Lin Sui'an felt that Jin Ruo's tracking and identification technology had been upgraded. From her point of view, the door embroidery room was very tidy and not messy at all. It was also locked outside. How could she tell that the first crime occurred? on site?
"The most obvious thing is here," Jin Ruo pointed to three equidistant circular marks on the seat cushion. "The surface of this seat cushion is made of bamboo. There are three scuffs on the back side of the seat cushion. Judging from the position and shape, there should have been one Pingji, even Xiaoshuang could lean on it when doing embroidery, but now Pingji has disappeared."
After saying that, Jin Ruo pointed towards the couch and said, "There is something down there."
The couch in the Tang Dynasty is similar to a low bed, with four sides on the ground. You can sit or lie on it. There is a cavity under the couch, which is mostly made of solid wood. It is very heavy and rarely moves, so the couch is basically a sanitary blind spot.
Ling Zhiyan carefully reached in with her gloves on and found out a small oblate piece of wood with white stubble on the top and a flat bottom with red paint on the outer ring. She smelled it and said, "It's ordinary poplar wood with a fractured edge." Very new."
Hua Yitang identified it for a long time: "Looking at the shape, it should be broken pieces based on a few feet."
Jin Ruo placed the broken pieces on the circular mark of the couch, just right.
"When the murderer strangled Lian Xiaoshuang, he accidentally broke the Pingji, and the pieces of the Pingji fell to the ground. The murderer probably didn't see it when he was cleaning up the scene and missed it."
Jin Ruo pointed to a distance of three feet to the left of Sitan. The three of them tilted their heads and looked over. They found that there was a thin layer of black debris on the ground, like dust. It was impossible to detect it without the light shining against the ground.
Ling Zhiyan carefully dipped a little of it into her gloves and rubbed it. Hua Yitang sniffed and sniffed, "It's burnt charcoal ash."
Lin Sui'an suddenly realized, "There is a stove here."
Jin Ruo stood up and gestured at the distance, "The murderer strangled the person, laid him flat, and moved him sideways. The stove happened to be not far from his thigh."
Lin Sui'an: "It's convenient for the murderer to stamp peach blossoms on the corpse's legs."
Jin Ruo then motioned the three of them to the two large boxes in the corner, pointed to the box lid on the left and said, "The four corners are worn and the box lid has scratches. There was originally a wooden box of the same size on top." Opening the lids of two wooden boxes, they were filled with embroidered cloths, which were tightly stuffed. "There were too many cloths, and there was almost no space. They must have moved all the cloths from the boxes above."
Lin Sui'an: "In other words, the third wooden box is probably the wooden box containing Xiaoshuang's body?"
Jin Ruo nodded, moved sideways to the back window, pushed open the sash, and pointed to the mud tunnel outside the window, "There is a circle of marks on the ground outside the window. The size is consistent with the wooden box. The wooden box was placed outside the back window for a period of time. The door inside Also loaded with heavy objects. In addition—"
Jin Ruo moved aside so that the three of them could see more clearly. There were actually three hairs caught in the lotus leaves of the window sash.
Ling Zhiyan: "The murderer placed the wooden box outside the window, then picked up the body and threw it into the box from the back window. When the body rolled over the window sill, hair was left behind."
Hua Yitang's little fan flapped rapidly, "It's totally unreasonable, it's so weird."
"There's something even weirder." Jin Ruo led the three of them out of the embroidery room and closed the door. "After the murderer sent the body out of the back window, he deliberately cleaned up the ground, so there were no obvious footprints or traces of dragging the body. Finally, , locked the embroidery room. I checked before Hua opened the lock, and there were no signs of prying on the lock. The murderer has the key."
"Maybe the key is on Lian Xiaoshuang's body or in the embroidery room. It's not surprising that the murderer can get it. The problem is the murderer's behavior -" Ling Zhiyan frowned, "Why did he move the wooden box to the back window first and then throw the body away?"
Hua Yitang: "If the body is put into a wooden box first, it will be too heavy and difficult to carry."
