Mu Zhong was going crazy. Lin Sui'an said he wanted to catch the real culprit, so he followed him all the way. He thought he would get a big harvest, but he never thought that the first person Lin Sui'an went to find was Zhu Dachang. The way he looked at Zhu Dashang suddenly felt wrong.
Zhu Dachang had just been reprimanded by Zhang County Lieutenant for Luo Shichuan's case, saying that the Su family had sent someone to verify Su Chengxian's identity, and urged him to clearly distinguish the relationship between the Su family and the murderer. Da, when he heard Mu Zhong's visit, he thought that the righteous Duke Mu had come to help him deal with the aftermath, so he ran out and met Mu Zhong's sharp gaze, which made him jump with fright.
Looking at Lin Sui'an's face again, Zhu Dachang's liver trembled. Without warning, he remembered "I am a knife and a fish," and the neck that Lin Sui'an had pinched before began to hurt again.
"What's wrong with you two?" Zhu Dachang asked cautiously.
"I want to see Su Chengxian's autopsy examination," Lin Sui'an thought for a moment and then asked, "Is Ding Wuzuo here?"
Zhu Dachang glanced at Mu Zhong in confusion, and Mu Zhong whispered, "Su Chengxian may not be the murderer."
Zhu Dachang's can of Coca-Cola went bad, so he hurriedly ordered someone to ask Ding Wu to do it. He also personally took the autopsy pattern and sent it to Lin Sui'an.
Lin Sui'an took a rough look at the autopsy report. Considering his ability to read ancient Chinese proverbs, he didn't find any useful information. He couldn't help but sigh, which made Mu Zhong and Zhu Dachang very nervous.
Mu Zhong: "How?"
Zhu Dachang: "Isn't Su Chengxian really the murderer?"
Lin Sui'an: "Can Lieutenant Zhu Xian explain in detail the distribution of underground waterways in Nanpu County?"
Zhu Dachang naturally agreed and drew a simple square map of Nanpu County. As he drew, he explained, "Nanpu County has twelve squares. There are two east-west streets, namely Liren Street and Xilu Street. Both have sewage canals, and three north-south ones. The only one with a sewage canal is Chunman Street. The sewage canal is connected to the Xichun River that surrounds the city. There are six outlets in total. However, the flow direction of the culvert waterway that can accommodate adults should be like this - " He drew a smooth line with his pen. The line of the hour hand starts from Qiandufang, turns along West Road Street into Chunman Street, bypasses Dongshi, enters Liren Street, and leaves the city along Yanrenfang.
Lin Sui'an: "Where was the waterway where Su Cheng was discovered first?"
Zhu Da often lives at the intersection of Dongshi and Chunman Road.
Lin Sui'an followed the map of the square with his finger, "If Su City wants to leave the city first, it should go out from Yanrenfang, bypassing Dongshi, Chunlufang, and Lihuifang to Xizhongmen."
"No!" Zhu Dachang shouted, "After leaving Yanrenfang, the place where Su Cheng fell first can only be in Yanrenfang or Liren Street on the north side of Dongshi. But if that were the case, the body would have left the city long ago. It is impossible. Appearing in the ditch on Chunman Street against the direction of water flow.”
"The location where he fell into the sewer was not Yanrenfang, but Qiandufang." Lin Sui'an said.
Zhu Dachang: "Huh?!"
Mu Zhong: "There is a scholar named Wei Li in Qiandufang. He claims to have been with Su Chengxian all night on August 15th. Send someone to check on him. Ask the neighbors as well."
Zhu Dachang was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses and called Li Nili to lead several bad guys to Qiandufang. As soon as Li Nili left, Ding Wuzuo floated in like a shadow.
"Ding Wuzuo's examination of Mr. Su Cheng's body revealed anything unusual?" Lin Sui'an asked, "It's okay if it has nothing to do with the cause of death."
Ding Wuzuo was silent for a moment, "There are signs of ejaculation. The valley path is broken, injuries before death and new injuries, no more than two hours."
Lin Sui'an: "Where is the valley road?"
Ding Wu wrote: "The place where things are vented and dirty."
Mu Zhong covered his face: "My dear mother."
Zhu Dachang was stunned for a moment, then understood, with a strange expression, "So Su Cheng first fell into the sewer because he was... dizzy when he went out in the morning and his waist and knees were sore all night long?"
"Ha, it's a very suitable way for him to die." Lin Sui'an turned around and walked out of the county office.
Mu Zhong followed closely behind him, but Zhu Dachang hesitated for a moment and decisively abandoned the disturbing case documents, becoming the second tail.
*
In fact, when Wei Li told Su Chengxian's alibi, Lin Sui'an already knew that Su Chengxian was not the murderer. The reason why he insisted on coming to the county government to find Zhu Dachang and Ding Wu to verify the evidence was just because he was lucky.
