Ma femme escalade le mur

Chapitre 102

Zhan Yun and Zhou Yufei also noticed something was wrong. Zhou Yufei closed the door, took a few steps forward, and frowned, saying, "This is really strange!"

As the old coroner packed up his tools, he nodded in agreement, saying, "It is quite strange! The girl is dressed as if she's about to go out, her shoes are obviously new, but her hair looks like she's about to go to bed..."

Remembering the color of the pool water, Duan Chen asked, "Can you tell whether the heart was removed before the body was disposed of, or whether the person drowned first and then the heart was removed?"

The old man had seen Duan Chen almost every day these past few days, and guessed that Duan Chen would definitely ask about this, but he still couldn't help but frown. With a sigh, the old man opened the wooden box beside him, took out a cloth bag, and showed it to the three of them.

"This is..." Zhan Yun's brows furrowed slightly, and his crescent-shaped eyes showed a hint of surprise: "Lotus petals?"

Zhou Yufei had been frowning ever since he entered the room, and now his expression was even more unpleasant: "Why are they all dyed this color?"

Duan Chen stared at the petals for a while, then glanced at the coroner's face, which was also slightly pale: "Did the murderer stuff the lotus flower into her chest?"

The two people beside him were both shocked, and the old man Shui nodded heavily as well: "When I was examining the body just now, I found that although Miss Shi's heart had been removed, it seemed that there was something stuffed inside, and it wasn't flesh or other organs. After taking it out and slowly unfolding it, I discovered that it was..."

Zhou Yufei spat under his breath: "What a fucking piece of trash!"

Zhan Yun stared at the half-bloomed lotus flower on the table, now stained crimson with blood. A shadow fell over his crescent-shaped eyes, and his voice lost its usual clarity: "If it really was done by the same person..."

The old coroner slowly replied, "Judging from the method of removing the heart, it is indeed the same as that of the previous three victims. At least this person's technique is very skillful. Moreover, this Miss Shi was indeed killed by having her heart removed while she was still alive."

The three asked a few more questions about the details, thanked the coroner, and went into the next room. Miss Shi's personal maid was also called in for questioning. The maid had already fainted once, and now her face was terribly pale. Seeing that her body was trembling slightly, Zhan Yun gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid. Just tell us everything clearly so we can catch the murderer and avenge your young lady."

The maid nodded, her voice trembling, and said, "My...my mistress has a habit of taking a nap, and every day after waking up, she's used to drinking a bowl of bird's nest porridge. I brought the porridge in, but I found that my mistress wasn't in her room. But the hairpin and hair ornament she wore were still on the table, and she wasn't wearing her earrings either...I found it strange, so I looked everywhere, and then..." As she spoke, the maid began to sob again.

Duan Chen listened carefully and then asked softly, "What were you doing while your young lady was taking her afternoon nap?"

The little maid explained tearfully, "I was sewing purses in the outer room, and then I don't know how I fell asleep... When I woke up, I realized it was already time for Miss to get up. I was afraid Miss would scold me, so I quickly ran to the kitchen to get the porridge..."

The three women exchanged a glance. Something was strange! The maid from the Lu household had said she slept very soundly that night and was still groggy when she woke up in the morning. Now this one said she somehow fell asleep. What a coincidence! When the two young ladies had their accidents, the maids serving them were all so sleepy… Especially the young lady Lu. There were so many stains in her room, and they heard that the stools were knocked over and a vase was broken. With such a commotion, servants are usually light sleepers. How could she not have felt anything?

The three exchanged glances. Zhou Yufei continued questioning, while Duan Chen searched the room. The bedding was still neat and tidy, and there wasn't a trace of blood anywhere in the room, except… Duan Chen opened the jewelry box in front of the dressing mirror and called the maid over again: “Take a look inside, is anything missing?”

The young maid wiped away her tears, but when she saw the jewelry and ornaments stained with blood in the box, she quickly covered her mouth and sobbed. Zhan Yun and Zhou Yufei also came over and saw the three finger marks on the rim of the mirror and the bloodstained jewelry in the box.

Zhou Yufei reached up and ruffled his hair, his charming eyes showing some annoyance: "What was this murderer thinking! Killing people wasn't enough, he also came here every time to look in the mirror and pick out jewelry, he's really sick!"

Duan Chen glanced at him sideways and said calmly, "He is indeed sick."

Zhan Yunduan observed Duan Chen's expression and knew that the man must have thought of something, but she didn't rush to ask. The maid beside her, tears streaming down her face, gently rummaged through the jewelry in the box, and after a long pause, replied in a trembling voice, "Something is missing. My young lady's favorite blood jade armlet is gone..."

The three exchanged glances, each feeling a sense of unease. Red coral earrings, blood jade armlet—did the murderer have a particular fondness for red jewelry? Was there some special meaning behind it...?

Author's Note: There will be an update this Thursday at 9 AM!

90

Chapter Seven: Footprints • Each with Their Own Sorrows...

As the three were talking, they heard someone knocking on the door, and at the same time a familiar voice rang out: "Xingzhi, Yiran, it's me."

