Tang riddles

In Guangdefang Jingzhao Mansion, by the dismounting stone in front of the door, Shen Sui got off the car first, and then helped Zhang Ruohan get off.Chu Zhen showed no surprise, and with a stretch of his arms, he guided Shen Sui to the mansion.Hu Tuo tied up the carriage and followed immediately.

Right now, the three charred corpses from last night have all been transported to the morgue in Jingzhao Mansion. Shen Sui was brought here first. Apart from looking at the corpses, Mr. Jingzhao Yin, Li Xian, and Li Mansion also had a lot of questions. There are few things I want to ask her for advice.

Shen Sui was already very familiar with the Jingzhao Mansion, and the corpses of the two deceased who investigated the case of the Merciful Ape were also here.After so many years, Shen Sui met that familiar foreman Zhao Liu again.Zhao Wuzuo was obviously impressed by her, and he was very happy to see her again, with a smile on his old face.

"Shen Sizhi, I haven't seen you for many years." Zhao Liu bowed.

"Master Zhao, don't come here without any problems." Shen Sui was also very kind when he saw him, but time has passed, and many familiar faces in Jingzhao Mansion were gone now.For example, the two lieutenants Du Yan and Wei Han who were in charge of criminal arrests in the Jingzhao Mansion back then have both been promoted and have been transferred from the Jingzhao Mansion for two or three years.But Wuzuo is different, this line of work is a lifetime, Zhao Liu can still do it, and his qualifications are old, so naturally he has stayed in Jingzhao Mansion.

Zhao Liu led them to the morgue first, saying that Li Xian was already waiting there, and Shen Sui thought that this mansion was really different from the previous Murong Fu. unwilling to step in.After all, Li Xian has been working at the grassroots level for many years. Although he has a distinguished status and belongs to the royal family, he can endure hardships and do things more practically than Murong Fu, who is just a noble son.I couldn't help but have a somewhat favorable impression of Li Xian.

This was the first time Zhang Ruohan entered Jingzhao Mansion, and it was also the first time she entered the morgue.Although she tried her best to restrain her curiosity, she still couldn't hide a little excitement.Especially in the morgue, she is not afraid, but Shen Sui is very worried, because this time the corpses are not like before, they are all scorched corpses, it must be shocking to look at, she is worried that Zhang Ruohan will not be able to bear it, because most people see it at first sight It's not good to see a charred corpse.

But what surprised Shen Sui was that Zhang Ruohan didn't seem to be so afraid of this by nature, and she would feel uncomfortable in the end, but within the range of tolerance, the expression on her face didn't change much.Shen Sui recalled that the lotus maid was very afraid of reptiles, and couldn't help but feel that their wife's fear was really strange.

Li Xian has already come forward to say hello: "Shen Sizhi, I have admired your name for a long time!"

"I have met Mr. Li, Mr. Mr. Fu is too polite." Shen Sui replied with a smile and cupped his hands.

Because they were in the morgue, the two of them couldn't greet each other overly enthusiastically. After a brief exchange of greetings, Li Xian guided Shen Sui to the three mortuary beds.

"Presumably Shen Sizhi also knew the identity of the deceased. The deceased on the far left was Lu Bingwen who was the first to receive the report last night. The deceased in the middle was Zhang Tingle, who came to report the case and found the dead body. The one on the far right was the last to report the case. Wu Guanzhi discovered it. Zhao Liu has already experienced corpses, Master Zhao, come and tell Shen Si directly." Li Xian looked at Zhao Liu.

Zhao Liu took a step forward, lifted the white cloth covering Lu Bingwen's body, pointed to the dead body and explained: "The causes of death of these three people are exactly the same. I checked the nasal cavity, and a large amount of smoke was inhaled in the nasal cavity. The cause of death should be suffocation by smoke and dust. That is to say, these three people were all burned to death, and it is very likely that they were in a deep coma, because there was no sign of struggle and escape on the three people. It is impossible not to try to escape. Even if you cannot escape, you will be dying.

