The first work of the imperial prison

The north wind is cold, the dripping water turns into ice, and the severe winter cold seems to take away all the temperature between the sky and the earth. People can't help but wrap their clothes tightly, tighter, it may not be very effective, but only in this way can they get a little comfort in their hearts.

Shen Jiang watched Li's thin figure leave, then slowly turned his gaze back to Young Master Jiao: "Is there something wrong with her?"

"perhaps."

Ye Baiting was thoughtful: "Let's talk about what you found first, what's the situation in the deceased's house, why is it the wife who came here? Where are the parents and brothers?"

Shen Jiang shook his head: "Lou Kai is the only son, and his ancestral home is out of town. His family is an offshoot of the clan. For some reason, they were separated early on and lived alone. His father is a bit promising. He became a small official and came to the capital. , When I arrived in Loukai, I became even more promising, and even became a Beijing official. After living a good life, I naturally didn’t want to go back. About ten years ago, the old family members resumed their relationship with them, and they would salute all seasons and eight festivals. It's impossible to say that Lou Kai doesn't have any elders who can speak up, but now that it's Nian Gen, the ceremony to go has already passed, and now the capital really can't find any important clansmen. Lou Kai's father passed away six years ago. His mother's legs are bad, she can't walk, and she can't go anywhere in daily life. In the younger generation, there is only one only daughter, who is only six years old this year. The only one who can be the head of the house is his wife. gone."

Ye Baiting: "There is no room for concubines?"

"There really isn't one," Shen Jiangdao, "Lou Kai's side is very clean, he is proud in front of Prince Lu, it's not like no one has given him a woman, but he doesn't want any, don't care what's going on outside and privately, In this regard, he seems to be quite clean and self-sacrificing, and outsiders praise him, saying that they have a very good relationship as husband and wife."

Ye Baiting heard the pause in his tone: "But?"

Shen Jiang: "But he also has that one in his study!"

"Which one?"

"It's that root carving! The one of Prince Lu's son," Shen Jiang gestured, "It's exactly the same!"

Zhan Shi of the Wangfu said that Lou Kai gave the item to Prince Lu's son, and now he doubts whether Lou Kai bought a pair when he bought it, gave one to his son, and kept one for himself?

"Having the same thing as Shangguan, you are not afraid of being known by Shangguan, and you are afraid of him overstepping?"

"That depends on what it is," Ye Baiting thought for a while, and said, "Men are quite territorial in some aspects, for example, how can others sleep soundly on the side of the couch, for example, the things I circled are mine, and so are people. Others can't covet, but in some respects, almost everything he thinks is not important can be shared, such as good brothers drink wine and eat meat together, brothers are like siblings, women are like clothes... It depends on his true love. It doesn't matter what you care about."

For some reason, Shen Jiang subconsciously glanced at the commander.

Territorial awareness... the circled territory and people... why others don't know, he knows something anyway.

Ye Baiting pondered: "If Prince Lu cares about that wooden carving very much, and it carries his unique spiritual sustenance, then only he can have it, and no one else can. If it is just an existence for ridicule, communication, showing off, and comparison, then Everyone can share, how can it be called arrogance if you are interested in a small group of interests?"

Shen Jiang punched his palm: "I can't see it, a person who looks gentle on the surface and is praised by others for his cleanliness is so perverted!"

Ye Baiting shook his head: "Just relying on this one, I can't reach that level..."

People have different personalities, different growth experiences, and various hobbies. He has met many different collectors, some of whom are just slightly private, just like some gloomy and fierce-looking people, but they are not. Just like doing bad things, collecting these things is not wrong in itself. As law enforcers, they should not define or criticize simply and crudely with stereotypes. Their focus should be on whether these behaviors of the parties have harmed others.

"Two people have the same thing, and both are missing, and one was dead when found... that's a problem."

"Don't they all like to play this kind of game?" Shen Jiang couldn't help shaking when thinking of the scene of the crime, "Like being whipped? Being abused? What's wrong with this?"

