Chapter Thirty-Four: The Enchanting Fragrance of the Night

“It’s probably been drugged,” Ying Xi speculated in a low voice.

Lu Hehuan nodded. “It must have been those couple of days when someone sneaked out the truck and brought it back.”

“But if the thief took the truck, why not just drive it away?” Ying Xi asked.

“The truck’s too conspicuous. It would be spotted easily.”

Liu Rushuang, unable to resist joining their quiet discussion, interjected, “But an elephant is so massive. If you don’t use a truck, what else can you use to transport it? Are you suggesting someone marched the elephant away?”

“Maybe the elephant’s being hidden for now. The criminal might be waiting for the heat to die down before moving it again,” Ying Xi replied after some thought.

“Whether it’s hidden or the means of transport have changed, the fact remains that the elephant left the menagerie in the kerosene truck. We just have to follow the trail of the truck’s movements,” Lu Hehuan said firmly.

“How do we go about that?” Ying Xi asked, puzzled.

Lu Hehuan turned to Liu Rushuang, regarding her as if she were a master detective. “Miss Liu, you and Bai Yulou should use your connections to find out where the truck went on the day the elephant disappeared, and where it stopped. Chief Ying and I will follow the kerosene traces along the stone-paved road. If either side finds a clue, we notify each other at once.”

Ying Xi frowned, displeased at being so casually directed by Lu Hehuan and having him rely on Liu Rushuang. “If you like giving orders so much, why not be the chief detective yourself?”

Sensing Ying Xi’s pride, Lu Hehuan quickly gestured politely. “No, no, Chief Ying must remain the commander-in-chief.”

Pleased, Ying Xi strode to the front, straightened up, cleared his throat, and made a serious gesture. “Let’s move out!”

The river shimmered with dazzling light beneath the red sun.

Lu Hehuan and Ying Xi followed the kerosene trail. Ying Xi looked up, patted Lu Hehuan on the shoulder, and pointed ahead. “That’s the wharf up there.”

“Did they switch to a boat?” Lu Hehuan gazed at the vessels on the river, deep in thought.

Liu Rushuang and Bai Yulou stood waving at them from the pier. “Brother Xi, Brother Xi!”

Lu Hehuan and Ying Xi quickened their pace toward them.

“Any leads?” Ying Xi asked Liu Rushuang urgently.

“We found out that the truck arrived at the wharf early this morning and offloaded some cargo, but we couldn’t learn exactly what it was.”

Lu Hehuan looked at Liu Rushuang. “Check which boats have left since last night, and where they went.”

“We already checked. Only a few small fishing boats have left since last night. They’re all too tiny to hold an elephant.”

“Miss Liu, you really do have the makings of a private detective.” Once again, Lu Hehuan was impressed by Liu Rushuang’s investigative skills.

“No point flattering Miss Liu instead of Director Bao,” Ying Xi scoffed disdainfully.

Bai Yulou couldn’t help defending Liu Rushuang. “Sister Shuang is famous in Old Zha for her information network. Befriending her is like having informants in every field. Officer Lu’s flattery is well deserved.”

Ying Xi glared at Bai Yulou and snapped, “You’re sharp-tongued today. Feeling better, are you?”

Realizing he’d spoken out of turn, Bai Yulou nervously covered his mouth.

“If no large vessel has departed, the elephant must still be here,” Lu Hehuan said, frowning.

“Just saying it’s not been moved doesn’t help. Where is the elephant, then?” Ying Xi demanded, turning his frustration on Lu Hehuan.

Ignoring him, Lu Hehuan glanced up at the two large boats moored at the pier—one floating deep in the water, the other riding high.

He pointed to the shallower vessel. “So that’s it! It’s on that boat!”

Ying Xi looked at the ships uncertainly.

“One sits deep, the other shallow…” Lu Hehuan began to explain.

“Then the elephant must be on the one sitting deep!” Ying Xi interrupted, impatient.

Lu Hehuan shook his head. “The missing elephant weighs five thousand pounds. Before the vessel left, the criminals would take measures to lighten the load for safety…”

“You mean they used the hot air balloon principle you mentioned before?” Liu Rushuang caught on, intrigued.

Lu Hehuan gave her a thumbs-up. “Brilliant, Miss Liu. The criminals must have used a hot air balloon to reduce the elephant’s weight.”

Liu Rushuang turned to Ying Xi, pleased. “Brother Xi, do you think I’m clever?”

Ying Xi folded his arms and sneered, “I think you’re all ridiculous. A balloon pulling an elephant? That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I agree, Brother Xi. I’m with you,” Liu Rushuang instantly switched sides to support Ying Xi.

