I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Have you noticed anything unusual about Grandma Ping during this time, such as doing things she wouldn't normally do?"

“No…” the middle-aged man with thinning hair answered first, “Grandma Ping has always seemed perfectly normal… I haven’t seen anything unusual about her…”

Everyone else gave the same answer, saying that they had not seen anything unusual about Grandma Ping recently.

"Then... did you hear any strange noises coming from Granny Ping's house last night, or did you see anything strange about it? For example, it was already very late at night, but the lights were still on inside the house."

After exchanging glances for a while, the neighbors all shook their heads, saying that they had gone to bed early and had not noticed anything happening at Grandma Ping's house last night.

This era lacks entertainment. For ordinary people, there are no other nightlife activities after nightfall except for getting together to combine their genes. So going to bed at 7 or 8 pm after dinner is just a very common thing.

After asking the neighbors a few more questions, Qingdeng stopped asking questions and waved his hand to indicate that they could leave.

“…Grey Dalang.” After the neighbors left, Qing Deng turned his gaze back to Granny Ping’s house beside him.

Upon hearing Qing Deng call him again, Hui Dalang, who had been standing respectfully beside Qing Deng, quickly leaned his upper body slightly towards Qing Deng, adopting a posture of listening attentively.

"I want to go inside and take a look at the crime scene."

"Please continue to keep a close watch on this place and do not let anyone into the house."

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Chapter 30: Tachibana Aoto, who solves the case in an instant

In short, let's take action first.

Qing Deng, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, clenched slightly as he recited his favorite phrase in his heart.

In short, let's take action first.

Due to insufficient technology and other reasons, serious crimes such as murder are difficult to solve.

Therefore, conversely, if a murder case can be solved, the political achievement will instantly become outstanding!

Finding ways to crack high-value, major cases—this was the only way to pass the "senior assessment" a month and a half later.

Those high-value, major cases may not necessarily fall into Qingdeng's hands.

Aoto was certain that even if Arima wanted to hand over those cases that would easily boost his political achievements to him, Usui would probably not agree.

After all, thanks to "Yuanju Qingdeng," the name "Dazou Deng" was truly infamous. If he were Bo Jing, he wouldn't want to entrust those major and important cases to such an incompetent person.

Since that's the case, the only option is to take the initiative and actively strive for it.

And now, an excellent opportunity is presented to him.

Mokuyanagi-cho was one of the districts under his jurisdiction. Before the arrival of Doshin, who was officially in charge of the case and sent by the magistrate, he had the ability to enter and leave the crime scene on his own, and afterwards no one could criticize him.

I'm from the town of Sadamachi, responsible for security in this area. I'm going to check out the crime scene. What's wrong? Is there a problem?

Qingdeng's plan was simple—before Tongxin, who was in charge of the case, arrived, he would go to the crime scene to collect clues and try to solve the case, so that his current extremely ugly political record would suddenly become outstanding!

In his past life, he was a genuine graduate of the police academy with outstanding grades.

Before I could formally join the police force or pursue graduate studies, I was transported to this place.

But the knowledge he learned in the academy and the countless cases he studied are still stored in Qing Deng's mind.

Although his past life's knowledge might not necessarily help him solve the case, he might very well end up wasting his time.

But—who cares!

Let's take action first!

Take action first, then slowly consider whether it's possible or not.

"Lord Tachibana, do you want to come inside?" Gray was stunned after hearing what Qing Deng had just said.

"After all, I'm Tongxin, who's in charge of security in this area," Qingdeng said with a slight smile. "Such a serious murder case happened in my jurisdiction. It wouldn't be reasonable for me not to go in and take a look."

Hearing Qingdeng's words, Hui Dalang thought to himself with disdain:

"Come on... even if you go in and take a look, what can you do...? What if you accidentally ruin the crime scene again, like before..."

Although he was inwardly full of resentment, Hai Taro perfectly displayed the ability to control his expressions that he had honed after years of serving as a town servant—

Grey Brother: () "Yes! I will definitely not let any irrelevant people near the house!"

With a fawning smile plastered on his face, Gray Brother bowed respectfully to Qing Deng.

Who cares! Even if this idiot Deng makes a mistake later, it's none of my business!

Rather, Gray Wolf actually hoped that Green Deng could get to the crime scene as soon as possible. That way, he wouldn't have to see that blockhead Green Deng anymore, nor would he have to listen to his orders.

