Chapter 12: An Operation is as Fierce as a Tiger

Sheriff Wang sat in the main seat, sullen and silent.

These days, the first thing Zhu magistrate gets up is to ask about the progress of the case, and when Wang sheriff can not give any valuable content, he spits fenfang.

Pressure all by him, the head constable top, subordinates hiding in his umbrella under the wind and rain, not only do not help him to share the difficulties, but also with him to raise the bar!

Sheriff Wang was justifiably angry. He thought he was under pressure that he shouldn’t be under at his age.

Xu Qi’an, who had obtained the dossier, sat down at the table and stared at it intently, surrounded by a circle of fellow officers, exchanging glances in silence.

Xu Qi’an’s thoughts were well researched, and the best way to coax Old Wang was to solve the case.

If you really can’t, just ask Wang to go to the Peach Blossom Garden Cave to play, we have known each other for so many years, the friendship boat is still very stable.

Moreover, Xu Qi’an’s obstruction of touching the fish was not just a matter of not accepting the three views, but he also had the intention of sharing the old king’s worries and difficulties.

[The deceased called Zhang Yourui, 51 years old, is living in Kangping Street dog big family, Changle County suburb of good land more than a dozen hectares, the capital has three stores, respectively, selling silk, rouge, groceries.

His wife died young, and he married a young woman twenty years younger than himself. Zhang Yurui has an only son, left by his late wife, and no other children.]

A difference of twenty years ….. Xu Qi’an mentally spat out a sentence.

It’s called, just work hard for your money and your future wife is still in kindergarten?

Four days ago, Zhang Yourui went to the countryside to collect rent, around c time to return home. In the house sleeping wife suddenly heard a scream, went out to check, Zhang Yourui has died in the courtyard. The wife saw a dark shadow over the wall ….]

Here’s what happened.

When Xu Qi’an saw the coroner’s autopsy report, he detected another suspicion.

Patiently, he continued to read, going over the confessions of the deceased’s family and servants, closing his eyes and combing his thoughts.

Sheriff Wang snorted coldly and teased, “May I ask Sheriff Xu who the murderer is and where he is?”

“Take it easy, chief.” Xu Qi’an opened his eyes, “I saw in the dossier that footprints were left on the outer wall of the Zhang Residence yes, you used this to deduce that the thieves fled over the wall, what the little woman said is true.”

Sheriff Wang let out a “hmm”.

“The footprints are facing outward, so they were left behind when fleeing.” Xu Qi’an said.

“What’s the problem?” Sheriff Wang frowned.

“Why would it leave footprints.”

“Because there’s mud on the soles of your feet.”

“Why there’s mud.”

“Because the wall is bordered by a flower garden.”

Xu Qi’an nodded, “Then why are there no footprints on the dossier that entered the courtyard?”

Sheriff Wang froze.

In the silence, the rest of the constables felt that he had lost face and added on his behalf, “Perhaps the thieves noticed this when they came in and left no traces.”

Another said, “But after the murder, in his haste to escape, he left footprints in his haste.”

Xu Qi’an swept a glance at them, ”Yes, there is this possibility, then, under the wall is the flower garden, are there any footprints in the flower garden from the sneak-in? It stands to reason that if the thieves were able to leap outside the wall and cross the flower garden without leaving footprints. This light skill ….. Then when he escaped, there was no need for him to put one foot on the wall to borrow strength.”

The crowd looked at each other in disbelief and could not answer.

Without needing them to answer, Xu Qi’an knew the answer; it wasn’t ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but rather, he didn’t know.

The constables didn’t bother to check this out.

“Ning Banquet, what’s so controversial about this.” Someone was unconvinced.

Xu Qi’an didn’t reply, looking towards the frowning and contemplative Sheriff Wang, he continued, “The deceased died from a heavy blow to the back of the head from a blunt object, right?”

Sheriff Wang nodded, “Died on the spot.”

Xu Qi’an said, “I have a question, why is it a blunt weapon, the murderer did this kind of deed, naturally he had a weapon on him. Wouldn’t a sword kill more crisply?”

There was silence in the side hall, and it was clear that everyone realized the problem. Xiao Li speculated, “Perhaps the thieves didn’t want to kill anyone initially?”

“No!”

This time, it wasn’t Xu Qi’an who retorted, but Sheriff Wang, who stood up, his eyes slightly widened, “A blunt object striking the back of the head, killing with one blow, was motivated to kill.”

He sat back in his chair and muttered, “Yeah, why with a blunt weapon, why not a sharp one?”

“Unless the murderer didn’t have a weapon at hand at the time.” Xu Qi’an said.

Sheriff Wang’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had captured something, but had not yet realized it.

“There’s also one last point that I’m more concerned about.” Xu Qi’an glanced at the dossier: “When the deceased’s family brought her back to the county office for questioning, Zhang Yang suddenly fainted due to kneeling for a long period of time, and after the doctor diagnosed the case, he found that she was pregnant.”

“It’s posthumous.”

