Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

"I'm not just here to join in the fun! I want to help you!" Lin Qingyan said anxiously, stamping her feet to explain.

"I am also a citizen of the Great Yan Dynasty, a student of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and I also want to do something for the people!"

"Brother, please let me try!"

Lin Yue's heart softened again when he saw his younger sister's tearful appearance.

He knew that if he stubbornly resisted, the girl might secretly run away on her own.

Although the Grand Canal Transportation Management Office is now under the jurisdiction of the King of Qin, it also has personnel from other departments.

The place is a mixed bag, and he dared not let her take any risks.

He rubbed his temples, his head aching, and glanced at the mountain of documents piled up in the study.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he pulled out a file from it.

"You want to investigate the case, right? Okay."

Lin Yue, feigning seriousness, handed the case file to Lin Qingyan: "Here, take a look at this case first."

"If I can figure out something about it, I'll consider it further."

This was just an ordinary drowning case. The scene investigation and the coroner's examination had been conducted, and the conclusion was that it was an accidental fall.

Let your younger sister see it. It will take some effort, and once she finds it's not interesting, she'll naturally give up the idea.

Lin Qingyan had no idea what her brother was thinking; her eyes lit up when she saw the dossier.

She carefully took the file, held it solemnly in her arms, and nodded vigorously: "Brother, don't worry!"

"I won't let you down!"

After saying that, she ran back to her room in a flash, eager to experience the detective career she had always dreamed of.

Lin Yue watched her excited back, shook his head helplessly, picked up the now-cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

……

Wherever the sun and moon reach, it is scorching earth: Chapter 250: First flip through the files, the girl's intuition discerns the clues

In Lin Qingyan's boudoir, the air was filled with the fragrance of incense, and the furnishings were elegant.

But at that moment she had no mind to appreciate any of this.

She laid the file flat on the desk and took a deep breath.

This was the first time she had ever encountered a real case file, not a case study from a book.

She carefully turned to the first page.

The case summary is very concise: The deceased, Liang Yuan, male, nineteen years old, was a student at Baizao Academy.

Three days ago, it was found downstream of the Qingxi River in the west of the city, and it showed no signs of life.

According to the coroner's preliminary examination, the cause of death was drowning.

The person who reported the incident said that they saw Liang Yuan wandering alone by the river the night before, looking depressed.

The Dali Temple constables conducted an on-site investigation and found no signs of a struggle. They preliminarily determined that the person either fell while intoxicated or committed suicide by drowning.

It's very ordinary and common.

Lin Qingyan frowned slightly. The Dali Temple handles dozens or even hundreds of such cases every year. No wonder his brother would casually dump them on him.

But she was not discouraged.

To find doubt where there is none.

The more ordinary something seems, the more likely it is to hide an unknown truth.

She calmed herself down and began to read it carefully, word by word.

The first thing is the record of the on-site investigation.

"...where the body was found, the water was about four feet deep and the current was gentle."

"There are trampling marks on the shore, which are suspected to be left by the deceased who slipped and fell. The deceased's clothes are intact, with only a small amount of mud and sand attached..."

Four feet?

Lin Qingyan's heart skipped a beat.

She quickly calculated in her mind that four feet was only about chest height for an adult man.

Liang Yuan was nineteen years old and his height was recorded as five feet eight inches. How could he have fallen into the water at such a depth and drowned?

Unless he falls headfirst into the hole and can't get up, a person's survival instinct will allow him to struggle to his feet.

Her gaze fell once again on the words "clothes intact".

This seems to be intended to prove that there were no signs of a struggle.

But then she turned to the next page, which contained the coroner's preliminary autopsy report.

"...The body was in a gigantic state, with foam in the mouth and nose and water in the lungs, confirming that it was a drowning."

"However, several round bruises the size of a fingernail were found on the inside of the deceased's wrists and ankles. They were dark in color and appeared to have been caused by external force."

"Also, there are three linear bruises on the back, which are not very noticeable..."

Bruises!

Lin Qingyan's breath hitched.

What is the area between the wrist and the inside of the ankle?

This is precisely the place where marks are most easily left when someone grabs you forcefully from behind or in front!

Moreover, the bruises are circular, which is more likely caused by pressing hard with a finger.

This is completely contrary to the explanation of an accidental fall!

If a person accidentally slips into the water and hits a rock while struggling, the resulting injuries should be irregular abrasions or bruises. How could the bruises be so symmetrical and distinctive?