Ye Baiting slightly tilted his head: "I like to play this kind of game... There are many different types and different causes. There is too little information now, but we can do an autopsy first - to find out when the deceased died and how he died."

Qiu Yiqing had ordered Wu Zuofang to get ready: "Let's go."

Ye Baiting nodded, and the two walked side by side.

"No, wait," Shen Jiang turned around and asked, "Young master hasn't said, why is Mrs. Li suspicious?"

Ye Baiting: "The bruises on the wrists, the traces of that shape, definitely can't come out just by touching the table, they are bound injuries."

Qiu Xunqing: "Spice."

The incense burner at the scene has been burned out, but anyone who knows a little bit about how to taste incense can know from the residual breath that this incense is absolutely extraordinary. Li Shi herself said that she is good at mixing incense.

Coupled with that inexplicable clear alibi...

Shen Jiang understood: "Looks like we have to check her out!"

Turning into the foreman's room, the mortuary table is ready.

This case is very special. In order to avoid mistakes and omissions of details, what the corpse looked like when it was unloaded, it looked like what it looked like when it was put on, and it didn't change at all.

Ye Baiting put on the gloves and carefully observed the dead body. Apart from the tricks and eye-catching binding methods on the body, the most obvious one was the welt marks.

"All the whip marks are concentrated on the back, under the buttocks and the thighs, and there are very few, almost none, on the front. There is no intention of attacking a specific part of the whip; The more severe the injury on the buttocks and thighs, the redness, swelling and bruises are visible to the naked eye, and the marks on the back are much lighter... What does it look like?"

Shen Jiang thought for a moment, then looked serious: "It's obviously not hard enough! Look at this, this, and this." He pointed to several wounds, "It's just a little red, not even swollen. Didn't kill him at all! Did the murderer feel pity for the dead and was reluctant to hit him!"

Ye Baiting: "Maybe so, we can't hit hard for now."

Qiu Xunqing: "There is no trace of resistance on the body of the deceased, he did it voluntarily."

Shen Jiang turned the deceased around in a circle: "But this position, isn't it too easy to fight?"

How can I spank my ass with my hands and feet thrown behind my back?

"That's why he wasn't hung up to beat him." Ye Baiting pointed to the mark on the deceased's knee. "He must have been kneeling for a long time."

Shen Jiang hissed: "I beat you on your knees..."

Ye Baiting pointed to the welt marks on the shoulders and legs: "I haven't been idle since I hung it up."

"Huh? What is this?"

Shen Jiang suddenly found that there were reddish spots on the waist and buttocks of the deceased. The shape was like a large raindrop. There were several small round spots next to each other. The skin reaction looked red and swollen. It was more red, but it was not very swollen. .

This doesn't need Ye Baiting, Qiu Yiqing answered him: "Wax."

"Wax?" Shen Jiang still didn't understand.

"It dripped."

"Drip, drip?"

Shen Jiang finally realized, mother, this is hot!But this kind of trace...you are a commander, not a coordinator, why are you so proficient?

Qiu Xunqing looked at him with pity, and pointed to the rope tied between the deceased's legs——

The rope was made of a thin cowhide whip, black and shiny, and it rubbed against the dried white wax on the body of the deceased, which could be found at a glance.

The commander's taunt was obvious: I don't want my eyes, I can give them to those who need them.

Shen Jiang took a step back, looking for something to say: "There is no kang in that room, and there is a charcoal basin in the corner. Although you can add it after the burning, but he is so naked, isn't it cold?"

Now even Ye Baiting looked at him with pity: "I like to play this kind of game, I just like the feeling of the whip touching the skin, wearing clothes, what's the fun? And——"

Qiu Xunqing: "It's not cold after playing."

"what?"

Shen Jiang looked at Young Master Jiao, then at the commander, something is wrong, something is wrong with you two, why do you know so clearly!