When the three people were burnt to death, they had no clothes on their bodies, and no fibers of burned clothes were found in the skin.Judging from the criss-cross traces on the back, it should have been burned in a pyre, but the burning ended soon, so the body was not completely burned, and the burning time is estimated to be no more than half an hour.After the fire was extinguished, the scorched corpses that were curled up all over and showed a 'fist-like' shape were taken out again, and then transported to their respective homes to be buried.It can be seen that there are traces of rope binding on the armpits, waist, arms and legs of the corpse. The skin of the charred corpse has peeled off, and the binding must have occurred after the corpse was burned. "

When Zhao Liu was explaining, both Shen Sui and Li Xian listened carefully with their eyebrows frowned, and their eyes followed the place Zhao Liu indicated without moving away for a moment.Zhang Ruohan was also listening carefully, but she was still not used to it and didn't stare at the corpse carefully. After a while, she felt a little uncomfortable, and quietly left the morgue and stood at the door.

Shen Sui noticed, she didn't change her face, suddenly realized that the lotus maid is not not afraid, but her fear will be magnified with the details.She regretted bringing the maidservant to investigate the case today, but she should have insisted on letting the maidservant stay at home.

After Zhao Liu finished explaining, Shen Sui moved closer to the corpse and sniffed it lightly. In fact, she didn't need to get closer. When she approached the morgue, she could already smell a strong fragrance from the room.This fragrance is very choking, it seems that things must be reversed when extremes are extreme, and when the fragrance reaches the extreme, it will give people a stinky feeling.

"Master Zhao thinks, where does the fragrance from the corpse come from?" Shen Sui asked.

"I guess it should be the aroma of the combustion aid. The combustion aid may be a kind of oil. The skin of the corpse is actually very greasy. I guess the murderer should have smeared some kind of oily spice on the dead body, and put it in the pyre A large amount of this kind of fat was also added to support the combustion, and after the fire was lit, the fat would burn violently in the flames and emit a smell, and the corpse was stained with a strong fragrance." Zhao Liu said.

Shen Sui nodded, what Zhao Liu said coincided with her guess.

"Could it be Musk?" Shen Sui made a hypothesis.

Zhao Liu nodded: "Very likely, this smell is indeed very similar to musk. Musk itself is also a kind of ointment, and it will emit a strong smell after burning."

Li Xian shook his head and said, "These are not problems, but I am very puzzled. I really don't understand why the murderer would do this. First, I don't understand why he burned the corpse; second, he doesn't understand why he burned the corpse with musk to create such a strong smell." Finally, I don’t understand why the murderer took a lot of trouble to transport all the corpses back and hang them in their respective homes. This is really counterintuitive, cumbersome and unnatural. Especially transporting the corpses back, it’s hard not to be People found out, but the murderer did it quietly."

Shen Sui nodded, these three points were also her doubts.Although she already had some clues about the first point—why the murderer burned the body, she couldn't explain it to Li Xian, not to mention it was only her guess, and everything hadn't been verified yet, so she didn't dare to jump to conclusions rashly.

Regarding the second point, Shen Sui wondered if the murderer wanted to take advantage of Concubine Wu Hui's case. After all, although Concubine Wu Hui's death had not been announced, it was an open secret among the upper-class aristocrats. Harvest more effects than the murderer expected.

And the third point, she was also puzzled, why did the murderer have to send the corpse back to their respective homes?Even if it was disguised as a suicide, it didn't look like a suicide to anyone. If a charred corpse appeared, at least a fire would be needed to get away with it, but the murderer didn't set fire at all.

Does this have other purposes?Does it have any symbolic meaning to hang the charred corpse at home?

"When were these three people last seen?" Shen Sui asked.

Li Xian replied: "I have already sent someone to ask. These three people are elderly people who don't go out much at home on weekdays. However, they also have their own hobbies, and they all go out for their hobbies.

Lu Bingwen is fond of wine, and occasionally goes out alone, to a time-honored restaurant in the east of Fenglefang to drink and listen to the piano, without bringing anyone with him.On the day of the incident, he also went out to drink, and never came back. When he saw him again, he looked like this.

Zhang Tingle is fond of books, and often goes out alone, to Wenfangzhai in Dongshi to look at various calligraphy treasures, and he also does not bring anyone with him.On the day of the incident, he also went out to Dongshi alone.

Wu Guanzhi loved flowers, especially peonies. Not only did he have a lot of peonies in his home, but he would often go to the Furong Garden to see flowers and ask the florist there for advice on how to grow flowers.On the day of the incident, he did mention to his family that he would go to Furong Garden.However, because of his bad legs, he always took his servants in the carriage when he went out, but for some reason that day, he went out alone. "

"They all go out in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Has anyone seen them on the road?"

"Still investigating, but I guess it's not."

