spring cloud warm

Chapter 32 The shopkeeper's death

When Mama Ye came back, Xu Chunjun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I was discussing with Ziling and Lushi about the clothes to wear when I went out tomorrow, when someone from outside came to report: "Ms. Xu, Mr. Chen is here and said he has something to ask for advice."

Xu Chunjun had to go to see him. Chen Sijing seemed to be thinner and darker than when he came last time.

"Master Chen is because of Liu'er? Has the matter made any progress?" Xu Chunjun asked.

"I'm ashamed, the investigation has not made much progress in the past few days, and the shopkeeper of the teahouse hanged himself in his residence yesterday." Chen Sijing was really devastated, he hadn't slept well for several days.

Xu Chunjun was also shocked when he heard this.

It turned out that the yamen took all the people in the teahouse for questioning. After two days of being locked up, they didn't find anything useful, so they had to let them go first.

According to Chen Sijing, there was nothing suspicious about the shopkeeper, and no one saw him go upstairs.

Under normal circumstances, he does not go upstairs, and only receives guests and settles accounts downstairs.

His wife and children are all in the country, and he lives in a rented house in Yuanpan Lane.

The teahouse was not unsealed, so the shopkeeper stayed in his residence.

Because the yamen told these people that they were not allowed to leave the capital, and they would come as they were told.

Yesterday Chen Sijing wanted to ask the shopkeeper some more things, but when he got there, he called for a long time and no one opened the door, so he climbed over the wall with his subordinates and found that the shopkeeper had been hanged for a long time.

"Why did the shopkeeper hang himself?" Xu Chunjun asked, "Could it be that he is really the murderer? But he has already been released, so why commit suicide?"

Although he didn't know who the murderer of Liu'er was, Xu Chunjun felt that this person must be an extremely calm and vicious person.

Although the shopkeeper is suspected, there is no evidence at all, and he has been released, which means that nothing will happen for the time being, why does he have to die?

"We checked and found that the shopkeeper was indeed hanged. There was no sign of a fight in the room, and there was no other wound on his body except a strangle mark on his neck."

"So he really committed suicide." Xu Chunjun didn't expect Liu'er to be killed before there was any clue, and he died again.

"My colleagues in the yamen think that the shopkeeper committed suicide in fear of crime, but I don't think so." Chen Sijing didn't know why, facing Xu Chunjun, he couldn't help but tell her what he was thinking.

"Your Excellency thinks there must be a reason." Xu Chunjun felt that Chen Sijing was different from most other sons in the capital, he did not have the habit of a playboy, he was serious in his work, and he was not discriminatory towards others, which is very rare.

"Although the shopkeeper looks like he committed suicide, there is a strong smell of alcohol in the room, including him. There are only a pair of bowls and chopsticks and a cup on the table, and the entire jug of wine has been drunk. I asked specifically, The shopkeeper doesn't drink much, and he usually gets drunk in twos and twos, even if he wants to drink away his worries, he can't exceed ten times."

"Even if he really drank a jug of wine, he must be so drunk that he can't even stand up, so how can he hang himself by stepping on a stool without knocking over everything?" Xu Chunjun understood why Chen Sijing's suspicion arose. up.

"Miss Xu, you are really smart." Chen Sijing really felt that Xu Chunjun was much smarter than those people in the yamen.

"But I don't know much about the shopkeeper, and I can't provide anything useful." Xu Chunjun felt helpless.

"I came this time to ask Ms. Xu to draw the pattern of the veil. I will take it and ask. Maybe I can get some clues." Chen Sijing was unwilling to give up any clues.

"Since my lord left last time, I tried to embroider the veil. Of course it can't be exactly the same, but the general appearance is not too different." Xu Chunjun asked Lvzhen to bring the veil to Chen Sijing.

"Thank you, thank you!" Chen Sijing stood up and took it with both hands.

"Master Chen, isn't the handkerchief still on Liu'er?" Xu Chunjun asked.

Chen Sijing shook his head.

Xu Chunjun sighed: "Let's assume that she was killed in the teahouse. If the veil is still on her, someone can rule out the suspicion."

"How do you say that?" Chen Sijing asked.

"Liu'er is going to return the handkerchief. She must have asked from door to door. If it wasn't the owner of the handkerchief, she would never keep the handkerchief after killing someone. That would cause trouble for herself. If it was the handkerchief The owner, she will definitely take the veil away, so as not to leave any clues. But Liu Er was thrown into the river, and the veil was not on her body. It may be taken back by the murderer, or the veil may have drifted away with the water. Now, it is impossible to judge. Besides, whether the murderer is the owner of the veil or not, it does not prevent her from killing Liu'er to silence her. Because we don't know what Liu'er smashed."

Chen Sijing listened, lowered his head to think, and suddenly raised his head, with a bit of joy on his face: "Thank you, Miss Xu, for reminding me, when I inquire, I can ask them who lost the veil. If the real culprit is the person who lost the veil, She probably won't agree."

"Your Excellency, what you mean is that if everyone says they haven't thrown their veils, then the real culprit is the one who threw them." Xu Chunjun understood what Chen Sijing meant.

"The stairs of the teahouse are on the east side, so Liu'er must have started asking from the east side," Chen Sijing continued to analyze, "I also asked the past one by one, and I can always find out something."

"If the people in the latter room say that Liu'er has been to their private room, then the people in the previous room can basically rule out the suspicion." Xu Chunjun said, "Because it is impossible for Liu'er to be killed in the corridor, otherwise it will be inevitable. There will be commotion."

"That's right, the sound insulation in the private rooms of Xiangai Tea House has always been very good, which is one of the reasons for its good business," Chen Sijing said, "If Liu'er is covered in the private room, it will be difficult for the people in the next room. aware."

"It's possible that no one heard the sound, but did it really leave no trace?" Xu Chunjun didn't quite believe it, "Even if Liu'er couldn't make a sound, she was strangled to death. Overturn the tea set."

"I also thought about this, and asked the maids in the teahouse, but no one broke the teacup and teapot that day." Chen Sijing smiled wryly.

"The private rooms in the tea house are all furnished with soft seats, and the tea tables are short, so they are indeed not easy to break," Xu Chunjun said, "But knocking over is inevitable."

When Chen Sijing heard this, his eyes lit up immediately: "I'll ask again if anyone's clothes got wet that day."

"Ladies and gentlemen often prepare an extra set of clothes for replacement when they go out," Xu Chunjun reminded.

"Thank you for reminding me, miss." Chen Sijing felt a little clear in his heart.

His superior wants to close the case as soon as possible, and conclude that the case was committed by the shopkeeper of the teahouse, and the shopkeeper has committed suicide in fear of crime. At most, he will be awarded some money for burning and burying the Jiang family. Anyway, it’s just a maid who died, so it’s not good. Because she repeatedly harassed those ladies and wives.

Only Chen Sijing advocated the investigation to the end and must bring the real culprit to justice.

(End of this chapter)