Zhan Yun opened the door, letting the maid leave first, and then closed the door again. Zhao Ting entered the room, his gaze immediately searching for the pale blue figure. Seeing that the two were standing in front of the dressing mirror, he also went forward to check.

Duan Chen turned around, gave him a slight nod as a greeting, and then looked around the room, including the foot of the bed and the window frame. Zhao Ting glanced at the bloodstained fingerprints on the rim of his glasses, then followed Duan Chen's gaze, raising an eyebrow: "Any new discoveries?"

Duan Chen pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the three of them: "I think there are two murderers."

“The previous three cases weren’t very obvious, but this time, because they changed their original way of doing things, a lot has been exposed.” Duan Chen walked slowly to the bedside and pointed to the thin blanket piled at the foot of the bed and a pair of slightly worn embroidered shoes placed beside the bed: “This Miss Shi should have just gotten up, put on her thin outer skirt, and changed into a new pair of shoes. Her next step should have been to comb her hair and get dressed in front of the dressing mirror.”

The old shoes were probably worn indoors. After her afternoon nap, she changed into new shoes and wore brand-new clothes, so she must be going out soon. The maid had also confirmed that her mistress had indeed made an appointment with her best friend to have tea at a teahouse in the south of the city this afternoon.

All three nodded. Duan Chen continued, "No matter what method he used, the murderer made the maid fall into a deep sleep and then entered the room. Miss Shi's heart was ripped out while she was still alive, but there wasn't a trace of blood anywhere in the room. Therefore, he must have taken her to the lotus pond at the back through the back window and then committed the crime there."

Indeed, the blood-red lotus flower that the coroner just removed from Miss Shi's heart, and the crimson-stained pond water, indirectly prove this point. If the body had been dumped in the lotus pond after death, there wouldn't have been so much blood in the pond. Moreover, there's a distance of about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) from the house to the edge of the pond; it's impossible for the ground to be completely clean without leaving a trace.

"The rim of the mirror and the jewelry in the box were stained with blood, which means that after the murderer killed someone, he returned to the house from the lotus pond..." Duan Chen saw that the three of them looked enlightened, so he did not continue.

Zhou Yufei nodded repeatedly, her gaze shifting from the windowsill back to the dressing mirror: "Yes! If only one person had killed someone in the lotus pond and returned to the house, even without leaving any bloodstains, there would at least be watermarks." But the house was spotless, immaculate. Except for the fingerprints on the mirror rim and the jewelry in the box…

Therefore, the only explanation is that there were two murderers. One was responsible for taking the victim to the lotus pond and torturing them, while the other watched from the pond's edge, perhaps even stuffing lotus petals into the victim's heart, which explains the bloodstains on their hands. Then, this person returned to the bedroom, went to the dressing mirror, touched it, and opened the box to select jewelry.

“So, the other person must be quite skilled,” Zhan Yun chimed in, fanning himself with a folding fan. “Since he killed the person in the pond, his shoes should have been covered in mud, but there wasn’t a single footprint around the pond.”

Since Zhao Ting had just arrived, he was not clear about many things, so he listened carefully to the three people's analysis.

Duan Chen nodded slightly, a glint of light flashing in his clear, cold phoenix eyes, and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "Guess where the first place the person who entered the lotus pond landed after using their lightness skill to emerge from the pond?"

Zhao Tinggang had just come in from outside, so he remembered it quite clearly: to the east of the Shi family's young lady's boudoir, there was a small bamboo grove, and one could vaguely see the bluish-gray bricks and tiles.

Zhan Yun, always observant, had naturally taken note of the surroundings. Seeing Duan Chen seem to suddenly realize something, he quickly understood and, along with Zhao Ting, answered almost simultaneously: "The roof."

Zhou Yufei pursed her rosy lips, her peach blossom eyes flashing with a mournful look: "Hey, what are you two fighting over? I was thinking of something too..."

As they talked, the four of them went out of the house one after another and went up to the roof to check. Sure enough, on the eaves near the lotus pond, there was half a muddy shoe print. They followed the trail towards the bamboo grove until they reached the base of the wall, where they found two more shoe prints on the moss on the top of the wall, one slightly deeper and the other shallower.

Zhan Yunqing's handsome face showed slight displeasure, and he paused in the folding fan in his hand: "This person's kung fu is truly extraordinary."

Zhao Ting nodded: "To leap so far in one breath, and with someone on his back, his internal strength and lightness skill are quite impressive."

Miss Shi's body had been removed, and the investigation of the clues at the scene was basically completed. The group then rode in a carriage back to Kaifeng Prefecture.

On the way, Zhan Yun told Zhao Ting about some of the clues they had found earlier. When he mentioned the lotus petals stuffed into the deceased's heart, Zhao Ting frowned. Seeing Duan Chen lower his eyes and remain silent, Zhou Yufei asked, "Duan Chen, what do you think about this?"

Duan Chen pondered for a moment, then gently shook his head: "I can't be sure either. However, I do now suspect that this case is somewhat related to the Seven Life Cult."