After instructing Grey to reinforce the defenses that kept unrelated civilians out, Qing Deng pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket.

These are the winter gloves that Kyubei gave him this morning.

Because he felt the weather wasn't too cold today, Qingdeng kept it in his pocket and didn't take it out to use.

Although in this era where there are no investigative methods such as fingerprint retrieval, it seems completely unnecessary to wear gloves, Qing Deng still wants to retain this habit he developed when he studied at the police academy in his previous life.

Tongxin, who was assigned to handle this case, is probably already on her way.

Time was of the essence—after putting on his gloves, Qingdeng opened the door to Grandma Ping's house without any hesitation or delay...

Bloody smell.

Upon entering the house, a nauseating stench of blood assaulted Qing Deng's nostrils.

Important clues could be found anywhere in this house, inside or out.

Therefore, upon entering the house, Qingdeng's gaze began to sweep around.

Ceiling, floor, walls... everything the eye can see is captured.

In his past life, Qing Deng particularly admired a quote from the renowned detective Henry Lee, known as the "King of the Scene" and the "Contemporary Sherlock Holmes"—

There are seven methods for collecting evidence: standing and looking, bending over and looking, bending over deeply and looking, squatting and looking, kneeling and looking, sitting and looking, and combining various methods.

He always felt that this statement was absolutely profound.

Grandma Ping's house wasn't big. Following the scent of blood, Qing Deng slowly moved from the entrance hall to the depths of the house while observing his surroundings. Finally, he arrived at the location from which the scent of blood was coming—the main room.

As soon as he stood by the open door of the room, the sight inside made Qing Deng's pupils shrink slightly.

In the small hall, an old woman lay on her back with her face up, her chest covered in blood and gore.

The blood flowing from her body stained most of her body and the tatami mat beneath her red.

Even though his eyes had lost their sparkle, one could still vaguely see the lingering terror deep within his pupils...

The victim must have experienced such a horrific ordeal when he died... It's too painful to think about.

After taking several deep breaths to compose himself, Qingdeng slowly walked to Grandma Ping's body and closed his eyes in silent mourning.

May you rest in peace…

After a moment of silence for the unfortunate old lady who had been murdered, Qingdeng opened his eyes and roughly surveyed the room.

The scene was far more perfect than Qingdeng had imagined.

It seems that those who discovered Granny Ping's body did not excessively disturb the scene, and Gray Wolf also took good care of the crime scene afterward, preventing any unrelated people from approaching.

The scene was in much better condition than expected—which relieved Qing Deng.

As Qing Deng, who was crouching on the tatami mat, began to examine Grandma Ping's body, his brows immediately furrowed slightly.

He had some basic forensic knowledge, and based on his deduction, he could determine that Grandma Ping's time of death was last night.

The murder weapon was a sharp blade. Grandma Ping was stabbed seven times in the chest, and apart from the knife wound in her chest, there were no other injuries on her body.

The seven knife wounds on Granny Ping's chest were quite messy, with only one successfully hitting a vital spot. But it was this one knife that took Granny Ping's life.

After carefully examining Granny Ping's wounds for a while, Qing Deng's gaze shifted to... Granny Ping's clothes.

Looking at Granny Ping's neatly dressed everyday clothes, Qing Deng's brows furrowed even more.

Grandma Ping's clothes had a patch on her chest, sleeves, and waist.

It's clear from her clothes that she's worn them for a long time; the color has faded considerably from washing.

At that moment, Qingdeng suddenly noticed something in the corner of his eye—a small candlestick was placed not far from the body.

On the candlestick was a small candle, burned down to about the height of a thumb.

Qingdeng moved closer to the candlestick and examined the small section of candle closely.

The base of the candle is covered with a large amount of solidified candle wax.

These solidified candle liquid pieces... are all quite new, clearly indicating that they have only recently solidified.

After examining the small piece of candle for a while, Qingdeng looked up and around.

After looking around the room, Qingdeng's gaze settled on the antique storage cabinet placed in a corner of the hall.

He walked quickly to the storage cabinet, opened it—and as soon as he opened the cabinet, Qingdeng found what he was looking for—a fairly ample supply of lamp oil.

"...It went more smoothly than I expected."

Qingdeng let out a long breath.

His long sigh carried a sense of relief.

"We already... know who the suspect is..."

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This chapter has actually provided enough clues for readers to deduce which groups are the main suspects in the case.

Interested readers are welcome to try and deduce the reasoning!

This might be difficult.