The two ignored him at all, Qiu Xunqing looked at Ye Baiting: "What is the cause of death? Asphyxiation, or poison?"

Ye Baiting never took his eyes off the corpse: "The deceased's mouth was blocked by a cloth ball. The hyoid bone and laryngeal cartilage showed no signs of breaking. Although the rope was tied around the neck for a week, it was loosely tied. The edge of the scar on the neck was red and swollen. Obviously, they were all injuries during his lifetime... Unless the deceased intentionally stretched his neck down and strangled himself, he would definitely not have died when he was hung in mid-air."

But this pose is deadly.Ordinary people are hanged like this, and it won’t be long before they will suffer from hypoxia, blood circulation problems in the body, and breathing difficulties...

"...The degree of blood vessel burst in the deceased's eyeball must be accompanied by cerebral congestion. He probably died of suffocation, but it was not the neck collar, but the posture."

As for poison...

The deceased's skin turned blue, his lips were slightly purple, and his nails were cyanotic. If there were no special accidents, this was an obvious phenomenon of poisoning. Symptoms such as opisthotonus...

However, judging from the state of the deceased, even if there was a reflexed horn bow, it would not be noticeable, and the poison had to be carefully confirmed.

"I'm going to untie the rope."

Ye Baiting observed carefully for a long time. The way the ropes were tied on the deceased's body was called an art, smooth and smooth, with perfect symmetry, maintaining comfort and stretching to the greatest extent, especially the bow at the end, which was very beautifully tied.

Shen Jiang looked at the tangled rope, and suddenly remembered the fear of being dominated by the rope in Dongchang last night: "Be careful, if you don't pay attention and make a mistake..."

But it will get tighter and tighter!

"That's not going to happen." Ye Baiting had already pulled the end of a rope, and tugged lightly——

He is well-informed and has dealt with too many cases, many of which have similar incidents. In order to study the murderer's modus operandi, he even went deep into a certain forum and learned all kinds of ways to play the rope. It looks beautiful, how to beat a tied person hurts, others can't see it, how to beat is flashy, it can only bluff people, what kind of mental habits will most likely choose what method...

With his fingers, the rope untied.

"you……"

"Sorry," Ye Baiting turned to look at Shen Jiang, "I'm always better at dealing with the dead than the living."

Shen Jiang: ...

Don't say it, I don't say it, okay!Don't, don't scare people!

Ye Baiting continued to examine the corpse.

"The traces of the binding wounds...the bruises were serious, the deceased was likely to be hanged on it for an hour or two, but he didn't die. The part that was cut off..." He took a soft ruler and prepared to measure it.

Shen Jiang felt that Wu Zuofang was suddenly gloomy and cold, and when he looked again, he found that the commander's face was not quite right.

He looked at Young Master Jiao, who was gesturing at the wound of the deceased, and then at the commander... No, why are you so angry, it's too dirty and you don't want to see it?

Ye Baiting has already given a conclusion: "The wound is smooth and can be cut with one cut. It should be a sharp enough knife, more than three inches long, less than five inches long, and no more than two inches wide...about a dagger? The cut is neat and clean, but the wound is too deep , the murderer obviously doesn't understand medicine... It seems that the meat and the dagger were not found at the scene?"

Qiu Yiqing shook his head: "There is nothing in the house or around."

"That's weird," Shen Jiang was very curious, "Take the dagger away, and it may still be useful after washing it. A piece of meat, why take it away? Aren't you afraid of being dirty or rotten and smelly?"

Looking at the black hole on the body of the deceased again, he didn't know whether to feel nausea or pain.

Ye Baiting looked at the traces on the corpse and could almost imagine the scene at that time. Lou Kai made an appointment with someone. He planned to enjoy the pink date and have fun. After making up his mind, step by step, he seemed to be following him, but he was actually planning to kill him. This act of castration was obviously an insult. The murderer was laughing at and despising the dead.

"The whip...it doesn't seem to be found at the scene either."

