Qin Official

After the county's task force decided on the direction of solving the case, the warden and the county lieutenant immediately issued orders to all the pavilions in Anlu County, asking the heads of each pavilion to investigate men over eight feet tall in their respective jurisdictions - Footprint Technique Although the approximate height can be calculated, it will inevitably vary from person to person and there will be slight deviations. Therefore, Heifu suggested that when interviewing the suspect, it is more appropriate to set the height at more than eight feet.

During this period, Heif further used his knowledge of footprints to find characteristics that a suspect was likely to have.

The front part of the shoe print has dense patterns and is four inches long; the middle part has sparse patterns and is five inches long; the heel part has dense patterns and is three inches long...

Heifu raised his head and asked angrily: Ling Shi, do you think there is anything wrong with these footprints?

Angrily stroked the beard under his chin and thought for a moment: What this thief is wearing should be a pair of boat-shaped cloth shoes with double openings. It is normal to be wide at the front and narrow at the back. But this footprint is narrow at the front and wide at the middle. It's really What a weird thing.

However, Heifu knew that the reason for this situation was related to the strong force on the suspect's forefoot and rear heel. And the pattern on the arch of the foot is sparse, rather than half-absent or completely absent. It can be inferred that this tall suspect has low or even collapsed arches, and may have flat feet or even swollen feet.

Judging from this, the person who left the footprints was not only tall, but also had some problems with his walking posture.

After Heifu and Nu reached an agreement on this issue, he said to the chiefs of the pavilion who came to receive the order: Everyone, please be sure to strictly check those who are over eight feet tall, have been out recently, and have swords and wooden scabbards. Pay special attention to their walking. Someone who is different from ordinary people!”

promise!

After the pavilion chiefs took the order and left, they started whispering as soon as they walked out of the door.

He, the chief of the Huyang Pavilion, is also the chief of the pavilion. Why is he giving orders to us now? Some people were unwilling to accept it.

Another pavilion chief said sourly: It's not like he was promoted by the right lieutenant of the county and asked to handle the case together with the lieutenant and the lingshi. He looks like one of our superiors.

However, his words did not receive a response. The other pavilion chiefs sneered and said: Don't say sarcastic words here. This is only what Pavilion Chief Heifu has. If you two are capable, why don't you sit in his position? Are you going to work hard together with us?

Because Heifu, the chief of the pavilion, got his job by actually catching thieves and doing meritorious service and passing the performance appraisal. After taking office, he repeatedly made great achievements and gradually gained a reputation in the county. It was hard for people to find fault with him. Even several pavilion chiefs began to respect this colleague...

It's better to listen carefully. Maybe next year, he will really become our superior!

…

On the other side, Heifu arranged for the pavilion chiefs to go looking for him, while he stayed in the countryside, sitting in front of the case and continuing to think about the case.

During the previous investigation process, the historians had interviewed the relatives, friends and neighbors of the two deceased people in detail. The love book recorded this: I also asked whether there were any villagers who were fighting, grudges, and taking care of mediocrity. People know that their brothers are poor, and they suspect thieves and murderers at the gate of the inner prison. They say: The gate of the inner prison is a good place to send pigs, and they often interact with the widows there without complaining.

The deceased prisoner was really a romantic man during his lifetime. He had a wife and children at home, and he also flirted with women, hooked up with widows in the neighborhood, and even slept with married women. Apart from Orion who was kept in the dark, there were quite a few people in Willow who knew about this matter and couldn't stand it, but they were not to the extent that they had to kill him to correct the moral atmosphere in Willow.

Apart from his improper private life, Li Jianmen did well in other aspects. He had a high prestige in the village, was good to his neighbors, was kind to the common farmers in his family, and often helped the poor Lu Zuoli people. He has not done anything for so many years. I had a quarrel with someone, and he wasn’t considered rich either…

In this way, several possibilities such as vendetta and love killing are eliminated, and only one possibility remains: killing for money.

Ling Shi Nu was good at on-site investigation, while Le was good at interviewing insiders. After careful interrogation, he told Heifu and others about his new discovery.

Li Jianmen's wife said that a few days before the incident, Li Jianmen suddenly brought home two thousand dollars and asked him where the money came from, but Li Jianmen didn't tell him.

In my opinion, these two thousand dollars are probably the reason why Li Meng died!

But the two thousand dollars from the prison gate were all hidden at home and have been seized. He only took two to three hundred dollars with him when he went out.

Heifu raised his doubts. These days, when you go out, you have more money and less money. You can tell by looking at the weight of the robe. Since the murderer has been planning for a long time, there is no way he can't miss it.

If it was to rob money, why didn't you go directly to the empty house of Li Jianmen to commit the crime, but chose to commit the crime at Orion's house? Judging from the murderer's methods and planning, he would not have made such a mistake.

Isn't it true that the criminal was greedy and plundered all the Orion family's money, and also took away the sword from the prison gate? Maybe he is not as smart as Hei Fu thinks.

They are two murderers. Heifu emphasized.

Because the murderer calculated from the footprints was very tall, we can only assume that there were two murderers. The taller man was outside the house, helping the other man to break the window, using his own body as a ladder to send him into the house to kill, so the other man was not there. Leaving footprints in the mud.