“It’s so sad that the child was left fatherless before it was born.”

The munchers were obnoxious, interjecting as you and I did.

“Zhang Yang’s been married to the deceased for a little over ten years, right, so how come she’s pregnant at this time alone?” Xu Qi’an waited for them to finish before she had a chance to speak.

“Maybe the baby wasn’t even the deceased’s?”

It is impossible for a man and a woman to be in normal health and not have children for ten years, unless they deliberately avoid children.

One of the partners must have had physical problems, so it was difficult to conceive an heir. And with the ancient technology of treating infertility, although it is not completely impossible, the success rate must be very low.

Wang sheriff s breathing got rough all of a sudden, “Ning Banquet, you say it clearly, say it …. clearly.”

Xu Qi’an drank a mouthful of tea to moisten his throat, ”Perhaps this is not a case of burglary, but a case of murder by stealing. Zhang Yang’s stealing behind her husband’s back, the adulterer is either a man outside or the deceased’s son. The two took advantage of the deceased went out to collect rent, the two sides secret rendezvous. Who expected the deceased to return early and catch the adultery on the spot, the two sides clashed, so the adulterer, in a fit of rage, grabbed a vase or some other blunt object and killed the deceased.”

“Zhang Yang’s and the adulterer hastily disposed of the scene and dragged the dead man to the courtyard, disguising themselves as thieves to enter and steal from the house.”

“Since the adulterer was going to have a rendezvous, he had stepped on the spot in advance and figured out the pattern of the night patrol soldiers, which is why he wasn’t met by the Imperial Sword Guards’ soldiers. If the thieves were really seeking money, they would never have chosen that night to strike, but would have waited for the deceased to convert the silver from the rent collection into silver checks, which they could take away with them in their pockets.”

“The rhetoric given by Zhang Yang’s is just the right thing to take advantage of the east wind of rent collection and bring your thoughts in the direction of ‘seeking wealth’.”

A room full of constables, jaws agape.

“This, this …. can determine the murderer simply by reading the dossier?”

“Ning Banquet, this isn’t a joke, don’t talk nonsense.”

“But doesn’t it make sense.”

This maneuver of Xu Qi’an’s gave them the feeling of four words: unknown.

“I’m just taking a wild guess based on the details of the case, which may not be the truth and needs to be verified.” Xu Qi’an responded to his surprised colleagues.

The process of solving a crime is to collect clues, then reason and analyze them, and finally to verify them; to collect evidence.

Burglars hide from soldiers on night patrol ….. Wrong time to burglarize a house …. Killing with a blunt weapon instead of a sharp one …. Zhang Yang’s pregnancy ….. After Xu Qi’an’s speculation, these seemingly inconsequential details converged into clues that attached themselves to logic.

Sheriff Wang felt that his career had opened up a whole new door, took a deep breath to calm his agitated emotions, and after savoring it, found that there was one point in what Xu Qi’an said that puzzled him, “Why do you think the adulterer is the dead man’s son?”

“There are two reasons why I suspect him,” Xu Qi’an slowly sipped his tea, and in the eager eyes of Sheriff Wang and his fellow officers, he slowly said:

“The deceased’s son, Zhang Xian, said in his confession that he was reading accounts in his study that night and did not sleep with his wife. Since he was awake, how could he not hear the movements in the courtyard?”

“Is it reasonable for Zhang Yang to be awakened by the screams, which means that the commotion is extremely loud, while he, a waking man, didn’t hear half the commotion?”

“The second point is that if no traces could be found of the traces left in the flower garden by the thief when he infiltrated, it is probable that this alleged thief did not exist. With that in mind, the son of the deceased would be a strong suspect.”

Daigo.

Sheriff Wang asked, “So, the footprints on that wall were most likely left on purpose to confuse us.”

Xu Qi’an guessed, “Yes, by the way, go directly to compare the boots of the dead man’s son.”

“Surely you won’t leave your own footprints.” Sheriff Wang said.

Xu Qi’an’s face was full of admiration, and he slapped a rainbow fart over, “The chief is really wise and godly, and he understands everything at once. He is truly the Great Feng God’s Arrestor.”

Xu Qi an just threw out amazing words at length to build up his image, and then twisted his head to be three hundred and fifty degrees without dead angle licking, which is very comfortable …. A smile blossomed on Sheriff Wang s dark old farmer like face.

It feels like I’m pulling myself up quite a bit.

“I’ll go find Lord Zhu immediately, you few get ready and follow me on another trip to the Zhang Residence.” Sheriff Wang’s old farmer-like dark face revealed a look of unbearable excitement.

Fingering Xu Qi’an, he let out two tractor-like laughs and ran out of the lounge in a flaming hurry to the back hall to find the county magistrate’s master.

PS: Thanks to “Little Dolphin’s Plume Xiao Chen”, “Big Brother Take Me Flying”, “Xipi Right”, “Li Peiyun”. The four big brother’s reward.

I’ll keep it in mind for now, allies all keep it in mind for now, and pay it back together when it hits the shelves.