Suddenly, even the summer wind became cold.
Zheng Sanji lowered his eyes and looked at the teacup in his hand. He said, "When we arrived at the scene, the deceased had been lying in the flowerbed for nearly half a day. Her death was exactly the same as the first victim, except that the direction of the flowerbed was different from the rose flowerbed. Everything else was the same."
That is to say, the newly sewn embroidery on the back of the second deceased was displayed in a different direction from that of the first deceased.
Jiang Lingyao suddenly asked, "Before you and Uncle Xu arrived in Tongzhou, didn't the local coroner in Tongzhou conduct an initial examination?"
When Zheng Sanji heard this question, his face froze for a moment. After a while, he said, "The coroner named Chen Zhen was still ill at the time, so he did not conduct the initial examination of the deceased. Both the initial examination and the re-examination were done by my master."
Jiang Lingyao wrote down Chen Zhen's name, and then listened to Zheng Sanji continue: "There is no need to elaborate on the symptoms of the deceased's body. It was exactly the same as the first victim, and there were no clues left at the scene. However, when we performed the autopsy, Master found a mole at the corner of the deceased's lip. The position of the mole was the same as the first victim, so Master speculated that this mole was one of the reasons for the murder."
Duan Nanqi nodded: "That's very true."
Zheng Sanji said: "But... the second victim was not an unmarried woman. She was over 30 years old when she died, and she had some old scars on her body. More importantly, she had a miscarriage before, and... she also had symptoms that are unique to women who like fireworks."
Zheng Sanji said: "The identity of the first victim is difficult to find, but the identity of the second victim is very clear. She should be a fireworks girl."
Jiang Lingyao was very surprised: "But if that's the case, then it's different from the murderer's preferences."
Duan Nanqi also said: "Judging from the death of the first victim, the murderer would prefer to let the victim leave with a clean and innocent appearance. For such a stubborn murderer, this fireworks girl obviously does not meet his murder requirements."
The only thing that matches is the mole on the lip.
The two victims with completely contradictory characteristics made the case even more confusing. For a moment, the three people in the pavilion fell silent, and each of them felt like they were carrying a stone in their hearts, weighing heavily on them.
Perhaps because Duan Nanqi had seen many cases of this kind, he took a sip of tea from his cup and then said, "Coroner Zheng, are there any other clues about the case? Who is the suspect you mentioned before?"
Zheng Sanji lowered his eyes and sighed after a long while: "The suspect in the case was actually Chen Zhen, the coroner from Tongzhou."
Jiang Lingyao finally understood a little. No wonder he was so strange when talking about Chen Zhen just now. It turned out that the connection was here.
"Although there are several knife marks on the backs of the two victims, the murderer's knife strikes became more and more steady each time. There were even some minor wounds on the first victim, but none on the second victim. This shows that the murderer has either made amazing progress or has a lot of experience. He was just nervous when committing the first crime, but his mentality was normal when committing the second crime. Therefore, as a coroner with experience in autopsies, Chen Zhen is actually very suspicious. In addition..."
Zheng Sanji said, "In addition, the most important reason why my master and I went to Tongzhou was that Chen Zhenzi asked to be treated for illness, and Tongzhou's cases were piled up like a mountain, so my master and I were ordered to go to Tongzhou."
"Moreover, Chen Zhen had no parents and only an older sister who married far away. The people who knew him well were all from the neighborhood. And because he was a coroner, his neighbors somewhat despised him, so his house was located in a remote area, even in the suburbs."
Zheng Sanji showed no emotion when he talked about being rejected as a coroner. He had long been accustomed to all kinds of injustice and had no complaints about it.
He just said: "The most important thing is that a neighbor reported to the police that he had not left his house. He said he was recuperating but he did not go out to seek medical treatment. He just stayed at home by himself and no one knew what he was doing every day."
From this point of view, Chen Zhen is a big suspect, but he is not the only suspect.
Jiang Lingyao frowned and said, "That's actually wrong. As a coroner, Chen Zhen can't leave Tongzhou at will. Unless there is an official transfer order or he is sent by his superiors, he will go to other places to assist in handling cases. Since the identity of the first deceased is difficult to find out, she is very likely from another place. How did Chen Zhen find a foreigner and bring her back to Tongzhou?"
Yanjing has many subordinate states and counties, and it is normal for people to move around. People even often travel around to make a living, so the inspection of their movements is not strict.
However, anyone with unusual behavior would be discovered by the city guards, who would check their pass and register their name; the rest of the common people would not be checked.
Not to mention how Chen Zhen went to other places to look for victims, it was not easy for him to bring them to Tongzhou without any abnormalities.
Jiang Lingyao's words made Zheng Sanji sigh: "Who says it's not true? And the second victim was clearly a prostitute, but no one in the prostitutes' alleys of Tongzhou knew her. Tongzhou is not as prosperous as Yanjing, and there is no so-called dark venue, so there is no registration in the land of fireworks. So she must not be a prostitute in Tongzhou, and is more likely to be from another place than the first victim."
Jiang Lingyao said, "So... the government suspected Chen Zhen because they had some solid clues? Just because the murderer held the knife steadily cannot be the only evidence to identify him. Aren't the butcher, doctor, etc. also suspects?"