There were also strip-shaped bruises on his back, which looked more like he had been whipped by something, such as a stick or a paddle.

The case file explains these injuries as "possibly caused by debris or undercurrents in the water after falling in," which is mentioned only briefly.

This explanation is too far-fetched!

Lin Qingyan's heart began to race.

She felt as if she had actually touched something.

This is not an accident! This is absolutely not an accident!

She forced herself to calm down and continued reading.

At the end of the report, there was an inconspicuous note: "A small amount of black powdery residue was found under the fingernails of the deceased's ten fingers. After testing, it was found to be a mixture of ordinary soil and ink, and was non-toxic."

Black powder?

Lin Qingyan's instincts were instantly aroused.

At the Celestial Master's Mansion, she minored in a course on the study of natural phenomena, specifically learning to identify the properties of various minerals, plants, and even different types of Originium powder.

"A mixture of ordinary soil and ink" is too vague a description.

She stared at the words, her mind racing.

Why would there be ink under the fingernails of a person who drowned?

Was he writing before he fell into the water?

Even if you wrote something, how could so much ink be left under your fingernails while you were struggling to survive?

Unless... unless he scratched something covered in ink!

Moreover, can we really determine that it is just ordinary ink based on the naked eye and simple inspection?

Lin Qingyan knew that the ink of the Great Yan Dynasty came in many varieties.

The formulas for ink used by government officials, ink used by bookstores, and ink used by private individuals all have subtle differences.

Some special inks, in order to achieve certain effects, will have a very small amount of Originium powder added to enhance the color or speed up the drying process.

These subtle differences are indistinguishable to ordinary coroners, but can be easily detected by specially trained celestial masters through their Originium Arts perception.

One question after another lingered in her mind.

The water depth is unreasonable.

The injuries are unreasonable.

The residue under the fingernails is even more unreasonable!

Lin Qingyan could no longer sit still.

She grabbed the case file and rushed out of the room like a whirlwind, finding Lin Yue once again in the study handling official business.

"Brother! Something's not right about this case!"

She slammed the case file onto Lin Yue's desk with a loud thud, her voice trembling with excitement.

Lin Yue was already overwhelmed by a pile of documents when she was startled. She looked up and frowned at Lin Liangshi with displeasure.

"What's wrong now? Why are you so easily startled?"

"Look here!"

Lin Qingyan pointed to several records in the dossier and poured out his findings and inferences like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

"The water was only chest-deep, how could he have drowned?"

"And these bruises on my wrists and ankles don't look like bumps or scrapes at all; they look like they were caused by someone holding me down tightly!"

"And this black powder, how can you simply say it's dirt and ink? What if it's some kind of special ink?"

"This is not an accident at all; it is very likely a murder!"

She finished speaking in one breath, her chest heaving violently, her bright eyes fixed on Lin Yue, waiting for his reaction.

Lin Yue was initially distracted, thinking it was just a children's detective game, but as he listened, his expression gradually changed.

He picked up the file and looked at it again, following the directions his sister had pointed out.

He had seen these details when he skimmed through the document before, but hadn't thought about them deeply.

With numerous cases in the capital every day, cases that seem clear-cut usually don't require much attention.

The bailiffs and coroners who handled the cases would often make the most likely judgment based on their experience.

But now, with Lin Qingyan, an outsider, connecting and analyzing these details, those previously overlooked details have suddenly become incredibly glaring.

Yes, how could a healthy young man drown in four feet of water?

The location of those bruises was indeed very strange.

And the ink stains under my fingernails...

Lin Yue's eyes sharpened.

He put down the file and looked up at his sister.

He realized that he had underestimated his younger sister who had grown up in the Celestial Master's Mansion.

She had no experience in handling cases, but she possessed a keen observation ability and meticulous logic far beyond that of ordinary people.

“What you said… makes sense,” Lin Yue said in a deep voice, putting away all his contempt.

This affirmation made Lin Qingyan so excited that she almost jumped up.

"Then let's..."

"Don't move." Lin Yue interrupted her, stood up, and paced back and forth in the study.

His brain was working at lightning speed.

If it really was a murder, then all the previous investigations were wrong.

The fact that the death was staged as an accidental drowning shows that the murderer was meticulous and had strong counter-surveillance capabilities.

"Where do you think we should start next?" Lin Yue suddenly stopped and asked.

His questioning was both a test and a guidance.

Lin Qingyan was taken aback for a moment, then immediately replied, "Investigate! Investigate the deceased's interpersonal relationships before his death, and see who he had a recent conflict with!"