sjar Chapter 424 is about the masked judge committing murder.
Chapter 424 is about the masked judge committing murder.
"The master committed suicide."
The servants' screams echoed through the sky. When Qin Miaoxi arrived at the crime scene, she saw that Lu Qingchen had already arrived.
She glanced at her colleague beside her, asking: What's going on? The young marquis is so enthusiastic.
The constable shrugged, gestured a few times in the air, and took out a sheet of paper with a record of the on-site investigation: "They don't know either! The young lord arrived earlier than them and had already checked the surrounding environment."
Qin Miaoxi looked at the detailed record in her hand, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she quickly walked to the door and pushed it. The door was locked from the inside, and the windows around it were also tightly closed.
Her gaze was fixed on the figure swaying from the rafters inside the room. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she said solemnly, "Open the door."
The door opened from the inside, and Lu Qingchen exclaimed with delight, "Wife, you've finally come!"
Upon entering the dormitory, one could see a variety of exquisite ornaments, each of considerable value, which was enough to demonstrate the wealth of the Wang family.
“Wife, I have checked carefully. The doors and windows were bolted from the inside, and there are no traces of threads being pulled on them. We can rule out that the murderer left through the doors and windows.”
"Do you know that what you're doing is destroying evidence at the scene?"
Qin Miaoxi glared at him angrily. Master Wang's bedroom was a closed space, and any point could be the key to solving the case. What if he accidentally knocked the evidence away with such a careless bump?
Lu Qingchen quickly explained, "No, I came in using the Bone Shrinking Technique."
Bone shrinking skill?
Something flashed through her mind, but Lu Qingchen immediately interrupted her, "There's a dog hole in the side wall of the dormitory. That's how I came in."
Qin Miaoxi looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the decorated little hole.
"What is this hole for?"
Butler Shen stepped out from the crowd and replied with a sorrowful expression, "Master used to have a beloved dog, and this hole was so that the dog could freely enter and leave Master's bedroom. Later, the dog died, and Master had the dog hole blocked up."
Qin Miaoxi turned angrily to stare at Lu Qingchen, "So you broke through the dog hole to get in?"
Lu Qingchen: "..."
It seems I still made a mistake. Should I check and correct it?
“The house was completely sealed off. The murderer wouldn’t just disappear without a trace after killing someone, so I concluded that he committed suicide.”
Qin Miaoxi remained silent and did not reply, but instead went to the corpse on her own.
Master Wang was hanging from the beam, his limbs hanging straight down. Beneath him was a round stool that had been kicked over. At first glance, it did indeed look like suicide.
"Put the person down."
Lu Qingchen pointed to herself in shock, "Me?"
Qin Miaoxi rolled up her sleeves, ready to get to work, "I can do it too."
"No, I'll do it."
He found someone to help him; one person climbed onto the beam while the other supported the body, and together they lowered the body down.
Lu Qingchen leaped down, fanned the air in front of his nose, and muttered to himself, "It's all covered in dust. There's only one mark left on the hanging rope on such a high beam. If it was a murder, there should be the killer's footprints and handprints!"
"Could it be that Master Wang really committed suicide out of fear of punishment, just as the Ghost-Faced Judge warned him to do?"
"It was murder."
"why?"
"The suspension point is too high; Master Wang's feet can't even touch the stool, and..."
Qin Miaoxi pointed to the ligature marks on Master Wang's neck and explained, "Based on rigor mortis, the time of death was around dawn, around 3 AM. The deceased's face was purplish-blue and swollen, his eyes were bloodshot, his hyoid bone was broken, and most importantly..."
"There are two ligature marks on Mr. Wang's neck. One is in a typical V-shape, with a deeper point of force, extending upwards on both sides and disappearing at the front of the neck. The other, although there is some lifting, is at an abnormal angle, with the ligature marks intersecting at the back of the neck. There is bleeding and peeling of the skin, indicating that someone strangled the deceased from behind with force."
