Zheng Sanji said: "Zhou Sen's cause of death is very clear. The two knife wounds on his abdomen were fatal. Both of them were stabbed diagonally from bottom to top. It could be that he stabbed himself or the murderer stabbed him very quickly. It is impossible to judge whether it was suicide or homicide. However, his left leg and thigh hamstring were broken more than ten years ago and the injury was very serious. He can still hobble out of the door by himself now. It is the result of more than ten years of recuperation. I can be sure that he can only hobble with his legs and basically cannot carry heavy objects."
"A female corpse, no matter how thin it was, must have weighed about 70 to 80 kilograms. It was impossible for him to lift such a heavy object easily. He even climbed into the flowerbed and placed the dead body at such a perfect angle."
Zheng Sanji's expression became uglier as he spoke: "So I think, regardless of how Zhou Sen died, he was not the one who dumped Xiaozhen's body."
As soon as these words came out, the courtyard suddenly fell silent. Jiang Lingyao had some doubts about the case, so she was not surprised. Instead, Duan Nanqi said, "According to Coroner Zheng, Zhou Sen should have an accomplice?"
Coroner Zheng shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I think the murder methods of the three victims are the same. Either it was the same person, or the murderer of Xiaozhen knew the circumstances of the case clearly and followed the same pattern to set up an identical crime scene."
This case was investigated continuously for a whole day. Shuntian Prefecture, Wanping County and Jinyiwei worked together to investigate the three previous and subsequent cases. Thanks to everyone's continuous efforts, the case was solved so quickly.
Not only did they catch the criminal and solve the old case, they also found the murderer. If other superiors were handling the case, they would be very happy and would directly close the case without caring about the minor doubts.
But obviously, Duan Nanqi and Jiang Lingyao are not people with such personalities. Qian Zhixian should be one of them, but he has no say at all. Qian Zhixian doesn't even know the details of the case, so it is impossible for him to close the case.
In this way, Zheng Sanji, as the coroner, does not need to consider anything and can directly tell the two of them what his autopsy criteria are.
Sure enough, Zheng Sanji's autopsy results directly overturned their previous direction of investigation. Not only did Zhou Sen's death seem strange, he might not even be the murderer of Xiaozhen. This made Jiang Lingyao at a loss for words for a moment.
She was even a little dazed, her mind went blank, and she didn't know how to analyze the case anymore.
Lord Zhao also frowned. As an experienced prosecutor, he had been involved in criminal cases for thirty years. He had encountered all kinds of cases in the past thirty years, but he had never seen a case where there was conclusive evidence to prove that the murderer could not have committed the crime.
The old man couldn't help but sigh: "If it were Zhou Sen, we might still be able to interrogate him, but he is dead now, and there is no evidence. We may never know the cause of Xiaozhen's death."
The old man's sigh made Duan Nanqi's heart flash with lightning. He murmured, "No evidence after death?"
Jiang Lingyao also said: "No evidence after death?"
The two of them looked at each other unconsciously, and Jiang Lingyao's eyes lit up slightly, as if there were stars flashing in her eyes.
Jiang Lingyao asked, "Is it possible that Zhou Sen was murdered and his death was arranged to look like a suicide in order to frame him for Xiaozhen's murder?"
If so, then the clues of this case are clear.
"But who could be the murderer?" Duan Nanqi said in a low voice, "The murderer must have known about the old case fourteen years ago. He knew that Zhou Sen must have been the murderer back then, so when he killed Xiaozhen, he specifically imitated Zhou Sen's method and led us to the case of that year, in order to commit three cases into one. After arranging the scene of Xiaozhen, he killed Zhou Sen and Zhou Yi."
If this is the analysis, then...what was Zhou Ru thinking when she gave testimony and clearly proved that she saw her father kill Xiaozhen?
Jiang Lingyao's gaze passed through the layers of houses and fell in front of the back room.
There, the girl they had rescued was still lying in the compartment, crying bitterly that her father was an unforgivable murderer, and begging them to rescue her sister.
Zhao Zhe stroked his white beard and said, "Coroner Zheng's autopsy only shows that Zhou Sen was not capable of disposing of the body independently, but he could have used a cart or other helpers to complete the murder of Xiaozhen. Zhou Ru only said that she saw her father killing the victim, but she did not say that she saw him disposing of the body with her own eyes."
If you think this way, it makes sense.
Jiang Lingyao said, "But now everyone except Zhou Ru is dead. How can we investigate?"
"Should we ask Zhou Ru again?"
Duan Nanqi said, "No hurry."
He turned his head, his sharp eyes fell on the back of the hanging flower door, and the next moment, Zheng Feng's figure appeared behind the door.
Duan Nanqi looked at Zhao Zhe, then his gaze fell on Jiang Lingyao.
"The Royal Guards are very cautious when handling cases. Before a case is completely closed, it is essential to visit neighbors and record testimonies. And because of the Royal Guards' special status, neighbors will hardly lie, so most of the cases obtained from neighbors are true."
When the guards in brocade robes walk at night, people are terrified at the mere mention of them, and no one dares to deceive the guards in brocade robes.
Duan Nanqi said, "Yesterday, because it was late at night, the Tiqi did not want to disturb the people, so they only asked two houses near Zhou's house. I ordered them to go and ask the whole alley early this morning to see if there are any more clues."
Jiang Lingyao looked at Duan Nanqi seriously. They were the same age, but Duan Nanqi had much more experience in handling cases than she did. Although there was a world of difference between Jinyiwei and Shuntianfu, she still needed to work harder.