Lin Sui'an: "So the murderer is not strong enough -"
Jin Ruo: "That's even more strange. The wooden box is so big and heavy that it can't be moved by one person, so it can only be dragged. However, there are no traces of dragging the wooden box in the yard."
Ling Zhiyan: "The murderer also cleaned up the traces in the yard?"
"There is another possibility," Hua Yitang said, "The murderers are two people, or there are accomplices who can move the wooden box to the back window in advance - this is even more wrong. Since the wooden box can be moved, why can't it be moved together? Will the bodies be moved together?”
There was a moment of silence.
Ling Zhiyan crossed her arms and said, "After the murderer finished killing the person, he was able to dispose of the body and the scene in an orderly manner, which shows that the murderer is an extremely cruel and calm person."
Lin Sui'an scratched his forehead: "Ordinary people will never have such a strong psychological quality, so the murderer is either a habitual criminal, has a plan to kill, or is a naturally cruel person."
Hua Yitang hit his forehead with a fan, "But the murderer left a few broken pieces and charcoal ash, and hair on the window. He doesn't look like a habitual criminal, but like a novice."
The three of them said in unison: "This murderer is so contradictory."
Hua Yitang walked around in a circle and thought for a while: "Could it be that the murderer did it on purpose?"
Ling Zhiyan: "Why?"
Jin Ruo rolled his eyes, "Don't ask me, I'm only responsible for telling you what the murderer did. As for why the murderer did what he did, it's up to you to think about it yourself."
Lin Sui'an: "What is the murder weapon?"
Jin Ruo shook his head: "Not found."
The four of them stared at the embroidery room and frowned for a long time. Without thinking of a reason, they went around to the back of the embroidery room. This time Jin Ruo finally found dragging traces on the ground, extending from the back window of the embroidery room to the back door of the house. When he opened the door and took a look, the four of them were all stunned.
Outside the back door is an alley, neither wide nor narrow. There are loaded carriages, donkey carts, ox carts, and flatbed carts parked on both sides of the road. Various wooden boxes and large bags are tied to the carts. Several cart drivers are leaning on the alley. I was dozing on the cargo bag, and there was a constant flow of trucks coming and going. Looking along the traffic flow, I saw that it was the wall between Xishi and Jinxifang. The wall had been opened up, forming a shortcut. Judging from the situation, it happened to be a temporary truck parking lot.
With such a huge amount of traffic, naturally no traces could be detected.
Jin Ruo clicked his tongue, took out a bag of white sugar cakes from his arms, wandered over to the coachmen, and chatted animatedly while eating.
Hua Yitang, Lin Sui'an and Ling Zhiyan continued to move forward along with the traffic flow.
It was already past the beginning of Youchu, and Yidu City was foggy and cloudy all year round. It got dark earlier, and the sky showed an empty dark blue. The street lights in the West Market were on, the shops were locked, and the trucks, carriages and pedestrians on the road But there were quite a few. They walked out of Fangmen along the main street of West City and walked towards Jinjiang.
The Chengnei District where the West Market is located and the Nansan District where Huanhua Creek is located are separated by the Jinjiang River and connected by the Chengnan Bridge. The Chengnan Bridge is a six-pier stone bridge with a width of three feet and four rows of two-way lanes. There is a bustling flow of people and vehicles. Half a quarter of an hour's walk southeast from Chengnan Bridge is Zhang Yi Tower. The famous Jinjiang Night Market starts here and goes east along the Jinjiang River, passing through Sanhua Tower, and ending at Xiaodong Bridge Gate.
In order to facilitate the lighting of the night market, starting from Xishi Fangmen, tall street lamp stands are erected on both sides of the Chengnan Bridge and along the Jinjiang River. They are painted with red paint and are more than two feet high. When night falls, Xishi and Nan The bad people in the city's government offices would set up tall wooden ladders and hang strings of lanterns on the light stands. When the river wind blows, the strings of lights will sway gracefully, which is very romantic.
