A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 308 Ancient Bones (4)

Lu Xun felt a sense of bewilderment, as if he understood but didn't quite grasp it.

"Hey, why don't you find some time later and have a private chat with Constable Bai?" Song Shuyu nudged Lu Xun with her shoulder, offering him a helpful suggestion. "A young lady's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea, a flower in the mist; you have to slowly discern it, understand?"

Lu Xun felt bewildered and said in a low voice, "Why should I try to figure out Miss Bai's thoughts? I am an outsider; how can I meet with a woman in private?"

"You're so stupid, you might as well die!"

Song Shuyu rolled his eyes speechlessly. It really proved the old saying, "The most righteous are often the lowly butchers, while the most ungrateful are often the scholars." Luckily, he didn't participate in the imperial examination!
Mu Qingcheng hadn't expected Bai Zhizhi to break things off so decisively, so she couldn't reveal the truth now. She put aside her thoughts and said, "It's getting late, let's begin."

Taking the autopsy report from Coroner Jiang, Mu Qingcheng checked the skeletal codes and explained, "Upon examination, all five deceased were male, and all 365 vertebrae of their bodies were intact, including their teeth. The elbow bone of skeleton number one, the lumbar vertebrae and coccyx of skeleton number two, the nasal bone of skeleton number three, the left tibia of skeleton number four, and the hip bone and left cheekbone of skeleton number five all showed signs of bone bleed, meaning that when the bones were injured before death, it caused bleeding in the bone tissue, and the blood seeped into the bone tissue, forming dark red halos. However, these are all old bone injuries and not the cause of death."

"The cause of death for all five victims was a stab wound to the chest, with the sharp blade piercing the heart bone, resulting in death. It takes seven to ten years for an adult's bones to decompose in the soil. Considering factors such as the humidity, temperature, and air circulation in the cave, it is estimated that the time of death was about ten years or more."

Hearing this, Lu Xun interjected, "Did all five of them die at the same time?"

"They should be about the same," Mu Qingcheng replied.

Lu Xun stared at the skeleton on the tarpaulin, his eyes darkening. "Can you deduce its shape and appearance?"

“Appearance and body shape are obviously irrelevant.” Mu Qingcheng handed over the case file. “However, height can be estimated. Here are the data, take a look.”

Suddenly, Song Shuyu thought of something and ordered, "Coroner Jiang, make a copy of the autopsy report of the deceased and submit it to me separately."

"Yes, sir!" Coroner Jiang quickly replied.

Mu Qingcheng asked, puzzled, "What does Your Excellency intend to do?"

Song Shuyu succinctly stated, "Verify identity."

Mu Qingcheng didn't know where he was going to investigate or whether he already had a target, but seeing that he didn't intend to elaborate, she didn't press him further.

Song Shuyu then asked, "What was discovered regarding the murder weapon?"

Mu Qingcheng pointed them out to him one by one in a clockwise direction, “The five blades are all different. The one that killed the first victim was a short sword, the one that killed the second victim was a goose feather knife, the one that killed the third victim was a waist knife, and the fourth and fifth victims were a pair of mandarin duck knives and a hidden sword.”

Upon hearing this, Song Shuyu stiffened. "These are all effective weapons suitable for concealment and carrying, commonly used in close combat and assassination!"

“That’s right!” Mu Qingcheng nodded, then frowned. “Judging from the material of the blades, they are all valuable and precious items.”

Lu Xun squatted down in front of the skeleton, pulled out a sharp blade, and examined it over and over. "So, the murderer was not an ordinary person, but a professional killer."

“Moreover, there is more than one murderer.” Song Shuyu held out a hand. “There are at least five.”

Mu Qingcheng pondered, "But what's strange is, why didn't the murderer take the murder weapon after killing the person? For a martial artist, a weapon is equivalent to life, so why would they easily discard it? Moreover, leaving the murder weapon behind is equivalent to leaving clues to their identity, which is extremely dangerous! This doesn't make sense for a normal person!"

A thought flashed through Song Shuyu's mind: "Could they have committed suicide?"

“Suicide?” Mu Qingcheng was taken aback, then dismissed the idea. “No, judging from the angle and force of the stab, it fits the characteristics of homicide.”

Lu Xun said, "That means that whether it's suicide or homicide, there are illogical aspects to it."

Mu Qingcheng crossed her arms and stared at the five skeletons, lost in thought. After a moment, she snapped her fingers and ordered, "Wu Liu, notify Wang Tianzhu to send five constables here immediately."

"Yes, Master Mu!"

Wu Liu accepted the assignment and rushed into the South Prison.

The personnel quickly arrived, and under Mu Qingcheng's command, five constables replicated the lying postures of the five skeletons on the spot.

They discovered that with the added flesh and skin, the distance between the five people was significantly reduced!
Mu Qingcheng said, "Stand up where you are and don't move!"

The five constables obeyed Mu Qingcheng's orders. He had each of them take a sharp blade and repeatedly experiment with various methods, from suicide to mutual killing, from standing to lying down.

Ultimately, the closest match to the circular death pattern is that the five people killed each other!

Number One killed Number Two, Number Two killed Number Three, Number Three killed Number Four, and Number Four killed Number Five. However, Number Five and Number One were facing away from each other, so they could not form a closed loop of mutual killing!
This result left the three of them completely baffled!

Mu Qingcheng sighed, "Perhaps this prediction is inaccurate; or perhaps it is half accurate and half inaccurate, lacking some information that we do not know."

"Could it be that something is missing..." Lu Xun pondered for a long time before finally uttering two words in a deep voice: "Lin Jiao!"

Song Shuyu shuddered, “Re-examine Lin Jiao!”

The three of them immediately entered the Southern Prison.

However, no matter what they asked or how they asked, Lin Jiao was determined not to speak!
Song Shuyu laughed in anger, saying, "Lin Jiao, the only difference between you confessing voluntarily and me investigating on my own is the time it takes. Why do you resist so stubbornly? Think of your sister Liao Ruyi, how can she live with a murderer as her brother?"

Lin Jiao closed her eyes and remained silent.

"Lin Jiao, the more silent you are, the more convinced I become that you are connected to these five skeletons. I believe the truth will eventually come to light!"

After Mu Qingcheng finished speaking, she turned around and walked out.

The three returned to the courtyard, where Coroner Jiang and his men had already properly disposed of the remains.

Tian, ​​the coroner, and Bai Zhizhi came out of the morgue carrying a tray containing the clothes the deceased was wearing.

Bai Zhizhi said, "The outer garments are all ordinary coarse linen clothes, but the inner garments are different; they are actually made of silk fabric!"

"Silk fabric?" Mu Qingcheng was taken aback; she had never known much about clothing materials.

Bai Zhizhi further explained: "The characteristics of silk fabric are that it has obvious diagonal patterns, is very smooth, has a strong luster, is lightweight, and is made of pure silk. Our Bai family are imperial merchants, and we sell a large amount of silk fabric to the imperial court every year for the court to sew official robes."

"Official robes?" Mu Qingcheng was taken aback.

Bai Zhizhi hurriedly replied, "Of course, ordinary wealthy people also wear silk fabrics."

Mu Qingcheng's doubts grew stronger. "But what normal person would wear an expensive inner garment and a cheap outer garment?"

(End of this chapter)