Chapter 691 - Investigation 1
Chapter 691 - Investigation (1)
But...
Ji Yunshu shook her head, dismissing the thought. She frowned as she began examining the corpse. She rolled up the corpse’s sleeve, revealing the livor mortis that was starting to appear under the skin. She pressed down lightly on the skin, and the bluish-purple discoloration faded away slightly. She then pried open the eyelids of the corpse.
With that, she was able to form a conclusion.
“What are you doing?!” exclaimed Cai Da who was watching the event unfold, “My mother is dead! Why are you still desecrating her body like that?”
Ji Yunshu ignored him.
“Stop!” He shouted again.
Keep shouting. Nobody will listen to you however loud you are. Ji Yunshu continued her careful inspection on the corpse, from the head to the hands, where she found a very significant clue.
She found a strand of hair under Granny Lin’s yellowish finger nail. It was black, rather thick, and not oily. It was obvious that the hair had not fallen from the white-haired Granny Lin, and could very well be left behind by the killer. She wrapped the hair with a silk handkerchief, and continued the examination.
The crowd around her was dumbstruck. What happened? What is Teacher Ji looking at?
Jing Rong was the only one who remained calm. This woman must’ve found something. I guess there will be a lot of work cut out for us.
Just then, Ji Yunshu shifted her gaze to Granny Lin’s shoes and frowned.
She removed the coarse cloth shoes from the corpse, flipping it over to look at the soles. She found a thin layer of light red mud covering the soles of the shoes, as well as something that was glossy and grimy. There were also fresh traces of friction damage at the heels. It was not severe, but was enough to tear open a few small openings. The ragged edges of the small holes also shone with an oily sheen. Ji Yunshu rubbed a finger on the surface and brought it to the tip of her nose with a gentle sniff. It’s lard. My hunch is correct!
Marquis Kang was confused, but he also knew Teacher Ji’s skill with solving cases. Her actions likely meant that she had found something suspicious about the corpse.
“Teacher Ji, is there something wrong with Granny Lin’s corpse?” he asked.
“Indeed!”
“Did she fall to her death?”
“She did.”
“Eh?”
Ji Yunshu spoke slowly, “She had indeed died from her fall, but…” she pointed at Granny Lin’s forehead, “There are only two possible types of wound when a human forehead is smashed against the ground or some other flat surface. If the impact is not severe, it will not tear through the skin, and would instead leave a lump on the head. A severe impact will split the surrounding skin and flesh open, but with a more even pattern. However, the wound on Granny Lin’s forehead is jagged, and you can even see the bone in the middle. This means that her forehead had landed against an uneven and sharp surface. Thus, this room is not where the incident occured.”
The crowd was confused at her words, but craned their necks to take a look, and found what she said to be true.
So does it mean that this is really not the scene where the incident took place? Did Granny Lin actually pass away somewhere else?
“Where did she pass away then, if not in her room? Besides, how did she end up in the room if it happened somewhere else? Who is the murderer?”
The crowd shared the same doubts as well.
Ji Yunshu stood up slowly, with a solemn expression on her face, “Based on the livor mortis that was starting to show and the degree of cloudiness of her eyes, Granny Lin passed away today at hour of the ox (1 - 3am). It was already very, so why would she carry the cups into or out of the room? Either way, her position is peculiar. If she was coming into the room, why was she moving towards her bed when her table is right by the door?
“Could she be going to set the cups on her bed? But I’ve seen how clean her room is. She doesn’t seem like someone who would make that kind of mess. And if she’s leaving the room with her cups, then her head should be facing the door instead of her bed! Thus, someone obviously had laid her down like this, and whoever did it made a huge mistake. He or she had overlooked the direction that the corpse should be facing.”
“Then… Who is the killer?’
She raised the pair of shoes for all to see, “I do not know who the killer might be yet, but I know where the crime occured by looking at these.”
The crowd widened their eyes. These are just a pair of ordinary shoes made from coarse cloth! The handiwork is sloppy, and its color is dull, but there’s nothing suspicious about them!
Ji Yunshu continued, “The bottom of Granny Lin’s shoes is coated by a layer of light red soil, and there are signs of wear on the heels of her shoes. They area also also coated by something greasy, which I’ve found to be lard! Granny Lin must have hit her head on rocks and died, then the killer dragged her back into her room, thus causing the shoes to be torn and coated with lard. This begs the question: where in the mansion has rocks, light red soil, and even lard? If we can figure this out, then it will lead us to the scene of the murder.”
Rocks? Light red soil? And lard?
What sort of place is that?
The people in the crowd were deep in thought until one of them shouted out, “I know where it is!”
“Tell me!”
“It’s the courtyard by the kitchen!”
Oh!
Everyone was quick to agree, “That’s right! It’s the courtyard by the kitchen. There’s a small plot of land that is used to plant vegetables, and the soil is light red. And because it is the kitchen, the floor is oily. The area is also decorated by a few large boulders.”
Ji Yunshu nodded. “Bring me there.”
Marquis Kang ordered some of his men to watch over Granny Lin’s corpse, and to keep everyone including Cai Da away before leaving with Ji Yunshu to the courtyard by the kitchen.
And expected, rocks, light red soil, and a floor greasy with lard were all present.
But what was Granny Lin doing here at the hour of the ox?
Ji Yunshu inspected the decorative boulder, found traces of blood.
“Who are the ones on duty in the kitchen at night, Marquis Kang?”
Families that are rich would often post night watches in the kitchen to stop thieves or even their servants from stealing food.
Marquis Kang sent for his steward and asked him. They were able to identify two younger men who had been helping out in the kitchen.
“Did the two of you see Granny Lin at the hour of the ox?” asked Ji Yunshu.
The duo shook their heads.
“Then who else has been here?”
They shook their heads again.
Ji Yunshu could tell that they had something to hide, “I want you to tell me the truth. Where were you at the hour of the ox last night?”
Ah! The duo did not shake their heads this time and instead stared at each other with fear.
“Answer the question!” roared Marquis Kang.
“We were… back in our rooms, Marquis. We were afraid because of all the strange things that had been happening in the mansion, and that’s why we went back to our rooms at the hour of the rat.”
They were so scared that they didn’t dare to lie.
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