What if Wei Li lied?
What if it’s just someone with the same name?
What if Wei Li remembered the wrong date?
Lin Sui'an actually thought about giving up on investigating the case. Su Chengxian was an out-and-out scumbag, and his death would not be a pity. He being the murderer might be the best outcome for all the victims.
However, she couldn't stand it.
Even though Su Cheng was a scumbag first, she couldn't bear to see him being framed as a murderer, and she couldn't bear to see the real murderer walking free, pretending to be innocent while thinking his methods of committing the crime were perfect.
The sweet-scented osmanthus tree in the inner courtyard of Luo's house has lost the blessing of its owner. The flowers have withered and broken petals are everywhere. The weak floral fragrance uses up the last bit of strength to drift tenaciously in the wind, as if Luo Shichuan's last obsession is desperately entangled in Lin Sui'an's thoughts. .
Su Chengxian's memory cleared him of suspicion, so what did Luo Shichuan's memory want to express?
Lin Sui'an didn't dare to make any judgments, but he always had a bad feeling. It seemed that what was hidden behind the truth was not Luo Shichuan's original intention.
"Ms. Lin, are you here because-" Mu Zhong guessed, "The real murderer is someone from Luo House? Is he still in Luo House?"
Lin Sui'an did not answer. She had already guessed the identity of the murderer. If that person was the murderer, then all the previous feelings of disobedience would be explained.
The murderer's name is ready to come out, but there is a lack of evidence.
"Lieutenant Zhu County, the person responsible for cleaning Luo Shichuan's inner room has arrived." Lin Nili came over with a servant who was over fifty years old to salute.
Lin Sui'an nodded and took out the crime scene map from his sleeve, "Is the placement of the tea utensils in this picture different from what the Luo family leader did before his death?"
The servant looked at it carefully, shook his head and said, "Except for the location of the furnace to the left, there is no difference."
"Besides you, who else is familiar with the placement of tea utensils?"
"The master of the house doesn't like his tea set being touched by his servants. He also likes to have tea alone on weekdays. Only people who are very close to him are familiar with it."
"Does Master Luo clean the furnace of the furnace every time he makes tea?"
The servant shook his head: "The master will leave a small amount of charcoal residue to warm the furnace."
Lin Sui'an nodded, signaled the servants to leave, and walked around the room with the drawings. After Luo Shichuan's death, Luo Kou did not move the furniture, but ordered his servants to clean and tidy up, packed up Luo Shichuan's personal belongings, and replaced the door.
This place is almost exactly the same as the crime scene. Lin Sui'an almost had a phantom of that time in front of his eyes:
Luo Shichuan was sitting in a pool of blood against the door... The door latch was broken, and Luo Shichuan's body fell to the ground... Meng Man rushed in and cried on the ground... Luo Kou threw herself on the grandfather, her hands covered with blood...
Lin Sui'an closed his eyes and looked at the newly replaced door panel again. The thickness, height, material, pattern, and door latch are almost the same as the original door, except that there are no tiny grooves.
The biggest conspiracy in this case is the secret room, which is also where the murderer left the most clues. Lin Sui'an has a feeling that the decisive evidence is hidden in the mystery of this secret room.
Where is it?
She closed the door panel, pushed it, opened the door panel and shook it twice, then closed the door panel and looked at the door gap. Just as she had guessed, the door panel and the door frame fit perfectly. Lin Sui'an moved the door latch again, which was probably what she had not done before. It is commonly used, but it took me a long time to plug it in. It turns out that it is convenient to hold the two door panels with your feet at the same time before plugging it in.
Wait a moment!
Lin Sui'an pulled out the door latch and inserted it again. His head buzzed as if it had been hit by a hammer.
"Mr. Mu! Lieutenant Zhu County!" Lin Sui'an shouted, "Let's make the secret room again."
Two people: "What?"
After burning the incense, the three of them were sweating profusely and staring at the disobedient door bolt, their expressions not very good.
They ground the same grooves on the door latch and door panel, and bolted the door from the outside according to Lin Sui'an's previous reasoning. They repeated the experiment ten times, but all failed. Either the leather rope slipped out of the groove, or the door latch fell to the ground, or the door latch couldn't be inserted. Even if someone was in the house to direct the movement direction, they never succeeded.
"No need to try, I made a mistake in my inference," Lin Sui'an said, "You can't create a secret room using this method."
Mu Zhong was stunned, Zhu Dachang changed his face in shock, pointed at Lin Sui'an and shouted, "It turns out you are the real murderer!"
Lin Sui'an glared at him fiercely, "If this method doesn't work, there is only one possibility left."
Mu Zhong: "What do you mean?"
"You can't bolt the door from the outside," Lin Sui'an closed the door panel and inserted the latch, "then bolt the door from the inside."