"No," Qiu Guqing paused, "but the pattern on this scar is a bit special, and I will sort it out and look for it later."

Shen Jiang: "Take everything away...it's a bit dangerous, isn't the murderer afraid of being caught?"

Ye Baiting: "So we should pay attention to places that are convenient for handling evidence, such as rivers?"

If the murder weapon and other things were handled very carefully, the deceased must be a very careful person with perfect planning steps. If they were not handled at all and they were all brought back, it was certain that no one would think of him.

The time of death of the deceased was within six hours. It is known that the deceased was present during the church meeting yesterday, and left in the evening. The time after that should be to prepare for the appointment and then play games. From the deceased being whipped voluntarily to being hung on the beam, This time will not be too short. After all, the game is only fun if you play it slowly. For such a long time, the murderer left almost nothing related to himself at the scene, such as clothes, accessories, folds on the bed, and smell... Maybe the smell is too much. The strong scent of powder and the smell of the tripod covered it up. The only thing that could prove that there was another person at the scene, apart from the wounds on the deceased, was the tea on the table. There were two cups.

Regardless of whether he is sure whether he will be caught or not, the murderer's crime process is very careful and confident.

After seeing all the external appearances of the corpse, Ye Baiting said solemnly, "I'm going to do an autopsy."

Having seen this process so many times, Shen Jiang couldn't hold back his vomiting: "Come on!"

This time, Young Master Jiao didn't do all the work by himself, he had an extra assistant.

After washing and scrubbing, maintaining and dissecting until the end, Phytophthora was finally invited by Ye Baiting to the front of the stage to observe the technique up close and hand him a knife, scissors, tweezers or something.

The old Wuzuo thought he had seen it and understood it, but the process of facing it up close was still different. He saw Ye Baiting's hands were decisive and fast, as if he was born to know where there is something, where to avoid it, and just stroke it directly up...

Obviously every corpse is different, tall, short, fat, and thin, every slight change may lead to misjudgment, but the young master knows how to adjust, so there is no mistake at all.And those blood vessels, fascia, joints, how to keep them from being cut, how to remove them skillfully, every difficulty encountered, the young master has various ways to solve it...

How can it be so powerful!

This time, the main focus was on the contents of the stomach, to see if the time of death could be further determined, and if something could be seen in the circumstances of the deceased's last meal.

Ye Baiting's eyes were focused, and his hands kept moving. When he opened the chest cavity, he found something wrong: "The deceased's lungs were severely edema...it must have been hung for too long." Then he searched upwards, "There are burn marks in the esophagus, this time the poison , still by the mouth."

"I took my stomach."

Ye Baiting informed everyone, took the small scissors, took off the stomach, and cut it open——

Probably due to the effects of poison, the color of the stomach is slightly lighter, and some parts have turned white, but it is very empty inside, almost nothing.

Shen Jiang: "Why is there nothing?"

Ye Baiting frowned slightly: "I told you last time about the digestion rules in the stomach, do you still remember?"

"Remember!" Shen Jiang nodded, "Just after eating, the stomach is full, and you can see everything you eat. After half an hour, the food becomes soft, but the shape is complete. After one or two hours, the food moves to the intestines. Within an hour, there may be only food residues left in the stomach, and after six hours, the stomach is emptied, and there is nothing left, and the deceased's appearance is obviously empty of the stomach!"

Ye Baiting nodded: "His last meal... should be the one in the evening."

If he ate again in the evening before he died, it is impossible not to notice it.

"If there's nothing, wouldn't there be no evidence?" Shen Jiang sighed regretfully, "Won't he feel hungry when Kong is like this? I don't know how to find a midnight snack!" After finishing speaking, he felt wrong, "But the poison didn't come from Was it taken by mouth? The deceased didn’t eat anything, how did he get poisoned?”

"No, and this."

Ye Baiting took the tweezers and picked out a... broken leaf from the stomach of the deceased?

