Shi Deren stroked his beard and said, "Yesterday, I learned from an old man in the village that Tofu Man has not caught fish from his pond for 10 consecutive years."
"Maybe he wanted to raise the fish bigger so that he could catch fish in the pond and sell them for a big price." Su Jinwang was still not completely convinced and looked for reasons.
"The problem is not that simple, but there is a mystery within it." Shi Deren's eyes roamed Su Jinwang's face, "Actually, I walked into the tofu workshop yesterday, and after careful observation, I discovered a major doubt. His family's Stone mill, the upper plate of the stone mill is grayer in color, compared with the slightly darker lower plate, it can be seen that it was added later."
After Shi Deren's reminder, Su Jinwang squinted his eyes and thought for a while, nodded and said: "Deren, after you said this, I remembered that the upper plate of his stone mill is indeed relatively new. But I I still don’t understand, what does this have to do with whether the upper plate of the stone mill is old or new? If it’s damaged, just replace it with a new one!”
"The upper plate of the stone mill is not damaged, but has sunk into the pond..." Shi Deren expressed his reasoning like this.
Su Jinwang suddenly realized: "Ah, Deren, it turns out that you know so much folk common sense, but I was not aware of these superficial common sense."
Shi Deren said with great understanding: "A case handler is like a lawyer. The more he knows about various aspects of society, the better."
"That's the case." Su Jinwang gasped, "Tofu Man was really thoughtful after killing people, taking into account every detail. I didn't expect that you would crack it one by one. If this is indeed the case after verification, I will worship you as a god."
"Don't hold me too high." Shi Deren waved his hand and said humbly, "This is just in compliance with the ancient adage."
Su Jinwang blinked: "What ancient teaching?"
Shi Deren said loudly: "The sky net is vast, sparse and not leaking."
Su Jinwang extended his thumb to Shi Deren and praised: "Deren, you are right!"
"This is all my subjective speculation. In the end, it must be based on facts. Murder is no child's play. We can't unjustly accuse a good person, and we can't let a bad person go," Shi Deren said seriously.
Su Jinwang's face looked serious and cold: "What should we do now?"
"Let's knock the mountain to shake the tiger." Shi Deren gestured and slowed down his speech, "Tomorrow we will contact the village owner and ask him to deliberately spread the news in the village to let that tofu guy Ding Niu know that his fish pond has been in trouble for 10 years. He hasn't done anything yet, and now he has to work in the pond to catch fish. We secretly observe his movements."
"We have spread the word that if Tofu Man has something in his heart, he will do everything possible to find an excuse to prevent him from drying up or escaping. If he is really as we speculated, the suspicion of him committing murder will be confirmed." Su Jinwang analyzed.
"Yes, brother Jin Wang, we have to find ways to prevent him from making excuses to escape." Shi Deren said seriously.
"I will secretly arrange the surveillance of Tofu Guy Ding Niu, Deren, don't worry." Su Jinwang patted his chest and said.
After making up his mind, Shi Deren flew back to the Governor's Mansion overnight and reported the detected situation to Governor Guan Zhenjiang face to face and asked for instructions.
The next day, Guan Zhenjiang immediately organized people to go to Mawang Village in Shangsha Town to drain all the water in Ding Niu's fish pond and find out the truth.
On this day, the weather was clear, the sun was high, and there were no clouds in the sky.
The fact that Ding Yuli has been missing for 10 years without any reason has made the villagers in the villages near Shangsha Town panic and worry that the same bad luck will befall them one day.
Now, when I heard that the government was looking for corpses in the dry pond of Mawangzhai, people from all over the countryside and neighbors who loved to watch the excitement came like a tide, and the fish pond was surrounded by water, so I could have a look.
Shi Deren and Su Jinwang stood by the bushes at the corner of the fish pond, watching the progress of the situation intently.
Shi Deren's trick of "knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger" really worked.
