The window was pushed open from the inside, and some milk stains were found on the window lattice. These milk stains were left when Su Niang opened the window, proving that she was awakened from her sleep.
As a first-time mother, Su Niang's first thought was not to be afraid, but to comfort her child. She fed the baby, made sure the baby wasn't frightened by the noise, and then got up to check. She was barefoot because she was afraid of waking the child, and she didn't wipe her hands because she was attracted by the movement outside the window.
She had dragged the crabgrass in, which could be judged by the damage to the window paper. The murderer also sneaked into the house at this time. When entering the door, Zhou Yuan checked the door bolt. The door bolt was broken, which proved that the door was closed but not locked when the incident occurred.
"The windows have been repaired, why haven't the door bolts been repaired?"
"The window is repaired to avoid the wind and keep warm, for Su Niang and the children." Zhou Yu'an looked at the broken door bolt: "The door bolt is to prevent outsiders and thieves. There are dead people in this yizhuang, even if the dead people have some valuables. Those thieves will also feel bad luck if they do something. Li Jinzhong didn't practice it because he thought it was unnecessary. Su Niang didn't practice it because she didn't think of it."
"Where no thieves come, a murderer comes. He still uses this weird killing method. What is he trying to do?"
"The person he wanted to kill should be Li Jinzhong, and the reason for killing Li Jinzhong was related to crabgrass. Su Niang was just unlucky." Zhou Yu'an looked at Su Niang distressedly: "Su Niang was attracted by the crabgrass outside the window, and the murderer took advantage of it. Sneaked indoors and choked her with crabgrass."
Zhou Yuan wrapped crabgrass around his neck.
"This kind of grass is very strong, especially when it is semi-dry. In addition, the situation is unknown, and there is a child waiting for feeding in the house. Su Niang must be very scared." Zhou Yu'an strangled himself with crabgrass: "The murderer strangled himself with crabgrass. Su Niang's neck was broken, but Su Niang didn't know the existence of the murderer. In the special environment of Yizhuang, she would definitely think of ghosts."
"Since the murderer used this grass to strangle her, how could the grass get into her skin?"
"Those crabgrass just stuck in." Zhou Yu'an picked up a piece of grass and showed it to Shen Chongming and Zuo: "The murderer wanted to arrange the scene to look like a suicide, so he didn't intend to kill Su Niang at first. He just He strangled her unconscious with crabgrass. Because crabgrass was different from other ropes, it left more marks on Su Niang's neck. In addition, her death method was strange, which made Master Shen, Zuo and everyone ignore the most important thing. The place."
"Su Niang was not hanged, but died after being hung like Lian Xiang in He Mansion."
"As expected of Master Shen." Zhou Yu'an praised: "I saw this when I was picking up grass just now."
"Mycelium?" Shen Chongming recognized those white things. They were the same as those that Zhou Yu'an wrapped in his handkerchief, but they were much smaller.
"Crabgrass is different from other grasses. Its root system is spread all over the body. You see, wherever it can touch the soil, tiny roots will grow. These hyphae are found on the roots, and they should follow the soil. Brought out." Zhou Yu'an put the mycelium on the ground: "The murderer strangled Su Niang's neck with crabgrass. Su Niang's neck was pierced by crabgrass, and the mycelium penetrated into the wound, and after one night it became us The way you see it.”
"Where's the arsenic? Since the murderer hung her from the beam, why did he bother to sprinkle arsenic on her neck?"
"Because the murderer originally wanted to use arsenic to kill people." Zhou Yu'an pulled the crabgrass and said, "Didn't you notice that there is a kettle missing in this room?"
"kettle?"
Shen Chongming looked around the entire room.
"There are two cups of different styles in the house. The one with the medicine bag is old and is used by Li Jinzhong himself. The one without the medicine bag is new. It should be bought by Li Jinzhong for Su Niang to use. There is a water boiler outside the house. There is a stove in the house, and there is a cup with water in the house, but the only thing missing is the kettle. Where did the kettle go?"
"Sir, we found a kettle in the weeds outside the house." A yamen servant walked in with a broken kettle: "There is some white powder on this kettle, and it smells like bitter almonds."
"What's going on?" Wu Zuo looked at the arsenic on the kettle: "This murderer is too unpredictable."
"It's really unpredictable! The purpose of strangling the victim with crabgrass was to create panic and cover up the truth of the murder. Since it was a cover-up, why did he use arsenic, a poison that everyone knows? Since he wanted to poison the victim with arsenic, since he had already Arsenic was poured into the kettle. Why didn't the victim drink it? Instead, the kettle was thrown into the grass outside? The arsenic was left on the victim's wound."
"Yes, why? I have been working for so many years, and I have never encountered such a contradiction or such a bizarre thing."
"Because the murderer is not a normal person." Zhou Yu'an pointed to his head: "His thoughts are different from ordinary people!"
"What do you mean, girl, that man is a fool?" Wuzuo stroked his beard.
"You are not born a fool. A real fool will not kill anyone." Zhou Yu'an pointed to the footprints on the ground: "There are many footprints inside and outside the house, but there is only one near the door frame. This footprint belongs to the murderer."
"With these footprints piled together, how could the girl know that it was the murderer's?"
"The murderer sneaked in, and his movements would not be as big as ours." Shen Chongming helped explain: "This room belongs to Li Jinzhong. You can come and go at will, and there will be no hidden cats. Although Su Niang borrowed it, she got Li Jinzhong's Granted, there is no need to be sneaky. We came in across the threshold, and the footprints were concentrated around the deceased, as only the murderer would leave his footprints in those corners."
"Even if the murderer left footprints, we can't find him based on these footprints." Wu Zuo squatted on the ground: "Footprints are useless and cannot point to the murderer."
"Who says it's useless? At least we know his physical characteristics." Zhou Yu'an looked at the footprints and analyzed: "You are a bastard. You should have heard the saying "Li Qi Si Si Pan San".
Wu Zuo shook his head like a rattle.
Zhou Yuan said helplessly: "A person's height can usually be divided into seven equal parts. Everyone's foot length and head length are basically the same, so the ratio of height to foot length is seven to one. Of course, there are very few exceptions. , for example, this person’s head is particularly big, his feet are particularly long, etc. Under normal circumstances, as long as we measure the length of this person’s feet, we can infer his approximate height.”
"According to what the girl said, how tall is this person?"
"About the same height as your old man." Zhou Yu'an made a visual inspection: "The murderer's feet have a higher arch and a thinner foot shape. He is a thin man. He has martial arts or a foundation in learning martial arts. He is familiar with Yizhuang and knows Li Jinzhong. There is a conflict between the two, and the conflict is related to crabgrass."
