Tan Liu is five feet tall, middle-aged and put on weight. He wears an ordinary servant's uniform and looks cute when he trots with his head lowered. When I saw the yamen servant, he kept rubbing his feet on the ground.
Zhou Yuan stared at his two feet and shook his head: "It's not him!"
"Master, I have never been to the front of the house."
"It's true that you haven't been there, but have you seen anyone else going there?" Zhou Yu'an looked at Tan Liu's eyes. There was panic in his eyes but he didn't hide it at all.
"No!" Tan Liu shook his head: "Not during the time when I was guarding the yard. I always remember what the housekeeper ordered."
"Has the housekeeper ever been to the door?"
Zhou Yu'an called Tan Liu aside and asked. Tan Liu turned to look at the housekeeper and shook his head slightly.
"Not when you were with me."
"Were you scared away?"
Tan Liu nodded and argued that he was not timid, but that he had never seen that situation before and was afraid for the moment and did not control his feet. Because of this, the housekeeper scolded him and stopped letting him guard outside the courtyard.
I thought that the truth about the bloody footprints was hidden on Tan Liu's body, but I didn't expect that it had nothing to do with Tan Liu. The courtyard wall of Furong Garden is much higher than that of other courtyards. There are only herbs and nothing else in the courtyard, so it may not be easy to hide. This person must be from the Tan Mansion, someone who can approach the courtyard at will without being suspected by the servants.
There are no new clues in the bloody footprints. Zhou Yu'an plans to take a look at Mrs. Tan's body, maybe he can find some clues from the body.
Just as he was about to take a step, he heard Tan Liu whisper: "I wonder if there is something related to the footprints that the girl wants to check."
Asked him what was going on, Tan Liu hesitated and replied: "A few meows sounded like they were coming from Madam's yard, but Madam doesn't like to keep cats, and there are no wild cats around here. I don't know what the cat meows are." Where did the sound come from?"
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Zhou Yuan remembered the cat meowing that Tan Liu said in his heart.
Mrs. Tan's room was the same as when she saw the doctor before, except for the broken things on the floor.
Zhou Yuan's eyes were deep and deep, scanning over Mrs. Tan's body with every detail. She lay on her side on the ground, looking toward the window. The clothes were messy and there were signs of disputes, fighting and tugging. There were blood stains on the clothes, with the most blood stains on the collar. The blood was in the shape of a splatter and should have come from another person.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yu'an leaned forward and untied Mrs. Tan's coat.
"Why is there more blood on the middle coat than on the outer coat?" The yamen servant squatted next to him, covering his nose: "Could it be that it seeped out from the inside after being injured?"
"No injuries!" Zhou Yu'an pressed his hand on the blood: "This blood was sprayed on. Like the blood on the ground, it is not Madam's."
"Whose property is it if it's not Mrs. Tan's?" The yamen servant asked doubtfully, "Is it possible that there is really another victim in this house?"
"I remember Mrs. Tan had a personal maid named Linglong."
Zhou Yu'an held down Mrs. Tan's limbs. Judging from the degree of rigor mortis on the body, the time of death was more than six hours. There was a large area of splattered blood on Mrs. Tan's body. The blood came from outside, and this person was standing opposite Mrs. Tan.
Then, such a scene appeared in Zhou Yuan's mind.
Mr. Tan, who was fighting with Mrs. Tan, had his throat cut. Due to inertia, Mr. Tan threw himself forward. Mrs. Tan subconsciously stepped back and hugged Mr. Tan's head. The blood instantly dyed her clothes red. Before he could react, Mr. Tan was dragged aside. Mrs. Tan's limbs were limp and she knelt on the ground motionless.
"It's not Linglong!" Shen Chongming took off Mrs. Tan's shoes and handed them to Zhou Yu'an: "It's her husband Tan Fengyuan."
Hearing this, Zhou Yu'an looked at the shoes, and the yamen officer also turned his eyes over, wondering: "Is there an answer on these shoes?"
"There is half a footprint on the embroidered shoes. The footprints are wide and belong to a man." Shen Chongming put the shoes on the ground.
Zhou Yu'an added: "Mrs. Tan had a dispute with Mr. Tan before she died. Mr. Tan stepped on Mrs. Tan's shoes. There were blood stains on the embroidered shoes, and the blood stains were distributed next to the footprints, indicating that when the blood spattered, Mr. Tan was still Stepping on Mrs. Tan’s feet.”
"Then Mrs. Tan killed Mr. Tan?" The Yamen servant repeatedly checked the embroidered shoe: "The husband and wife had a dispute, and Mrs. Tan was so angry that she killed Mr. Tan with a flowerpot. Mrs. Tan had no intention of killing her husband, and when she saw her husband I was frightened to death after the tragic scene. It is possible that such a case has been adjudicated before, but the husband accidentally killed his wife. But where is the body of Mr. Tan? Could it be hidden by Mr. Tan? "
"Mrs. Tan was indeed frightened to death, but she was not the murderer." Zhou Yu'an opened Mrs. Tan's hand: "Mrs. Tan's hands were very clean, and there was no sign of grabbing the flower pot. And the flower pot was so big that it could only be used with one hand. It can’t be lifted.”
"Two hands?" The officer made a gesture.
"You can try it." Shen Chongming pointed to the broken flowerpot on the ground with his eyes.
The yamen servant stood in Mrs. Tan's position, imitating every move of Mrs. Tan's life, and he discovered the problem in just one moment.
First of all, from his position, there was no way to reach the flowerpot on the shelf.
Secondly, even if he got the flowerpot, he wouldn't be able to lift it with one hand. Two hands can hold the flower pot, but how can Mrs. Tan have two hands in the dispute? Mrs. Tan is shorter than Mr. Tan. Even if she picks up the flowerpot, she can't knock Mr. Tan down.
In the end, even if Mrs. Tan knocked Master Tan down, the blood should not spray onto Mrs. Tan's body.
"There is a third person at the scene, and that third person is the murderer!"
"Yes, there is a third person at the scene!" Zhou Yu'an looked at the window: "A person who Mrs. Tan can ignore so that Mr. Tan will not be suspicious, and take the opportunity to kill Mr. Tan."
Zhou Yu'an picked up a fragment of a flowerpot and said, "The murderer came in after hearing the quarrel. His original purpose was to break up the fight."
There is a shelf behind Mrs. Tan. There are many medical books on the shelf, one of which is dedicated to herbal medicine. Zhou Yu'an had read that book and always placed it on the second and third positions of the shelf.
Now, not only has the shelf been moved, but the position of the medical book on it has also changed. When he examined Mrs. Tan's body just now, Zhou Yu'an glanced at it out of habit. There were stamps on the medical book.
The shelf was straightened after being knocked crooked, and the medical books were picked up after being trampled on. It couldn't have been Mr. Tan and Mrs. Tan who did this. They were busy arguing when the incident happened. It is impossible to be the murderer after committing the crime. Except for Mr. Tan's body, he did not clean up any suspicious objects at the scene.
Therefore, the murderer held up the shelf and placed the medical books. He also smoothed the corners of the books that had been stepped on and bent while placing them. There are not many people who can do this. Apart from the housekeeper, there is only Tan Xingzhi, the biological son of Mr. Tan and Mrs. Tan.
"Impossible, how could this murderer be Mr. Tan?" The Yamen servant shook his head: "When the incident occurred, the young master was still out socializing, and he came back after receiving the notice from the servant. It is impossible for this servant to lie, and neither can Mr. Tan. Probably in two places at the same time.”
