By the time they returned to the Fifth Prince's main hall, Song Jia was no longer satisfied with hearing reports one at a time.
Too many people were speaking about:
the hairpin,
the hidden passage,
the bracelet,
Ming Yue,
Qin Rou,
and the torn account—
as though all of those things had been discovered together.
They had not.
And if they misunderstood the order in which the evidence appeared, they could misunderstand the entire disappearance.
Song Jia looked at the senior Imperial investigator.
"I want a timeline."
The man nodded.
"We are preparing one."
"No."
She pulled a blank sheet of paper toward herself.
"We prepare it now."
Ding Wu sat across from her.
Sun Xun took the chair beside her.
Ding Shun had sent instructions that every investigator cooperate fully.
Song Jia dipped her brush.
"Start yesterday afternoon."
The investigator thought carefully.
"Qin Rou was last confirmed at Internal Palace Administration during the late afternoon."
