"Gunshot wound?" Catherine and Murphy looked at the doctor with wide eyes in surprise, and Dr. Lucas nodded affirmatively and said, "That's right, it's a gunshot wound from a firecracker." ”

"What's going on?" Catherine was bewildered, eager to know the details.

"About a year ago, also in the late summer and early autumn, Mr. Connor went hunting in the forest with his servants as usual, but he did not expect that a bullet flew out of the forest during the hunt and struck him in the chest. ”

The doctor got up and walked to the cabinet where the file was kept, took out a file from it and handed it to Catherine, saying: "This is my medical certificate at that time, the bullet went through the front chest, avoided his heart, but severely damaged his lungs, and there was only this gunshot wound in his whole body, which the sheriff at the time judged to be a stray bullet accidental injury." ”

"Did you operate on Mr. Connor yourself?" asked Catherine, looking down at the records in the file.

"Yes, I rescued him, he was badly wounded, I even asked the priests of the Holy Congregation to help and use magic to save his life, although in the end he survived, but the bullet was not completely removed. Dr. Lucas said with a sigh.

"What does it mean that you didn't take it out completely?" asked Murphy, puzzled.

"That is, the bullet shattered when it was fired into him," Dr. Lucas said, moving his gaze from Murphy's face to Catherine's concerned face, "and I only had a small number of bullet fragments removed when I cleaned the wound, and the remaining two-thirds did not know where. ”

"You're saying that Connor has lived with more than half a bullet in his body for more than a year?" asked Murphy, surprised.

"Yes, I tried to help him find and remove the bullet, but unfortunately his injuries didn't allow me to do that, the bullet hit his lungs so hard that it almost killed him, and I couldn't have dug his lungs to find the bullet. Dr. Lucas said with a helpless shrug.

"So you asked the priests of the Holy Order to help stabilize his life with magic, stitch up his wounds, and leave the bullet inside?" asked Catherine, closing the file in her hand and looking up at the doctor.

"Yes, that's the only way, and if we don't do that, we won't be able to save him with medical treatment alone. Dr. Lucas nodded meaningfully.

"So, did the guy who shot him catch it?"

"No, the sheriff surveyed the forest and found no suspicious person, perhaps he had fled after hearing Mr. Connor's screams. ”

Catherine lowered her head and pondered for a moment, feeling that there was nothing more to ask, so she got up and thanked the doctor, and left the clinic with Murphy, the two walked slowly on the street, Catherine looked down in contemplation as she walked, and Murphy looked back at her from time to time, afraid to ask more for fear of disturbing her thinking.

"It's so annoying, I can't think of a clue at all!" It wasn't until the two of them were about to arrive at the inn that Catherine sighed in frustration and said to Murphy: "I thought that Connor must have had some sudden illness and died because of a sudden attack, but according to the doctor, it seems that there is no such possibility." ”

"Don't have a headache, we'll be at the inn in front, Rogge should still be there, let's go and ask him." Murphy whispered comfortingly.

Catherine nodded silently, but she was still thinking to herself, wishing she could find out without relying on Rogge.

The two found him in Rogge's room, and Rogge left Lilith in the room while she was sleeping, and followed them to Catherine's room, where the three sat down at the table, and Catherine and Murphy told Rogge what the doctor had said.

Rogge listened silently, without any expression on his face, until he finished listening to the two of them, suddenly got up from his chair and asked, "What street is the doctor's office on?"

Catherine told him the location of the clinic and asked, "Are you going to the doctor?"

"You guys have a rest here, you've been tired all night, and we'll talk about it when I get back. After Rogge finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the room, Catherine and Murphy looked at each other, both a little overwhelmed, Murphy had to let Catherine rest first and return to the room himself.

Rogge had been away all day, and did not return to the hotel until the early hours of the next morning, when he woke up Catherine and Murphy, and said to Catherine, "When it is daylight, you will go to the Law Enforcement House and file a complaint on Barton's behalf!"

"Have you found evidence of Barton's wrongdoing?" asked Catherine, her eyes wide in surprise.

"No more!" Rogge handed her a large leather envelope, patted her on the shoulder, and said, "Take a good look at the contents, everything in this case is already in your hands." ”

The next day, Catherine and Murphy accompanied Patton's wife, Petty, to the Enforcement Agency, filed a complaint with the Enforcement Agency, and signed a pledge that they would produce strong evidence, and the Enforcement Agency accepted their application and decided to hold a trial the next day.

News of the retrial soon spread throughout Roma City, where the streets were talking about it, speculating about the final outcome of the case and waiting for the day of the retrial.

On the morning of the retrial, Catherine and Murphy accompanied Petty to the courtroom of the Law Enforcement Agency, where the condemned Barton had been escorted, and Petty burst into tears again when she saw her tormented and mentally exhausted husband.

On the other hand, Miss Connor, a family member of the deceased, also came to the courtroom, staring at Petty and the two nosy fellows beside her, her eyes showing indescribable hatred.

