Chapter 157 The Female Corpse on the Beach (Part 1)

At the end of April, the villagers were busy plowing the land and planting crops, and the children in the village went up the mountains and down the river in groups to chase chickens and play with dogs.

The same is true in Dakuwa Village near the capital. The adults are busy with farming and have no time to discipline the children, so every household has the older children taking care of the younger ones.

A group of children gathered together, and the older ones suggested going to the river near the village to catch fish. The river was a tributary, and the water flow was not strong on weekdays. In addition, there had been no rain in recent days, so the water was even shallower. There would be no harm if the children went there to catch some fish and shrimps.

The female corpse was discovered by this group of children. Several timid children were frightened and cried. The oldest child, who was about ten years old and braver, went to the field to find an adult. When the adult saw the corpse, which had already begun to rot and was infested with maggots, he sent the children back and rushed to report to the police.

Dakubo Village was just a dozen miles south of the capital, still under the jurisdiction of the capital. The villagers did not understand, so on their way to report to the authorities, they saw officers and soldiers from the Nanweichengsi patrolling in uniform, so they told them about it.

After the people from the Weichengsi went to check, they concluded that the female corpse was not an accidental death but might be a homicide, so they directly blocked the beach and sent people to the Dali Temple to report the case.

"The beach here is very open. If they wanted to dump a body, they probably wouldn't choose this place."

The coroner was already performing an autopsy, so Xie Hui looked around the terrain and discovered that this was an open area with little shelter. If the body had been dumped there, it would not have been discovered until it had decayed. The river was shallow recently, so even if it had floated down the river, it should have been seen long ago.

The person who went to the Dali Temple to report to the authorities was a sergeant from the Nanwei City Division. After hearing what Xie Hui had said, he said, "Every evening, I lead people to patrol along the river bank. When I patrolled yesterday evening, I didn't see anything unusual."

At this time, the coroner Xie brought back also completed the preliminary autopsy and stepped forward to report: "Sir, preliminary appearance shows that the deceased was about 25 or 26 years old, and was killed by someone slashing his throat. The only pre-mortem injury was bruises on his wrists. There were also many post-mortem injuries on the body, which seemed to be caused by dragging.

Judging from the appearance of the corpse, it must have been four or five days since the murder. In addition, there are bite marks on the right leg of the corpse, which is also a post-mortem injury. I guess the deceased must have been dragged by a wild animal after death."

Outside, the coroner only saw and took a look. To find out more, they need to return to the Dali Temple for further investigation.

Xie Hui nodded, and pointed to the two detectives, "Let them take the body back to the Dali Temple first."

He turned and looked at the steep, tree-covered slope that led to the beach, and above it a path.

"Captain Sun, please take some people to search this forest to see if there is anything suspicious. I suspect the deceased was murdered and then dragged here by wild dogs or other wild animals."

Apart from the forest on this side, there is an open river beach in front and behind them, and farmland on the other side of the river, which should not be the place where the bodies were initially dumped.

"Yes, I will go right away."

Then Xie Hui led the remaining Dali Temple detectives into the forest to search.

This hillside is not very steep, but it is covered with various unknown vegetation, some of which have thorns, making it difficult for people to walk. If you are not careful, you will be cut by these unknown thorns.

"Sir, you should wait downstairs and let the subordinates go."

Zhang Hui looked at their master's expression and felt uneasy about letting their master Xie follow them into the woods, fearing that the ignorant thorns might cut him.

"It's no problem." Xie Hui used his sword to clear away the thorns in front of him and continued walking forward.

After wandering in the forest for a long time, Xie Hui and his friends still hadn't found anything. Just when Xie Hui was wondering if he had made a wrong judgment, he heard a whistle.

This was what they decided at the beginning. If anyone discovered it, they would use the whistle as a signal.

"My Lord, the sound is from above."

"Walk."

There is a narrow goat path above, and if you go up the path you will reach the official road, and if you go down you will reach the nearby Okuma Village.

It was indeed someone under Captain Sun who noticed something was wrong. When he was in the woods, he found a spot on the ground that looked like something had been dragged across it. Following the trail upwards, he found bloodstains that continued to the edge of the trail.

"There is blood splattered here. The deceased must have been killed here."

Normally, no one passes by this path except the villagers from Dakuwa Village who go down the mountain and go home from the capital.

Even the people from the City Guards mostly patrolled along the official roads and the river beach below, so no one noticed it even after several days.

Chief Sun was also ashamed and felt that he had failed in his duty. "It was my subordinates who failed to do their job well. Please punish them, sir."

"Whether to punish or not is up to you, the general. But I would like to thank Sun Shichang for his help today."

The affairs of the Weicheng Division were not under the jurisdiction of the Dali Temple, and Xie Hui did not want to say more, but it was thanks to the people of the Weicheng Division that we found the crime scene today.

Apart from the bloodstains, no other valuable clues were found, so Xie Hui took his men back to Beijing.

Before returning to the Dali Temple, Xie Hui still planned to go to the Shen family. Lord Shen was his superior, and he had to report on the case.

"Sir, your hand is injured! Do you want to go to the hospital to bandage it?"

Xie Hui then noticed that the back of his hand was a little itchy. He raised his hand and found that the back of his hand was cut.

"It's just a minor injury. Don't worry about it. Take your people back to the Dali Temple and arrange for someone to paint a portrait of the corpse and then post it."

"yes!"

Following Xie Hui's instructions, Zhang Hui took the remaining constables back to the Dali Temple, while Xie Hui went to the Shen family alone.

At this time, it was time to get off work, so when Shen Yun heard Xie coming back, he didn't think there was a case.

"Where have you been? Your hair is all messed up. Am I not fighting in the temple?"

"It should be a scratch from a tree branch, sir. A female corpse was found ten miles outside the South City Gate. The identity is unknown and is currently being examined."

Hearing that it was a case, Shen Yun's face darkened and he said hurriedly, "Tell me more about it."

Xie Hui then explained to Shen Yun how the body was found, the results of the coroner's initial autopsy, and their subsequent findings.

"I have ordered people to draw the portrait of the deceased and then post it in various places in the city. Judging from the clothes the deceased was wearing, he should not be a villager from nearby."

Xie Hui also saw the corpse at that time. The clothes and jewelry on the corpse were quite exquisite. They did not look like those of a villager. Even in the capital, ordinary people would not wear those clothes on a daily basis.

Shen Yun immediately decided, "I'll go back to the temple with you to take a look."

"good."

"I'll have someone fix your hair. How can you go out like this?"

"You can do it yourself, young man."

When he was in the army, Xie Hui did all these things himself, so he was used to it.

"Dad! I heard that Master Xie is here?"