Saying this, she had to drag the grandson in her arms and kowtow to Xiao Qinglang. Xiao Qinglang didn't care about that, raised his hand to let people get up, and then looked at Zhang Lizheng's mother-in-law who was standing aside tremblingly and asked, "This king is here, but I have a few questions I want you to tell the truth." ”

Zhang Lizheng nodded hurriedly with his mother-in-law, not daring to hesitate for a moment.

At this time, Tian Xian Ling also kindly asked people to move a stool over, and after wiping it, let Xiao Qinglang sit down with Xu Chu and others.

"Sit down." After Xiao Qinglang sat down, he motioned for everyone to take a seat. It made Zhang Lizheng and his wife feel flattered, although they sat down, they didn't dare to move, and even Zhang Lizheng's grandson shrank into his grandmother's arms and gave birth.

Xu Chu took notes and did not say anything.

Xiao Qinglang asked about Liu Jinshan, but Zhang Lizheng and his wife were not familiar with each other, but they also knew each other.

Generally speaking, the most prosperous and wealthy people in a village are the ones who are upright in the village. In addition to his face in the yamen, his connections in the village and the nearby towns will also be more than others, and he will naturally have a wider way to make money.

It is precisely because of this that he never restricts his mother-in-law to buy jewelry. And his mother-in-law often buys those small things in Liu Jinshan's shop, and on the day Liu Jinshan was killed, she happened to meet each other at the entrance of the village and bought a pair of earrings.

In this way, what Gu Shunfeng said is not false. happened to match what the Liu family said, saying that Liu Jinshan actually went out to buy goods that day.

Since it is a purchase, it is naturally impossible to buy only one thing.

The words that Mrs. Lizheng said next were basically the same as Gu Shunfeng's words.

When Xiao Qinglang and the others left, Zhang Lizheng hesitated and asked, "Didn't you hear that the yamen had caught the murderer?" ”

As soon as this matter was mentioned, Tian Xianling's face turned pale. He glanced up at the front, and saw that Xiao Qinglang and Xu Chu didn't care about this, and they didn't look back, so they immediately glared at Zhang Lizheng with a tiger face, and snorted coldly: "Inquire about what you should inquire, don't inquire blindly if you shouldn't inquire." ”

Zhang Lizheng was annoyed when he saw him, and hurriedly pretended to fan his mouth, and responded: "Yes, yes, yes, there are too many grass people's mouths." ”

In addition to Zhang Lizheng's house, on the way to Zhang Cuncai's house, Xu Chu said in a condensed voice: "Now in addition to the missing head of the deceased, there are also gold and silver jewelry on his body." ”

"Why the hell do you think the murderer cut off the head of the deceased?"

"Xiao Chu thinks, why did the murderer hide the head of the deceased?" Xiao Qinglang eased his expression, raised his eyebrows and squinted at Xu Chu and asked rhetorically.

Xu Chu pondered for a moment, sketching out several guesses in his mind. Hook Hook painted, and finally said: "It is to hide certain features of the deceased's head, such as scars that allow people to guess his identity!" Or ......"

Xiao Qinglang saw that she was hesitant, and spontaneously helped her finish what she wanted to say.

Or, in the beginning, the murderer did not want to kill the deceased, but knocked the person unconscious, or he simply knocked the person unconscious and mistook Liu Jinshan for death. Just before he passed out, Liu Jinshan tore off something from the murderer with his mouth! ”

Generally speaking, cutting off the head is a bit of a trick. After all, wiping someone's neck with a kitchen knife is much less risky than cutting off a head with all the effort. partially, the murderer did this more than once, and beheaded people alive.

Moreover, the motive for beheading is often to conceal the identity of the deceased, or to seek revenge.

However, now it seems that the murderer did not want to conceal Liu Jinshan's identity, nor does it seem to be an act of revenge. It's like I have to risk being found out about beheading people and taking them away.

And the most reasonable thing is the possibility that he and Xu Chu thought.

"Also, there's one more thing." Xiao Qinglang's eyes were heavy, and he raised his eyebrows slightly, "You and I have checked the case file and the murder weapon, and even found Gu Shunfeng's baggage, but we didn't find any cumin powder and red yeast rice powder in it. ”

"I almost forgot that there wasn't anything in that bag, and it wasn't torn up with powder." She paused, looked back directly at Tian Xianling and asked, "At the scene of the crime, did you find any peculiar smell or strange color?" ”

Cumin powder has a strong aromatic flavor, according to the meaning of Gu Shunfeng's words, the amount is not small, if it is scattered on the ground, it will inevitably have some taste. Moreover, red yeast powder, used for coloring, will inevitably leave a bright red when scattered on the ground.

Tian Xian Ling wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead, and said bitterly: "Back to the girl, there was really nothing else to find around the corpse that day except for bloodstains. ”

A dark glint flashed in his eyes, and when he saw Xu Chu, he continued: "Although cumin powder and red yeast rice powder are not expensive, they are also quite valuable compared to ordinary people's homes. ”

"So, it's likely that the killer took both things together."