“Didn’t you just…” Lu Hehuan was caught between laughter and exasperation at how quickly she changed her tune.

“I just wanted to see how far your nonsense would go. A balloon lifting an elephant! Funniest joke I’ve ever heard,” Liu Rushuang mocked him coldly.

“Lu Hehuan, the elephant is obviously on the ship with the deeper draft. Let’s stop wasting time and search it now,” Ying Xi urged, eager to crack the case.

Seeing Ying Xi’s stubborn disbelief, Lu Hehuan proposed, “Chief Ying, care to make another bet with me?”

“Sure, what are the stakes?” Ying Xi asked, his interest piqued.

“If the elephant is on the shallower ship, I’ll stop washing your socks. If it’s on the deeper one, I’ll wash them for another month.”

“That’s too trivial. If it’s on the deeper ship, you wash my socks for a whole year.”

“Chief Ying, isn’t that a bit much?”

As they argued over the wager, a plume of thick black smoke suddenly billowed from the shallower ship.

Bai Yulou pointed, panicked. “Fire! That ship is on fire!”

Everyone turned, stunned.

“Let’s go!”

Lu Hehuan charged onto the ship, the others close on his heels.

They dashed into the cabin and found, indeed, the elephant inside the shallow-draft ship—suspended by a burning hot air balloon.

“That balloon is enormous! No wonder it could lift an elephant,” Ying Xi exclaimed in disbelief.

Looking more closely, they saw a suspicious man with scorched hair, beard, and clothes standing beside the elephant.

Seeing he’d been discovered, the man rushed to the window, intending to jump and escape.

Lu Hehuan quickly drew his pistol and fired at the deck in front of him, forcing him to stop. Ying Xi seized the opportunity to subdue the man, tearing off his fake beard and wig. The man’s true face was revealed—pale, handsome, and none other than the “tourist” who’d been by the menagerie’s owner.

“Evening Fragrance?” Ying Xi stared at him in shock.

Lu Hehuan turned to Ying Xi. “You know him?”

Ying Xi laughed coldly. “Of course. He’s the notorious master thief ‘Evening Fragrance’ from Old Zha. Never thought he’d stoop to stealing an elephant this time.”

So, the thief who stole the menagerie’s elephant was the infamous “Evening Fragrance,” hated by all in Old Zha. He was once the legitimate grandson of Shanghai’s renowned “Flour King,” Zhou Tiancheng, but after his family fell on hard times, he turned to thievery. He was known for striking at night and using knockout incense, making his crimes almost untraceable. The people of Old Zha named him “Evening Fragrance.”

Liu Rushuang, hearing that “Evening Fragrance” had been caught, hurried over for a closer look. “He stole from my father’s cloth shop two years ago.”

With everyone focused on “Evening Fragrance,” Bai Yulou nervously pointed to the burning balloon. “Shouldn’t we put out the fire?”

Only then did they notice the hot air balloon was ablaze.

“Hurry, put it out!” Ying Xi shouted in alarm.

Lu Hehuan, Liu Rushuang, and Bai Yulou scrambled to fight the fire with fishing nets and wooden poles, but nothing seemed to help.

“This isn’t working. Is there any water?” Liu Rushuang was growing desperate as the flames spread.

“Will spit do?” Bai Yulou asked sheepishly, spitting at the balloon.

“That’s disgusting!” Liu Rushuang snapped, raising a stick as if to hit him.

Lu Hehuan spotted a wooden basin in the corner, grabbed it, and dashed out. Moments later, he returned with a basin of water and doused the balloon, extinguishing the fire and bringing a collective sigh of relief.

Lu Hehuan searched “Evening Fragrance” and quickly found a piece of paper covered in Japanese script.

“A letter of commission from a Japanese merchant. This is your motive for stealing the elephant, isn’t it?” Lu Hehuan demanded, holding out the letter.

“Evening Fragrance” hung his head in sullen silence.

Ying Xi looked from him to Lu Hehuan, confused. “Lu Hehuan, what’s going on here?”

Lu Hehuan ignored him and stared sharply at “Evening Fragrance.” “Let me guess—a Japanese merchant hired you to steal the elephant?”

“Evening Fragrance” flinched but soon composed himself.

