Murong Ci waited until dusk before Qin Ruo returned to Dali Temple.
Qin Ruo said: "Your Highness, this servant didn't wait for Miss Xia to come back. I was worried that Your Highness would be waiting impatiently, so I hurried back to report."
Murong Ci thought about it, that's all, let's talk about it tomorrow, and there is no rush.
Shen Zhiyan smiled and said: "How about this, tomorrow morning I will send someone to Ke Ruyunlai Inn to invite Miss Xia to Dali Temple."
She thought it was feasible and agreed, and the master and servant returned to the palace in a carriage.
The next morning, they came to Dali Temple again, expecting to see Xia Xiaolu, but unexpectedly, they heard a bad news.
According to the yamen servant's report, the shopkeeper of Ke Ruyunlai's inn said that Miss Xia's master and servant did not come back all night, and there was no sign of anyone early this morning.
Murong Ci looked at Shen Zhiyan suspiciously, his eyes seemed to say: Miss Xia will be fine.
He immediately sent someone to Jingzhao Mansion to ask if there were any murders in the past two days. Soon, they got the news that someone had just come to report that a homicide had occurred outside the west gate, and it seemed to be two young women.
Immediately, Murong Ci and Shen Zhiyan rushed to the west gate.
When they arrived at the scene of the crime, they saw many people around, but the Yamen servants held spears to prevent them from approaching. The policemen and gangsters from Jingzhao Mansion have arrived and are investigating the scene.
Shen Zhiyan showed the badge of Dali Temple, and the yamen servant let them in.
When the police officers learned that the famous Shaoqing of Dali Temple was coming, they asked him to have a look.
Murong Ci took a closer look, and the two corpses lying on the ground were indeed Xia Xiaolu and Chuntao.
Life is really impermanent. They never imagined that coming to the capital to search for someone would end up in such a bleak end.
"Who reported it?" she asked the detective.
"The old woman who came to this small temple to offer incense was the first to find out. She immediately went back and asked her grandson to report the crime in the city." The policeman quickly replied.
"This small temple is two miles away from the west city gate, and beggars often spend the night in the temple." Another policeman said quickly.
She nodded and asked again: "Have the two corpses moved?"
Wu Zuo replied, "I haven't moved."
Murong Ci squatted down, Shen Zhiyan was already inspecting the corpse, Xia Xiaolu was lying on the grass in front of the temple, lying flat, wearing a summer shirt and skirt embroidered with hibiscus in light blue and silver thread, but the clothes were messy and torn, obviously torn, especially It's the lower skirt, which only covers half of the thighs, and the other half of the snow-white thighs are exposed to everyone's eyes.
And Xia Xiaolu's maid, Chun Tao, was sitting against the foot of the small temple wall, her head drooping, her shoulders were bloodstained on her clothes, and there were also bloodstains on the wall, which was shocking.
Murong Ci also saw a man lying on the grass beside him. He was not tall, skinny and skinny. His coarse linen robe was not only torn, but also dirty and black. His hair was like a bird's nest, his face was yellow and dirty, and his feet were covered. A pair of straw sandals.
One of the arresters quickly said: "This man should be a beggar. He has drunk a lot and hasn't woken up yet."
Then he went to wake the beggar.
Murong Ci asked Shen Zhiyan: "Where is Miss Xia's fatal injury?"
"I did a preliminary inspection and found that there were no obvious wounds on the body of the deceased, but some slight scratches on both sides of the mouth." Shen Zhiyan stood up with a solemn expression, "It is estimated that she died around midnight."
"Go and see Chuntao." She walked over with him.
Shen Zhiyan inspected it for a while, and said: "The deceased, Chuntao, also died around Zishi, and has not been moved. This is the scene of the first crime. There is no wound on the deceased, and the fatal injury is the injury on the back of the head."
Murong Ci's slender eyebrows were slightly nervous, and he said: "Chuntao's hair is rather messy, judging from the blood on the wall, Chuntao should have been grabbed by the murderer's hair while standing, and then slammed into the wall hard."
He nodded, "Your Highness is right. The wound on the back of the head was deep and bloody, showing the strength of the murderer. After the back of the head was injured, the deceased slid down, sat on the ground, and died not long after."
The policemen, yamen servants and Wu Zuo of Jingzhao Mansion stared at them with wide eyes, full of admiration in their eyes.
Shen Zhiyan is worthy of being a well-known case-solving hero in the imperial capital, and he can deduce how the murderer commits the murder with just a few glances.
One of the arresters quickly said: "Master Shen, when we came, we saw this beggar reeking of alcohol and unable to wake up, lying beside this girl."
Could this beggar be the murderer
Murong Ci made a decisive decision, and said: "Bring the corpse to the temple, let's check it carefully."
Shen Zhiyan understood what she meant, and ordered the servants to carry the body to the temple.
There were only the two of them left in the temple, she frowned and said: "Miss Xia's clothes are disheveled, especially the silk trousers and lower skirt, the silk trousers are receded to the ankles, and the lower skirt is lifted up, she may have been raped."
He immediately inspected Xia Xiaolu's body. After years of autopsy, he no longer cared whether the corpse was male or female. In his eyes, the appearance of the corpse after death was the most direct evidence of justice for the deceased.
"The deceased was indeed raped, the vulva was red and swollen, and there was a man's blood inside." His voice was heavy.
"Could it be that she was raped by the beggar outside?" Murong Ci speculated, "The drunk beggar raped first and then killed."