Zheng Sanji sighed again when he heard this.
He said, "In fact, when I rushed to Tongzhou, because my master knew Chen Zhen, I went to his home to visit him. His home is indeed remote, with no close neighbors. Because it is in the suburbs, his courtyard wall is very high, and there is a firewood room behind the house. It really looks like a place where people can be imprisoned. But Chen Zhen was indeed sick at the time."
"He did not go out to seek medical advice. He just used herbal compresses at home every day because he had rheumatism. The herbal compresses can be used repeatedly. He was not able to move around easily, so he did not go out."
After Zheng Sanji said this, Jiang Lingyao and Duan Nanqi looked at each other, and they immediately realized that neither Zheng Sanji nor Xu Qing believed that Chen Zhen was the murderer.
How is it possible for a patient with rheumatism to walk briskly while carrying a dead body?
Zheng Sanji said, "If there was only one case, Chen Zhen would not be a suspect. But when the second case happened, some people saw him near the garden, and they all said that he was hanging around the garden every day, which was very suspicious."
"According to the testimony of the people, Chen Zhen left home early and returned late every day, as if he lived in a garden in the city. Moreover, he was very secretive, afraid that others would see him. He was always elusive, with unkempt hair and a dirty face..."
Looking at it this way, his behavior was indeed suspicious. No wonder the authorities interrogated him first.
Zheng Sanji said: "After running out of clues to investigate, the government could only arrest Chen Zhen for questioning. At the time, Chen Zhen was already in poor health and mentally ill. After being questioned, he became confused and dazed, but he refused to admit that he was the murderer."
"He refused to confess even after being tortured, and the government had no solid evidence, so they had no choice but to release him. However, after that, Chen Zhen resigned from his job as a coroner and returned home to recuperate."
"That's all we could find out about this case. Master and Magistrate Zhao were busy in Tongzhou for nearly a month, but in the end they returned empty-handed. Since then, the case has been sealed. Although Master and Magistrate Zhao have never forgotten this case, they have no clues and it has finally become an unsolved case."
Another evening breeze blew by, bringing with it the faint fragrance of flowers from the quiet night garden, but it was unable to soothe the melancholy in people's hearts.
No matter how refreshing the fragrance of flowers is, it also carries the tragic voice of the victims who died unjustly.
The three people present were quiet for a while, and then Duan Nanqi called Pei Yu and said, "Immediately send people to Shuntian Prefecture and Tongzhou to retrieve the case files. In addition... invite Zhao Tuiguan at that time to come over to assist in the investigation."
After that, he asked Zheng Sanji: "Mr. Zheng, do you know where this Mr. Zhao went?"
"At that time, Mr. Zhao was already almost 50 years old. The case was a great blow to him. He retired due to illness within two years. I don't know where he is now."
Duan Nanqi nodded, his face calm. "Thank you, Coroner Zheng, for providing the clue. Pei Yu, have someone invite Magistrate Zhao back. If the old Magistrate is still alive and not far away, it would be best if he arrived tomorrow."
He was so calm, as if the Jinyiwei could find out the whereabouts of the retired official with just a little investigation. No wonder His Majesty trusted the Jinyiwei so much. They deserved to be called Jinyi dogs.
The nose seemed to move according to the smell, extremely sensitive.
Pei Yu accepted the task first, and then said, "Sir, Sir Qiao, and Coroner Zheng, the peonies in the flowerbed have been cleaned up. Can you check them again?"
After saying this, the three of them became a little anxious, so they didn't elaborate further and went directly to the flower bed.
At this moment, there are no swaying peonies or white dead bodies on the flowerbed, only mud on the ground.
The two footprints were clearly visible, both marked by the Royal Guards.
There were no clues on the flower bed except for the remaining petals and leaves, but Jiang Lingyao walked along the flower bed to the other side and reached the position of the deceased's head.
She looked forward along the path leading to Yinzi, and could see sparse and dense pits of earth left in the flower bed. They were what was left after the peonies were dug up.
As she watched, Jiang Lingyao suddenly raised her eyebrows: "Master Duan, look."
She pointed to the other side of the flower cluster, which was in front of the dead body's body. The peonies there were sparsely planted, and the flowers and leaves were no more luxuriant than those outside.
Duan Nanqi looked in the direction of her finger and began to understand a little.
Jiang Lingyao said, "Sir, if the murderer only wanted to place the dead body in the flowerbed and expose the embroidery on the back, if he wanted to act in the quickest and safest way, he would have directly placed the dead body in the most exposed part of the peony column. There would be no need to go to the trouble of cleaning the flowers under the dead body."
She took a breath and continued, "You know, the longer he stays here, the greater the risk of being discovered. It's actually not worth it."
Duan Nanqiao took two steps and stood beside Jiang Lingyao. He was tall, strong and upright. When he stood beside Jiang Lingyao, he was like a thick wall, blocking the cool night breeze.
Duan Nanqi followed Jiang Lingyao's gaze and looked forward together, the two of them had their eyes sparkling in the starry night.
Duan Nanqi asked, "Then why did the murderer want to place the deceased in this position?"
"Is it the embroidery behind her that can be seen facing the garden gate, or... or is it the gazebo we just sat in?"
"But why would the deceased look towards the pavilion?"
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