Chapter 119: Red String [seeking Monthly Votes]
“Mine.” Lin Jianshan replied.
Lu Chengjing looked at him quite unexpectedly.
The blue outer shirt was clearly new at first glance. How many sets of new clothes could villagers make in a year?
Clothes used to cover a corpse definitely wouldn’t be given to a living person to wear again, yet Lin Jianshan was willing to cover the corpse with new clothes.
Lin Jianshan said, “The person’s dead. Leave some dignity for them.”
Lu Chengjing neither agreed nor disagreed with this, and turned his head to suggest to Village Chief Lin to report to the officials as soon as possible, so the government could send people to investigate the case and perform an autopsy, and catch the murderer.
Village Chief Lin said, “Someone has already been sent.”
As such, aside from protecting the scene, there wasn’t much else the crowd could do.
After Village Chief Lin and the others discussed it, they sent a few young and strong men to cordon off this area, to protect the crime scene and prevent the corpse from being eaten by some wild beast.
The others each returned home, so as not to stay here and cause trouble.
By the time Ma Jieyong and the three people ran over, the villagers had all dispersed, so they could only ask Shi Tou for some details.
Lu Chengjing and the others were discussing sealing off the village.
Before the murderer was found, the village would only allow entry and not exit, to prevent the murderer from escaping.
Although the murder had already happened for so long and the murderer had likely already fled, what if the murderer, relying on no one having seen them, harbored fluke thoughts and hadn’t fled?
Yuan Musheng had checked the corpse; Gui Shi had been dead for about two hours.
Lu Chengjing suggested, “We can organize people to go door-to-door asking where everyone was when the murder happened, and note down those without alibis.”
Village Chief Lin immediately organized manpower to handle it.
Lu Chengjing was inconvenient sitting in the wheelchair, so he didn’t join the questioning team.
The group returned home.
Shang Wan opened her palm, and a red string appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Two round ceramic pendants hung on the red string, with some places darker in color. Getting close, one could even smell a faint smell of blood.
“Sis, where did this red string come from?”
“It was hidden under the corpse’s hair.” Shang Wan said, “I thought it might have some relation to the murderer, so I took it along.”
Xiao Huan: ?
When had her sister gotten close to the corpse? How had she not seen it?
Lu Chengjing took the red string and examined it closely. The more he looked at the two ceramic pendants, the more familiar they seemed, as if he had seen something similar somewhere.
He furrowed his brows in thought.
“Eh?” Gao Yan stared at the pendant on the red string, “Isn’t this the red string for seeking marriage fate from the Matchmaker Temple?”
“You’ve seen it?” Everyone turned to look at him in unison.
Gao Yan nodded, “I have one too. Wait for me to go get it.”
He ran to the shed to rummage through his luggage, found his own red string, and handed it to everyone to see.
“Look, even the pendants on it are exactly the same, one painted with the golden boy, one with the jade girl.”
Lu Chengjing placed the red string in his hand next to Gao Yan’s red string, and everyone compared them side by side. The length, thickness, and pendants were all identical.
Compared to Gao Yan’s, the one Shang Wan found looked newer, just like one freshly obtained.
“So, the murderer recently went to the Matchmaker Temple to seek marriage fate.” Shang Wan murmured, “Could it be that the murderer is a single dog?”
Everyone: How does being single make one a dog?
Lu Chengjing said, “This might be a clue. Once the constables arrive, it can be handed over to them to investigate.”
……
The constables arrived quite quickly.
Upon learning of the murder case in the village, the newly appointed County Magistrate didn’t delay a moment and hurriedly sent people to investigate.
The leader was still Dan Dajun, accompanied by four constables, and the remaining one carrying a wooden box was the coroner.
Upon learning that the village had already protected the crime scene and the corpse hadn’t been tampered with, Dan Dajun let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The worst was if villagers tampered with the corpse, turning clues into no clues.
The group didn’t even have a sip of water before heading straight to the reed marsh.
The coroner performed the autopsy, while Dan Dajun took the other four constables to check the surroundings for any clues.
The state of the corpse clearly indicated homicide at first glance. After checking, the coroner found that the corpse had engaged in sexual intercourse with someone before death, not ruling out the possibility of a crime of passion.
Village Chief Lin had been accompanying them the whole time. Hearing the coroner’s conclusion, he hurriedly informed them of Gui Shi’s affair with someone.
“Can it be determined who the adulterer is?”
Village Chief Lin shook his head, “She wouldn’t say. We were going to arrest her and send her to the officials, but she ran away. Who would have thought, just a few days later, she died here.”
Dan Dajun frowned and asked, “Where is the deceased’s family?”
“Still at home.”
“You two, first carry the corpse to under the old elm tree. Trouble Mister Xu to examine it more carefully.” Dan Dajun began assigning people tasks, “You two, notify the villagers to gather under the old elm tree.”
The constables acknowledged in unison, and the coroner Xu helped the constables carry the corpse.
Dan Dajun then looked at Village Chief Lin, “Lead the way, to the Gao Family.”
The Gao Family had doors and windows shut. Village Chief Lin went forward to knock.
The wooden door creaked open; it surprisingly wasn’t locked.
The two exchanged a glance, and Dan Dajun stepped forward, pushed open the wooden door, and walked in.
“Cluck cluck cluck~” A big rooster with iridescent feathers flapped its wings and ran across the courtyard, leaving behind a fresh pile of chicken shit.
Village Chief Lin called out loudly inside, “Gao Laotai! Gao Qi! Officials are here! Come out quickly!”
After waiting a few breaths, there was no response and no one came out.
A thud of a heavy object falling came from one room. Dan Dajun strode over, pushed open the door, and saw an old madam lying on the ground, emitting faint groans from her mouth, as if she had fallen from the kang.
“Ouch, how did you fall down?” Village Chief Lin went forward to help her up, but he only had one usable hand, and Gao Laotai couldn’t exert strength either. In the end, Dan Dajun helped lift Gao Laotai back onto the kang.
Gao Laotai’s eyes were tightly closed, her wrinkled old face showing a pallid hue. She panted heavily with labored breaths, occasionally letting out faint pained groans.
Dan Dajun fetched the pot, poured water, and held it to feed the old madam to drink.
Village Chief Lin explained the two’s purpose on the side, hoping to learn from Gui Shi’s family which villagers Gui Shi usually associated with closely.
Gao Laotai finally caught her breath with difficulty, wearily opened her eyes and stared at the two for a moment, then snorted heavily from her nostrils in a hoarse voice, “I’ve already divorced her for my son. She’s no longer part of the Gao Family.”
Village Chief Lin thought, who’s debating that with you? He repeated the question, “Who did Gui Shi usually associate with more?”
“You.” Gao Laotai glanced sideways at him.
Dan Dajun’s suspicious gaze immediately swept over, and Village Chief Lin’s face instantly turned green as he hurriedly explained.
“No, considering they were a widow and orphan living difficult lives, I had my wife take extra care of them. I absolutely had no other thoughts.”
Seeing Gao Laotai didn’t refute it, Dan Dajun tentatively believed Village Chief Lin’s words.
The old madam was weak in spirit, speaking feebly. He chose to switch to another person to question.
Gao Qi lay flat on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, showing no reaction no matter how Village Chief Lin chattered beside him.
Dan Dajun had only learned on the way that the youth on the bed had become a eunuch due to a wild boar incident, and couldn’t help feeling sympathy.
He scanned the entire room and noticed that in the dusty room, there was a splash of bright color only in the corner by the wall.
He quickly walked over and picked up the thing.
