"Boss, should we return the body to the madam? It looks like he drowned anyway."
A constable nearby remarked, his words clearly indicating his reluctance to cause trouble, especially since the woman had no relatives! A brothel madam? Don't be ridiculous! These are girls bought! Besides, no brothel madam wants a murder in her establishment; aside from anything else, it would severely impact her business! That's a lot of hard-earned money! So, in cases of courtesan deaths, they usually turn a blind eye and let it pass!
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the madam quickly wiped away her tears, and with the help of a maidservant beside her, she stood up abruptly and swayed forward.
"Oh dear, Officer Lin, I don't know what got into Man'er, she actually tried to drown herself. But she's someone I watched grow up, she's practically my daughter! We'll definitely give her a proper burial. I'll have the sisters burn some paper money for her, and we'll ask the Taoist priest from Qingyun Temple to perform a ritual to help her pass on to the afterlife, hoping she'll be reborn into a better life and never have to be involved in prostitution again!"
As she spoke, the madam wiped away imaginary tears with a handkerchief embroidered with bright red peonies, looking as if she were deeply moved.
That's a clever way of putting it. Anyone who hears it will think that although the madam is a woman of the night, she does things with a sense of righteousness! She's subtly creating a persona for herself!
So the constable's surname was Lin?
Lin Changfeng frowned slightly and said expressionlessly, "According to procedure, a coroner needs to be called to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. If it is indeed a case of suicide by drowning, then you can dispose of the body yourself. If there are other hidden circumstances, then that's another matter!"
“Oh, sir, what’s there to investigate? It’s obvious! Although Man’er is a courtesan, she has a very good temperament and gets along very well with all her patrons. I can guarantee she has no enemies. As for her relationship with the other women in the brothel, they are as close as sisters.”
"In that case, you must be more interested in knowing the real cause of her death. And if she was truly so well-liked and had no grudges against anyone, why would Miss Man'er jump into the water and drown herself?"
After being asked all these questions, the madam was speechless.
The onlookers also started discussing, and what the constable said seemed to make some sense. But if he killed Miss Man'er, then who was it?!
The madam was getting anxious; that could affect her business! Luckily, this brat still had some conscience and didn't die in the brothel! Otherwise, even if she died, she'd be spitting in anger!
Since the superior had spoken, the others dared not offer any further opinions, presumably someone had already gone to fetch the coroner.
Before long, a middle-aged man was brought over by a constable. Upon seeing Constable Lin, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Constable, I heard that a case has occurred here."
"Coroner Wang, please examine the body to determine the nature of the death."
Lin Changfeng returned the greeting but did not inform the coroner of the deceased's name, occupation, or other information. He believed that as a coroner, he did not need to know any other information; he only needed to examine the body.
Qin San Niang was quite interested in autopsies. As a fellow professional, being able to witness the ancient autopsy process firsthand was truly a worthwhile trip!
Unexpectedly, the coroner only glanced at the deceased's face and upper limbs before arbitrarily concluding that Man'er had drowned herself. It seems his skills are not very good! I don't know if he wanted to close the case as soon as possible and go back to drinking, or if there was some other hidden reason.
The madam breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly called her maid to go upstairs to fetch people to come and carry Man'er's body back.
Lin Changfeng was clearly dissatisfied with this result; as the saying goes, "a trade is like a mountain!" However, the whole matter still had many suspicious points. For example, Hua Man Lou was three streets away; the deceased could have chosen a nearby place to drown herself. Why would she go all the way here to end her life? Furthermore, this young woman, Man'er, wore no jewelry in her hair, and her clothes were simple and plain. Where was her jewelry? Surely, a top courtesan at Hua Man Lou wouldn't be so shabby? And Man'er's appearance was somewhat grotesque, unlike the suicides he had encountered before…
As I was pondering this, I heard a woman's voice from the crowd of onlookers, "This girl didn't commit suicide, she was murdered."
The speaker was Qin San Niang. As a forensic doctor, misjudging the cause of death would be disrespectful to the deceased. Since she had encountered this situation, she couldn't just ignore it. Fortunately, she would be leaving tomorrow and wasn't worried about causing any trouble.
"You woman, how could you possibly know anything about autopsy procedures? If you don't know, don't spout nonsense!"
The coroner, Wang, said indignantly, "How dare this woman question my autopsy results!" He was also afraid, because before he came, the madam of Hua Man Lou had given him a bribe to say that Miss Man'er had committed suicide.
"Yes, the Wang family has been coroners for generations, they're really skilled! Hurry home and take care of the kids, don't delay the adults from solving the case."
Regardless of what others said, from the moment Lin Changfeng saw Qin Sanniang, he felt that this woman was not one to speak recklessly; a person's eyes do not lie! Moreover, he also thought that Miss Man'er did not commit suicide, but he simply had no evidence to prove it.
It's not impossible for him to forcibly take the body back, but he would definitely be criticized. Now that some people are saying that the girl was murdered, it's actually done him a big favor.
"Alright, everyone quiet down." One of the tall men was Lin Changfeng's servant. How could he not know what his master was thinking? He pointed at Qin Sanniang, signaling her to come to the front to speak.
"Madam, how do you know the deceased was murdered rather than committed suicide? After all, this is a matter of life and death, and you cannot speak recklessly without evidence. Otherwise, this constable could also charge you with obstructing the investigation!"
Qin San Niang wanted to say, "Grandma isn't afraid of you at all."
However, with the king in power, she really didn't dare to do it. She followed suit and clasped her hands in a salute. "Sir, the deceased did not commit suicide. Please look, the deceased's hands are very white, and there is no mud or weeds in the fingernails or between the fingers. A drowning person will struggle to some extent no matter what, and even if they are determined to die, they cannot completely stop struggling."
"You can determine that the death was murdered just by looking at a pair of hands? That's utterly absurd!"
Coroner Wang flung his sleeves, looking rather embarrassed and angry.
But inside, he panicked! He knew he shouldn't have accepted the money. If he were outdone by a woman this time, he would be utterly humiliated.
"Then, Madam, could you please examine it in detail?" Lin Changfeng's eyes were serious, completely ignoring the coroner's words, his face showing a strong sense of seeking advice.
Qin San Niang nodded and stepped forward to reveal the deceased's face. She then put on gloves, the kind of cotton gloves she had taken from the supermarket.
After carefully examining the deceased's mouth, nose, and various parts of the body, it would be inappropriate to remove the gloves, but it was also a bit unsettling to have her perform an autopsy with her bare hands.
"Sir, the deceased was around twenty-two years old. There were no air bubbles in his mouth or nose, and his fingers were clean, without any mud or weeds. There was bruising on his eyelids, his fingernails were bluish-purple, his lip mucosa was damaged, and his teeth were slightly loose. His clothes were neat, and he had not been violated before his death. The preliminary conclusion is that the deceased died of suffocation, and his body was then thrown into the water to create the illusion of drowning. As for the time of death, based on the extent to which the body was submerged in water, it should be around 1-3 AM last night."
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