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墨書 Inktalez
"Tell me, what were you really thinking? Maybe if you share, I can forget about the nightmares," I said, playfully coaxing my idol.
He lay facing me, propped up on one arm, and pinched my nose with his other hand.
"Do you remember what kind of people those seventeen victims were?" he asked.
"Well, I vaguely remember. Their identities were quite different."
"What did they have in common?"
When I looked at the Old Case File, I did try to find their commonalities, but after thinking for a while, I couldn't find anything.
"Actually, excluding the singers, dancers, and merchants, there is one commonality among the few respectable girls," Qiu began to explain. "Take that lady from a wealthy family for example; she recently called off an engagement because the other family suddenly fell into misfortune. According to Witness's law, breaking off an engagement was her own decision. The same goes for those well-bred girls; they all shared a common trait: they despised poverty and loved wealth, wanting to climb higher and become phoenixes."
Ah, he even paid attention to the gossip in the Old Case File and summarized it. However, he was indeed right; if they were singers or dancers, this trait would be even more pronounced. Who wouldn't want to escape from the brothel and marry into a good family?
But what significance did this commonality hold?
"Zhenzhen remembers, right? Besides the injuries after death, there were no signs of struggle or resistance while they were alive. This means they likely went willingly with the Murderer. So what kind of person could achieve that so smoothly?"
I fell into deep thought. The identities of these seventeen victims had been confirmed, and none of them were connected to each other; thus, we could rule out any common relationships. In this era where men and women kept their distance, what kind of person could make young unmarried women abandon the constraints of propriety to privately meet with a man and even willingly engage in sexual relations? In this time period, such behavior would be shocking and hard to accept.
So this man must be extraordinarily handsome. However, based on these women's common traits, being handsome alone wasn't enough; this man must either be very wealthy or hold a high status that made these women believe it was worth any price to secure him.
Suddenly, the Murderer's Portrait gained an important element. This serial killer was likely a tall, rich, and handsome man!
But why suspect He Xue Ting? Just because he was the most handsome among the officials we met in Suzhou? Suzhou is full of talented individuals; there are plenty of tall, rich, and handsome men.
"Do you think I'm being unreasonable and jealous of He Sir's looks?" Qiu asked with a smirk.
I pouted because that wasn't how I felt at all. Honey, do you know how captivating your smile just was? It could outshine ten He Xue Tings! If you went to seduce those women, you'd have a whole crowd lining up behind you. By your standards for defining the Murderer, you'd undoubtedly top the suspect list!
"It’s actually due to a coincidence," Qiu finally explained seriously. "The corpse we discovered had Rope Marks on its neck; did you take a close look?"
"I did! It was tied with a relatively thin rope."
"From the marks left by the rope, you can see that it has a pattern. Did you notice that?"
Ah, I hadn't paid attention to that. I only remembered the width and depth of the Rope Marks, but as for the pattern, I truly had no idea. It turned out that Qiu was quietly observing everything with such meticulous detail!
"The murderer seems to harbor deep hatred; the length of the strap used to strangle the victim's neck is considerable. So if you look closely, you can vaguely discern the texture of this rope. If it were an ordinary twisted line, it would be one thing, but this rope's texture is quite special. Generally, people wouldn't use such a complicated method to tie knots."
"Oh? What kind of high-end rope is it?" My curiosity was instantly piqued.
Nie Qiuyuan leaned slightly and pulled out a thin strap from a pile of clothes by the bed, handing it to me.
"It looks very similar to this one."
I was taken aback and quickly took it to examine. Indeed, this strap was dense and tough, its thickness matching perfectly with the Rope Marks on the victim's neck. Upon closer inspection, I was shocked; wasn't this the decorative strap from Nie Qiuyuan's Official Robe?
Looking closely, the weaving method of the Official Robe's decorative strap was indeed different from that of an ordinary rope—very intricate and complex—making it appear both beautiful and high-end. I wrapped the strap around my wrist and tightened it for a minute until my nails turned white before loosening it to check; sure enough, my skin bore faint yet peculiar patterns from the Strangulation Marks.
I realized I was still too inexperienced. My husband was truly a cunning fox, silently observing everything while keeping it all In My Heart. From now on, I needed to remain humble and cautious, learning more from him.
"And there's one more thing; I wonder if you've noticed," my idol shattered my confidence with another detail. "You cut one of the victim's nails, didn't you? There’s a strand of black fine hair inside; did you see it?"
