An Awe-Inspiring Analysis
Constable Wang was sullen and silent, unhappy to be trapped in the hot seat.
Recently, Magistrate Zhu would inquire about the progress of the murder case first thing in the morning. When Constable Wang had nothing valuable to contribute, he would be met with a string of profanities.
The pressure was wholly directed at the head constable. The other constables huddled beneath his wings—unhelpful ingrates who made his life harder.
Constable Wang’s annoyance was logical—he believed the burden was undeserving for someone as old as him.
Xu Qian took the scroll and went back to his table. As he perused the script, his colleagues gathered around him and exchanged glances.
The best way to get into Constable Wang’s good books was to solve the case.
If the case was not solvable, Xu Qian could make it up to Constable Wang by taking him to the brothels. Their friendship of years would not be jeopardized by such a small issue.
Xu Qian objected to fishing because of his principles. By taking on the case, he was also sharing the burden with Constable Wang.
[The murder victim was Zhang Yourui, age 51. As one of the wealthiest men on Kangping Street, he owned several plots of fertile lands in Changle County and three shops that sold fabric,
rouge
and general supplies.
[His first wife died young and he remarried. The second wife was 20 years his junior and came from a good family. His only son was by his first wife.]
20 years age difference… Xu Qian wanted to puke.
‘What’s the saying? Work hard for your future wife who is still in kindergarten?’
[Four days ago, Zhang Yourui went to the countryside to collect rent. He came back at 3.00 in the morning. The sleeping wife was awoken by a scream and went out to check. She found Zhang Yourui dead in the courtyard and reported seeing a black shadow jump over the wall.]
The murder was described as such.
Xu Qian read the coroner’s report and noticed a discrepancy.
He made a mental note and continued to the testimonials by family and staff. Then, he shut his eyes and sorted his thoughts.
Constable Wang let out a huff and asked mockingly, “So, Constable Xu, who’s and where’s the killer?”
“Patience. From what I’ve read, the shoe prints on the outer wall and the wife’s testimonial suggests the thief jumped over the wall. Is that the working theory?”
Constable Wang uttered an affirmative reply.
“The prints lead away from the crime scene, likely formed during the escape,” Xu Qian said.
Constable Wang frowned. “What’s the problem?”
“Why are there shoe prints?”
“There was mud.”
“Why was there mud?”
“There’s a flower bed by the wall.”
Xu Qian nodded. “Then why does the scroll say nothing about shoe prints leading into the courtyard?”
Constable Wang was speechless.
The other constables tried to lend a hand. “Perhaps the thief noticed the mud when he came in and didn’t leave any prints.”
“He was in a hurry after the murder and accidentally stepped into the mud.”
Xu Qian’s eyes swept across the room. “That is a possibility but did anyone check for a shoe print in the flower bed? Logically, if the thief could enter the courtyard without stepping on the flower bed, he should be able to leap over the wall without leaving a trace when he escaped.”
His colleagues exchanged looks and said nothing.
Their silence was damning—clearly, no one thought about that.
None of the constables followed up on the details.
“Ningyan, what are you getting on about?” someone said indignantly.
Xu Qian turned to the frowning Constable Wang and said, “The victim sustained a blow to the back of his head. It was a blunt weapon, yes?”
Constable Wang nodded. “He died at the scene.”
Xu Qian sat in his chair and asked, “Why a blunt weapon? A sharp weapon like a dagger would be more efficient in a struggle.”
The room was silent as they considered the question. Little Li made a guess. “Perhaps the thief did not intend to kill.”
“Wrong!”
It was not Xu Qian who called out but Constable Wang. He stood up, eyes wide. “It was a direct blow to the back of the head. The intention was to kill.”
Then, he sat back down and muttered, “Why a blunt weapon instead of a sharp?”
Xu Qian suggested. “Maybe the thief did not have a weapon on hand?”
Constable Wang’s eyes glimmered as if he had discovered something but the moment escaped him.