"The beggar is most likely the murderer." Shen Zhiyan held Xia Xiaolu's right hand, with a little blood stained under the nail.
Afterwards, he rushed outside quickly and inspected the beggar's left hand. Sure enough, there was a long and thin scar, which was scratched by nails.
At this time, the beggar, about thirty years old, woke up.
His eyes were sleepy, as if he felt that the sunlight was too strong and he couldn't open his eyes. He closed his eyes hard three times, and when he finally opened them, he saw many people in front of him, policemen, government officials, and crowds of onlookers. He was stunned, and at the same time noticed a severe headache on his forehead.
A policeman asked: "Master Shen, is this beggar a murderer?"
"At the moment, he is the most suspected. Take him into custody and take him to Dali Temple."
Seeing the beggar's indifferent appearance, Shen Zhiyan couldn't restrain his anger.
Two policemen quickly grabbed the beggar, and the beggar realized something was wrong, he struggled violently and shouted: "Why are you arresting me, let me go, let me go!"
"Kill someone and be so arrogant and honest," the yamen servant said fiercely.
"I didn't kill my lord, I'm wronged, I really didn't kill someone." Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the beggar yelled and argued.
"You were lying next to the dead man, and you said you didn't kill him." The yamen servant put the knife on his neck.
"You'd better confess honestly, otherwise all kinds of tortures are waiting for you." Shen Zhiyan said angrily, thinking that the beggar raped and then killed the deceased, he was very angry, "What is your name, do you often spend the night in this small temple?"
The beggar panicked, his dirty face was full of fear, and he shouted in panic, "My lord, I'm wronged, I really didn't kill someone!"
Murong Ci sternly asked, "What's your name, you're asking the truth."
He was frightened by her majestic aura, and replied: "My name is Ma Dong. I came to the capital to beg a few years ago. I spend the night in this small temple every night, but I didn't kill anyone. My lord is very clear."
Her bright eyes were slightly fixed, and she couldn't figure it out, what did Xia Xiaolu and Chuntao come here to find someone
However, she was killed at Zishi, why did she stay here so late? Could it be that they missed the hour and saw this small temple, so they decided to stay here around Zishi, and the drunken beggar named Ma Dong also came Going to the small temple to spend the night, seeing Xia Xiaolu's handsome appearance, he was intrigued by the beauty, and driven by drunkenness, he decided to rape her.
Xia Xiaolu's master and servant escaped from the small temple. He chased him out, killed Chuntao first, and then captured Xia Xiaolu
Analyzing it this way, it is reasonable.
Shen Zhiyan's elegant brows were extremely cold, "Did you drink a lot last night?"
"I drank a lot of wine. When I was drunk, I fell asleep when I returned to the small temple. Oh, why don't I remember?" Ma Dong grabbed his dirty straw-like hair with both hands, "But I really didn't kill anyone. My lord, you have to trust me."
"You not only killed people, but also..." Murong Ci suddenly stopped talking, that's all, let's go back to Dali Temple and have a slow interrogation.
"I'm wronged, my lord, I really didn't kill anyone, what can I say to make you believe it?" He yelled anxiously, almost crying.
However, no one would believe him.
She looked around the small temple and inside the temple, and found a delicately woven red wishful knot in a corner of the temple.
The case of Xia Xiaolu's murder of her master and servant was presided over by Dali Temple.
Back at Dali Temple, Shen Zhiyan immediately performed a detailed autopsy. There is no doubt that Chuntao's fatal injury was a large wound on the back of the head. What is puzzling is that Xia Xiaolu has no wounds on her body other than being raped.
"Could it be that Xia Xiaolu was frightened to death when she was raped?" Murong Ci pondered, his bright eyes sparkling with tranquility.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." He took Chuntao's hand, and took out a small piece of cloth from it, "Your Highness, please look, the deceased Chuntao was holding tightly to the hem of the murderer's robe before he died, and the murderer left. At that time, Chuntao refused to let go, so she tore off a small piece."
"Is this piece of cloth the same as the robe Ma Dong wears?"
"Same color, same texture, same texture."
"From this point of view, Ma Dong is undoubtedly the murderer."
"At the moment, it seems that Ma Dong is the murderer." Shen Zhiyan was puzzled, "Ma Dong was drunk, had sex after drinking, first killed Chuntao, and then raped and killed Xia Xiaolu. But why didn't he escape and why did he stay in the house?" Let us catch the crime scene"
"He was drunk, and then he passed out himself, and slept until the next day." Murong Ci gave a reasonable explanation, "But it doesn't look like Ma Dong is lying when he says he was wronged and didn't kill anyone."
"When a person is completely drunk, he will not remember what happened. It is human nature for him not to remember that he raped and killed the person."
"Take Ma Dong into custody first, and re-examine Xia Xiaolu's body in two days." Her bright eyes gleamed coldly like pearls, "The cause of her death cannot be determined yet. There is another doubt, if she and Chuntao go to the west gate Looking for people, they should return to the inn after dusk, why they have been stranded outside the west city gate is unexplainable."
Shen Zhiyan nodded, "What Miss Xia's master and servant did and where they went in the last few hours of their lives is a mystery, and it may be the key to solving this case."
Then they arraigned Ma Dong.
In the lobby of Dali Temple, Ma Dong was escorted in by the government officials. Looking at the expressionless yamen servants standing on both sides, feeling the solemn and mighty atmosphere, he was a little scared, and his legs softened and he knelt on the ground.