Xiao Qinglang nodded and said slowly: "The murderer's family background will not be too good, and the role he plays in this case is easy to ignore and not suspicious." I see that it is written on your autopsy sheet that the murderer had repeatedly chopped off the deceased's head when he cut off it, which means that he did not act in a panic. ”

"The lake where the murder took place is not far from the village, and it should be difficult for him to make sure that he is not discovered. Unless he's from the village and is extremely familiar with his surroundings. Xu Chu pondered for a moment, and the image of the murderer in his heart became clearer and clearer.

At this time, the two of them also went to Zhang Cuncai's house, which was close to the village. The two looked up, and sure enough, they saw a lake not far away, but it was a little far away, and the eyes of the sun were shining, so they couldn't see it very clearly.

"Zhang Cuncai ......"

Xiao Qinglang and Xu Chu glanced at each other, and instantly understood each other's thoughts.

Of all the speculations about the murderer, only one person is the most consistent, and that is Zhang Cuncai. It's just that now everything is just speculation, they have no conclusive evidence, and they can't find the deceased's head and lost gold and silver jewelry, so it's not easy to directly conclude the case.

As soon as the two of them slowed down, they saw a woman carrying a basket to beat Zhang Cuncai's house. Seeing Tian Xian Ling and the others, she hurriedly saluted, "I've seen the eldest master, do you have any orders, why did you come here at this time?" ”

Tian Xian Ling saw that Xiao Qinglang was not angry, so he hurriedly said: "Don't hurry up and see the prince!" ”

The woman was stunned for a moment, then carefully looked at Xiao Qinglang, who was dressed in expensive clothes, and suddenly remembered the pair of men and women on the grave where the coffin was opened and the autopsy was performed before. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but panic, and hurriedly knelt down to kowtow.

Xiao Qinglang didn't wait for her to kneel, so he stopped her first. Then he asked, "You just came out of Zhang Zheng's house?" ”

"Yes, yes, the woman has a good relationship with the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, and she often communicates. Today, the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family is on her birthday, so the brothers of the Zhang family bought some good meat and vegetables to celebrate her. The woman didn't dare to lie, and as she spoke, she lifted the blue cloth covering the basket and hurriedly said, "These are all given by his daughter-in-law, but they are not stolen by the people's women......

Tian Xianling explained to Xiao Qinglang on the side: "Zhang Cuncai's daughter-in-law is a foreigner, honest and often bullied. This woman's family lives behind Zhang Cuncai's house, and she can also be called a shrew in the village...... A few years ago, Zhang Cuncai almost used a knife with her for this matter, and Zhang Lizheng asked people to report to the yamen at that time......"

Xu Chu is no stranger to this kind of thing. Although the peasant family is a simple person, there are also many people who rely on spoon to be powerful, especially some women who are always angry with other people's families, who often act and talk nonsense, just afraid that other people's families are better than themselves.

Xiao Qinglang glanced at Xu Chu and saw that her expression was as usual, and he knew that she really didn't take this kind of thing to heart. After thinking for a moment, he asked again: "On the day of the murder by the lake, did you see the figure of the murderer?" ”

As soon as the woman heard that the prince and the county lord did not come to investigate her for squeezing the daughter-in-law of Zhang Cuncai's family, she was directly relieved. After hearing Xiao Qinglang's question, she nodded again and again and said, "No, the woman can see with her own eyes that the man used such a big kitchen knife to cut off the person's head, oops, the blood was splashed three feet away...... The woman still remembered that the man was five feet three or four inches tall, wearing a gray coarse cloth robe and carrying a baggage......"

Xiao Qinglang listened to her exaggeration, but he didn't interrupt, and it wasn't until she was foaming at the mouth for a long time that he asked with a smile: "Did you really see it with your own eyes?" ”

At this time, let alone Xiao Qinglang and Xu Chu, even Tian County's order couldn't be listened to. He scolded: "What nonsense, if you see it, you see it, if you don't see it, you don't see it, if you lie again, beware of this official to punish you for the crime of covering up!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the woman's face changed instantly, and she hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Woman of the people...... The folk woman actually didn't see anything......" Xu was a little worried that she would be convicted, and she hurriedly said, "That day, the folk woman heard the shouting and went out, and just happened to see Zhang Cuncai coming back from Shimodia, who was shouting that a man in a gray robe had cut off a man's head by the lake. That's what we know......"

Xiao Qinglang raised his eyebrows and asked coldly: "That means that the so-called personal sights of the people in the village at that time were actually narrated by Zhang Cuncai after hearing his shouts?" ”

The woman hurriedly nodded, "Then we went to the lake in groups, and sure enough, we saw a dead man with no head, and half of his body was bloody and lying on the ground...... Later, the official of the yamen came to ask, and we said that we saw ......"