Xiao Jiading asked again: "Have you also carefully examined the murder weapon that was returned?" ”

The two soaps glanced at each other and said, "I have checked, all the evidence must be checked clearly before being taken away, and it must also be checked clearly when it is taken back." ”

"And you looked at this knife carefully?"

"Yes."

"Did the blade curl or notch before taking it out?"

The two soaps glanced at each other again and said, "That's it, there is no curl or gap." ”

Xiao Jiading nodded, that is to say, there is no problem with the murder weapon knife in the initial investigation. But how can the contradiction be explained? What's the problem?

The next question is to find and verify the status of the body.

They didn't go to look for the corpse, because it had already been made clear in the lobby that most of the incisions in the corpse were on the hard bones, which were cut alive, and if so, the knife would definitely be curled or notched. But no, what's the problem?

He needed to find someone else to verify the claims.

He came to the fast catching room. When Dai Zhutou saw him come in, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

Xiao Jiading asked: "In the case of Zhao's murder of his nephew, who else was present at the time of the inquest of the broken corpse? ”

"I'm here with a couple of catchers. It's cruel......"

"Have you taken a closer look at the broken wound of that corpse?"

"That's not it, I just watched it, I was next to it, but I didn't go up to take a closer look, it was all burned, very disgusting."

Xiao Jiading's heart moved, this detail was not reflected in the corpse, and he was not asked in the lobby. The confession of the murderous Zhao family has not been said. Asked: "Burned?" ”

"yes, it's disgusting."

"How many of them?"

"They stood farther away, they all felt disgusted, and they didn't come, it was me who was beside me."

"Where did the hands and feet come from?"

"That's where ......," Dai pointed to his shoulders, as well as the base of his thighs, and his neck.

"What exactly is it? Joints or bones? ”

"I can't say anything about that. I didn't look closely. ”

"What happened to the corpses?"

"After the inquest is completed, it will be handed over to their family, it should be buried, the details are not clear."

Xiao Jiading thought for a moment, this case was only afraid of having to open the coffin for an autopsy. The first is to actually see whether the fracture of the corpse is on the bone, and the second is to determine whether the corpse has been burned, and to supplement the evidence in this regard. The third purpose is to see the scene of the crime on the spot and have an intuitive impression. So, Xiao Jiading asked: "I need to open the coffin for an autopsy, what should I do?" ”

This Dai head arrest is the old yamen who is catching fast, and he has also had the experience of opening the coffin for an autopsy in the past, so he knows it very clearly. said: "Since it is a homicide, the yamen can directly decide whether to open the coffin for autopsy." All it takes is to inform the family and the village to be present. ”

"How far is it to Huangyan Village, where the crime occurred?"

"It's not too far, and if you ride a horse, you can get back before dark."

"Alright, you get ready right away, and we'll leave immediately."

Dai Zhutou agreed, went to prepare the horses, and at the same time informed the servants.

Xiao Jiading signed a mortgage to tell Kang County Ling about his plans. When he passed by the signing room of County Lieutenant Deng, he was stopped by County Lieutenant Deng. County Lieutenant Deng came up very enthusiastically and said, "Is the promotion finished?" ”

"yes."

"I heard that those witnesses have all retracted their confessions?"

"Hmm."

County Lieutenant Deng clapped his hands and said: "This case is really suspicious, or the state government yamen can see it accurately, no, after the retrial, it will be completely different." So is this case the Zhao family's doing? ”

"It's hard to say, Kang County ordered me to investigate."

"Oh? How is Xiao Zhiyi going to investigate? ”

Xiao Jiading glanced at him, thinking that you are really ignorant, why don't you ask what you shouldn't ask.

Seeing that Xiao Jiading didn't speak, County Lieutenant Deng immediately understood, and hurriedly arched his hand and said, "I'm sorry!" This shouldn't be asked. Hey, hey, then you go get busy. ”

Xiao Jiading said goodbye, came to the signing room, and told Kang County Ling his plans. Kang County Ling said that he only needs the results, and as for how to investigate, it is up to Xiao Jiading to decide, including opening the coffin for an autopsy.

Once again, he was explicitly authorized by the Kang County Order, and Xiao Jiading had a bottom in his heart.

When he came to the fast catching room again, Dai Zhutou was already waiting there, leading a few official horses, with a few fast catchers and two servants. After getting on the horse, go straight to Huangyan Village.

When I arrived at Huangyan Village, I found the village and explained the intention.

This village is Zhengluo, knowing that Xiao Jiading is the county commander's side, he is really stammering, listening to Xiao Jiading's instructions, and busy asking someone to call the deceased's grandfather to testify, because the deceased's mother Tong has not returned to the village. He also called a few young men to help dig the grave.

