Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 32 That's it
"It's the middle of the night, and everything is fine—!"

The sound of the night watchman knocking on the gong could be heard from afar. Haiyue, Nayan and Sun Bin were standing in front of the inn door.

Also a suspect, the strongman Xiang Ang was tied up and left in the government office because of his strong physique and good martial arts skills, while the little book boy Sun Bin was taken back to the scene.

The drunk constables all went to sleep, and the three of them walked directly into the hall and went upstairs.

"Creak, creak, creak!"

The sound of footsteps on the stairs echoed in the empty inn, making it particularly eye-catching. Haiyue looked towards the first floor and suddenly asked, "How many guests were there when you came to stay at the inn?"

"Not many!" Sun Bin shook his head. "This is an official post at the ferry crossing. Ordinary people can't stay here. When we checked in, there was only one other official there."

"Who?"

"President Zong of Qiongzhou Prefecture seems to be ill and has been staying at the posthouse for several days. He only came out to greet you when he heard that the master had arrived."

"Tongpan Zong Chengxue?"

Haiyue raised her brows.

Under normal circumstances, the officials of the prefectural office include the prefect, associate prefect, assistant magistrate, prosecutor and governor. However, Qiongzhou Prefecture is located in the southernmost part of the Ming Dynasty and is too remote, so there are vacancies for prefectural and county officials.

In the previous murder case of Prince Annan, the only officials who appeared were the prefect Gu Shanjie and the prosecutor Shao Jing. However, I heard from my lawyer Ji Hua that there was indeed a Tongpan (Council Magistrate) there, but he was not used to the local climate and had been recuperating at home since he took office last year. He hardly asked about the affairs of the government, so let alone them, he had hardly seen anyone in the government office.

Hai Yue continued to ask, "This Zong Tongpan is staying at the post house. Is he planning to leave Qiongshan?"

Sun Bin said, "After the accident, I saw them hurriedly packing their luggage and leaving overnight. They were obviously frightened. They must have headed north to Xuwen..."

Haiyue walked into the room thoughtfully.

He came here during the day and observed the blood totem at the scene, which made him suspicious that the Li people committed the crime. After that, he really lured the Li people's spies to come and investigate, and he followed the clues and found Na Yan.

This is our second visit to the scene in order to further restore the details of the case.

"When did you move into the inn?"

"We disembarked at 5:05 pm (6:15 p.m.) and checked into the posthouse around 7:07 pm (6:45 p.m.)"

"Have you ever publicized your whereabouts?"

"No fanfare, but when you check into the official inn, you must show your badge. When Wang Yicheng sees you, he'll come out to entertain you, serving you at your service and even arranging food and wine from the best restaurants on the street."

"Did you buy it?"

"No, the master refused and simply had a meal in the hall. Wang Yicheng accompanied him, but..."

"But what?"

"But he was quite talkative. He stayed by my side throughout the meal. He even mentioned that the Li people were causing chaos on the island. They were arrogant and domineering, threatening the government office and causing panic among the people. Alas! It's a pity that we were not prepared at the time..."

"What time do you go to sleep?"

"Xu Shi 4:45 (8:00 PM)."

"So early?"

"Brother Xiang was seasick and vomited. The master also felt uncomfortable after being on the boat. After dinner and a quick wash, he went to bed early."

"When did you take a break?"

"Xu Shi 6:30 (8:30 pm)."

"When did you wake up?"

"I don't know. It was so chaotic back then that I couldn't even listen to the night watchman's call outside. I had no idea what time it was..."

"Then how did you wake up? Did you hear the noise of Inspector Wu being abducted?"

"No, this window was open at the time, and the night wind blew in, waking me up from the cold. I got up to close the window, and then I found that the master was gone!"

Sun Bin came to the window and pointed.

Haiyue and Nayan also came to the window and looked outside. The latter said coldly, "It's not high here. You are so careless. If the murderer has better light body skills, he can easily tie up Wu Lin, jump down, and run out directly from the back door..."

Haiyue touched the lock on the window and asked, "Did you lock the window before you went to sleep?"

Sun Bin said firmly, "It's locked! I checked it carefully!"

"So the thieves opened the lock from the outside, broke into the house, and kidnapped Inspector Wu and left..."

Haiyue turned her gaze to Nayan and asked, "Can you practice it again?"

Na Yan's face darkened: "What do you mean?" "Let me practice it, and you guys close the windows."

After Haiyue finished speaking, she flipped over and went out, landing on the first floor. Then she looked up and waited for the window to close. Then she climbed up flexibly, lay down beside the window, fiddled with it for a while, and finally knocked on it, indicating that it should be opened, and flipped over to go inside.