Ding Niu, the tofu man, saw that the government was going to destroy the fish pond in his backyard. Knowing that they were coming for him, he filled a basket with tofu and walked out of the village. He was stopped by the Yamen waiting at the entrance of the village. .
Ding Niu pretended to say: "Brother Cha, please be kind and let me out of the village. Li Mushui from the neighboring village has ordered my tofu, and I will deliver it to him now."
The official said without hesitation: "There is an order from above that no one can leave this village during the Qiantang period."
Ding Niu pleaded: "Brother Chai, if you don't let me leave the stronghold, the time is running out and my tofu will taste bad."
The officer had a stern face and said forcefully: "I can't control whether your tofu will taste bad or not. I'm just following the orders from above."
Seeing that Ding Niu could not escape using this method, he knew that a disaster was coming. But he couldn't escape for a while, so he had to turn around and go back to the tofu workshop to find a way.
Seeing that the water in the fish pond was getting less and less, Ding Niu wanted to escape from the hill behind the village.
But he was stopped by the Yamen waiting there.
As time went by, the water level in the fish pond became lower and lower, and the necks of the onlookers stretched longer and longer.
As the water in the fish pond became shallower, Su Jinwang's curiosity became more and more intense.
He looked at Shi Deren a little uneasily and said, "Deren, I'm really worried that if the fish pond is dry and nothing is harvested, the boss will blame us for wasting people and money."
Shi Deren said confidently: "Brother Jin Wang, please don't worry, the end is coming soon, let's wait and see. With so much evidence as the basis, I believe our judgment will never be wrong."
From the morning until the evening, when the sunset in the Xishan Mountains was almost gone, the water in the fish pond was finally drained.
At this time, the crowd watching at the edge of the fish pond exclaimed in unison: "Ah, there is a stone mill in the pond!"
Sure enough, in the mud in the center of the fish pond, a stone mill upper plate was found. A complete white skeleton was tied to the stone mill upper plate with ropes.
The officer untied the rope that bound the upper plate of the stone mill, carried it to Tofu Lao Dingniu Tofu Workshop, and put it on the lower plate of the old stone mill. Regardless of the degree of newness or the size, the two matched perfectly. .
The evidence is as solid as a mountain and cannot be denied!
Although Ding Niu had tried all his tricks, in the face of irrefutable evidence, he could only lower his head and confess the whole process of the crime——
That summer 10 years ago, the afternoon heat wave was overwhelming, and the banana leaves, wild flowers, and weeds beside the fish pond were drooped by the scorching sun.
Ding Yuli is a playful girl. She went to her aunt's place to play with her cousin that day. When she came back and passed Mawang Village, she heard the loud gongs and drums in the village. Ding Yuli, who loved to watch the excitement, walked into the village.
After walking for most of the day, Ding Yuli felt a little thirsty. She smelled the fragrance of tofu pudding coming from the tofu workshop over the fish pond, so she walked over to buy a bowl of tofu pudding to quench her thirst.
Ding Niu was ugly and had a bad temper, so he couldn't get a wife even at the age of thirty.
When he first saw a young woman coming in, he suddenly became lustful. Taking advantage of Ding Yuli's opportunity to eat tofu, he hugged her and started to tear her skirt.
Of course Ding Yuli refused, struggling desperately and shouting loudly.
But the gongs and drums in the village were noisy, and people were attracted by the performance of the golden dragon dance in the square. No one heard Ding Yuli's cry for help.
Ding Niu saw Ding Yuli shouting loudly and covered her mouth with all his strength.
Ding Yuli struggled desperately, and Ding Niu's hand tightened.
Not long after, Ding Yuli lost her voice.
Ding Niu saw that Ding Yuli had her eyes closed and her face was pale. He reached out and touched her nostrils, but he found that she had no breath at all.
Ding Niu knew that Ding Yuli had been killed by his own mistake, so he quickly closed the door and put her on the bed in the back room.
