There is a thick beam on the roof, designed to bear the weight of the upper floors, that runs throughout the room and up to the partition wall.
Zhao Lin moved the table under the beam, stood on the table, and pressed his hand along the beam bit by bit.
Near the partition wall, there are beams and columns supporting the beams, with just a little extra.
Zhao Lin pressed on it and his hand immediately felt loose. He pushed it gently from bottom to top and heard a "click" sound.
He stood up straight, looked down from above, and understood instantly.
The protruding section of the beam is embedded with the original beam using a mortise and tenon structure.
A simple description is like two palms with fingers intertwined, placed flat on the beams and columns, forming a "T" shape.
Normally, the mortise and tenon structure is very strong, but the groove part has obviously been tampered with, dug very deep, and held up with a small movable wooden stick.
It is equivalent to two palms crossing only at the front end, leaving a space.
Zhao Lin pulled out the wooden stick, held the protruding beam, pulled it back, and pulled out a long section of the beam.
An opening appeared in the middle of the wall that was two feet square and could allow people to pass through.
By the light in the room, Zhao Lin glanced at the entrance of the cave, and there was also a thick beam on the opposite side.
"I see. No wonder Sun Zhang didn't check it out."
Zhao Lin suddenly understood.
Observed from Room 9, the beams of the two rooms are completely connected together. Even if you check carefully, you can't find any clues.
If Zhao Lin hadn't known that there was a secret passage under Room 10 and guessed the murderer's escape route, he wouldn't have discovered this.
At this point, the truth is very close to being revealed.
The shopkeeper must be a serious suspect, but the gruff voice in the tunnel may be the real culprit. They are inseparable from both cases!
The suspect has been identified and the next step is to arrest him.
Zhao Lin restored the scene, thought for a while, and decided not to rush into action yet.
How strong is the murderer and how many exits are there in the tunnel? If you don't know these clearly, if you arrest him rashly or let the murderer go, you may risk your own life.
Moreover, it can be heard from the conversation between the two just now that the people hiding in the tunnel will not leave in the next few days.
At Mao o'clock the next day, Zhao Lin got up early and rushed to the Yamen to order Mao o'clock.
The first thing Magistrate Liu did when he was promoted to the morning court was to ask Zhao Lin about the progress of the case.
"Your Majesty, my subordinates have found some clues, and the murderer should be arrested within two or three days." Zhao Lin said.
"oh?"
Seeing Zhao Lin's determination, County Magistrate Liu smiled and said, "Where is the suspect?"
Zhao Lin hesitated for a moment and said: "Back to the hall, the suspect is hiding in a very hidden place. Currently we only know the general area."
"Captain Zhao refuses to disclose it, is he afraid that I will take the credit?"
Sun Zhang said with a strange yin and yang expression.
Zhao Lin glanced at him and said, neither humble nor arrogant: "Captain Sun is talking about nothing. I'm worried that my brothers are eager to make meritorious deeds, so I'm just trying to scare off the enemy."
Magistrate Liu nodded and said: "Okay, the case is in your hands and you will be fully responsible for it. You only have three detectives under your command, are you enough?"
Since the county magistrate brought the topic to this topic, Zhao Lin was not polite, "Your Majesty, I have thought carefully. At least twenty or thirty agents are needed to make the arrest to ensure nothing goes wrong."
After speaking, he glanced at Sun Zhang and remained silent.
The meaning revealed in his words was obvious: he wanted to have the right to mobilize Dongcheng police officers.
Sun Zhang glared over fiercely, his eyebrows raised high, as if he was about to have an attack at any moment.
Zhao Lin didn't look sideways and pretended not to see it.
Now that you have a boss who keeps causing trouble for you, the best way is to replace him.
Blindly showing weakness and trying to be safe will only turn you into a real dog.
Magistrate Liu was silent for a while and said: "I said a few days ago that Capt. Sun works hard every day on patrol at night, so you will take over the role of Capt. during the day."
"I'd like to reiterate again today that before solving the case, Dongcheng's police officers must obey Zhao Lin's orders!"
Sun Zhang, Shi Dahai, and Jin Liqun looked at each other, and reluctantly led his men to catch up and responded: "It's the county magistrate!"
After the morning session, Zhao Lin walked directly to Sun Zhang and others, cupped his hands and said: "Captain Sun, Capt. Shi, Capt. Jin."
Sun Zhang glanced at the hall and said solemnly, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Lin said calmly: "In order to ensure that manpower can be summoned immediately when needed, please restrain your subordinates not to go out for business today and tomorrow. All of them will be on standby at the Yamen."
"What?"
Sun Zhang sneered, "Do you think we are idle all day? What should we do if someone makes trouble? What should we do with the lawsuit at hand?"
Zhao Lin scratched his head and wondered: "It turns out Captain Sun is in trouble, that's all. I'll go talk to County Magistrate Liu..."
"stop!"
Sun Zhang's face couldn't help but twitch, "Okay, everyone is on standby, right? You all heard me?"
He said the last sentence to Shi Dahai, Jin Liqun and all their subordinates.
"I heard it." Everyone responded.
"Just do as he says. If you can't solve the case, I'll come back to settle the score with you."
Sun Zhang put down his harsh words and walked out of the lobby angrily.
Zhao Lin ignored him and whispered a task to Liang Song: find out the identity of the owner of Yunlai Inn.
"You go directly to the dock to ask Tian Dabang for help. He saw you last time. By the way, if he asks about something, don't make any suggestions."
"Don't worry, we can't scare the snake away."
After Liang Song left, Zhao Lin took He Qingquan and Tao Erleng to the county government's warehouse.
If the author is accurate in determining the age of the murderer, then this person is most likely to have committed crimes elsewhere.
It is impossible for a person to suddenly become abnormal in his fifties.
For fugitive criminals, each state capital will issue a wanted warrant and offer a reward within the state capital for their capture.
If the case is serious, interstate notification will also be issued.
The purpose of Zhao Lin's visit to the warehouse was to check the wanted warrants received by Qinghe County over the years and find out the origins of the murderer of the serial rape and murder case.
"Captain Zhao, what are you doing here?"
When the clerk in the warehouse saw Zhao Lin arriving, he saluted respectfully.
Zhao Lin almost laughed out loud when he heard this. He had just acted as the captain, and the clerk changed his title, even omitting the word "generation", which was the essence of flattery.
"It's the acting captain." Zhao Lin corrected.
"Yes, yes, Captain Zhao."
"Where are the wanted documents sent by various states and counties over the years? I want to see them."
The clerk was startled, "Just a wanted warrant?"
"right."
Seeing the clerk's reaction, Zhao Lin guessed that no one had done this before.
There was no concept of statistics in this era, and even experienced police officers rarely consulted historical documents, let alone wanted documents from other states.
Whether it is the county government or the state government, most of them are doing their own thing and are not that concerned about cases elsewhere.
Wanted documents will be kept in the execution room for a maximum of three years. Once the time has elapsed, they will be thrown into the treasury to gather dust.
"it's here!"
The clerk walked around the warehouse and found two stacks of wanted documents as high as half a person on the shelf in the corner, covered with dust.
"All or nothing?" asked the clerk.
"Probably in the last fifty years." Zhao Lin thought for a while and said.
The criminal was in his fifties. Even if he started committing crimes when he was ten years old, fifty years would still be enough.
"Fifty years ago was...the fifth year of Hong Xi's reign."
The clerk counted on his fingers for a while, sorted out nearly fifty years of official documents and handed them to Zhao Lin.