The grandfather of the deceased took him to the place where the body was buried. At that time, after all the body parts were found, the yamen inspected it and handed it over to their family, so they bought a small coffin and buried it in the cemetery outside the village.

When they got to the ground, they began to dig the grave. The coffin was lifted out, set aside, the coffin nails were pried open, and the coffin was opened. A pungent stench suddenly made everyone pinch their noses, including Xiao Jiading.

asked if he wanted to take out the body parts, Xiao Jiading shook his head and said no. Pinching his nose, he stepped forward and took a look. The corpses were highly decomposed, and the bottom of the coffin was covered with pitch-black corpse water, and most of the corpse pieces were soaked in corpse water.

Because the murderer stripped the body naked, threw his clothes and pants into the river, and dismembered the body of **. At the time of burial, the family only put the body parts in the coffin, without stitching and dressing, so it basically remained the same. Xiao Jiading mainly inspected the fracture. In fact, you don't need to look closely, you can already clearly see that what you said is right, the fracture of the corpse is indeed on the bone, not at the joint, the arm and thigh are like this, that is, to cut off four hard bones, and the kitchen knife actually did not have the slightest curl or gap. This is indeed suspicious.

Could it be that the kitchen knife used in this woman's house to cut vegetables is actually a treasure knife that sharpens iron like clay? Xiao Jiading smiled self-deprecatingly, and he carefully inspected the corpse parts that had not yet dissolved, and found that there were obvious burn marks.

Xiao Jiading asked the person in charge of the autopsy last time: "This corpse has been burned, why didn't you write it?" ”

He was a little embarrassed and said, "Because the burning is not very obvious, the small ones are not written." ”

"No matter how obvious it is, it must be recorded truthfully! This could be an important clue to solve the case, understand? Xiao Jiading was really a little angry, and his voice raised a lot.

"Yes, yes! The little one remembered. ”

"Were the dead burned and then dismembered?"

"No, the little one has already inspected the throat of the corpse, and there is no grass ash, so it should be divided after death."

Xiao Jiading asked Dai Zhutou to break a branch for himself, and gently plucked the head to expose the back of the head. Because Zhao said that he pushed down the child, the back of the child's head hit the stone, so he died. Since it can cause the deceased to die on the spot, the injury should be very serious.

He examined the skull closely, and there were no signs of fracture at all, not only the back of the head, but also the entire skull.

Xiao Jiading asked the puppet again: "When you conducted an autopsy, did you find that the deceased had a traumatic head injury?" ”

"No external injuries." He said with certainty.

"How did the deceased die?"

"The little one thinks that he should have slit his throat with a knife and died. Because the deceased's head was cut off. ”

Xiao Jiading pinched his nose and went down, looking at the broken wound carefully, suddenly, his eyes lit up, the neck part of the deceased was almost rotten, revealing the white bones inside, he stared at the white bones, it should be a thyroid cartilage fracture!

Xiao Jiading studied "Forensic Science" when he was an undergraduate, and later became a lawyer, and handled many intentional homicide cases, including several cases of choking the neck to death, and the file contains detailed photos of autopsy, and he remembers that the thyroid cartilage fracture on it is like this! And this is precisely the most common characteristic of strangulation!

Was the deceased strangled to death?

Xiao Jiading called the man over, pointed to the broken thyroid cartilage, and said, "What's going on?" ”

After taking a closer look, he couldn't help but change color on his face, and said, "This, it's a broken laryngeal bone, if that's the case, it may be strangled to death." ”

Xiao Jiading asked: "You didn't find it when you did the autopsy?" ”

"No, because I didn't cut my throat to look at it."

Xiao Jiading understood that in ancient times, autopsies were only to examine the surface of the corpse, and the corpse was generally not autopsied. This can be proved from the absence of autopsy in the ancient forensic science treatise Song Ci's "Record of Clearing Grievances". Now, the same thing this is true, and it confirms this.

This discovery is important because it proves that the perpetrator Zhao is lying when he said that he pushed down the deceased and died of injuries. And the dead were strangled to death. Strangulation can only be an intentional crime, and there is no question of negligence.

Xiao Jiading glanced at the corpse parts in the coffin after the last moment, and was about to let the coffin be re-nailed and buried, but suddenly, his eyes fell on a straw that exposed the surface of the corpse water!

Straw? How can there be straw in a coffin?

The reason why he didn't see it before was because the straw was submerged in the corpse water, and he just flicked his head and touched it, so it came out.

Xiao Jiading didn't turn the thing directly, he instructed the servant to scoop out the corpse water in the coffin, and be careful not to touch the straw. The scoop scooped out most of the corpse water, revealing the bones underneath.

Xiao Jiading took a closer look and found that the straw was protruding from the lower part of the deceased's torso, which had been cut into two sections, that is, the pelvis. Only a small section is outside.