Mu Zhong opened his mouth, and Zhu Da often ran out of the distance, "What are you going to do? Close the door, beat the dog, kill the person, and silence them?"
Mu Zhong stared at Lin Sui'an for a while, then his expression changed slightly, "Could it be..."
Lin Sui'an closed his eyes and nodded gently.
Zhu Dachang held his head: "I didn't expect that I, Zhu Dachang, who was famous all his life, died in such an ignominious death. Grandpa, grandma, I can't help you..."
Lin Sui'an opened the door, and the gorgeous light and shadow fell on his face, making his vision bright yellow. The osmanthus leaves rustled in the wind, just like Luo Shichuan's murmuring voice:
[I still remember the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, the osmanthus trees were in full bloom, and the fragrance was fragrant. Kerr and Maner, wearing two little clay faces, gave me the tea cauldron that had been hidden for several days. That night The tea is so fragrant...]
*
When Luo Kou was invited to the inner hall, he found that Mu Zhong, Zhu Dachang and Lin Sui'an were all there. Lieutenant Zhu Xian looked confused, and Captain Mu sighed. The strangest thing was Lin Sui'an, who kept looking at the osmanthus tree in the garden. His eyes were distant and his expression was misty, as if he was making an extremely difficult decision.
Luo Kou saw the gifts one by one and was a little confused. Just now, the bad guy Ming Ming asked her to come with her brother. Why didn't she see Meng Man? She wanted to ask, but then she remembered that Meng Man had had a lot of trouble with her in the past few days because of the separation of the family. The argument was gone, but now he was relieved.
Not long after, Meng Man also arrived, also looking puzzled.
"I've seen Lieutenant Zhu County and Captain Mu. I wonder what the important matter is for calling my brother and sister here?"
Mu Zhong looked at Lin Sui'an, and Zhu Dachang coughed twice to remind him.
Lin Sui'an seemed to wake up from a dream, his faint eyes paused on Luo Kou's face, and suddenly took out the knife from its sheath and slashed at Meng Man. Everyone changed their colors in shock, and Luo Kou's scream was stuck in his throat. , Lin Sui'an's knife stopped, only three inches away from Meng Man's bun.
Meng Man sat on the ground with a frightened look on his face, his right hand resting on the ground, his left arm protecting his forehead, and beads of sweat dripping from the tip of his nose.
Zhu Dachang gasped, pointed at Meng Man and shouted, "He, he, he, he..."
"He is actually left-handed." Lin Sui'an sheathed his sword, "He just pretends to be right-handed on weekdays, but in critical moments he still prefers his left hand."
Mu Zhong suddenly realized, "When he beat Luo Liulang in the mourning hall, he also used his left hand."
Luo Kou: "What left hand and right hand? What's the meaning of this?"
Lin Sui'an glanced at Zhu Dachang. Zhu Dachang suddenly felt a lot of pressure and cleared his throat and said, "According to the autopsy, the murderer of Luo Shichuan was left-handed. We always thought that Su Chengxian was the only one in Luo's house who was left-handed. We never thought that we had missed one." …”
"What do you mean?" Luo Kou's voice trembled, "What do you mean by this?!"
Meng Man stood up and patted the dirt on his body, "I heard that the Su family sent people to the Nanpu County Government a few days ago to clear the name of the Su family and restore the Su family's innocent reputation. Could it be that the county government couldn't stand the pressure of the Su family and planned to Find a scapegoat to clear up the identity of the Sioux City murderer?"
Speaking of this, Meng Man sneered, "I am an orphan, I have not entered the Luo family tree, I have no power and no backing. Is there anyone more suitable to be a scapegoat than me? In order to clean up the lintel of the noble clan, you have really worked hard. ah!"
Luo Kou was shocked.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. Although the Su family has this intention, I will not agree!" Zhu Dachang said, "I, Zhu, am the parent official of Nanpu County. How can I slander innocent people for my own selfish purposes? If I say it out, How do I face my parents and fellow villagers at home?!"
"Meng Langjun said that Su Cheng was the murderer first, is there any evidence?" Lin Sui'an asked.
"It's strange that Madam Lin asked this," Meng Man said with a half-smile, "You were the one who solved the mystery of the secret room. You were the one who found the irrefutable evidence from Su Chengxian's window. It was you who confirmed that Su Chengxian was the murderer. Why did you ask me for evidence?"
"Because Su Chengxian was not at Luo Zhai that night, but stayed at Qiandufang all night."
Meng Man's expression suddenly changed: "What did you say?! Impossible!"
"Why is it impossible? Because first of all, foreigners in Su City have nowhere to go but Luo Zhai? Or is it because all Qiandufang are local residents and they will never accept a stranger to spend the night?"
