving piano lessons! Naturally, her piano playing skill must have been of a high level.
Thinking further, he suddenly thought of the first victim of this case, Gao Tian! On the day Gao Tian’s hand had been chopped off, she was attending a concert at the stadium. He vaguely remembered it was not a singing concert, but a musical concert, and it seemed to have been related to piano.
With this thought, Zhao Yu immediately gave Li Beini a call. Li Beini had already gone to work, so Zhao Yu asked for her help in checking related records. Li Beini responded quickly, telling him that the concern Gao Tian attended that night was the special tour of Germany’s Prince of Piano, Clayderman!
"Prince of Piano!?"
Gao Tian had arrived from different part of the country, which undoubtedly showed that she had a great passion for piano!
"Piano again! Then...what about the third victim Luo Meina? Did she also have a connection to piano?" Thinking of this, Zhao Yu immediately asked Li Beini to investigate further if Luo Meina had any connection with piano while also investigating the relationship between the other victims and piano.
Chopping off one’s hand just because one knew how to play the piano seemed ridiculous, but Zhao Yu felt that his hunch about piano could very likely be the key to the Lost Hand Case!
As it was time for the parents meeting, Zhao Yu had to be seated, pretending to listen to the class teacher. However, in his heart, he could not hold back. It was as if the grass had grown as he anxiously awaited Li Beini’s reply.
Li Beini had not known where Zhao Yu was. Once she had gathered the information, she called Zhao Yu directly, and he answered naturally as if there was no one else around. Li Beini told Zhao Yu that she had gathered detailed and reliable information on the three victims of the Lost Hand Case: Gao Tian, Yuan Lili, and Luo Meina. When they were young, they all reached the tenth level of piano!
Hearing this shocking news, how could Zhao Yu remain seated? This was how the scene happened.
Outside the hall, when he was taking notes on the stone table, Zhao Yu felt his hands trembling! Ever since he had gotten involved in the mysterious Lost Hand Case, Zhao Yu had always felt that if the murderer was after revenge, these three people must have had something in common. However, after a long search, it was still in vain. But ever since the piano clue appeared, it was different! The three people were all linked together by piano!
Zhao Yu felt that this was no coincidence. "Maybe, the real answer lies here!!"