After escorting the people away, only Xiong Zhutou and Lu Jinping were left in the house. Xiong Zhutou asked Lu Jinping in a low voice: "The lord deliberately said that just now, do you suspect that he is the murderer?" ”

Lu Jinping smiled, nodded approvingly and said, "Your head is not bad, you can hear my intentions." That's right, because there were only two people present at the time, he and Widow Chang, and Pang Yan was already very drunk, this Liu Lao Er didn't drink much, and it was easy to strangle a muddy drunk. He has the time to commit the crime and he has this ability, so he is a significant suspect. In addition, he spoke evasively, as if there was something else hidden, so I decided to test it, and sure enough, he was making up a story, and it was full of loopholes. If the guess is correct, he and Widow Chang may have confessed before this, discussing how to deal with the investigation and interrogation of court officials. ”

Xiong Zhutou was taken aback: "Could it be that the two of them jointly killed Pang Yan?" ”

"It's also possible. Judging from the results of the trial just now, Liu Lao Er did not drink with Pang Yan, but he was present when Pang Yan was found to be dead, so he had time to kill. But so far we have not been able to find a motive, from what we have learned before, at least the widow has no reason to kill an old customer who often comes to her house to consume, this is the god of wealth, even if he owes a lot of debts, but as long as people live, debts will not die. So, this is not a reason for her to kill. If no motive is found, it is untenable, and we need to find further evidence. At the same time, let's see if there is a possibility that someone else has committed the crime. ”

Xiong Zhutou nodded again and again and said: "The lord is thoughtful, and the little one is very admired, so what should I do next?" ”

"You immediately send someone to bring Liu Laoer's family here, pay attention, they are not allowed to talk to each other."

Soon, the catcher came in and reported that someone had brought it. Lu Jinping ordered his five-year-old son to be brought in first.

Soon the child came in, apparently frightened, his little face pale with fright, and his body trembling incessantly, not knowing what was happening. Lu Jinping glared at Xiong Zhutou fiercely and said, "How can you treat a child like this?" No matter what, he can't be a murderer. ”

Na Kuai was very frightened, and hurriedly said with a smile: "I didn't intend to be scared, but the daughter-in-law was a little fierce, so a few brothers scared her, and they went to her mother, and they didn't pay attention to the child next to him, maybe they scared him." ”

Lu Jinping waved his hand, asked him to step aside, got up and squatted down, held the child in his arms and said, "Don't be afraid, little friend, ah no, uh, this little brother, what's your name?" ”

"I'll call Diandian." The child said pitifully.

"Dot, that's a nice name, how old is this year?"

Hearing Lu Jinping's pleasant face and smiling face, the child gradually calmed down and said, "I'm five years old this year. ”

"Did you read?" , Lu Jinping asked knowingly, in fact, he knew that since Liu Lao Er was farming, he was afraid that the possibility of his son studying was very small. Sure enough, the child shook his head.

Lu Jinping said: "Do you know how to write your own name? ”

The child shook his head.

"Is it good for uncle to teach you?"

The child nodded happily.

Lu Jinping had already seen a pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table in the back room, so he went in and took it out, spread it on the coffee table, picked up the pen and wrote a few words, and said: "This is your name, come, I will teach you to write." Then he held his little hand and taught him how to hold the pen and which pen to start writing.

This kid is also smart, it took a while to learn this word, although the writing is crooked and slanted, but it is finally written, Lu Jinping praised it vigorously, and the child was very happy.

Lu Jinping said: "Didn't your father teach you to write? ”

The child shook his head and said, "My father is illiterate, and my mother is illiterate." ”

"And what does your dad do often?"

"My dad often goes to the stinky ** house to drink."

Lu Jinping never thought that this swear word came out of the mouth of a five-year-old child, which was really shocking. Just looking at this child's innocent face, he didn't seem to understand that this word was a curse, and said, "Who is the stinky **?" ”

"Stinky ** is stinky, my mother said, I asked where my father went? My mother said, go to the stinky ** house to drink! ”

Only then did Lu Jinping know that it was the child's mother who was jealous and angry, and often said this in front of the child, and the child thought that this stinky ** was a person's name, and did not know that it was a curse. From this point of view, the stinky ** mentioned by the child's mother should be this widow.