Vendors from the two southwestern cities set up trucks and pushed stalls to the night markets early to grab a good spot. Calligraphy and paintings, bronzes, jewelry, musical instruments, fruits, snacks, etc. are all available for sale. There are even stalls on Zhangyi Tower and Sanhua Tower. Night readings, poetry gatherings and other folk group activities are just like the saying: "Thousands of lights in the night market illuminate the blue clouds, and high-rise buildings are full of red-sleeved customers." The beautiful scenery is full of smoke and fragrance.
Unfortunately, Lin Sui'an and the others were not in the mood to visit the night market at all. They stood side by side on the south bridge of the city, staring at the surging Jinjiang River and worrying.
Hua Yitang used a fan to point the directions of Jinxi Fang, Xishi and Huanhua Stream. "From here to Jinxifang and up, they are all the upper reaches of Huanhua Stream. According to the direction of the water flow, there are places outside Xishi and around the Chengnan Bridge. It could be a place where the body was dumped.”
Lin Sui'an: "But the flow of people at West Market and Chengnan Bridge is huge, so throwing such a big box into the river is too conspicuous."
Ling Zhiyan: "The time of Lian Xiaoshuang's death was between Youshi and Xushi yesterday. Doctor Fang said that the body lay flat for at least three hours without moving. In other words, Lian Xiaoshuang's body was placed in the embroidery workshop after Chou hour. , the body has just been packed and transported.”
"Those truck drivers said that there are many trucks parked on that street every day, and no one cares if there is one more truck or one less truck. Naturally, no one will notice where the murderer's corpse truck is parked." Jin Ruo came over holding a white sugar cake. , only two pieces of the poor white sugar cake were left, and they were all stuffed into the mouth. "Jinjiang Night Market will last until about midnight, and then the number of people on the street will gradually decrease. If the murderer dumps the body after the ugly hour, it shouldn't be too difficult."
Ling Zhiyan shook his head, "Based on the flow rate of the water, even if the body was dumped just after leaving the West Market, it would only take half an hour to reach Huanhua Creek. But the body was found at Shenshi today. If we push forward and backward, the time gate of the body was thrown into the river It should be around the end of time, and the time gate doesn’t match.”
Hua Yitang shook his fan faster and faster, "If I were the murderer, I would not choose to dump the body during the day, but in the middle of the night, but the murderer's time to dump the body happened to be during the busiest time of the Huanhuaxi Paper Mill, so , this time gate was specially calculated by him, what is his purpose?"
After a pause, "The incident in Huanhua Creek is such a big deal. If someone saw someone throwing a box into the river, they would have reported it to the government long ago. However, it has been three hours since the body was found, and there are currently no witnesses to report it. That is to say——"
With a "ding" in Lin Sui'an's mind, he jumped up from the bridge railing, grabbed the light pole of the Chengnan Bridge, pulled up with both hands, and pedaled with both feet at the same time, and he rushed to the top of the street lamp stand. , stood up straight, his black clothes rustling fiercely with the night wind.
This series of actions was so neat and handsome that all the pedestrians and carriages on the bridge stopped and looked up in stunned silence. Ling Zhiyanyuan stared, Hua Yitang forgot to shake her fan, and Jin Ruo shouted, "Master, what are you doing?" What’s up?”
Lin Sui'an: "Enjoy the scenery and blow the wind."
The target of the box containing the body was very large, but there were no witnesses when the body was dumped during the day. This shows that the location of the dumping of the body is very secret. Yidu has a complicated water system like Dongdu. There must be unknown undercurrents or culverts that can lead to Huanhua Creek, and there is a high probability that it will. Nearby.
The Jinjiang Night Market not far away is like a bright and lively Milky Way. Jinjiang is sparkling and brightly lit everywhere you look, except for one place.
Coming out of Xishifang Gate, there is a small dark area on the west side of the main road without any light. When the wind blows, you can only see the shadows of the trees swaying.
Lin Sui'an turned over and jumped down, shouted "Jin Ruo, follow me", jumped over the crowd on the bridge railing, and ran against the flow of people to the dark place, which turned out to be the outlet of a sewer.