“One last thing that caught my attention.” Xu Qian glanced at the scroll and said, “When the victim’s family was brought to the courts, the wife fainted after kneeling for too long. The doctor’s examination found that Yang Zhenzhen was pregnant.”
“A posthumous child.”
“It is unfortunate. The father is gone before the child is born.”
The ongoing commentary by the audience was irritating.
Xu Qian waited for the group to pipe down before speaking, “Yang Zhenzhen has been married to the victim for almost ten years and she just so happens to be pregnant at this moment?
“Maybe the child is not his?”
It was unusual for a healthy couple with a normal sex life to not produce a child in ten years unless the couple intentionally avoided pregnancy.
One of them must be infertile—the traditional methods of curing infertility were unreliable, therefore there was a slim chance infertile couples could conceive.
Constable Wang exhaled deeply. “Ningyan, elaborate please.”
Xu Qian drank his tea to quench his thirst. “Maybe it wasn’t an unsuccessful theft but a murder of passion. Yang Zhenzhen was having an affair with someone, maybe an outsider or the victim’s son. They planned to meet up when the victim was out collecting rent but he came back earlier than expected and caught them in the act. An altercation broke out and the third person grabbed the nearest blunt object and killed the victim. To disguise the crime, they dragged the body into the courtyard and made it look like a thief broke into the manor.
“The man would have intricate knowledge of the neighborhood if he visits often. He would know the night patrol’s schedule and be able to avoid the Armed Guards. If the thief was after money, he would not choose that day to enter the manor. A true thief would enter the manor after the victim had converted the silvers into a
silver note
. Yang Zhenzhen misled you into thinking the murder was related to the rent collection.”
Everyone in the room was slack-jawed.
“Th-this… You got all that just from reading the scroll?”
“Ningyan, this is not a joking matter.”
“But don’t you think it makes sense?”
The audience was amazed yet confused by Xu Qian’s analysis.
Xu Qian remarked, “I am proposing a possible scenario based on the case details. Every theory requires verification and proof.”
After analyzing the clues, solid evidence was needed to close the case.
The thief had evaded the soldiers on night duty and entered the manor at an inconvenient time; a blunt weapon was used instead of a sharp and Yang Zhenzhen’s sudden pregnancy—all these facts were overlooked by others, but not Xu Qian. Using logic, he teased out the truth from the hidden clues.
Constable Wang felt as if their profession was on the cusp of a major transformation. He took a deep breath to calm himself. As he processed the young man’s words, a question popped up in his mind. “Why do you think the victim’s son may be involved in the affair?”
Xu Qian slowly sipped his tea as anxious eyes turned to him. “Two reasons: First, Zhang Xian’s testimony mentioned he wasn’t in bed with his wife as he was checking the accounts in the study, and yet he did not mention hearing a shout. Yang Zhenzhen said she was awoken by the commotion but the one person who was awake that night did not hear anything? Suspicious. Second, if there was no sign of shoe prints entering the courtyard, it was unlikely the thief came from outside.”
Enlightenment.
“So, the shoe prints were set up to confuse us,” Constable Wang said.
“Yes. Check the shoes of the victim’s son,” Xu Qian advised.
“No way he left his shoe prints,” Old Wang said.
Xu Qian put on a look of awe and said with mock admiration, “Superb deduction skills. No wonder you’re Dafeng’s best constable.”
After the word vomit, Xu Qian had reverted to his role as subordinate and gave the head constable a good lick on the backside. This put a smile on Constable Wang’s face.
Constable Wang stood a bit taller after that.
“I’ll inform Magistrate Zhu. You guys get ready to follow me to the Zhang manor.” A look of unrestrained excitement flashed across Constable Wang’s tan face.
He gave Xu Qian a thumbs-up and left the break room in a hurry. A bellow of laughter was heard as he rushed off to find the county magistrate.
- A cosmetic for coloring the cheeks in varying shades, or the lips red.
- A banknote with a value in silver.
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