"The deceased's hands showed signs of being bound, and there were claw marks on his back. The wounds showed signs of subcutaneous bleeding, and the wounds were inflicted no more than three hours ago, which is around 9 PM."
Qin Miaoxi examined the deceased's mouth and nose, and found a piece of food residue between his teeth.
Lu Qingchen exclaimed in surprise, "He couldn't have died from poisoning, could he?! His purple face isn't from suffocation, it's from poisoning."
"What are you thinking about? This is deer antler. Haven't you ever eaten it before?"
Qin Miaoxi pushed away his large face that was close to hers, placed the residue on the oil paper package, and made a note of it.
Lu Qingchen blushed and stammered when asked, "I, I'm perfectly healthy, of course I haven't eaten it."
[What does my wife mean? Does she suspect I have kidney deficiency? Do I need external supplements? No way, he has to prove himself right.]
"Ahem, deer antler is usually used for soaking in alcohol or making soup. How come such a big piece wouldn't stay in your teeth?"
Yes! Why?
After hearing her autopsy report, Lu Qingchen subconsciously murmured to himself, "Who could be the murderer?"
"It was the Ghost-Faced Judge who killed him!" A woman ran in, sobbing. Upon seeing Master Wang's body, she broke down in tears, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Father!"
The constables at the gate immediately stopped the person. Without Qin Miaoxi's consent, they would not let anyone in to disturb the scene.
"Who is this?"
"Master Wang's daughter, Wang Xiangxiang."
Wang Xiangxiang shouted at Qin Miaoxi, "Let me in, my father won't die."
Qin Miaoxi handed her a handkerchief. "When was the last time you saw your father?"
Wang Xiangxiang couldn't stop her tears from flowing. "It was during dinner yesterday that Dad was in a bad mood. He only ate a few bites before going back to his room. This morning he... he just... sob sob~"
Do you know what enemies your father has?
"No, my father always adhered to the principle of harmony in business and never made enemies." She roared through gritted teeth, "It was the Ghost-Faced Judge who issued the judge's order to kill my father ahead of time."
"impossible."
"impossible."
Qin Miaoxi and Lu Qingchen both denied it in unison. They looked at each other and Lu Qingchen explained first: "Your father has no marks left by the Ghost-Faced Judge after his trial."
"Then he might have forgotten to leave it, or he might have deliberately misled you." Wang Xiangxiang's eyes were red, and she lashed out at him with a furious rage that was as sharp as a knife.
Lu Qingchen frowned, pursed her lips, and said coldly, "Why are you so sure about the Ghost-Faced Judge?"
"Who else could it be but him? Only someone with exceptional martial arts skills could kill someone so swiftly and without leaving a trace."
"No, it's precisely because he is highly skilled in martial arts that he doesn't need to resort to such an unnecessary act as hanging himself."
Qin Miaoxi met her gaze and solemnly asked a question that everyone knew the answer to, "Do you think it's easier for him to kill with one sword, or to strangle the person first and then hang them up?"
Wang Xiangxiang looked stunned, her expression a mixture of disbelief, hesitation, and grief. She staggered two steps, her legs feeling weak.
"Miss, be careful." Butler Shen quickly stepped forward to support her, comforting her with concern: "Miss, you don't need to worry too much. The officials of the Dali Temple will definitely catch the real culprit."
Wang Xiangxiang looked at him with tear-streaked eyes, "Really? But Father died so tragically! Why did they kill him? What are we going to do now?"
"It's alright, I'll stay with you, Miss." Butler Shen gently patted her back, and the bloating caused by crying gradually subsided.
Lu Qingchen had no interest in watching a woman cry, nor did he know how to comfort her. He simply turned around and continued to examine the corpse, hoping to find some clues on it.
However, just as he turned around, he stepped to the side and blocked Qin Miaoxi's way.
He blocked her view with a forced smile and chuckled, "Wife, what are you looking at?"