After losing the eyeballs, the corpse's face will be deformed, and the loss of teeth will exacerbate this phenomenon. Therefore, requiring nearby residents to come and identify the body, a time-consuming but effective method, will never work.
However, this did not prevent Lu Li from conducting the most basic reasoning.
Judging from the body shape of the deceased, she was an adult woman with a slightly plump figure.
The clothes all over his body were stained with blood, and his abdomen was eroded and blackened, making it unbearable to look at.
"The letter said that the deceased's money was not lost, so where is the money bag?"
Lu Li's voice was trembling, but no one in the room dared to laugh. After all, their performance was not much better.
"There are too many homeless people nearby. To prevent accidents, I put them away first."
An old police officer with a beard was afraid of being misunderstood, so he quickly added: "All my colleagues present can testify that if there is a penny missing from the wallet, I am willing to accept any punishment."
After he finished speaking, Lu Li put away the magnifying glass and asked bluntly: "How much is it?"
"Nine pounds fifteen pence."
This answer is different than expected.
The soles of the deceased's leather boots were badly worn, which showed that her financial situation was not ideal during her lifetime. How could she carry a huge sum of money with her?
You know, four pounds of freshly baked bread only costs six shillings, and one pound is equal to twenty shillings, or two hundred and forty pence.
Judging from the memories he inherited, Lu Li estimated that a single woman could live quite well in London with an income of sixty pounds a year.
Because of this, it is very illogical for a woman in ordinary clothes to have property in her purse that does not match her identity and status.
Think about this.
Lu Li slowly leaned down and continued to examine the unknown female corpse in front of him——
The victim was lying on his back, his face was bloody and his appearance was unclear.
The neck was almost severed, which should have been a fatal injury, and the abdomen was cut open. There was a long and deep inverted V-shaped wound on the abdomen, and the internal organs were black and red.
"Silk bonnet?"
Soon, Lu Li noticed an inconspicuous detail. The deceased was wearing a coal bucket-shaped soft hat with a few artificial flowers on it, which looked very delicate.
Generally speaking, this kind of small object is very popular among ladies and can be found almost everywhere on Baker Street.
However, he was now in Whitechapel, a slum crowded with homeless people.
After a moment of silence, Lu Li came up with a guess that could withstand scrutiny.
Wensley, who had been paying attention to Lu Li, saw his brows tightening and immediately asked, "Mr. Detective, have you discovered anything new?"
"The deceased was a wandering warbler!"
"Out of professional necessity, she would try to look as beautiful as possible every day, such as wearing a silk bonnet and a lace underskirt."
Hearing this, the police officers nodded one after another. They have been maintaining law and order in Whitechapel District for a long time, and they have all heard of some unflattering things.
"But you can't make so much money by soliciting customers, right? If I remember correctly..."
Halfway through his words, Wensley instantly stopped speaking and coughed a few times to hide his inner embarrassment.
Faced with the rhetorical question, Lu Li emphasized: "The deceased was already dead in the early morning!"
"If you think about it carefully, what kind of people would be walking in the alleys at that time."
"Night shift female worker..."
Wensley instinctively wanted to refute, but felt that it was unlikely to be a female worker. After all, who would wear a fancy hat and work the night shift in the factory?
As for the other police officers, they have been acting as backdrops and remain silent as long as Mr. Detective does not ask questions.
Looking left and right, Lu Li saw that no one was cooperating with him, so he decided to continue the deduction:
“At midnight, in the narrow and dark alley, the victim was looking for guests.
At this time, a man with a cane appeared. This guy was very rich. Perhaps there was a carriage parked behind him, which symbolized wealth.
Soon, the two settled everything, and the victim thought he was lucky. After all, it was not common for men in Whitechapel to spend a lot of money.
However, what happened next made her regret it. She saw the man raise his left hand that had been hidden behind his back, and the sharp blade flashed with a cold light, and it passed by.
In an instant, she lost consciousness. She did not struggle or fight in the middle, because everything was too short and there was no time to react. "
After the words fell, everyone remained silent.
Based on facts and many tiny clues, analyze, conjecture, and even extrapolate more clues until all the clues can form a complete logic.
This is the basic deduction method!
As long as the major and minor premises are correct and the logic is self-consistent, the conclusion will be infinitely close to the truth, or even consistent with the truth.
At this moment, Lu Li made another move. He quickly walked up to the old police officer and his voice rose unconsciously: "Can you give me the victim's wallet?"
Seeing this, everyone was slightly agitated. They wanted to know what kind of trick this famous detective would perform——
In just half an hour, they sorted out the problems that all the elites of Scotland Yard could not solve. If it wasn't a magic trick, what could it be?
When he thought of this, the old police officer was so excited that he couldn't control himself. He grabbed a money bag from his pocket and handed it to Lu Li.
As expected, it's easy to get started with.
"Sure enough, the murderer spent a lot of money, and he didn't just try to make someone look fat."
Lu Li sighed secretly in his heart, then pulled the knot open and shook out a small handful of coins, nine of which shone with a dark golden light.
"Nine pounds and fifteen pence. I guess, only fifteen pence really belongs to the victim. The other nine pounds are the bait dropped by the murderer in order to make her relax her vigilance."
The old police officer looked confused. Where did he come to this conclusion? He looked around and saw that his colleagues were all like this and couldn't figure out the reason.
At this time, Lu Li put the deceased's belongings back into the purse and asked in a deep voice, "Officer Wensley, if you want to buy a valuable item, how will you pay?"
"ah?"
Hearing this, Wensley was stunned for a moment and subconsciously wanted to ask the reason.
As a result, when he raised his head, he met Lu Li's searching gaze.
It seemed that Mr. Detective was not joking. Thinking of this, Wensley lowered his head and thought seriously about how to answer.
Tens of seconds later.
"If I wanted to buy a brand new bike, I would probably save for two months and spend the shillings saved... That's it!"
Before he finished speaking, this guy figured out the key in an instant and took the initiative to explain for Lu Li: "Everyone, the murderer used saprin to pay for prostitution! Presumably, he must not be short of money."
Since he can join Scotland Yard and maintain law and order in London, it means that no one present is mediocre.
After Wensley gave the hint, they all figured it out: in London, most people use copper and silver coins to settle accounts, such as florins (two shillings) and crowns (five shillings); Flynn is made of gold. It is small and easy to carry. It is equivalent to one pound. It is most suitable for nobles and wealthy businessmen who don't care about money.
Is there any progress in the unidentified cold case of the deceased?
At this moment, the old police officer felt an unreal feeling in his heart. He did not expect that he would find a breakthrough so easily.
Lu Li shook his head and felt sorry for Scotland Yard's ability to handle the case: they only focused on the body itself, but ignored the subtleties.