She doesn't like being outdone by others, but she also admires people who work harder than herself.
Duan Nanqi felt the approval in Jiang Lingyao's eyes. He couldn't tell whether he was happy or delighted, but he felt an indescribable satisfaction.
Zheng Feng didn't notice the looks from everyone. He quickly walked up to Duan Nanqi, greeted him, and then said, "Sir, Tiqi has already questioned all 30 households in the alley and got the following clues."
"First, the head of the Zhou family, Zhou Sen, does have difficulty walking. His family also has a small stall in Xishi. Usually, it is the eldest daughter Zhou Ru who goes to set up the stall. He and the youngest daughter work at home as lanterns, and then go to pick up Zhou Ru in the evening."
"Zhou Sen has difficulty walking, so he only looks after the small shop at home. Zhou Ru manages the stall outside, while the youngest daughter Zhou Yi runs around delivering goods. These two children are so sensible that the neighbors like them very much and take good care of their family."
It seems that Zhou Sen rarely goes out.
But if he stayed at home all day, how did he meet Xiaozhen and regard her as his target, waiting for an opportunity to kill her?
This series of questions left everyone at a loss as to how to answer them.
The case was clearly solved and the murderer was dead, but with the murderer's death, more and more doubts emerged, so many that it made people dizzy.
Jiang Lingyao lowered her head and thought for a while. She said, "Why don't we put aside all the clues and just focus on Xiaozhen."
Everyone's eyes fell on her, but Jiang Lingyao's words seemed more and more reasonable as she spoke: "The case from fourteen years ago has been left unsolved. Apart from reading the files, we can no longer get any more clues. What we are investigating now is actually Xiaozhen's murder, right?"
Duan Nanqi immediately understood what Jiang Lingyao meant. He said, "Master Qiao is right."
Jiang Lingyao nodded politely and said, "Then I think we should focus on Xiaozhen's case first. Xiaozhen has been missing for nine days at most. Where did she meet the murderer? How did she get targeted by the murderer? These are all clues that can be directly searched for."
"I think we can ask Auntie Xinghua's daughter Yaya. Yaya and Xiaozhen are good friends. She should know where Xiaozhen likes to go."
Duan Nanqi said: "Zheng Feng, please ask Yaya to come over."
Zheng Feng left in a hurry, and Jiang Lingyao said again: "I want to ask Zhou Ru again, but not now. We should wait until we ask Yaya before we know how to ask Zhou Ru."
If what Zhou Ru said is true, then Xiaozhen must have met Zhou Sen. The six-sided lamp on her desk is the evidence. If what Zhou Ru said is false, then why did she lie?
Her father was not the one who killed Xiaozhen, but she framed him. Based on her clues, they easily found the bodies of Zhou Sen and Zhou Yi, and she would become a suspect from a victim.
Jiang Lingyao thought of the frail and frightened Zhou Ru, and wondered, "Could she be the murderer?"
As soon as Jiang Lingyao said this, a cold wind blew through the courtyard, the Golden Crow hid in the clouds, and the sky gradually darkened.
The storm is coming, and the cold wind is approaching.
Jiang Lingyao just felt a chill down her spine. If Zhou Ru was the murderer of Xiao Zhen, then did she also kill Zhou Yi and Zhou Sen?
For a moment, the courtyard was extremely quiet. Everyone held their breath and concentrated, thinking about this question in their hearts.
"Can a thirteen-year-old girl really kill so many people?"
Zheng Sanji's little apprentice asked blankly.
Zhao Zhe turned around and looked at him. After a moment, he reached out and patted his shoulder: "Why not?"
After several people pondered the case for a while, Aunt Xinghua's daughter Yaya was invited to the county government.
The little girl is not yet thirteen years old this year. She is small and her face is full of childishness.
She probably already knew about Xiaozhen's death. Although she looked listless and very sad, she did not cry and could not utter a word.
Jiang Lingyao only asked her in the courtyard: "Your name is Yaya, right? We have some questions for Xiaozhen that we need to ask you."
Yaya nodded shyly. She said, "You ask me. I am very familiar with Sister Xiaozhen. She will tell me many things."
When talking about Xiaozhen, tears welled up in Yaya's eyes, but she remained strong and did not cry.
Jiang Lingyao thought for a moment and asked her, "Do you know where Xiaozhen usually goes to buy lanterns? On the Dragon Boat Festival, she told Aunt Xinghua that she had a new friend. Who was this friend?"
Yaya thought about it carefully before saying, "I don't know where Xiaozhen bought the lamp. She seems to only use candlesticks on weekdays and rarely uses exquisite lamps. But I know the friend she mentioned in the book. She is a sister who sells lamps in the West Market."
Yaya thought about it for a long time but still couldn't remember the sister's name. She could only say with a sad face, "I only remember Sister Xiaozhen said that sister was one year older than me and younger than her. She was a very gentle and good girl."
Jiang Lingyao's eyes lit up. She looked at Duan Nanqi and saw that Duan Nanqi had also figured out who this girl was.
The new good friend Xiaozhen mentioned, a very gentle and nice girl, should be Zhou Ru.
But the person who was grieving and suffering in the back room did not know Xiaozhen.
Because she said before: "Who knew that the person injured behind the door was not my father, but... a strange girl."
If she doesn't know Xiaozhen, then she is not Zhou Ru.
Jiang Lingyao suddenly realized: "She is Zhou Yi."
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