Hetou Village is a small village with a population of only about 30 households, and when I heard that the county magistrate came, the local Baojia village chief came to pay respects at the same time.

"I don't know if the adults are coming, I miss the distance, I hope the adults will forgive the sins." Bao Jia was a middle-aged man, and when he saw Kang Xu, he knelt down and saluted him in fear.

"No need to be polite, this official came here this time, just to ask, have you seen suspicious people passing by this village in the past few days?" Kang Xu asked as they got up.

"Suspicious people?" Bao Jia and the village chief looked at each other for a while, shook their heads and said, "Lord Hui, we haven't seen any suspicious people. ”

"Have you ever seen a man and a woman pass through here after the night before?" Kang Xu asked in a different way.

Bao Jia scratched his head and replied in a low voice: "My lord, I waited for the small village in the countryside, and after dark, I already fell asleep. The night before, it was too late, and the little one really didn't pay attention. ”

Kang Xu rubbed his eyebrows, Bao Jia was right, for the villagers, it was already midnight, and most of them had already fallen asleep.

However, Kang Xu did not give up, so he asked the officials to inquire from door to door.

From the bamboo forest to here, there is only this village nearby, and since the murderer has kidnapped Tao Zhaoxue, it is impossible to return to Zhengyang City.

What's more, Tao Zhaoxue's body floated down the river, which also shows that she died outside the city.

After about half an hour, the officials came back one after another to reply.

"My lord, we have all inquired, and the villagers did not find anything unusual that night." A servant bowed and said.

"Is there really nothing out of the ordinary?" Kang Xu couldn't help but doubt his judgment.

"Yes, sir."

Bao Jia and the village chief looked at each other suspiciously, and asked cautiously, "My lord." Don't know what the exception you're looking for is about? ”

"This officer is currently investigating a homicide, if you find anything out of the ordinary. immediately went to the yamen to report the case, in addition. Pay more attention to strangers coming and going to your village these days, and if you notice anything unusual, you must immediately notify the yamen. Kang Xu rubbed his eyebrows and said to Bao Jia and the village chief.

"Yes, yes, the villain must obey the instructions of the adults and pay attention to the people who come and go." Bao Jia nodded again and again, not daring to hesitate at all.

Looking up at the sky, before I knew it, it was almost dusk, and I found nothing in Hetou Village. Kang Xu decided to return to the yamen first, and then deal with it.

Among the county officials, Xiao Wu and Chang Feng have been waiting for a long time.

Seeing Kang Xu coming back, the two hurriedly stepped forward to ask.

Kang Xu told the two of them the clues he had found that day, and the two immediately fell into deep thought.

"Xiao Wu, how did you investigate the murder weapon?" Kang Xu sat on a chair and asked.

Xiao Wu walked to the table, pointed to the evidence placed on the table, and said, "These steel needles are all ordinary things. It can be bought at any tailor's shop. What's more, this is a daily thing for the common people, and every household has a lot of it, so it is really difficult to investigate. However, this knife. But there is something peculiar. ”

"What's so peculiar?" Kang Xu asked.

"When I took this murder weapon to investigate, I asked a blacksmith, and after he saw it, he said that the knife was forged twice. articulated. Xiao Wu picked up the short blade that was still stained with blood, and said to the two, "Look here. This is the junction, although it is not obvious. But it is enough to show that this blade has been broken. ”

Kang Xu and Chang Feng leaned over, they stared at the blade, and sure enough, they saw a trace as thin as a mosquito thread, which was difficult to find without careful inspection.

Xiao Wu continued: "I asked the blacksmith, he said that he can repair the fracture so tightly, the person who repaired it is definitely an expert master, and no one in the entire Zhengyang City can reach this level. ”

"In other words, it's very likely that this murder weapon was brought from outside?" Chang Feng wondered.

"Also, this short blade is slender and has a peculiar shape, which is far from an ordinary dagger, and no one has seen a similar short blade in the iron shops I have searched all over Zhengyang City." Xiao Wu shrugged his shoulders, as if he felt that he was too useless, and became annoyed.

Kang Xu patted him on the shoulder and comforted, "It's already good that you can investigate this." ”

He picked up the short blade, observed it carefully for a while, and suddenly said, "Xiao Wu, have you ever been to the armory shop?" ”

Xiao Wu was stunned, he scratched his head and said, "Why do you go to the weapon shop?" ”

"You see, there are notches on the body of this short blade, which are obvious marks when weapons collide with each other, indicating that the owner of this blade often uses it for self-defense. As I guessed, the owner of this blade should be a master, and a well-known master. Kang Xu muttered.

Xiao Wu scratched his head in confusion and said, "Brother Kang, where did you see that the master of this blade knows martial arts?" This is quite a family resource, where does it start? ”

Xiao Wu was puzzled, and Chang Feng was also puzzled.

With a dagger alone, how could he determine the owner of this short blade?

"The dagger is a close-quarters blade, and although it is explosive, it is not easy to use. This weapon is mostly used for assassination by sudden killers. However, the dagger was scarred, indicating that the owner of the blade did not only use it to assassinate, but used it as the main weapon. Chang Feng, you have also practiced martial arts for a few years, you may use a dagger as a weapon to duel with people? Kang Xu looked at Chang Feng and asked.

