Chapter 53 Suburban Post Station
On the first day that the Six Doors officially began operations, Jin Shu was summoned and stopped in the bustling courtyard of the Six Doors.
She looked at Yan Zhao with surprise, his face serious, and quickly raised her hand to greet him: "Greetings, Chief Coroner."
Yan Zhao looked at her humble demeanor, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, and said with a dark face and great seriousness, "You thought it was just a trial?"
Jin Shu was taken aback, but without hesitation, she took the paper from Yan Zhao's hand with both hands and replied, "Understood."
His demeanor was neither humble nor arrogant, which earned him high praise from the emperor.
He had been waiting for this kind of capable yet humble person for so long in the Six Doors coroner's office, and finally, he had found one.
“This case is in the outskirts of the capital. You’re new to the capital and don’t know anyone. Go find the sect leader to assign you a partner.” Yan Zhao said as he turned and walked away. “You should have a reliable partner.”
After saying this, he used his extremely sharp gaze to scare away the group of constables who were watching the commotion, and then left on his own.
In the blink of an eye, only Jin Shu remained in the courtyard.
partner……
Looking at the paper in her hand, with the words "Beijing Suburbs Inn" written on it, she bit her lip helplessly.
She definitely needs to find a partner, given Yan Zhao's style of not wanting to write even a single extra word... There are eight post stations outside the capital, in all directions, where is she supposed to find a place on them?!
And so, this is the scene we see today.
Incense smoke curled from the burner, pear trees outside the house were in full bloom, and an antique painting served as a backdrop. Li Jin, dressed in a light gold outer robe, did not even look up.
He kept writing, with various folded documents piled up to half a meter beside him. After a long while, he finally uttered, "Give it to me."
Li Jin's eyes twitched as he looked at the four crisp words on the paper.
That's just like Yan Zhao's style; he didn't want to write a single extra word.
"This place is a bit remote, wait for me a moment." After saying that, he put down the wolf-hair brush in his hand, got up and walked towards the antique shelf.
Yan Zhao used the body that was just discovered last night to make a fuss. Li Jin pondered this as he flipped through the case notes on the antique shelf.
Jin Shu, who had been waiting for a long time, was stunned for a moment when he saw that he was going to take action himself. He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, no, no, Sect Master, you are busy with official business. Just give me a partner. There is no need for you to go in person."
Li Jin, who was turning the pages of the book, paused in his tracks.
He turned around, his expression meaningful: "Partner, I'm the only one in the Six Doors without a partner."
"Huh?" This left Jin Shu stunned. "Then Lord Zhou..."
"Lord Zhou also has his own partner." He interrupted Jin Shu, giving her a disdainful look, his expression suggesting that she was being hypocritical for getting the better deal.
Jin Shu was surprised for a long time. Looking at Zhou Zheng, who was standing in the corner with a blank expression, she opened and closed her mouth, but swallowed the question she wanted to ask.
Not only Jin Shu wanted to ask, but Zhou Zheng also wanted to ask.
He really didn't know who this "partner" Li Jin was talking about was...
It took one or two hours to travel from the Six Doors in the capital to the post station Yan Zhao mentioned.
When I left, it was still past 9 AM; when I arrived, it was past noon.
This is the last post station for private caravans before entering the capital, located in the northwest direction of the city. Although it is not magnificent, it is bright, clean, and inexpensive, making it a place for many caravans to rest.
However, the body was not found in this post station, but in a dilapidated bungalow behind the post station that had long been uninhabited.
“I was acting strangely yesterday. I don’t usually go that way, but yesterday, I suddenly had a thought that since no one wanted that dilapidated house, maybe there would be something usable left behind, so I turned onto it.”
The innkeeper looked pained, his brows furrowed in a knot: "When I got to that door, I knew something was wrong. There was a huge, dark mass of flies, and it stank horribly!"
Thinking of this, the waiter couldn't help but turn to the side and gag.
After finally catching his breath, he wiped his mouth with the white towel around his neck and said with great difficulty, "I was standing at the door looking inside, and good heavens! There was a hand there!"
After saying that, he couldn't hold on any longer, his stomach churned, and he started gagging again.
Hearing his words, Li Jin nodded.
Yan Zhao has already written a partial case summary, clearly outlining the general situation of last night's investigation.
The waiter who discovered the body was a worker at this inn.
The body was located about 300 meters away from the post station as the crow flies. The surrounding area was desolate, with wild grass growing up to waist height.
Li Jin looked in the direction of that house, which was already surrounded by constables from the Six Doors, and no one was allowed to enter.
There was only a narrow path leading from the post station to this small hut, and the place itself was a mud-brick house with dilapidated tiles, resembling ruins. It was estimated to have been abandoned for at least one or two years.
If you hadn't walked to the door, you would never have noticed that there was a corpse lying in this place.
Perhaps because it had been too long, before even reaching the door, Li Jin shooed away swarms of flies while covering his mouth and nose with his hand.
But Jin Shu behind him remained calm and composed, continuing to tie the bandages around her wrists as she walked, completely unmoved.
Outside, swarms of flies buzzed around, while inside, a charred corpse lay face up.
The upper body clothing was almost completely burned off, while the lower body was relatively intact.
His cheeks were charred black, showing signs of decay, and were extremely gruesome. Even Li Jin, who was used to seeing life and death, frowned and stopped a meter away.
Jin Shu, however, did not take it seriously. She put on her gloves, covered her face with a handkerchief, and squatted down without hesitation.
She held the last strand of hair in her hand and examined it carefully for a long time. She pressed her hands on the bones of the corpse, then leaned closer and carefully looked around the teeth inside the victim's mouth.
"The body was female, lying supine with her limbs outstretched, her mouth open, and her hair was not completely burned, with about one-third of it remaining."
“It was murder,” Jin Shu said. “If she were being burned while still alive and in a conscious state, she should be in a fighting stance, like this.”
She struck a fighting pose: "But this scene clearly doesn't fit this situation. The victim was lying on her back with her limbs outstretched. Based on this, we can determine that she was killed first, lost consciousness, and then burned."
In other words, this was a complete murder case.
Jin Shu walked around the victim for a short while: "Judging from the condition of the teeth, the deceased should be between 35 and 55 years old. Judging from the degree of decomposition, the time of death is between 15 and 20 days. Based on the combination of touch and visual inspection, the preliminary judgment is that there are no fractures or obvious external injuries."
“The rest will only be known after the autopsy.” She stood up, glancing at Li Jin’s face. “If we’re taking it back, could we take these charred pieces of clothing back with it?”
"Fragments?" Li Jin asked, somewhat surprised.
With the upper body clothes burned to this state, is there any value in taking them back?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