"Tea?" Qiu Xunqing looked at the shape, compared it with the tea at the scene of the crime in his mind, and shook his head, "No, the shape is different."

Ye Baiting took out another piece, and this one was much smaller, with a familiar color and shape: "This piece should be tea."

Qiu Suqing's eyes were slightly deep.

So one thing is clear -

Ye Baiting: "Poison is poured into the tea."

It is true that the deceased had not eaten since dinner, but he drank tea.

Fortunately, the poison this time was not deliberately prepared, such as the powdery one, which is a kind of plant leaf, as long as it is found, the case will have a direction.

"Have the tea at the crime scene been sealed up?" Ye Baiting asked Qiu Xunqing.

Hatred and green jaws: "Yes."

Shen Jiang: "How can such a small leaf be so toxic? The whole body is stained blue?"

"So gotta find it."

Even if it turns out that the poison is not the leaf, its existence is still very important. Since it appeared in the stomach of the deceased, he must have come into contact with this leaf during the last two hours before death. Find it, that is the last survival track of the dead!

"Let's start the investigation."

"But... the direction?" Shen Jiang simply took out his small notebook, "Young master, tell me, I will remember."

Ye Baiting hates iron but steel: "You should also take a closer look. I have said many times before that the murderer's behavior revealed his purpose, but in the purpose, there was a motive hidden—the murderer chose to poison, why?"

Shen Jiang scratched his head: "Convenient? Don't dirty your hands?"

Ye Baiting: ...

"The murderer already cut off the body of the deceased, so it's not dirty hands? Looking at the whole process, from the beginning of playing the game to the final hanging, the final cause of death of the deceased is absolutely due to suffocation. Since we know that this method can definitely kill people, Why are you still poisoning?"

"I, I don't know..." Shen Jiang was really out of his mind.

Ye Baiting gave up: "It may be a double insurance, worrying that the deceased will not be hanged to death, but also be poisoned to death, or this poison has other effects-for example, it can improve the feeling when playing games."

Like the hallucinogenic drugs associated with many similar games, the drugs may contain trace amounts of toxins, which are not fatal, but will definitely make the process more 'exciting'.

"The direction of leaf search can't be limited to poison, this one."

Ye Baiting went back to the game again: "Being tied up is an act of entrusting a sense of security. It is impossible for a person to be willing to be tied up by a stranger casually. In this way, he loses his autonomy. If someone hurts him, he has no way to resist. The murderer To be able to complete this act, it must be someone who the deceased trusted very much, and the trusted person—”

Shen Jianghui on this question: "Most of them are acquaintances!"

Ye Baiting: "Cutting off the vital organs of the deceased, this behavior has a strong and very obvious hatred. The murderer must have been hurt by a man, and the process was accompanied by sex. Either the deceased was sorry for her, or, Someone else was sorry for her, and she projected this feeling on the deceased."

Hatred and green jaws: "Candles, whips and ropes are so well prepared, it is obvious that they came prepared, how did the murderer know that the deceased must be free? But there is an appointment? When did the appointment?"

There are many petty officials like Lou Kai in the capital. It seems that they are not busy with official duties, but they can’t control their time. If they want to make money, they have to always pay attention to the needs of the higher-ups. When others are bored, he has to find a way to create an atmosphere for fun and make people happy. I'm afraid he doesn't even know about the fixed and absolute rest time, so it's impossible to make an appointment a long time in advance, at most it's just a few days.

As for the hall game, preparations must be made at least five or six days in advance. It is impossible for him to know that he will be free on this day, and the offer... is basically yesterday, after the prince's itinerary is confirmed.

Candidates are very limited.

"There is also the technique of binding." Ye Baiting pointed to the rope beside the mortuary table, "Skilled and beautiful, it is impossible to have such a degree of completion without a certain amount of time to study and practice. Who would be proficient in this skill? How to be proficient of? Who taught it? Where will it be taught?"

A few clues gather together, and there is really a direction!

Shen Jiang's eyes widened: "I know! I'll investigate!"