Chapter 57: Doubts
"Hmm? His hand..."
"What's wrong with your hand?" Linlang asked.
"There's nothing on his hand except some dust."
"What's so strange about this?" Du Yunzhang asked in confusion.
"You know, judging by the marks on his neck, they clearly show signs of strangulation. If someone strangled you from behind, what would be your first reaction?"
Du Yunzhang scratched his head. "My first reaction... naturally, I struggled desperately to stop the rope from strangling me."
"How do you struggle?"
"He struggled desperately, just trying to get his hands on the tightening rope to stop his neck from being strangled."
"Take action! When a person is roped around their neck, out of survival instinct, they will subconsciously reach out to pull at the noose to relieve the pressure on their neck. Even if the rope isn't stuck from the inside, they will desperately try to pull it free, so it's inevitable that there will be scratches and wear. If an ordinary person used two hands, the marks might not be too deep, but Yuan Lao Er only has one right hand, so the force must be more concentrated, so the scratches should be deeper. Yet, look, there are no marks on his hands, and there are only rope marks on his neck, with no signs of scratching by his own fingernails. What does this mean?"
Du Yunzhang and Luo Mei shook their heads at the same time.
"Maybe he was strangled while he was unconscious? That's why he didn't struggle?"
"No," Du Yunzhang said, "Even if he was unconscious, the suffocating feeling of the rope around his neck would definitely make him wake up instantly before death. Even if the reaction time was short, he would definitely struggle."
"Well, Lao Du's years as the county police chief have not been in vain. He is very experienced." Yin Chuan praised.
"Then what's going on?" Luo Mei asked.
"The only possibility I can think of is that he was already dead before he was strangled, so there was no sign of resistance."
"Dead?" Luo Mei was shocked. "That doesn't make sense! If the person was already dead, why would the murderer strangle him? Is he just bored?"
Yin Chuan did not answer, but he had already made his own judgment in his mind. It was very likely that this was the case, but there was no evidence yet.
"Then what was the real cause of his death?" Linlang raised a new question.
"There were no other wounds on his body, nor any signs of poisoning, but there were spots on his face. Also, his pants were a little damp. Lao Du, do you think this is a sign of death by asphyxiation?"
"Indeed. The characteristics are correct, but isn't strangulation just asphyxiation?"
"No, no, no, death by suffocation is not just caused by strangulation. There are many other reasons." Linlang corrected.
"Yes, there are more than just strangulation to cause death due to asphyxiation. Drowning and sealing the mouth and nose can also be seen. For example, the Water Margin records a form of punishment used in early prisons: covering the face with layers of yellow paper..."
"Oh, yes. I heard the previous warden of Wuhe County mention that method. In the prison industry, it's called 'sticking a prostitute'. In the end, the prisoner couldn't bear the torture and died of suffocation. When the paper was peeled off, his facial features were basically the same as Yuan Laoer's, and he was also incontinent." Du Yunzhang suddenly realized, "So, if that's the case, Yuan Laoer might have died before he was strangled."
"Then... there's more than one perpetrator," Linlang said in a low voice. "That's even more disturbing." She then cast a concealed glance at everyone except Yin Chuan and Du Yunzhang. It was obvious to her that the second perpetrator was among Luo Mei, the fourth concubine, and the fifth concubine.
"But we can't rule out the possibility that this was done by one person," Yin Chuan said, "but he had some special reason to do it."
"It's not a good idea for us to just make random guesses. I have a suggestion," Luo Mei said.
"What do you think?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"Fan Zheng must have passed by here anyway. Let's chase him and capture him. Maybe we can dig out the whole story from him and get the secret treasure back at the same time!"
"Hmph, what do you mean by taking the opportunity? This is your core purpose!" Du Yunzhang said disdainfully.
"You can think whatever you want, but I don't intend to stop here."
Yin Chuan nodded in agreement. "Luo Mei's suggestion coincides with mine. For now, we can only continue forward and catch up with Fan Zheng ahead of us. This is the only viable solution. However, we should wait until we see the other body before we leave."
Du Yunzhang said angrily, "If he doesn't behave, I'll show him how I can use all my criminal methods to teach him a lesson! A simple 'postponement' will be enough for him."
"Still talking about 'promotion'! Where did you find so much yellow paper? You have to change your old habit of venting your anger with harsh words and not doing your job properly." Luo Mei did not forget to lecture Du Yunzhang at this time.
"Anyway, I'll have to go out sometime. When I get out, I'll definitely report him to the authorities and make him confess honestly."
