Xue Gui was originally writing a case statement for the heads of the Criminal Department to read. It was a report. He mainly talked about his first-hand findings after arriving at the scene and the direction of the subsequent investigation.
Among them, the cause of Qin Xiuyuan's death is the first thing that needs to be clarified at the crime scene.
First of all, one could tell at a glance that Qin Xiuyuan did not die of natural causes but was killed by someone. The cause of death was roughly suffocation, but what about the cause of suffocation? Xue Gui's suspicion is that it was caused by swallowing some kind of medicine or some kind of magic.
Regarding the details, Xue Gui's idea was to wait until Zuo Zuo carefully inspected the body before deliberating. Unexpectedly, the people from Xuanqing Guard seemed to have found some clues from other places first.
Xue Gui could tell just from Li Qing's words that Master Shen, the famous member of the Xuanqing Guard, was really capable. It was previously rumored that Mr. Shen was from a humble background and had achieved his position through his true ability. Now it seems that it is true.
Just looking at the appearance of the corpse should rule out most possibilities of "death by suffocation." It is difficult to leave traces in terms of magic, and it is too difficult to quietly kill a person who is obviously under surveillance in Prince Shou's Mansion. What's left is probably "swallowing" something fatal.
What is it?
Xue Gui had not thought about it carefully before. Now according to Li Qing's retelling, Mr. Shen of Xuanqing Guard suspected that it was "Xiangtang".
The absence of peculiar smell in the latrine is associated with little or no excretion, and it is associated with less eating. Then the possibility of death from receiving food from Prince Shou's Mansion can be ruled out. Isn't the rest just the food Qin Xiuyuan brought himself?
Unlike Li Qing, Xue Gui knows Xiangtang. He was not surprised that people like Qin Xiuyuan had the habit of eating gum. What was unexpected was the empty bottle that was pulled out of Qin Xiuyuan's storage bag. The fragrance remaining inside was the same as the faint fragrance contained in the blood clots in Qin Xiuyuan's corpse, which meant that the empty bottle had been filled with sugar, but it had been eaten.
What a coincidence. Die just after finishing the last pill in the bottle?
Xue Gui often dislikes the word "coincidence", especially in cases. As long as the word "coincidence" appears in his mind, it means there may be a problem.
"You go back and keep an eye on Wu Zuo, and bring back Wu Zuo's conclusion as soon as possible. After that, the body will be transported back to the Yamen Shantang for storage. No one else is allowed to disturb it without my warrant."
Li Qing should leave. She still had doubts in her heart. She still didn't believe that the man named Shen had any real abilities. Maybe Master Xue was just overthinking?
...
In the garrison of the Fushi Yamen in Jingxi Town, Shen Hao, Wang Yiming and several other people who had been transferred to "assist in the investigation" were sitting together.
This kind of small gathering scene cannot be seen anywhere else. It is a unique custom in the Black Flag Camp of Fengli City. It is especially common in the first-line Black Flag Camp. Every case discussion is basically like this.
"Let's all talk about our respective discoveries." Shen Hao poured tea for several subordinates himself, and Wang Yiming was responsible for passing it on.
After Shen Hao poured the tea, he sat back down. This time, including him and Wang Yiming, a total of seven people came. He was not the only one who was busy at the crime scene before, the others were also idle.
"Sir, that house is surrounded by water on three sides and a road. On the other side of the pool is a guard post. It is basically impossible to get into the house and kill people. Unless you are a person with extremely high cultivation level."
"It can't be someone with advanced cultivation. Considering the state of Qin Xiuyuan's death, it's completely impossible for an expert to give him so many clues in vain while he was struggling."
"Also, I went to the night market on the street. There is a gum seller in the market in the north of the imperial city. There is no such thing in other markets. The magnolia-scented one is in short supply, and many people like it. Yes, it’s impossible to find anything in a short time. But Qin Xiuyuan’s purple jade bottle is still very famous over there.”
Hearing this, Shen Hao pointed to the person who just spoke and asked him to elaborate on the purple jade bottle.
"Sir, just like gum, the bottles containing gum are also very popular among the upper-class circles in the Imperial City. Like jade pendants, there are a lot of things to pay attention to when taking out gum bottles. When I went to ask, I talked to a shopkeeper After reading some, he told me that purple jade is the best among the gum bottles, and there are many subdivided categories. There are also some carvings by masters, which are difficult to buy even if you have money.
I asked him to give an example, but the man boasted that he had sold a top-quality purple jade bottle to the third master of the Qin family last month, and described it as the same one as Qin Xiuyuan's. "
Shen Hao: "In other words, many people know that Qin Xiuyuan likes to eat sweets and has a purple jade candy bottle?"
"Yes sir."
"Sir, based on the traces of the corpses you just mentioned, I think someone calculated the time in advance, poured out all the sugar in Qin Xiuyuan's sugar bottle, and put a pill with special ingredients in it. Qin Xiuyuan was not The monk also lacks the ability to identify poisons. In addition, he was frightened when he first arrived at Prince Shou's Mansion. He didn't look carefully in his panic, raised his head, swallowed the pills in the bottle, and then died."
"Yes, I second the opinion! At least for now, it seems that this is how Qin Xiuyuan was killed."
The people present here are all experts in solving crimes in the Black Flag Camp. With the details brought up by Shen Hao and the visits to several places in Prince Shou's Mansion and the Imperial City this evening, these people can deduce the conclusion in just a few words.
It just so happened that it coincided with what Shen Hao was thinking.
Shen Hao raised his hand and pressed it, and the discussion quickly died down. Just listen to what he said: "I know that Qin Xiuyuan has the habit of eating gum, and he can also get the gum bottle that Qin Xiuyuan regards as a treasure and carries it with him, and has the opportunity to switch the bag. In addition, there is a motive for killing. Who do you think this person will be? ?”
"Hehe, I can't think of this. It won't be King Shou anyway."
"Nonsense, King Shou doesn't show up now because he's afraid of being stained by shit. There's no need to kill Qin Xiuyuan."
"Could it be the Qin family themselves? Their people are now "abandoned". Wouldn't it be bad if they were caught and spilled something that they shouldn't have said? So they took it upon themselves to clean up the family?"
"It doesn't make sense. If you wanted to clean up the house yourself, why didn't you take action earlier? Why did you wait until Qin Xiuyuan arrived at Prince Shou's Mansion before taking action?"
"Isn't it okay to deliberately confuse the audience? It's not difficult at all to accurately calculate the timeline of Qin Xiuyuan's death by using the regular time when he eats gum, right?"
...
Shen Hao did not interrupt in the subsequent discussion of the case. There is a difference in the amount of information between him and his subordinates. There are many deeper things about the "Qin Xiuyuan Case" that others don't know, so the discussion of the case can no longer touch the fundamentals. However, the previous analysis has given Shen Hao a lot of inspiration.
For example, the party that most wanted Qin Xiuyuan to die was indeed no one else but the Qin family behind Qin Xiuyuan. Because Qin Xiuyuan caused big trouble for the Qin family from the moment he neglected to deal with the gangsters who spread the news. Even if Qin Xiuyuan confesses, the entire civil service group except the Qin family will be implicated.
In addition, logically speaking, the most likely people to gain Qin Xiuyuan's trust and be close to him are his own family members.
