The team leader laughed dryly a few times, obviously it was difficult for Song Yichang's weak explanation to gain his approval.

"The state has a clear deadline for solving the case, especially this kind of homicide case, of course you can follow the clue of the snitch, but the yamen thinks that Xiao Gongzi's line is the most likely."

He shook his head again and said, "Let me tell you the truth again, there has been no snitch who can come and go freely in the courtyard of a high-rise mansion in my Daye County for more than ten years, not to mention that the snitch does not do such a thing as hurting people's lives." ”

Song Yichang was speechless for a while, he knew that what the team leader said was indeed the truth, the only purpose of the snitch was to steal property silently, and those who killed people and robbed money were called robbers, and robbers were the most despised objects of snitches.

He stood up and said to Xiao Rong, who had a little hope in his eyes: "Everything has not been investigated yet, Xiao Gongzi doesn't have to worry, when I go to the scene to visit, I will definitely find out the truth of the matter." ”

The head of the team sighed: "The whole county also hopes that Mr. Song can catch the murderer in addition, after all, the Xiao family is the largest household in this county, if it is extinct, it will not only be a tragedy for the Xiao family, but also a shame for the people of this county." ”

Song Yichang did not answer, turned around and walked quickly out of the county office's cell.

He himself is not an emotionally supremacious figure, for him the truth is above all else, no matter how Bai Yijie emphasizes the importance of Xiao Rong's overall layout of Jinghu, or Xiao Rong's importance to Daye County's face, it is not as important as the truth itself.

The first place he wanted to go was the most magnificent mansion on South Street, the Xiao family's mansion with carved beams and paintings.

The Xiao family's house was in a gloomy fog, and at this time, he suddenly heard that someone had taken the official document of the Huangzhou Metropolitan Department to assist in the case, so he naturally welcomed Song Yichang in a panic.

After Song Yichang stepped forward to pay homage to Xiao Taigong, he took a brief look at the environment in the hall. In addition to the mourning and sighing Xiao Taigong, the silent Xiao Rong's father, and the crying Xiao Rong's mother, the most energetic in the hall is Xiao Rong's uncle who is dressed in full uniform.

"Rong'er, this kid I have always known his temperament, if he delays his studies because he likes stones, that's right, love stones and kill people, then he will never do it!" He swore to Song Yichang so confidently.

Song Yichang nodded, and asked again, "Then did he have any enemies in his daily life?" ”

Xiao Rong's mother, Xiao Xin, cried and said: "That child is only in his early twenties, where did he come from, he said that he was an enemy, not that his father and his uncle had many disasters."

Song Yichang was stunned for a moment, he turned his head and asked, "Does my uncle offend anyone on weekdays?" ”

The uncle replied briefly: "A certain person served as a general in Meng Shuai's army, specializing in arresting Mongol spies, and it was inevitable to offend many local tycoons in his actions. ”

"I see, doing things for the country will inevitably cause some resentment." Song Yichang arched his hand and said, "Can you let me go and investigate Xiao Gongzi's room?" ”

The Xiao family naturally allowed it, and asked the housekeeper to lead Song Yichang to Xiao Rong's bedroom and study to search carefully. Sure enough, as reported by the local county government, there was nothing suspicious in the middle.

He couldn't find any useful clues in the Xiao family, and his next destination was the Zhao family's mansion where the accident occurred.

Before entering the Zhao family's mansion, he first visited the local township mayor and investigated the situation of the Zhao family. The Zhao family migrated from other places five years ago, saying that it was a family, but in fact, the population was very simple, Zhao Weng had no heirs, only one wife and one concubine. A male servant and two maids came to Daye and felt that the labor at home was not enough, so he recruited a servant woman who was exiled here from the north. is the servant woman who reported Xiao Rong.

Zhao Tianren likes to come out to talk with people, and is also very enthusiastic about public undertakings, he funded the construction of two bridges for Daye County, donated many candidates who were unable to go to Beijing to take the exam, and also actively relieved the poor. But except for Master Zhao, his family members live in a simple place, and the servants don't talk much when they come out, all in all, they are a good neighbor who is quiet and harmonious.

Song Yichang then came to the Zhao family's mansion in person, this is a rather magnificent house, Zhao is a wealthy family, and he also operates building materials, and the green bricks and wood used are all first-class goods. In front is a triple residence, with a courtyard and garden in the back, and a timber yard to the right of the garden. Therefore, the timber yard is still some distance from the street, and Mr. Zhao's study is at the back of the triple house, and behind it is the back garden, which is the scene of the murder. The officials were still busy in the Zhao family's mansion, because the team leader had greeted them in advance, they were very polite to Song Yichang, and specially showed Song Yichang the results of repeated searches in the ashes of the wood yard: The jade Ruyi that Master Zhao carried with him had turned black due to the pollution of charcoal ash, but after being identified by his family, it was indeed Zhao Zhongkui's belongings.

