At first, County Magistrate Zhou felt a chill in his back and did not dare to approach her. However, seeing how serious she was, he couldn't help but forget his fear. He took a few steps forward and asked questions out of curiosity.
"Girl, why are you checking the deceased's hair?"
After Shen Ning finished touching the skull, she raised her head and glanced at Magistrate Zhou, and said calmly: "I was checking whether there were any injuries on the top of her head. Sometimes the injuries are hidden by the hair. Let me see this lady's body." Her hair was well combed, and I guess I haven’t examined the deceased’s head.”
Magistrate Zhou couldn't help but nodded and said: "Yes, I was beside him when he did the autopsy, and he did not do it. Then, girl, is there any injury on the deceased's head?" There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
If the deceased had a head injury, it would be sufficient to prove that it was homicide rather than suicide.
"No."
Shen Ning shook her head, but she didn't feel disappointed.
There was no head injury, it just ruled out one of the possibilities.
She continued to examine, especially the nails of the deceased, looking particularly carefully. Later, she took the wax stand from Zhui Feng, held it in her hand, and pressed her entire face against the neck of the corpse. Look at that strangulation mark.
Magistrate Zhou and Zhui Feng didn't even dare to express their anger and looked at her for a moment.
Even Wufu forgot about fear and approached quietly.
Shen Ning looked at the strangling marks for a long time, finally nodded, then opened the deceased's chin, smelled the deceased's mouth, and nodded again.
She straightened up, her eyes clear and bright, as if there were stars twinkling.
Magistrate Zhou couldn't help but perked up and blurted out: "Girl, do you have a clue?"
"Yes, we can now make a preliminary judgment that Mrs. Wang did not commit suicide, but died of homicide!"
"Kill him?!"
Magistrate Zhou and Wu Fu both took a breath and widened their eyes in disbelief.
"Yes, it was homicide."
Shen Ning nodded affirmatively, pointed to the lips of the deceased and said: "I smelled it just now. There was a strong smell of Coptis chinensis in the mouth of the deceased. Even after three days, the smell of medicine is still very strong. I checked again. Looking at the limbs of the deceased, it was found that her joints were relatively stiff. She must have suffered from rheumatism. Coptis chinensis is a good medicine to expel wind and cold. You said that Mrs. Wang has been bedridden for many years, presumably because of joint pain. But the disease is not incurable, nor is it so painful that life would be worse than death, so it is sheer nonsense to say that one cannot endure the pain and commit suicide!"
"Ah, yes, yes, what the girl said is absolutely true." Magistrate Zhou couldn't help but nodded repeatedly.
He was initially hesitant about Shen Ning's words, but when he heard Shen Ning tell the deceased's illness without thinking, his doubts were immediately eliminated.
Because when he told the story, he didn't mention anything about the disease the deceased was suffering from, but the little girl came to the correct judgment just by examining the body, which really surprised him.
Shen Ning added: "Also, if the deceased wanted to die, why did she drink this extremely bitter medicine before hanging herself? This is one of the doubts; Mr. Zhou, look at the nails of the deceased. There are some dark red stains inside, which are dried blood stains. Who left the blood stains here? If the deceased hanged herself, why did she leave blood stains in her nails? Another question? , There is also a secret hidden in the strangling marks on the deceased’s neck! This is the third doubt.”