Chapter 44 The Lighthouse of Direction
Yan Zhao's questions were extremely tricky, and ordinary coroners could hardly answer them.
His eyes were bright as he stared intently at Jin Shu's face.
She blurted out, "The bruise on the back of my head, presumably from a hard, egg-shaped object, something like..."
He raised his hand and gestured a circle the size of a bowl in front of his chest: "A stone of this size is closest to the current appearance."
"As for the nature of the case, I currently believe that it could be a revenge killing or robbery, or even that two groups of people acted one after the other."
As she said this, she pointed to Lin Ruxue's left wrist.
Below the wrist bone, there is a slight indentation along the curve of the forearm.
"The judgment of robbery comes from this. There should have been something here, but it was taken away. Judging from the location and width of the mark, it was about the thickness of a thumb bracelet."
After hearing what she said, Yan Zhao's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Li Jin, who was standing behind him and smiling as brightly as a flower. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a breath through his nose.
"He does have some skills." He crossed his arms and sneered, "but he's still a step away from being the best."
Originally, these words were meant for Li Jin, but Jin Shu folded his hands, bowed, and said, "I have a question that I don't understand, and I hope the chief coroner can enlighten me."
Yan Zhao looked at her like this, stroked his beard, and uttered a single word: "Speak."
“I said earlier that there were two possibilities, revenge killing and robbery, because I do have a problem I’m not familiar with.” She pursed her lips. “I can’t determine whether the head was attacked first or whether the mercury was poured into the body first.”
This question surprised Yan Zhao. He glanced at the girl in front of him, pondered for a while, and suddenly understood the key to Jin Shu's doubts.
If the head is attacked first, it is highly likely that there are two groups of people, one for money and the other to kill.
If the person is poisoned first, the tendency to commit revenge is greater.
Since mercury poisoning takes time to manifest, the blow to the back of the head most likely indicates that the assailant delivered the final blow after seeing that Ms. Lin had not died on the spot.
At this point, Yan Zhao was truly convinced.
Let alone Li Jin, if Yan Zhao had gone to Dingzhou and seen it for himself, he would probably have kidnapped her from Dingzhou and brought her to the capital.
Such a genius is truly wasted in a small place like Dingzhou.
Even though he was completely shocked inside, his face remained very serious and cold.
He didn't answer Jin Shu's question. Instead, he took a small, sharp knife from a box next to him, gestured to her, and then placed it on Lin's kidney.
Yan Zhao was looking forward to this genius, who, with her exceptional talent, would grasp things instantly.
Jin Shu did not disappoint him; the serious and conflicted look on her face was gradually replaced by a sense of relief and enlightenment.
She took the knife from Yan Zhao's hand, bent down, and focused intently on the tip of the blade, observing everything before her with complete concentration.
During this lull, Li Jin peeked out, then walked to Yan Zhao's side with a half-smile: "The chief coroner just said that I irresponsibly sat on the platform fishing, implicating innocent people. I've thought about it carefully, and it does make a lot of sense. Perhaps we should..."
He only got halfway through his sentence before Yan Zhao already knew what he was going to say next. He tightened his lips and glared at him fiercely.
“If Your Highness dares to lay a finger on me, I will tie you up and bring you back just as you got out.”
Upon hearing this, Li Jin chuckled.
After all, he was the chief coroner, someone who had watched him grow up, a mentor-like figure, and conversely, a trump card for Li Jin.
This card has an unpredictable nature, and apart from Emperor Li Yi, only Li Jin truly understands it.
Despite her sharp tongue, she has a kind heart and ultimately can't bear to part with this unparalleled genius.
A short while later, Jin Shu straightened up, heated the small knife in her hand over the flames, and said as she rubbed it, "Revenge killing."
This time, she spoke with absolute certainty: "Although the deceased was given mercury, the mercury had not yet reached the kidneys at the moment he stopped breathing. In other words, the entire organ had not yet completed the process of failure."
"The wound on the back of her head must have been forcibly inflicted by the perpetrator."
Li Jin examined his chin, his fingertips gently tracing the jawbone, connecting the clues he had gathered and weaving them into a coherent thread.
“Last night, after Miss Lin left Jinhua Tower, she was supposed to take a carriage back to her residence, but she encountered someone and was then kept there by that person, where she drank quite a bit of wine.” He paused, “When Miss Lin was very drunk, this person replaced the wine cup in her cup with mercury and forced her to drink it.”
Li Jin opened his fan and pondered for a moment: "Afterwards, when Miss Lin was about to leave, he used the excuse of sending her back to her residence to trick her into getting into the carriage."
At this point, Li Jin hesitated for a moment: "It's also possible that she was already in a deep coma before leaving, and was carried into the car. Then, when they reached the ditch, they hit her on the back of the head, took the bracelet from her hand, and drove away."
After speaking, Li Jin looked at Jin Shu and subconsciously asked, "What do you think, sir?"
Yan Zhao also looked at Jin Shu, wanting to hear her analysis.
Yan Zhao, who had served in the Six Doors for decades and assisted several generations of sect leaders, had a deeper understanding of the Corpse Language than ordinary people.
Identifying injuries and estimating time of death are essential basic abilities, but they do not determine the level of corpse-talking skills; they are merely a necessary threshold.
However, a skilled corpse whisperer can often use these most basic, readily observable things, combined with existing clues, to reconstruct the crime scene, deduce the motives, and provide guidance for solving the case, acting as a beacon.
At this moment, Yan Zhao was filled with anticipation for Mr. Jin in front of him.
He wanted to know if this person had any potential at an even higher level.
Jin Shu pondered for a moment, tilted his head slightly, and gave an analogy: "Is it possible that Miss Lin got into the carriage by herself, and that she was poisoned and felt dizzy and nauseous in the carriage, so she stopped at the canal to vomit?"
"Seeing that she still showed no signs of dying, the murderer picked up a large rock from the roadside and repeatedly struck her on the back of the head. After she fell to the ground, he took the bracelet and drove away."
Before them, Li Jin and Yan Zhao wore identical expressions of astonishment.
To have such insight at just over twenty years old, one has a promising future.
Yan Zhao's solemn expression eased slightly. He chuckled and turned to look at Li Jin: "Considering the presence of vomit residue in the mouth, Jin Shu's view may be closer to the truth."
His eyebrows twitched, and he sighed with a profound and intriguing expression, "Not bad at all, evenly matched." With that, he stepped over the threshold with his hands behind his back and walked toward the main hall.
He needs to figure out what to do next.
Was it necessary to secretly inform the Emperor of Great Wei beforehand, behind Li Jin's back?
Standing in the courtyard, in the light drizzle, Yan Zhao turned around and looked into the house, his eyes darkening considerably.
Since Jin Shu has already been to Jinhua Tower, some people must have already begun to take action in secret.
We must be wary.
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