There is a god in the sky

Chapter 42 The Murder of a Wealthy Family in Jianzhou (Part 5)

Shen Lanqiang suppressed his unease and carefully examined the wound on the deceased's chest.

"Judging from the color of the bruise, the injury was caused by the assailant punching the victim."

"If he had a deep-seated hatred for Wu Zhongjin, why didn't he use more violent methods to torture and kill him? Using only his fists was too merciful."

Shen Lan shared the same view.

The fact that the murderer ruthlessly wiped out the entire Wu family shows the depth of his hatred.

But ironically, everyone in the Wu family died far too easily, including Wu Zhongjin.

The contradiction here may be the key to solving the case.

Shen Lan also found a thread between the deceased's teeth, as if it had been torn from the fabric.

His hands were bound, and he may have used his teeth to bite the killer's sleeve, pulling off this loose thread.

Seeing her carefully collecting them, an official watching asked, "What's the use of these?"

"The color and texture of this thread do not match the clothes on the deceased's body, so it should belong to the murderer."

Xiao Ji pinched the end of the thread and examined it for a while, then said, "It's heather gray, the most common cotton and linen, the kind that ordinary people often wear."

One official joked, "That means it won't help at all."

“No,” Xiao Ji retorted. “This at least shows that the murderer’s daily life was no different from that of an ordinary person.”

Shen Lan recalled the monk's robe that Liao Chen wore last night, and it seemed to be this color.

However, the color is too ordinary to be used as evidence for conviction.

After Shen Lan finished her autopsy, the other two coroners had already completed their work.

The officials could see the difference when they compared the two.

The transcript here is densely packed with details, even including that the deceased lost a tooth before his death.

The other two coroners, although they also performed the autopsies according to Lord Xiao's instructions, gave the same account and reached the same conclusion.

Whether someone is putting in effort or not is obvious.

The two were clearly unconvinced and huddled together whispering.

They were saying nothing but slanderous things about Shen Lan, but no one paid any attention.

Shen Lan made a special trip to see the youngest victim.

He also died from a fractured skull, but no marks of being struck with a stick were found on his head.

In the coroner Wang's autopsy report, the cause of death was listed as "unknown".

Shen Lan grabbed Xiao Ji's hand and forcefully pressed it onto the baby's head, saying coldly, "He was probably killed by the murderer with a single blow."

The coroner expressed his dissatisfaction with her behavior.

He rebuked her fiercely, "You little brat, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. How could an ordinary person kill someone with a single slap? And if you did, wouldn't their head be smashed open?"

Shen Lan explained, "The murderer is not an ordinary person, but a person with high martial arts skills, or at least a very strong person. He used skillful force, so he was able to cause a skull fracture, which is an internal injury."

The coroner, Wang, did not believe it. "I suspect it was smothered to death. The infant has no external injuries, so it is highly likely that it was smothered to death."

"The body of someone who died of suffocation will have a bluish-purple face and facial swelling due to lack of oxygen and congestion, and there will also be pulmonary edema in the lungs, but this is not the case with the body of this infant."

The coroner was so angry that his beard bristled.

"What evidence do you have for what you're saying? Besides, you can't see inside, so how can you be so sure he was killed by being slapped?"

Shen Lan said softly, "We'll know once we open it and take a look."

"You...what did you say?"

"Open it and you'll see," Shen Lan repeated.

"Outrageous! How dare you desecrate a corpse?" Coroner Wang bowed to Xiao Ji. "Sir, please throw this woman out!"

Before Xiao Ji could respond, Shen Lan refuted him.

"You're Coroner Wang, right? May I ask, what are the duties of a coroner?"

"Naturally, it is to determine the cause of death of the deceased."

"So what did I say wrong just now? You gave the wrong conclusion, which will only mislead adults' judgment."

The coroner, Wang, said loudly, "If the cause of death of a small baby is wrong, so be it. How can it affect the judgment of adults?"

"Then why did the murderer choose to smother the baby?"

"Of course, it's because the baby was too small, he couldn't bear to do it, and in the end he chose to smother him."

Shen Lan clapped her hands. "Good, good, good. Coroner Wang is quite kind-hearted. I wonder if the murderer would agree with you after hearing your words."

"What do you mean?"

"The murderer couldn't bring himself to spare the child's life. The child was less than a year old and didn't understand anything. It wasn't necessary to kill him, but he still did it. Does that mean he couldn't bring himself to do it?"

"This……"

Xiao Ji waved his hand, "No need to argue. I only look at the facts. If the cause of death is not apparent from the surface, then..."

Shen Lan interrupted him, saying, "My lord, there's no need to dissect the body. I'm certain that the baby was killed by the murderer with a single blow."

Xiao Ji went to look at the coroner, Wang, who snorted coldly and turned his face away.

"Since Lord Xiao has chosen to believe her, then this humble servant has nothing more to say."

If Xiao Ji hadn't been completely without a coroner, why would he have brought Shen Lan, a woman, back with him?

Both coroner Wang and coroner Yang lacked sufficient expertise in autopsy.

He coughed and pulled Shen Lan away to avoid upsetting the coroner, Wang.

The other officials secretly chuckled at Lord Xiao's favoritism towards this young lady, but some also felt that Shen Lan's words made sense.

After the autopsy was completed, Lei Dajiang returned, bringing back the information he had found.

"Master Liaochen was sent down the mountain to do good deeds by the abbot the day before yesterday. There was a family in Xiaoguo Village outside the city whose children had all died, leaving only a one-eyed old woman. The monks on the mountain were kind-hearted, so they helped her plant two acres of land. Yesterday, Master Liaochen helped with the harvest and was in the fields all day. The villagers can all testify to this."

What happens after nightfall?

"He stayed overnight in Xiaoguo Village. Some villagers even saw him sitting by the river meditating after nightfall. Why would he go to the city to kill someone?"

Lei Dajiang, anyway, didn't believe it.

Shen Lan remembered the wound on Chen's arm; it was indeed caused by a plant leaf.

Xiao Ji didn't say anything, and then Lei Dajiang reported: "Also, the neighbors of the Wu family said that the dog barked particularly fiercely that night. Someone came out to check, but found nothing unusual, and went back to sleep."

In addition, Old Qian, who sells tofu, gets up early. He said he saw a figure running past his shop before dawn that day, but he didn't pay attention, assuming it was someone's husband going to work.

Did you see what that person looked like or what they were wearing?

He said he didn't see clearly, that person was very fast.

"Has the list from the Wu family been checked? Are there any survivors?"

Lei Dajiang sighed, "Except for the married daughters, the entire Wu family is here."

This truly severed the Wu family's bloodline.

Lei Dajiang slapped his forehead. "Oh, right, there's one more thing. The five bodies of the bodyguards you brought back, sir, have been claimed by their families. They're asking when the court hearing will be held?"

Xiao Ji thought for a moment and then asked Lei Dajiang to bring Zhang and her daughter over.

Lei Dajiang asked, "Does Your Excellency believe that these two cases are related?"

"Maybe."

There aren't many clues at the moment, but if we can find even the slightest clue, we might be able to unravel the mystery.

Now it seems that only the clues provided by Shen Lan are the most worthwhile to follow.