Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 36 Blood Handprint
Rong Wan pointed at the corpse and said, "Based on what Coroner Lu just said, I speculate. First, the body is curled up, and it must have been placed in a narrow space after death. Rigor mortis will not be able to recover after it sets in. Rigor mortis usually occurs between half an hour and six hours after death. The murderer abandoned the body during this time and had no choice but to abandon her like this.

Second, there was a blunt object wound on the back of the body's head. The wound was bruised, with minimal damage and a small amount of bleeding. There was also a bit of wall dust on the wound, suggesting the blunt object must have hit the flat wall. However, there was no green moss on the wound, and the moss at this height in the alley was not damaged or had any blood stains, so she must have hit another wall.

Third, there were traces of dragging on the body's skirt, and the clothes on the back were dry, so the murderer must have dumped it here after the rain last night. So this shouldn't be the first crime scene.

It rained last night at 11:00 PM, for about a quarter of an hour. I speculate that the murderer killed the deceased before the rain began, and when he wanted to dispose of the body, he discovered it was raining, making it difficult to leave the house. So, he put the body in a sack or box, and waited for the rain to stop before unloading it. By the time he got there, the body had already developed rigor mortis, remaining in this strange position. All we need to know is who the deceased met around 11:00 PM to find the murderer.

Of course, it is also possible that the murderer killed the victim after the rain and then abandoned the body, but for some unknown reason he was delayed and then rigor mortis occurred.

Unfortunately, when the body was discovered, there were many people watching, and the footprints at the scene were messy, and many traces can no longer be seen.

Yan Mingzhang nodded in agreement and said, "That's right. The coroner just found a piece of twine between the deceased's fingers. It must have been from the sack, so he must have been put into the sack after death. As for why he was kept in the sack for so long, my thoughts are the same as yours. Either he was killed before the rain started and was waiting for it to stop, or the original scene was far away from here, and rigor mortis set in after he was transported here. But it was curfew at the time, and dragging a body around outside for so long is unlikely to me. I'm more inclined to believe the first option."

Yan Mingzhang nodded in approval: "That's progress!"

Rong Wanyin pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke, "There's one thing I can't understand. Why did he drag the body into the alley? It's not hidden here. If he wanted to hide the body, wouldn't a dry well or an abandoned courtyard be better than here? If it's like the first three, why didn't he dump it in a crowded place? Wouldn't that make the 'trial' impossible?"

Yan Mingzhang followed Rong Wanyin's train of thought and pondered for a moment: "I'm a little confused too. I feel like this is different from the previous three times."

"Come and look, there are several bloody handprints here! And a footprint!" Changfeng shouted.

Rong Wanyin and Yan Mingzhang stepped forward quickly. To be more precise, it was a pool of blood. It must have been the murderer who suddenly noticed blood on his hand and hurriedly wiped it against the wall.

There was a clear footprint on the ground directly below the bloody handprint, and the sole of the shoe had a patch on it. It was the murderer's footprint! Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin looked at each other, their hearts surging, and they couldn't help but hold their breath.

Not far from this footprint, there was another mess of footprints, as if someone was pacing back and forth here, as if waiting for something. What was he waiting for? There was still a lot of blood in the footprints, which was left after abandoning the body! After abandoning the body, what was he waiting for?
Yan Mingzhang carefully covered his foot with cotton, stepped over to avoid the footprints, and squatted. He measured the size of the footprint with a ruler, carefully examined the pattern, copied it with paper, and carefully examined the series of footprints. Based on the size of the footprints, he estimated that the height was about the same as mine, about seven feet. This time, the murderer seemed very panicked.

"Look, the deceased was strangled to death. His body was curled up, his clothes were not in order, and there were so many scratches on the wall. He was thrown into a deserted alley. What happened?" Yan Mingzhang was very puzzled. "Changfeng, send more people to search for clues in the more secluded alleys or abandoned gardens around here."

"Sir, this is Uncle Fu, the manager of Yuexiang Tower. He said he has something important to discuss with you, and it seems very urgent." A yamen runner walked up to Yan Mingzhang with a hunchbacked old man.

Yan Mingzhang took the old man to a secluded place. Just as he was about to speak, the old man knelt on the ground with tears in his eyes: "Sir! You must help me!" Yan Mingzhang quickly helped the old man up: "Uncle Fu, there is no rush. Let's get up and talk. What happened?"

Uncle Fu wiped his tears with his sleeve and choked up, "Xiuniang...she is the owner of our Yuexianglou. The day before yesterday morning, she went to Linzhen alone to buy goods. She said that she was familiar with those merchants and could deliver goods, so she didn't like to bring anyone with her. She always went alone and didn't listen to advice... Hey...she should have been back last night, but she hasn't been seen yet. I sent a few people to Linzhen, and they said they went back a long time ago and should have been home by now, but...but...I heard that today...today a female corpse was found in our back alley? The waiter said that the figure...looks very similar to Xiuniang...I...Oh, what should I do! Oh, God!"

Uncle Fu clapped his hands and burst into tears. Yan Mingzhang took Uncle Fu's hands to steady him: "Uncle Fu, don't worry. The deceased may not be Xiuniang. Don't get distracted here. Does Xiuniang have any special scars, birthmarks, moles, etc.? I'll have someone take you to identify the body right now. Maybe something just delayed you."

Uncle Fu managed to calm himself down, nodded repeatedly, knelt on the ground, and expressed his gratitude repeatedly.

"Changfeng, find a few people to take the owner and waiter of Yuexianglou back. I need to question them," Yan Mingzhang ordered. "Have Uncle Fu go to the charity cemetery to carefully identify them. Find a reliable brother to accompany them and make sure they don't touch the body."

Changfeng took the order and left with his men.

Rong Wanyin felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, and she felt very uncomfortable: "Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit similar. Could it be..."

Yan Mingzhang closed his eyes and compared the two figures in his mind. After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head at Rong Wanyin, saying, "It shouldn't be. The two figures are indeed similar, but they are not the same person."

Rong Wanyin looked at Yan Mingzhang in disbelief: "How did you know?"

Yan Mingzhang said calmly, "I remember."

Rong Wanyin rolled her eyes at him. They were still joking now. Who could possibly remember the figure of someone they'd only met once? And he was so sure of it, was he kidding me?
Rong Wanyin shook her head and sighed deeply.

"Sir, we found it." Changfeng's words interrupted Rong Wanyin's thoughts. "We found a cart in another alley. There were sacks and hemp ropes on the cart, and a few silk threads hanging from the nails of the cart - the same ones that the deceased had. And there's a word 'Xu' written on the cart!"

"Xu?" Yan Mingzhang's face was serious, and he searched his mind for someone who met the requirements. Suddenly, he shouted, "Where's Uncle Fu?"

(End of this chapter)