Chang Feng shook his head in a daze: "I once heard the knights of the rivers and lakes say that the way of the dagger is easy to learn but difficult to master, and most of the people who study this way are assassins who make a living from assassination. Could it be that the owner of this dagger was an assassin? ”

Chang Feng blinked suspiciously, staring at the short blade in Kang Xu's hand.

"Whether the owner of this dagger is an assassin or not is unknown. One thing is for sure, though, this dagger is worth a lot of money. Kang Xu weighed the dagger.

"How can this be?"

"You see, the handle of the dagger is wrapped in shark skin, and wrapped in gold wire, which alone is quite expensive, and look at here, there is a depression that, if I am not mistaken, must be set with a precious stone." Kang Xu pointed to the junction between the handle of the dagger and the blade, and said to the two of them.

The two glanced at each other and shook their heads slightly.

"Master, I don't dare to agree with your statement. In my opinion, this is an ordinary dagger, how can you be sure that this recess is set with a gemstone? ”

For the two, Li Canghai is the detective in their eyes, and they will have no doubt about Li Canghai's words.

But for them, Kang Xu is not like this.

One of them is that the two of them have never worked with him. The second is that they don't believe that Kang Xu also has the same meticulous mind as Li Canghai and can solve difficult murder cases.

Kang Xu knew everything about what was in their hearts.

He didn't care about the thoughts of the two, and smiled slightly: "It's very simple, because this dagger is made of pure gold. ”

As he spoke, Kang Xu took out the Pu knife hanging from Chang Feng's waist and scraped it the handle of the dagger.

I saw layers of gray crumbs falling one after another, and after a while, some bright gold appeared on the dagger handle.

Chang Feng and Xiao Wu were surprised, they looked at each other, and they were stunned on the spot.

"Brother Kang, how do you know that this dagger is made of pure gold?"

"The handle of this dagger is too heavy, and it is unusual. What's more, how can an ordinary dagger be inlaid with a jewel? So, I venture to guess that the dagger itself must be more valuable than jewelry. If you put a touch of jewelry on an iron object, wouldn't it be tyrannical? Kang Xu put down the Pu knife and said with a smile: "I didn't expect to really let me guess correctly, this dagger is really made of gold." ”

Chang Feng looked at him stunned and said, "Master, why do I think that your way of judging the case is so similar to that of adults?" If I hadn't known that you were in a coma, I would have thought you were! ”

Hearing this, the corners of Kang Xu's eyes involuntarily twitched a few times, but this strangeness disappeared in a flash, and he quickly regained his calm.

"I grew up with adults, and I must have been subtly influenced by adults, and I can't hide it, all my methods of solving cases are actually learned from adults." Kang Xu smiled and said casually.

Chang Feng nodded suddenly and said, "Yes, don't talk about the master, it's my old man, and during this time with the adults, I have also learned a lot of knowledge to solve cases." Before, I was worried about whether we could solve this murder case without adults, but now it seems that my worries are unnecessary. ”

Xiao Wu touched his nose, he looked at Kang Xu with a strange expression, and a suspicious look appeared in his eyes.

He always felt that Kang Xu was a little strange, but he couldn't say what was strange.

Kang Xu noticed Xiao Wu's eyes looking at him, but he deliberately didn't look at him, but said to Chang Feng: "What Brother Chang said is very true, we must go all out to solve this case as soon as possible, and we must not let the reputation of adults suffer." ”

Speaking of this, Kang Xu glanced at Xiao Wu, and when he saw that he was still staring at him suspiciously, his brows suddenly wrinkled.

He narrowed his eyes, handed the dagger to Xiao Wu, and said, "Tomorrow, you go to various pawnshops to investigate and see if anyone has pawned gems recently." ”

Xiao Wu was a little puzzled, he said suspiciously: "Why do you want to investigate these?" ”

"The gem on this dagger was taken down, and it is very likely that it was pawned by the murderer, as long as we can find the whereabouts of the gem, it is possible to find the murderer." Kang Xu pondered.

Xiao Wu nodded, and then put away the short blade.

After instructing Xiao Wu, Kang Xu turned around and asked, "Chang Feng, you went upstream along the river bank, did you find any clues?" ”

Chang Feng sighed, he hurriedly picked up a bundle of mud-stained hemp rope from the ground on the side, and said, "We went up the river and didn't find any clues. However, we found the bundle of hemp rope upstream and brought it back. ”

Kang Xu picked up the hemp rope and looked at it, and said strangely: "This hemp rope is neatly broken, it seems to have been cut by a sharp blade, where did you find the hemp rope?" ”

"In the grass by the river a few miles away from the village of Hetou." Chang Feng replied.

"What else have you discovered?" Kang Xu looked at the flat cut of the hemp rope and asked suspiciously.

Chang Feng scratched his head and said, "There is also half a torn rope net." ”

"Rope nets?" Kang Xu's brows furrowed, "Where is the rope net now?" ”

Chang Feng bent down and poured out the cloth bag containing the hemp rope directly, and found half of the tattered rope net from inside. (To be continued.) )