Yin Chuan then continued to examine Tan Zhuozi's body carefully, and this time he found something suspicious at the seemingly fatal wound on the back of his head.
"What do you think would happen if a blunt instrument or heavy object was used to hit the victim's head from behind, causing a fatal blow?" Yin Chuan asked in a muffled voice.
"You asked this question. Look, isn't it just Tan Zhuozi who is like this?" Du Yunzhang was very puzzled.
"Isn't that right? I don't think that's the case."
Linlang leaned over to look at the body. "Brother Yin, I don't understand what you mean. If it's not like this? Then what could it be?"
"I can guess what you're thinking," Yin Chuan explained. "When a heavy object hits the head, it usually hits the back of the head directly. This is the most vulnerable and fatal part of the head. Even if the person doesn't die from the first blow, they will immediately lose their resistance, allowing them to make up for it later. But you may have overlooked that Tan Zhuozi is a dwarf, and his height is only around the chest and waist of an average person. If the murderer attacked with a heavy object, would he lower himself and hit him diagonally with the heavy object to hit the back of his head? Logically speaking, shouldn't it be the most reasonable to hit him directly from the top of the head?"
Luo Mei narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then gestured with his hands. "Brother Yin's words make a lot of sense. Generally, when someone attacks the back of the head with a heavy object, they assume that a normal person of similar height would do the same. But for a dwarf like Tan Zhuozi, this wound on the back of the head is indeed not in line with common sense."
"Then how do you explain this wound?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"I think it's very likely that he was lying prone on the ground when the murderer hit him on the back of the head with a heavy object. Perhaps his situation is similar to Yuan Laoer's."
"He was also smashed after his death?"
"Let me take a closer look..."
Yin Chuan asked Linlang to illuminate Tan Zhuozi's body while he conducted a detailed examination, starting from the head, then the neck, and continuing down the body. He indeed found two suspicious areas. "There's water seeping from the mouth and nose, and several toes are broken. What's going on?"
"It seems that he was drowned? Before he drowned, his legs were struggling and his toes hit the rock and broke?" Luo Mei guessed.
"It's possible that he died of drowning, but the broken toe bones... make me feel even more suspicious." Yin Chuan murmured.
"What strange did you find?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"Look at his four broken toes—the fourth toe and the pinky on his left foot, the fourth toe and the pinky on his right foot...how come they're so symmetrical?"
"What about symmetry?"
"Can you imagine, on our journey, have we ever seen a pool of water where you could drown if you fell into it? Most of them were puddles the size of washbasins, right? Even if there were one or two, they were only calf-deep. No matter how short Tan Zhuozi was, it was impossible for him to fall in and drown silently without calling for help. So there is only one reasonable explanation for his drowning: someone forced his head into the pond, preventing him from calling for help. He struggled to reach out his hands to grab the murderer, but because Tan Zhuozi's limbs were short, his hands couldn't reach the other person, and his feet kicked up and down in the struggle, resulting in broken toes."
"But this still doesn't explain your question?" Du Yunzhang asked. "Why are the broken toes so symmetrical?"
"I don't have a reasonable hypothesis yet, but what is certain is that the symmetrical breaking of the toes must have a reason. And perhaps this reason can indirectly infer the characteristics of the murderer."
Everyone was puzzled as to why Yin Chuan made such an irrelevant statement, but at the moment there were no other clues to follow, so they had to put their doubts aside for the time being.
Just like that, Luo Mei suggested speeding up their pace to track Fan Zheng. Everyone agreed and prepared to move on. However, Linlang felt a little melancholy when she saw the two bodies lying side by side.
"Just leaving them here alive... isn't that a bit inappropriate?" she said softly.
"But how can we dispose of their bodies in this dark tomb passage? You just said that we can't carry them on our way, right? Unless a space suddenly appears under the tomb passage, which is just enough to put them in." Luo Mei said, shaking his head.
Her words were unintentional, but somehow, they touched Yin Chuan's heart.
"Oh, well, the dead are gone. I hope they can go to heaven soon."
Du Yunzhang chuckled. "Look at what you're saying. What merits did these two tomb robbers have to go to heaven? I think their bodies lying in the tomb are a perfect destination, right?"
Linlang couldn't help but sigh, then glanced helplessly at the bodies again, preparing to follow the others. But just as her gaze swept over the two bodies, the light dimmed, and she suddenly let out a startled "Ah!" Everyone's attention was drawn to her.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Yin Chuan asked.
"He...his hand...how come...he raised it up?" Linlang said tremblingly in horror, pointing at Yuan Laoer's body.
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