What? I had even cut off the victim's nails but only saw white powder—where was the black fine hair?
Seeing my astonished expression, he chuckled softly.
"It's in your evidence bag; I watched you sweep it in."
I scrambled up and immediately pulled out my evidence bag.
Under the light, I examined it carefully and finally spotted a few almost invisible black strands amidst the white powder.
I was sweating profusely; what kind of eyesight was that? It seemed I still had a long way to go.
I felt no resentment at all; instead, I silently offered my knee to my husband in admiration and secretly resolved that sooner or later, I would be able to achieve this too. As a woman, I should be more perceptive and meticulous than this.
"Is this type of knot only used on the Official Robe?" I pondered for a moment, then gently touched the decorative ribbon of his Official Robe as I asked. To determine something, one must eliminate other reasonable doubts.
"This type of knot is not used in the common folk, but on the Official Robe, from the first rank to the ninth rank, the decorative ribbons all use the same knot and are all the same black color as the belt."
I glanced at the black ribbon in my hand and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. The range of suspects was still quite large; with Suzhou being so vast, there were countless officials across various ranks.
"Then why do you suspect He Sir?"
"Because when those few appeared, I noticed that the decorative ribbon on He Xue Ting's waist had been slightly torn."
"Really? How did I not notice that?" In my eyes, He Sir was graceful and well-dressed, showing no signs of disarray whatsoever.
Qiu smiled, "If it were that easy to notice, he wouldn't have needed that ribbon anymore. It's precisely because it's so subtle that perhaps he himself didn't even realize it, but that frayed damage looks very much like a mark left by fingernails."
"But wasn't there any struggle or resistance?" I was astonished.
"Must there be a fight?" Qiu pointed to my waist and playfully tugged at my nightgown's tie. With a sudden pull, my nightgown immediately fell open, sliding down my shoulders.
I gasped in surprise and instinctively covered myself with my hands, but he quickly caught me and covered my mouth.
"Late at night, making such a loud noise—aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
My face flushed as I understood the reason for the black threads left under his fingernails; it wasn't from a struggle but rather from such close combat... This girl was indeed proactive.
"So because the strangulation marks on the neck resemble those made by an Official Robe's decorative ribbon, and He Sir's ribbon just happens to have signs of being damaged, you suspect him?" I asked while twisting and trying to dodge, as my husband was attempting to take advantage of me.
"Well, it's also a kind of intuition. Actually, there's one more thing..." Nie Qiuyuan tangled with me for a while before finally using a grappling technique to subdue me, bringing our little scuffle to an end.
"What else is there? Hurry up and finish your thought!" The victor takes all; as the one captured, I could only let him have his way with me for now, but I couldn't forget to ask about the case.
"Zhenzhen, think about our first question. Among these victims, there's one young lady from a well-off family. The man she had her eye on isn't someone just any official can easily replace. Therefore, a man who could easily lure her out must be at least of fifth rank or higher. And all officials above fifth rank in Suzhou Prefecture are right here in front of us."
I was taken aback; upon reflection, it really was true. Thus, a new question arose.
"Then why didn't you keep He Xue Ting back then and let him go home? What if he destroys the evidence?"
Nie Qiuyuan sighed lightly.
"Silly girl, your brain isn't working again. You and I went through the Old Case File and knew that the first ten Six Cases happened after he left. How was I supposed to know that at the time?"
Right, I was being foolish. At that moment, he had only acted on a strange intuition due to the bracelet. But detectives' intuitions are often very accurate.
With him saying that, I actually began to think that Lord He Xue Ting was quite suspicious. Clearly, He Shuaige's image was far from that of a ruthless murderer. It seemed that logical reasoning could easily influence people.
"So what do we do now?" He Sir is a suspect, but we have no evidence. Where should we start to clarify this case?
"What do we do now? Is there any need to ask?" The male god picked me up and placed me back on the bed. "You've made enough noise; can you sleep quietly now?"
Autumn turned off the light, and outside it was indeed pitch black. The night was silent, with only the faint sound of insects chirping.
"Don't think about anything, and you won't have nightmares. Things for tomorrow can wait until tomorrow."
Fortunately, the case made me look forward to tomorrow more than fear for the future. No matter what happens, we will face it together. Forget it; I won't think anymore. Time to sleep!
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