Ding Niu, who lost his mind, started to untie Ding Yuli's clothes. When he saw the dead Ding Yuli lying still looking beautiful, his bestiality suddenly emerged, and he committed the sinful act of raping a corpse, which was worse than a beast.
After venting his anger, Ding Niu faced Ding Yuli, whose beautiful body was lying around. He knew that he had committed a heinous crime and would kill himself if anyone found out.
After some thought, Ding Niu hid Ding Yuli's body. When it got dark, he tied Ding Yuli's body with a rope to the upper plate of the stone mill and pushed it down into the fish pond.
But he was still worried about the corpse being too close to the edge of the pond and being easily discovered. So he went down to the pond and moved the upper plate of the stone mill to the center of the fish pond. Only then did he feel relieved.
Ding Niu lay on the bed and couldn't sleep all night.
He thought that in such hot weather, Ding Yuli's body would rot and float from the fish pond in a few days.
After thinking about it, he came up with the idea that white eels like to eat dead pigs, dead chickens and other rotting meat to "destroy the corpses and traces".
Early the next morning, he hurried to the market to buy a sack of eel seedlings and put them in the fish pond, so that the eels could eat Ding Yuli's carrion and eliminate any traces of it.
Poor young woman Ding Yuli died because she accidentally entered Ding Niu's tofu workshop.
Ding Niu thought that he had done a perfect job in destroying the body and removing traces. The government sent people many times but could not find any clues. He thought that he was safe and could rest easy.
But he never dreamed that after 10 years, this case of murder, rape and corpse destruction would be solved by Shi Deren from outside.
The final outcome was, of course, one life for another, and Ding Niu, the tofu man, was sentenced to death by the government.
After working with Shi Deren to solve this historical unsolved case, Su Jinwang made a special trip to entertain Shi Deren.
After drinking for three rounds, Su Jinwang's face turned red, but his attitude was very sincere and he said: "Deren, when I first took over this case, to be honest, I looked down on you, a country bumpkin from other places. Later, every time I visited with you, Check, I can't find any clues, but you can peel off the cocoons and find clues."
Shi Deren waved his hand and said: "The same thing, viewed from the side as a ridge or a peak on the side, will produce different results from different angles."
Su Jinwang nodded in agreement.
"Especially if you want to detect a case, you must think carefully about everything, from the outside to the inside, from the shallow to the deep. Only then can you peel off the cocoons from the surface, dig deep, and find the opportunity for breakthrough." Shi Deren talked eloquently.
"Deren, you really deserve to be a master, you are amazing!" Su Jinwang extended his thumb to Shi Deren and praised him sincerely, "God has given me a good opportunity this time. I have the honor to be with you for more than a month, conducting private visits to investigate the case. , finally solved the cold case that had been pending for 10 years, so that the deceased was avenged and the perpetrators were severely punished. Your perseverance and perseverance and method of analyzing problems in depth and detail will serve me well throughout my life."
Because Guan Zhenjiang solved this historical unsolved case, he was promoted to prime minister by the imperial court.
Prime Minister Guan saw that Shi Deren was an outstanding talent in criminal investigation and a great talent, so he made an exception and appointed Shi Deren as the inspector of the Huzhou governor's Yamen.
Su Jinwang was also reused and transferred to Shi Deren's command.
A week after the appointment documents were issued, Shi Deren still had not come to take office.
When Guan Zhenjiang was wondering, Shi Deren sent a letter to someone, with only one poem in it:
Since ancient times, there have been many changes in the officialdom.
The world is great and I can do whatever it takes.
Master solves crimes with ease and ease,
Folks roam more freely.
A generation of lawyer Shi Deren was frivolous about fame and fortune. He stayed in office but wandered among the people, litigating lawsuits on behalf of others, and solved major cases. He lived a carefree life without worrying about food and clothing, which was the envy of many people in the officialdom. His life is filled with stories of good and bad.