Song Yichang came to the study again to investigate, there was very little blood stains in it, the inkstone was also taken by the officials, the furnishings in the study were not moved, only the dark grid was opened, the gold and silver inside were not moved, only the Shoushan stone that had been confirmed by everyone to exist was lost. This invisibly ordered a coffin board to Song Yichang's snitch, which is obviously not a case of outsiders robbing money.

Song Yi Changzi carefully inspected the mansion, but did not find any useful clues, only to interrogate the servant woman who reported Xiao Rong again. The servant woman had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and at first glance she was a woman who had escaped from Shandong, speaking a good Shandong-based dialect.

Although the officials also told her to speak well beforehand, when she faced Song Yichang's questioning, she answered very carefully, and her vigilant eyes did not take away from Song Yichang at any time.

"Soon after the lamp, the young master of the Xiao family came to visit, alas, if I don't open this door for him, maybe the old man will still live well in the world. Why did you think I went? The master said he didn't need me anymore, so I went back to sleep. My room? My room is in the front, and the study is too far away from the front handyman's room, and I sleep so hard that I won't hear any movement. Yes, yes, yes, I got up to see it when everyone shouted that it was on fire, because the old man bought all the best wood, of course it burned fast, the young master of the Xiao family was really ruthless, if it wasn't discovered in time, the fire spread, maybe my mother-in-law was also killed by him, what kind of enemy does the master have? If the master is in business, it is inevitable that there will be enemies. You said that Shoushan stone, this is the master's most beloved thing, how can it show us people? ”

Song Yichang interrogated for a long time, but he was always at a loss. But the servant's evasive and vigilant gaze made him feel very uncomfortable in his heart, this woman must be hiding something.

When he was about to leave the Zhao family's mansion, he found that the Zhao family was hurriedly packing up.

"The master is gone, it's not interesting for us to stay here, we are going to hire a ship to live in Yangzhou." The servant woman said.

That's good, but why are you in such a hurry to leave? Song Yichang had another doubt in his heart.

When he rested in the inn, his mind was still a mess.

On the second day, when the team leader knocked on the door of the inn room, he saw Song Yichang's black eyes and tired face, obviously he hadn't slept well all night.

The team leader said excitedly: "You don't have to bother, we have found new important evidence, and now Xiao Gongzi's crime is a certainty, although the county definitely does not want to hear the news, but everyone can finally close the case smoothly." ”

Song Yichang's face quickly flashed a trace of anxious shadows, and then said lightly: "So congratulations to the third class, but the newly discovered evidence may not necessarily point to the closure of the case, maybe there are new doubts in it?" ”

"If you read it, you will know that Xiao Gongzi is the murderer, and this will definitely not be able to escape." The team leader was about to turn around and leave as he spoke: "You can come to the Zhao family's mansion after breakfast, this public case has been settled, and you don't have to panic too much." ”

Song Yichang shook his head, he often starved his stomach when he needed to think, so that he could keep his mind clear. Although he didn't understand that it was because of the distribution of blood, it had become a habit to eat as little as possible when it was critical.

Perhaps the Prime Minister Zhuge who is always close to everything, it is also because he needs to maintain the most sober discernment at all times, so he eats a little bit of food every day and gradually collapses his body.

Song Yichang followed the squad leader to the Zhao family's mansion, and saw that the county commander, the county lieutenant and the county magistrate had arrived at the scene, and the squad leader led Song Yichang to the moon gate in the garden, pointed to an inconspicuous corner under the moon gate and said, "Look, the evidence is here." ”

Song Yichang looked in the direction of his finger and saw half a bright red handprint on the gray-white wall.

"Of course, you know that no two people in the world have exactly the same fingerprints." The head of the team said confidently: "We went to the prison to extract Xiao Gongzi's fingerprints, which must be Xiao Rong's palm print." ”

"This is the conclusive evidence!"

The county magistrate, who was standing behind the two, also nodded and said, "This is indeed evidence that can be conclusively conclusive." ”

"Yes, this is indeed evidence of the decision!" Song Yichang shouted: "A truly decisive discovery! ”

"Congratulations, team leader! With this fateful discovery, we can finally find the real culprit! ”

The county magistrate sighed: "I didn't expect it to be Xiao Gongzi who made money and killed people, so what kind of attitude did the county take to see Xiao Taigong again?" ”

Song Yichang ignored the county order and asked the team leader: "Who found this handprint?" ”

"It's still the servant woman who identified Xiao Gongzi the day before yesterday, and told the official who was on guard in front of the mansion in the middle of the night."

"I see." Song Yichang blinked his eyes and said, "If the county order allows it, I want to check this mansion again." ”