Soon, the judge in a white curly wig arrived at the bench, and the rest of the jurors took their seats, and the judge tapped the table with a mallet to announce the opening of the courtroom.

Hearing the Inquisitor call to her, Catherine calmly walked to the trial table, handed over the new evidence she was about to present to the Inquisitor, and said, "Your Excellency, through my investigation, I have obtained a number of physical and human evidences that can prove that Mr. Barton, the owner of the bakery, is not the murderer. ”

She first showed Connor the blood-stained handkerchief he had with him, and explained to the judges, jurors, and observers that Mr. Connor had a long history of vomiting blood, and that the reason for him to vomit blood at the door of Barton's bakery was not because Barton had beaten him.

She then pointed out to the judge a second piece of evidence: a medical record file written by Connor's personal physician, Lucas, a year earlier, which described Connor's shooting a year earlier, and his physical condition over the following year, including vomiting blood and having difficulty breathing.

"Next is the most important piece of physical evidence," Catherine said to the judge, looking around the silent crowd in the courtroom, "that half of the mutilated bullet that was placed in front of you was taken by Dr. Lucas from the body of the deceased Mr. Connor!"

"I protest!" shouted Miss Connor in a fit of rage, "You filthy thieves, who have stolen my father's body, colluded with that damn unscrupulous doctor to cut open his stomach, defile his body, and insult his reputation, and I ask the court to arrest these people immediately!"

"Your Excellency, Inquisitor!" Catherine said unhurriedly, turning back to the Inquisitor, "We did not steal Mr. Connor's body, we just sent Dr. Lucas to Connor Manor to perform an autopsy on it, and if we were at fault, it was simply that we did not inform Miss Connor." ”

She glanced coldly at Miss Connor, who was pale with anger, and continued: "Besides, after the murder, the security team should have autopsied the body to determine the cause of death of the deceased, but Sheriff Ross did not do so, which in itself is a violation of the imperial code, so it is not us who break the law, it is Captain Rose of the security team!"

Captain Rose, who was present at the scene, was taken aback and was about to open his mouth to defend himself, when the judge struck the gavel and said loudly: "Silence, this is the case of Connor's death, and you must not make a noise about matters unrelated to the case!"

Miss Connor and Rose sat back down when they heard the Inquisitor say this, and Catherine continued: "Dr. Lucas, during the autopsy, found this bullet in the trachea of the corpse, and it got stuck in Mr. Connor's trachea, completely blocking the airway. ”

"From this, it can be judged that Mr. Connor was suffocated by a blocked airway, and not pushed to death by Patton, as previously claimed!" Catherine said aloud with a serious expression as she turned to the jury.

There was an uproar in the audience, the jurors looked surprised at each other, and there was even more commotion in the auditorium, and the judge struck the table with his gavel and said loudly: "Quiet! Miss Catherine, how can you prove everything you have said?"

"You can bring the witness into court and ask him to tell you in person. Catherine replied unhurriedly.

The judge then called the witnesses to the courtroom, and soon Dr. Lucas appeared before the courtroom, bowed to the judge and the jury, and then answered the judge's question.

"Inquisitor, it is true that I dissected Mr. Connor's body with my own hands, and I found the bullet you saw at the intersection of his trachea, the part that I was unable to find. ”

"But why did this object kill Connor at this time after it had been in Connor's body for a year?" the Inquisitor asked, looking at him suspiciously.

The doctor replied calmly, "Mr. Connor has been angry lately due to his inability to agree with Mr. Barton about the bakery, and when he gets angry, he will cause shortness of breath, which may cause the displacement of the foreign body remaining in the body. ”

"Due to the irregular shape of the mutilated bullet, the displacement may have caused it to close the gap that had been vacated, and Mr. Connor's lungs were already wounded by gunshot wounds, and the remaining bullets also made his lungs very weak, which caused suffocation and death. ”

"My father, my father, is in very good health, and this doctor must have been bribed to say so!" exclaimed Miss Connor from the auditorium again.

"My lord," said Catherine unhurriedly, "Miss Connor is a complete slander, on the contrary, she is the one who wants to bribe the doctor to silence him, and among the evidence I give you is a handwritten letter she sent to the doctor, and a bribe of fifty silver coins, please take your look." ”

The Inquisitor poured out the silver coin and the letter from the envelope, read it carefully, looked up with a serious expression, and said, "Miss Connor, how do you explain this letter?"

Miss Connor sat down in her chair in a daze, looking at the inquisitor at a loss, and Catherine took the opportunity to speak: "My lord, in fact, Miss Connor did this to cover the real murderer, and to fasten the murderer's hat on Mr. Patton's body for the purpose of taking possession of his shop. ”

"Cover up the real murderer?" the Inquisitor looked back at Catherine in surprise and asked, "Shouldn't this be an accident according to what you just said?"