"Where does he live? Are there any witnesses? What was he doing in Qiandufang all night?!"
Luo Kou: "Yes, are there any witnesses?!"
As soon as these words came out, Mu Zhong and Zhu Dachang fell silent. One rubbed his forehead and the other touched his nose. It was really hard to explain.
Meng Man sneered: "Sure enough, you made it up!"
"Su Cheng first had a lover named Wei Li in Qiandufang. They stayed together all night on August 15th. There is evidence and witnesses."
Meng Man's sneer froze on his face, Luo Kou's body shook violently and fell to his knees. Zhu Dachang rushed over and helped Luo Kou to the seat. Mu Zhong glared at Lin Sui'an with disapproval, but Lin Sui'an ignored it.
This kind of thing is like an inflamed pustule. If the pus is not broken and drained in time, it will eventually lead to serious trouble.
"When Luo Shichuan's body was found that day, there were several inconsistencies and weirdnesses. First, the position of the tea utensils was exactly the same as the way Luo Shichuan placed it. There are two possibilities. One is that Luo Shichuan did not touch the tea utensils that night. . But there was no charcoal residue in the furnace. The servant who served Luo Shichuan said that Luo Shichuan never let outsiders touch the tea utensils. He scrubbed and cooked the tea utensils with his own hands, and every time he made tea, he would leave charcoal residue to keep the furnace warm."
Mu Zhong: "That means someone has touched the furnace, and this person is not Luo Shichuan."
Zhu Dachang: "But hasn't the way of placing the tea utensils changed?"
Lin Sui'an: "This is the second possibility. Luo Shichuan made tea to entertain someone that night, but was unexpectedly killed. In order to eliminate the traces that he and Luo Shichuan drank tea, the murderer perfectly restored the location of the tea utensils."
Zhu Dachang: "I understand, this person must be someone whom Luo Shichuan trusts and is very close to! Then only the Luo family's wife and——"
Luo Kou stared at Meng Man with disbelief on his face. Meng Man's face trembled and he gritted his teeth and said, "If they are willing, anyone can remember the location of the tea utensils!"
Lin Sui'an did not follow what he said, but continued his own train of thought, "But there is another paradox. Since this person is so familiar with Luo Shichuan's habits, why didn't he leave a carbon bottom in the furnace? If he stayed, wouldn't there be no loopholes? So I guess there must be some reason why he had to clean the furnace, for example, he burned something but didn't burn it completely."
Meng Man's pupils shrank violently and he clenched his fists.
Lin Sui'an: "The second strange thing is the reaction after discovering Luo Shichuan's body. The first person to enter the door was Meng Man, who fell to the ground and cried loudly, in pain."
Zhu Dachang: "What's the problem with this?"
"It's fine if you look at it alone, but if you compare it with Luo Kou's reaction, it's a big problem." Lin Sui'an said, "When Luo Kou saw his grandpa lying in the house, his first reaction was to confirm his physical condition and even infected him. My hands were full of blood and I didn’t notice it.”
Mu Zhong: "I remember clearly that Meng Man did not confirm Luo Shichuan's life or death, but just threw himself on the ground and cried bitterly, as if he knew that Luo Shichuan was dead!"
Meng Man: "It's ridiculous. The ground was covered with blood. Anyone who wasn't blind could tell that the head of the family was already dead!"
"What he said makes sense..." Zhu Dachang said half a sentence, but when he saw Lin Sui'an's eyes, he immediately shrank his neck and shut up.
"But Luo Kou didn't see it," Lin Sui'an said coldly, "Is she blind? Is she stupid? No, it's because caring leads to chaos. When I saw my loved ones lying in a pool of blood, my first reaction was Shouldn’t we save people immediately?”
Meng Man: "It's ridiculous, the master's body has long been frozen and cold——"
"How did you know that he was cold? You never touched him once. Your hands were clean and white, without even a drop of blood." Lin Sui'an said, "My beloved father died in front of you, but you didn't even touch him." I don’t dare to touch you, isn’t it because of a guilty conscience?”
"I don't know what the reason is!" Meng Man trembled all over, "You have never touched the body of the family master, and your hands are bloodless. Is it because of a guilty conscience?! You also stayed with the family master for a whole night. By the way, how do you explain the secret room? ?! How do you explain the murder weapon and leather rope outside Su Chengxian’s window?"
Lin Sui'an took a breath and reminded himself to calm down and not let Meng Man take him away. "If you want to know what the murderer did, we might as well restore the crime scene step by step."
"On August 15th, at nightfall, the moon-viewing table, seats, fresh fruits, and dried grapes that the ladies of the Luo family loved to eat were set up in the inner courtyard of Luo's house. Luo Shichuan made tea in the inner hall to entertain someone, and the two talked. I was very happy, but Luo Shichuan suddenly took out something, which completely angered this person."