After a moment’s thought, Lu Hehuan pressed on. “If I’m right, everything began when you discovered the secret door in the elephant’s cage. You then hired Zheng Qiu and Zhang Chuan to follow your script, and afterwards stole back the money and the script, just in case. Next, you knocked out the kerosene factory owner with knockout incense, then stole the truck at night. You’d already parked the truck behind the menagerie, and you’d prepared the hot air balloon. You coached Zheng Qiu and Zhang Chuan in using Western physics—specifically, the refraction of light—to create the illusion of the ‘vanishing elephant.’ While everyone was distracted, you used the truck you’d stolen to move the elephant, tying a hot air balloon to the top to lighten the load so there’d be no traces on the stone road. Afterwards, you drove the truck with the elephant to the wharf in the dead of night, loaded the elephant onto the boat, and to reduce the draft and avoid suspicion, you repeated the hot air balloon trick in the hold. Then you quietly returned the truck to the kerosene factory and slipped back to the boat, all without anyone noticing.”

“Evening Fragrance” stood impassively, recalling the events. A few days before, under cover of darkness, he’d slipped into a Japanese-style room—old habits making him careful not to make a sound, even when not on a job.

A handsome Japanese man sat at the table, drinking tea. As the door slid open, “Evening Fragrance” entered. The Japanese man motioned for him to sit, then poured him tea.

“I’ve long heard of your reputation, ‘Evening Fragrance’—that there’s nothing you can’t steal. Is that true?” the Japanese man asked in halting Chinese.

“Evening Fragrance” smiled arrogantly. “That’s right. If I want it, there’s nothing in Old Zha or even all of Shanghai that I can’t take.”

The Japanese man nodded appreciatively. “This time, what I want is rather unusual. Do you dare take the job?”

“It’s not about daring. It’s about whether it’s worth it. Let me see your price.”

The Japanese man smiled and held up two fingers. “Two gold bars.”

“And what do you want?” “Evening Fragrance” was stunned, unable to hide his interest.

“An elephant.”

In the end, the deal was struck, and “Evening Fragrance” set about crafting his “Elephant Heist Plan.”

Disguised in black, he slipped into the menagerie and discovered a secret door in the elephant’s cage. Using his tools, he opened it and found that it led straight to a street outside the menagerie. Standing in the dark, he studied the empty street thoughtfully.

Later, disguised as a tourist, he met Zheng Qiu and Zhang Chuan on a street corner. In a low voice, he asked, “Have you memorized your lines?”

Zheng Qiu nodded. “We have.”

Zhang Chuan nodded as well. “Me too.”

Satisfied, “Evening Fragrance” handed them fifty silver dollars. “Stick to the script. Don’t mess up. When the job’s done, you get another fifty.”

The two men left, overjoyed. “Evening Fragrance” smirked, showing the fifty dollars and the script he’d kept for himself—in case the police caught them, he could simply deny everything.

That night, “Evening Fragrance” snuck into the kerosene factory. At a window, he saw the owner sitting up in bed, unable to sleep. Taking a bamboo tube, he blew knockout smoke through the window. Soon, the owner was yawning and soon drifted off.

“Evening Fragrance” hurried to the truck, used a wire to open the door, and drove off.

With everything in place, he arrived at the menagerie on opening day, disguised as a tourist. Parking the truck by the back gate, hot air balloon stowed in the rear, he slipped in among the visitors. When Zheng Qiu and Zhang Chuan used a tall curtain to block the cage, “Evening Fragrance” opened the secret door, coaxed the elephant into the truck, and drove away. With the balloon reducing pressure on the wheels, there were no marks left on the stone road.

He drove the elephant into the ship’s hold, where an unlit balloon waited. He tied the balloon to the elephant, lit it, and as it inflated and lifted, the ship’s draft grew shallower. Then, he returned the truck to the kerosene factory and slipped away.

Lu Hehuan looked at “Evening Fragrance.” “Did I get it right?”

“Evening Fragrance” gritted his teeth but remained silent.

“As for the fire, I suspect you opened the window to get more oxygen because the balloon’s flame was dying in the sealed hold. But the strong river breeze made the fire flare up,” Lu Hehuan added, seeing the thief’s reluctance to admit defeat.

Cornered, “Evening Fragrance” snorted angrily. “You win! This time, you got me!”

Lu Hehuan turned to Ying Xi with a triumphant smile. “Chief Ying, I think we can close the case now.”

Ying Xi, delighted to have solved the case and caught the most wanted thief, couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up. “Our Detective Huan-Xi is truly unbeatable!”

“Congratulations, Brother Xi!” Liu Rushuang chimed in, flattering him.

“It’s really all thanks to Sister Shuang,” Bai Yulou grumbled quietly.

Ying Xi glared at Bai Yulou. “What are you muttering about?”

Bai Yulou, startled, tried to cover up. “Oh, I want to die! Let me die!”

“Here he goes again,” Ying Xi said, landing a punch on Bai Yulou’s forehead.

It was a solid, precise blow—Bai Yulou collapsed on the spot. Lu Hehuan glanced at the fallen Bai Yulou, his mouth twitching in sympathy.