However, all this is just inference. The real case may not be known until they find one of them...

In the evening of that day, Wei Shi Anpu, who was responsible for arresting people, brought back good news.

The suspect was caught!

…

We caught him in Yidong-ri, which is adjacent to Liushu-ri.

Anpu held a clay pot and poured water down his throat. He seemed to be starving.

After drinking the water, he continued: This man's name is 'Shi'. He is eight feet two inches tall and walks with a slight limp on his right foot. When we went to ask him, this man was cutting rice in the field. We saw him from a distance. The chief of the pavilion, Chi Gu, was so guilty that he fled deep into the rice fields. We spent a lot of effort to capture him...

At this time, the suspect was also brought up. He was like a captured beast, wrapped in a fishing net, and dragged in by four people. But I saw that he was tall. Even if he was curled up at this moment, he could still feel the strength of his body. His body was covered with rice awns, and his exposed hands and feet were covered with bloodstains from being cut by the mesh of the fishing net. He looked very depressed, with a trace of anger in his eyes.

Sure enough, he is a sturdy man. Lehaha laughed, then straightened his face and asked the man: Let's talk, the chief of the pavilion asked as usual, why did you run away?

The big man was tired after a chase and fight. After breathing for a while in the fishing net, he said: I was afraid of the officials, so I ran away in panic. There was no other intention.

If you have not committed any crime, why should you be afraid of officials?

How can we not be afraid of being imprisoned by hundreds and executed by dozens at every turn?

You guys, you still dare to be so stubborn! An Pu kicked him in anger.

Heifu shook his head, feeling more and more suspicious about this person: Although he looks fat, he doesn't seem to have sharp teeth.

Le really liked this kind of cat-and-mouse game. He picked up the knife worn by the man and said with a smile: The blacksmith here said that you made a racquet at his place three months ago, and let us take a look. This thing.

With that said, Le took out the weapon from the scabbard, but it was not a dagger, but a dagger!

Seeing this situation, Shi's expression suddenly changed.

There is a sword in the scabbard. If your guess is correct, this sword must be that of the prisoner who died in the willow tree!

The height and murder weapon were all consistent. According to the report of the pavilion chiefs, after asking Shi's neighbors, they learned that the day of the crime was busy farming, but Shi made an excuse and said he had to go to the township market. He left before dawn and returned home after lunch. , during those two hours, I don’t know where I went or what I did.

In the face of such evidence, Shi lowered his head and said as if he was resigned to his fate: In that case, I admit that I was indeed the one who killed the prison gate there... The two Lis were very close to each other. I saw Li Li that day. The prison doorman took the sackcloth and walked outside the inner wall. Then, greedy for money, he followed him to that house, jumped in through the window and killed the two of them...

Stop talking nonsense. How could you, with your fat body, jump out of the window and commit a crime? Heifu interrupted Shi's nonsense and asked, Quickly, tell me who is the real murderer of your accomplice and where is he? !”

If Shi Cai Shi was just surprised, now he is stunned. But after Hei Fu told him, he actually shut his mouth and didn't say a word.

Heifu pressed him several times to no avail, so he had no choice but to say: Your Majesty, this person has a tough talk and should be detained immediately. Wei Shi, why don't we go to interrogate his family members and friends first to see who this person has been close to in recent years and can he take the risk to come with us? The person who committed the crime must be an acquaintance.

After An Pu left, Le asked Shi a few more questions, but got no response, so he said angrily: Since you are stubborn and don't say anything, there is nothing we can do. We can only use the worst strategy.

He waved his hand: Drag him down and torture him corporally!

Half an hour later, after a round of whipping, Shi, who was already covered in bloodstains, was dragged up. He was already very weak and was held down by two pavilion soldiers in front of Wei Shi, Hei Fu and Le.

Wei Shi Anpu said: Shi, your township party has said everything. In the past year, you have been very close to a group of mediocre farmers. Did one of them commit the crime with you?

I said... After hearing this, Shi raised his head and said weakly: I said, I hope Ling Shi can untie me a little. The binding is too tight and I can't speak...

There were five people in the room, all armed with weapons. He was happy to have him, which made people feel relieved.

Shi seemed to feel better, and he murmured: The person who committed the crime with me, his name is...

Suddenly, Shi stood up abruptly. The eight-foot-two-inch man burst out with astonishing strength. With his hands tied together, he was able to knock the two pavilion guards behind him flying out! Wei Shi Anpu was shocked and wanted to draw his sword to stop him, but Shi lowered his head and hit him! Immediately I leaned against the wall, feeling severe pain in my chest and my ribs were about to break!

Immediately, Shi pounced on Ling Shile in front of him, scaring him so much that he sat down on the ground.

However, Shi's target is not Le, but the sword on the table! The sword as evidence!

With the sword in hand, Shi raised his hands with difficulty, but instead of slashing at anyone, he aimed the bronze sword blade at his own neck!

He didn't want to escape, he wanted to commit suicide!

Clang!

Soon after that, Heifu, who was farthest away, took action. He drew his sword in his hand and hit Shi's hands with the blade of the sword, knocking away the weapon in his hand!

A good man, you want to hide your comrades with death? Unfortunately, it's not that easy!