Although it is a sewage canal, it is almost equivalent to a small stream. It flows out from Xishifang District and is covered with stone slabs more than three inches thick. The sewage canal leads directly to Jinjiang River, and not far downstream is a tributary of Huanhua Creek. Probably for the sake of beautiful urban design, there are dense locust trees planted on one side of the road, and low bushes below the slope. Lin Sui'an was about to go down to check, but was grabbed by Jin Ruo who was following closely, "I'll go. "
Jin Ruo slid down the bush sideways, and disappeared into the darkness in a flash. Occasionally, he could see soft bright lights flashing, which was the night pearl given to him by Hua Yitang.
Lin Sui'an knew that he couldn't help if he went down, so he squatted on the side of the road and waited. From a distance, Hua Yitang and Ling Zhiyan ran over. They were going against the flow of people, which was very conspicuous. Suddenly, Lin Sui'an was there Behind them, they saw a short man, leaning against the flow of people. He was wearing a melon skin hat and followed Hua Yitang five or six positions behind.
Lin Sui'an stood up suddenly and shouted: "Who is it?!"
This shouting, not to mention the dwarf, even Hua Yitang was startled. Ling Zhiyan, worthy of his rich experience, reacted immediately and turned around suddenly. The dwarf was so frightened that he turned around and ran away. Ling Zhiyan started chasing after him, but before he even took two steps, he ran away. I felt a black wind blowing in front of me, and stepped on the dwarf's back. The dwarf screamed and fell to the ground like a pie.
Lin Sui'an happily lifted the dwarf from the ground, shook it in his hand, and mentioned it to Ling Zhiyan and Hua Yitang, "There is a little thief following him."
The dwarf was about ten years old. He had his trouser legs rolled up and his calves were thick and strong. He had obviously been doing errands all year round. He just ran away very quickly. If Lin Sui'an hadn't been astonishingly fast, he might have escaped long ago.
This person had probably never been caught so quickly before. His eyes bulged out in fear and he was sweating. "Woman, woman, woman, please forgive me! I'm just passing by to make soy sauce!"
Hua Yitang smiled and patted the short man's face with his fan, "Ling Sizhi, what is the crime for following and persecuting an official of the imperial court?"
Ling Zhiyan looked solemn and said, "The least case is banishment, the most serious case is hanging."
"I'm not! I didn't! An adult misunderstood!" the short man screamed, "I am from Yaxing Sect. My name is Mao San. The sect owner sent me to keep an eye on Lady Lian's house!"
Lin Sui'an: "..."
Yaxingmen? What are the names of these birds?
"Your sect leader knows Mrs. Lian?" Hua Yitang's eyebrows sharpened, "Could it be that your Yaxing sect killed Lian Xiaoshuang?!"
"No, no, no!" Mao San shook his head repeatedly, "The sect master is also entrusted by others!"
Ling Zhiyan: "Entrusted by whom?!"
Mao San was about to cry. He glanced at Lin Sui'an. Lin Sui'an bared his teeth and picked up his neck and shook him. Mao San shivered and curled up his legs, like a trembling frog.
"It's...Wu Zhengli, the head of the Wu family in the south of the city."
Hua Yitang narrowed his eyes: "My surname is Wu, my generation is straight——"
"Yes, yes, the head of the Wu family is the cousin of Wu Zhengqing, a member of the Yidu Prefecture's judicial office and a member of the army. We are all one family!" Mao San said with a smile.
Hua Yitang and Lin Sui'an looked at each other calmly.
Hua Yitang: Oh, you can’t stop luck when it comes.
Lin Sui'an: After working hard all night, it was a bit rewarding.
"Why did Wu Zhengli send people to keep an eye on the Lian family's residence?" Ling Zhiyan asked.
"This... I guess... I'm afraid... I'm afraid of getting involved in my own scandal..." Mao San's eyes dodge, "This Lady Lian looks serious on the surface, she's an embroiderer, but she's actually a prostitute in the flesh business.":,,
