Old Mrs. Gu was having trouble breathing, and Mrs. Gu tended to her.
She nodded when she heard the question. “Yes, I did. I was wearing it, then my daughter-in-law wanted to look at it, so I took it off and gave it to her. Then —”
“Then we passed it around,” said Mrs. Zuo. “I handed it to Mrs. Dugu.”
Mrs. Dugu said, “I handed it to old Mrs. Long.”
Old Mrs. Long said, “I handed it to Lady Northern Feng.”
Mrs. Tao asked old Mrs. Gu, “I was the last one to handle it before passing it back to you. Do you remember that?”
Old Mrs. Gu looked surprised. “Really? Right, I remember now.”
Mrs. Tao said, “Miss Feng Wu was the last to come into the room, and the bracelet was right on the table next to you.”
Mrs. Zuo nodded. “That’s true. I saw it, too.”
Mrs. Dugu hadn’t seen it, but she now realized what was going on, so she nodded as well. “That’s right. I saw it, too. The bracelet was right there on the table.”
Mrs. Zuo said in a seemingly casual tone, “Then how can it be missing? Not many people have been walking around in the room.”
Mrs. Dugu said, “That’s true. Miss Feng Wu was one of the few people who was walking around.”
Chaoge snapped. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Mrs. Zuo glanced at Feng Wu and said, “I suppose we can all close our eyes. If someone took it, they can use this chance to put it back.”
Old Mrs. Gu nodded. “That’s a good idea. Someone fetch some handkerchiefs and cover our eyes. If someone has taken the bracelet by mistake, just put it back on the table. No one will blame them.”
“We’ll all cover our eyes.” Mrs. Zuo glanced at Feng Wu.
Chaoge tugged at Feng Wu.
It was so obvious that they were insinuating it was her!
Even so, Feng Wu remained unperturbed. She smiled at Chaoge and said, “Don’t worry. A clean hand needs no washing.”
Mrs. Zuo snorted inwardly. “A clean hand? There’s no such thing.”
Nearly everyone in the room was trying to set Feng Wu up, and Mrs. Zuo believed that there was no way that Feng Wu could get away.
Everyone’s eyes were covered.
The handkerchiefs were removed five minutes later.
When old Mrs. Gu saw the empty table, she gasped for air.
“Why is this happening?” she asked in disbelief. “Why won’t they give it back?”
This time, she looked right at Feng Wu.
Everyone in the room noticed it.
Lady Wang frowned. “My lady, this is very serious. We can’t have a thief among us. No one is leaving until we find this person.”
Mrs. Tao nodded as well. “This is abominable conduct, stealing something like this. If we don’t catch this person now, they’ll only do worse things in the future!”
Lady Gu said, “In that case, we should search everyone!”