There were two surprised faces in the room. Haiyue asked directly, "I don't know how to unlock it from the outside, so let's skip this step. What are the other movements?"

Na Yan frowned: "The noise is bigger than expected..."

After saying that, he looked at Sun Bin with a stern look in his eyes: "How could you sleep so soundly? You didn't even hear such a noise?"

Sun Bin's face turned pale: "I... really... really didn't hear it..."

"I think you're lying! You opened the window inside the house and let the thieves in, working together from inside and outside. Then you said you just woke up and pretended you knew nothing!"

Na Yan clenched her hands and said, "It seems that you won't tell the truth unless I use some tricks!"

"Wait a minute!"

Hai Yue suppressed her urge to torture him: "A person with extraordinary skills can quietly open the lock from the outside and sneak into the house, right?"

Na Yan was stunned for a moment, speechless: "Do you think everyone is General Fu and your father?"

"If you don't want to believe that a top expert was responsible, there's actually another possibility..."

Hai Yue smiled slightly and continued to look at the little servant boy, returning to the topic of the night: "You were woken by the cold night wind and found that Inspector Wu was missing. What did you do then? Go look for Min Ziyong and Xiang Ang?"

"Yes! I ran out of the room, went to the next door and knocked hard on the door, waking them up. I went back inside, confirmed that the master was missing, and started looking for him. Soon the whole inn was alarmed!"

"What were Min Ziyong and Xiang Ang's respective reactions after they discovered Inspector Wu was missing?"

"Brother Xiang was extremely upset, but Mr. Min was very calm and told us not to panic... We quickly split up to look for him. I even ran the entire street outside the inn, knocking on every door, but there was no sign of the master."

"Wait a minute!"

Upon hearing this, Hai Yue immediately asked, "What's the point of searching like this? You all thought it was the Li people who kidnapped Inspector Wu, right? Could they be hiding in a house in the alleys?"

Sun Bin was stunned. "We didn't know it then. We were hoping that the master was just feeling stuffy at night, so we opened the window to get some fresh air, then went out for a walk, got lost, and didn't come back, so we searched nearby."

"You're lying again!"

Na Yan pointed angrily at the totem on the wall. "The window was wide open, and the thief left such a striking pattern to frame someone. And you still think he was just out for a walk?"

"Yes... Why do we think... the master might be taking a walk?"

Sun Bin was also stunned.

Hai Yue narrowed her eyes slightly: "Think about it carefully, why is this happening?"

Sun Bin frowned, muttering to himself, his eyes falling on the scattered calligraphy and paintings. Suddenly, he said, "I remember now! When we first discovered the master was missing, these calligraphy and paintings were still hanging on the wall. Only after they were torn down did we discover this blood totem!"

Na Yan frowned. "Are you saying that the thieves left a totem to frame the culprit and even covered it up with calligraphy? Do you think we're stupid enough to believe such nonsense?"

Sun Bin was anxious: "But...but it's really like this!"

Hai Yue pressed her hands together and continued, "After the government officials discovered the blood totem, did they immediately conclude that Inspector Wu was abducted by the local Li people?"

Sun Bin nodded: "Yes! Yes!"

Hai Yue said, "Think carefully, then. After hearing this statement, who among those present was the most resistant? Think carefully before you answer. This question is crucial, and I will verify it with everyone else one by one!"

Sun Bin pondered carefully for a while, then said cautiously, "The person who found it most unacceptable at the time was Mr. Min! He repeatedly said that we had just arrived in Qiongshan and that it was impossible for the master to have been kidnapped by the Li people. It was not until Shao Tuiguan revealed that not long ago, the Li people had thrown a corpse in front of the government office as a demonstration, also leaving behind a blood totem, that he was forced to accept it. At that time, not only Xiang Ang and I heard it, but also the government officials!"

"Very good! Follow me!"

Hai Yue smiled slightly, walked out of the room and went to the first floor: "Where is Zong Tongpan's room?"

Sun Bin said, "This one."

Haiyue went into the house and took a look. Indeed, the smell of medicine still lingered. She walked out, walked around, and went to the backyard. She looked at something and nodded: "That's right, that's it!"

"A ladder? Why are you looking at a ladder?"

Sun Bin was bewildered, and Na Yan was also puzzled: "What on earth is going on?"

"This is not one case, it's actually two things..."

Haiyue said, "Let's go! Let's go to the last place. If that person is there, the truth of the kidnapping case will be revealed!"

(End of this chapter)