Lu Jinping said again: "There is a Zhou master in your village, do you know? ”

The child nodded, looked up at him with a little face, and said, "You know, his aunt drank to death." Everyone in the village is saying that if you drink like him, you will die sooner or later! My mother has been counting down my father for the past few days, saying that she should stop drinking, so as not to get drunk and die in the wine jar like Master Zhou's son-in-law. ”

When Lu Jinping heard that he knew about this, he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart, so it would be easy to save trouble, and asked: "Then, the first night of Old Master Zhou's uncle's death, was your father at home?" ”

The child nodded at first, then shook his head: "I was there before, and then I was gone." ”

"Oh, why is that?"

"He was at home before, and when I was sleeping, he put me to sleep. In the middle of the night, he went to pick me up and pee, lest I pee on the kang, I pee a lot, and the quilt is soaked when I get up, and my mother scolds me, so my father told me to get up and pee in the middle of the night. ”

"Then, why did you disappear again?"

"That night he picked me up and peed, back to bed, I was about to go to bed, I saw my father go out of the house, I called my father, my father didn't pay attention to me and went out, I asked my mother where my father went, it was so dark, isn't he afraid of ghosts? My mother said it was a stinky ** to call him, and I didn't know what to do. ”

Lu Jinping's heart moved, and said, "How does your mother know that the stinky ** calls him?" ”

"Because, there is a toad barking."

"Toad barking? What do you mean? ”

"I asked my mother, and my mother said, that stinky ** toad, lying behind our house and screaming, my father will go out. This is often the case. My mother said, that stinky ** is really shameless, seducing my father. ”

"What time it was, you know?" Lu Jinping was very worried that this child was too young and didn't know the concept of time. He didn't know that ancient children had the concept of time from the beginning of their understanding.

The boy said, "Five watches." ”

"How do you know it's the fifth watch? Did you hear the beating? ”

"My mother said, my mother said to my father that the fifth watch has just sounded, and it is not dawn yet, what are you going out to do at this time? My dad ignored her and left. Then my mother said that this stinky ** didn't sleep all night and owed fuck. ”

Lu Jinping shook his head secretly in his heart, with such a mother, this child is really pitiful, the child is not sensible, what he hears, what he learns, and he listens to too many foul language, which is not good for the child's growth.

"And then?"

"Later? At noon the next day, I heard from others that the aunt of Mr. Zhou's family was drunk to death, and their family was crying, and that my aunt's daughter-in-law was preparing to give birth to a baby with a big belly, which was really pitiful. ”

Lu Jinping pondered for a moment and said, "Very good, the words that my uncle taught you just now should be learned and practiced by heart." Okay, you can go out, uncle, there's still something to do. He turned to Xiong Zhutou and said, "Go and call Liu Laoer's father and mother in." Take the child out, don't give it back to his mother yet, and then give it to his mother after asking for a while. ”

Xiong Zhutou nodded in agreement and carried him out of the door.

Lu Jinping then asked Liu Laoer's father and mother, the two old people lived in another house and did not live together, so they did not know their son's movements that night, and they did not know whether their son was at home.

Lu Jinping was the last to call Liu Laoer's daughter-in-law in. This daughter-in-law has thin eyes, pointed beak monkey gills, and thin lips, and she looks like a woman with a very powerful mouth.

Lu Jinping asked: "On the night of the death of Zhou Yuanwai's aunt, was your husband Liu Lao Er at home?" ”

Liu's second daughter-in-law said with a smiling face: "Not at home, he went out that night and didn't come back until dawn." Later, I heard that the aunt of Master Zhou's family was drunk and died. After my man came back, I heard him say that that night, he drank with Master Zhou's aunt Pang Yan at the Chang Widow Wine Shop, but Pang Yan drank too much and died of drunkenness. ”

"When did he get out? To be precise. ”

"The second watch didn't reach the third watch, because when he came back, it was almost two watches, and he said that he wanted to drink, so he went to the widow's winery after dinner."