"From this point of view, these three people have been missing for at least ten hours, but the three people went out at the same time on the same day, such a coincidence, it seems that the possibility is very low." Shen Sui said.

"Shen Sizhi means... these three people didn't actually go out to drink, read and enjoy the flowers, but they made an appointment to meet together today?" Li Xian said.

"Or, being invited out by the murderer to meet up." Shen Sui said.

Suddenly, Li Xian clapped his hands and said: "It is indeed very possible! In this way, the murderer should be someone who knew about their past, held them accountable, or was related to all three of them."

"But it is not certain. If the murderer did send letters to each of the three people, then any content in the letter may appear. Considering that they are usually high-ranking officials and dignitaries, they may pretend to be friends they usually know. Drinking buddies, gardeners, and calligraphers can easily ask them out. It is not necessary to know what they have done in the past and what they have to do. It is only necessary to investigate them for a period of time to understand their behavior habits and what is around them. Friends, it can be done." Shen Sui said.

Li Xian frowned, and was troubled again: "In this way, it is still impossible to pinpoint the scope of the murderer's identity."

However, Shen Sui suddenly moved closer to Lu Bingwen's scorched corpse, stared at his unrecognizable face, and said quietly, "I'm more curious now than locking down the murderer's identity."

She paused, pointed at the faces of the charred corpses and said, "How can you be sure that these three charred corpses are themselves?"

As soon as Shen Sui said this, the morgue suddenly fell into silence, and Li Xian felt a gust of wind blowing behind him in a trance, the chicken skin all over his body stood up immediately, and he shivered uncontrollably.He suddenly turned his gaze to Zhao Liu, who immediately shook his head and said:

"Xiao'er has never seen these three people in his life, and he doesn't know what they look like. Naturally, he can't confirm their identities. Only people who are close to the deceased can identify them. It's just that the appearance of the charred corpse has changed too much, and it is difficult to identify them. judge."

Li Xian sighed deeply, and said: "It was Li who was negligent and didn't think about this problem. The family members of the deceased came to report the case, and the deceased were all buried in the most private room of the deceased at home. We subconsciously thought that This charred corpse is the dead. Right now, it seems that we haven't even solved the most basic problems."

Shen Sui said: "Your Majesty Li, don't be discouraged. Right now, the family members of the deceased should come to identify the corpse, and ask what special parts of the deceased's body have imprints, especially if the skin of some parts of the corpse is not completely burned. Jiao, can still be barely identified, followed by teeth, the condition of each person's teeth is different, close family members may be able to know the condition of the deceased's teeth, and the teeth have not been destroyed by the fire, so they can be identified. Let Master Zhao help Inspect, at least to confirm whether they are the real person, so that we can continue the investigation."

Li Xian cupped his hands to Shen Sui: "Thank you Shen Si for teaching me directly."

"Your Majesty Li is too polite." Shen Sui said with a smile.

They turned around and walked out of the morgue, Shen Sui quietly took Zhang Ruohan's hand when passing by her.Zhang Ruohan pursed her lips slightly and smiled lightly, then came forward and swipe Shen Sui's palm twice.Shen Sui turned to look at her with concern in his eyes, Zhang Ruohan shook his head to express that he was fine.Shen Sui reluctantly let go of her hand, but was caught off guard by Zhang Ruohan who quickly hugged her from the side, and then she stepped back, pretending nothing had happened, and followed behind with her head down, acting exactly like a servant should be.

Shen Sui couldn't help but laugh, desperately resisting the urge to kiss her, with a sweet and helpless expression.

At this moment Li Xian turned around, just about to speak to Shen Sui, he caught her expression in his eyes.Li Xian was taken aback for a moment, thinking to himself, what is Shen Sizhi's expression?You can tell that you are shy just by looking at a dead body?

However, this expression was only fleeting, and Shen Sui quickly recovered his normal expression. Seeing Li Xian looking back at her in doubt, she calmly smiled and said:

"I don't know if Master Li will be free in the future, but Sui still wants to visit the homes of the three deceased."

Li Xian hurriedly said: "That's right, that's right, Li is also planning to take Shen Sizhi to the deceased's house to check. However, it's almost noon, Shen Sizhi will have lunch in Jingzhao Mansion first, and we will go there in the afternoon?"

"It's all according to Mr. Li's arrangement."

The author has something to say: Lotus Maid: As if someone said I was a corpse