Chapter 30 A great idea!
"Officer, Chen Dahua was strangled to death and then hung from a tree."
After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the officials and the coroner drank the hot tea that the villagers had brought as a gesture of flattery, and prepared to set off back to town.
Just as the group was about to mount their horses, Xiao Qi stopped them.
How did you know that?
When the leading official saw that Xiao Qi was dressed in a scholar's robe and learned that he had achieved official rank, his attitude softened considerably.
We must get rid of this scholar. Scholars are all hotheads. If he goes to the yamen to complain to his master, they will definitely be punished for their poor performance.
"Brother Xiao..."
Chen Xiaohua's eyes immediately lit up, and she placed all her hopes on Xiao Qi.
Although Chen Tieniu and Wang Jinhua didn't speak, they forced themselves to stay alert and wait for what was to come.
"Sister Xiaohua, don't worry, Big Brother wouldn't say that if he wasn't sure."
Lin Yuesha pulled Chen Xiaohua aside and comforted her softly.
Although my stepbrother is a kind-hearted but easily fooled man, he wouldn't speak without reason, especially at such a crucial moment.
Scholars held a superior status, a fact Lin Yuesha now understood all too well. She secretly vowed that if this swindler could resolve the matter, she would use all her future earnings to fund his education, help him pass the imperial examinations, and ultimately become an official. Only in this way could she better rely on him and protect her family.
“Officer, the Chen family is not an unreasonable family. They would not have reported it to the authorities in town if they had not really discovered something unusual, thus causing you trouble.”
Xiao Qi spoke calmly, neither humble nor arrogant.
These were just low-ranking clerks, careless in their work, who knows how many wrongful convictions they had made. If it weren't for them, these people probably wouldn't have survived.
"Then tell me, Mr. Xiao, how can you be sure that Chen Dahua didn't commit suicide?"
The coroner, arms crossed, seemed intrigued and asked a question.
Chen Dahua had wounds on her body, most of which were old and not fatal.
If he didn't hang himself, could he have frozen to death? It doesn't really matter; he just didn't want to live anymore.
Chen Dahua died because she couldn't think straight. Her death had nothing to do with them. If the Chen family wanted to settle things for their daughter, they should go find Chen Dahua's lover themselves.
"It's very simple."
Xiao Qi walked to the coroner's office, pointed to the tree branch where Chen Dahua hanged herself, and said, "When a person commits suicide, they always struggle."
From being hung up until death, there must be a process, which is the process of struggling.
So, the thick hemp rope should leave marks on the tree branches, and the hemp rope itself will also be worn down.
If someone is hung up after death, these traces will be absent, or only very slight.
"This sounds right."
The coroner's hesitation is understandable in theory, but the actual situation may be different.
He ordered the officers to find some large stones to elevate the tree, and then searched for traces on the branch where Chen Dahua had committed suicide. The bark had only been scratched a little.
The coroner examined the wear and tear on the hemp rope again and found that it was not clear at all without careful observation.
Now he was in a dilemma.
Several officers huddled together and whispered among themselves. They had never seen a staged crime scene before and were unsure of what to do.
"Brother Officer, if you want to prove whether what my brother said is true or not, just have someone test it!"
Lin Yuesha mentally gave her stepbrother Xiao Qi a thumbs up. Yes, how come she hadn't thought of that detail!
Don't let his seemingly simple-minded appearance fool you; he's actually incredibly smart.
"That's a good idea!"
To prove how much a person struggles before death, the wear and tear on tree branches and ropes, along with experiments on people, is sufficient to demonstrate the problem.
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