Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 205 An Hour That Disappeared

Kang Xu squatted down, looked at the half rope net, then at the hemp rope, closed his eyes and meditated.

Chang Feng and Xiao Wu looked at him quietly. Before he came back, they had discussed rope net and hemp rope, but they couldn't figure out why after much deliberation.

The two were not even sure whether these things were related to the murder.

"Corpse, hemp rope, and fishing net, what is the relationship between these three?" Kang Xu closed his eyes, and the shapes of the three kept appearing in his mind.

Suddenly, his eyes opened suddenly, and he said, "I know what's going on."

The two rushed over and asked, "What's going on?"

Kang Xu stood up, sat on the chair, and said in a deep voice, "Do you still remember that Tao Zhaoxue's body was bound?"

The two nodded at the same time, how could they forget Tao Zhaoxue's tragic death?

"There are obvious signs of binding on Tao Zhaoxue's clothes, but no rope was found. In fact, the rope has been cut off a long time ago." Kang Xu said, pointing to the hemp rope.

The two were full of doubts, a little unclear.

Kang Xu went on to say: "I guess the murderer must have wanted to destroy the body after killing someone, so he tied up Tao Zhaoxue's body and threw it into the river. Unexpectedly, the body was picked up by fishermen Come out. When they saw the body, they cut the rope with sharp knives and threw the body into the river again."

After pondering for a long time, Chang Feng finally understood what he meant, and suddenly said: "No wonder the fishing net broke, it turned out that the corpse was caught and torn apart! But this doesn't make sense, since they fished it Why did you throw the corpse into the river again? Instead of coming to report the crime?"

Kang Xu rubbed the center of his brows, and murmured, "Maybe they are afraid of getting into trouble. Anyway, we have to go to Hetou Village tomorrow."

There was a sound of shifting from outside the county government office, and it sounded like it was the next day without knowing it. Kang Xu stood up and said: "Everyone has been running around all day today, and you are a little tired. Why don't you just go away and rest earlier? Bar."

Chang Feng yawned, and was indeed exhausted, so he said goodbye.

Xiao Wu looked at Kang Xu thoughtfully, bowed his hands and saluted him, then left the main hall full of doubts.

"This little five, did he find something wrong?" After the two left, Kang Xu narrowed his eyes and started talking to himself.

At this moment, Xiaohu trotted all the way to the front of the hall, he is Zhang Xuanming's apprentice, he followed Zhang Xuanming to the county government earlier.

"My lord, Mr. Zhang is awake." Xiaohu said out of breath.

When Kang Xu heard this, he was overjoyed immediately, and hurriedly followed Xiaohu to the wing where Zhang Hebi was housed.

In the west wing, Zhang Hebi was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the roof, standing there in a daze.

"Zhang Hebi, I want to tell you that Tao Zhaoxue died tragically, and she didn't want to die. I saved your life not to make you feel grateful to me, but to ask you the truth. You can continue to die, my officer I will never obstruct you again. However, the truth of Tao Zhaoxue's murder will never become clear with your death. Now, I will give you the right to choose, whether to commit suicide in a cowardly and incompetent way, or to rebuild your fighting spirit. Join forces with me to catch the murderer and give Tao Zhaoxue justice!?"

Kang Xu stepped in and saw the haggard Zhang Hebi, knowing that he must be stimulated with words for a desperate person like him, so he stopped talking nonsense and said straight to the point.

These words really had an effect, Zhang Hebi's sluggish eyes finally showed a rare look.

He stared blankly at Kang Xu for a long time, then suddenly slid off the edge of the bed, knelt on the ground with a thud, and cried tearfully: "My lord, I want to avenge Zhaoxue! Avenge!"

The word 'revenge' was almost uttered by him at the top of his lungs.

Kang Xu walked over, helped him up, nodded and said: "Okay, since that's the case, I have a few questions I want to ask you, I hope you will not hide anything."

Zhang Hebi's eyes were red, tears were streaming down his face, he nodded heavily and said: "Your Excellency, even if you ask, I will tell you the truth, and I dare not hide anything."

"According to my investigation, Tao Zhaoxue plans to elope with you, is there such a thing?" Kang Xu asked.

Zhang Hebi wiped away his tears, and said with red eyes: "It is true, Zhaoxue and I are deeply in love, but my Zhang family has fallen in the way, and was rejected by Uncle Tao. In desperation, Zhaoxue decided to elope with me."

Kang Xu nodded, and then asked: "Then where is the place you agreed on? What time is it?"

"The location is the bamboo forest in the southwest of the city, and the time is Choushi." Zhang Hebi murmured back.

"Choushi?" Kang Xu frowned suddenly, he stared at Zhang Hebi, and asked sharply: "Are you sure you remember correctly, the time is really in Ugly?"

Zhang Hebi was stunned for a moment, he didn't know why Kang Xu suddenly became so dignified.

Nodding blankly, Zhang Hebi said with certainty: "I will never remember wrongly, the time is indeed ugly."

He sighed, with a sad look on his face, and continued: "Unfortunately, after I went there, I didn't see Zhaoxue's figure."

Kang Xu frowned, and said with a slightly cold face: "Zhang Hebi, you are so bold, how dare you lie to me? Have you really been to the bamboo forest?"

Zhang Hebi said blankly: "My lord, what I said is the truth, where did this deception start?"

Kang Xu stared at him intently, and said coldly: "I found two rows of footprints in the bamboo forest, one of which belonged to Tao Zhaoxue, and the other probably belonged to the murderer. You said you have been to the bamboo forest, that is, Say, those footprints are yours? Tell me honestly, why did you kidnap Tao Zhaoxue, and how did you brutally kill him?"

Zhang Hebi was in a daze, and it took him a long time before he came to his senses. He knelt on the ground and cried, "I really didn't lie to you, I did go to the bamboo forest, but it was only outside the bamboo forest. Waiting by the side of the path, but did not reach the area of ​​the bamboo forest. Besides, how could I kidnap Zhaoxue? Zhaoxue wanted to elope with me, so why did I make such a fuss, please be clear to me!"

"Whether it is true or not, I have my own conclusion." Kang Xu glanced at his shoes on the ground, then took out the footprints copied in the bamboo forest, and compared them.

Zhang Hebi's shoes are full of mud. It looks like they have been worn for many days and have never been washed, so these shoes can be used as evidence.

Kang Xu did a comparison and found that the footprints in the bamboo forest were a lot bigger than Zhang Hebi's shoes, so he became concerned.

"I believe you are not near the bamboo forest." Kang Xu paused, looked at Zhang Hebi, and said, "However, according to my investigation, the time Tao Zhaoxue agreed with you was not Choushi, but Zishi. What is going on? What's going on?"

"What?" Zhang Hebi screamed suddenly, his face was pale, and he said with doubts on his face: "Impossible, it's definitely Zishi! This is a letter from Zhaoxue to me, and what is written on it is clearly Choushi!"

Zhang Hebi took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Kang Xu. Kang Xu opened the envelope and took out a piece of paper from inside. On it was written the words 'Choushi, Bamboo Forest Outside the City' and so on.

Kang Xu's brows furrowed immediately. He looked at the letter paper and asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure that this letter was indeed written by Tao Zhaoxue?"

Zhang Hebi was stunned for a moment, he hurriedly grabbed the letter paper, put it in front of his eyes and read it carefully.

"This...is indeed Zhaoxue's handwriting, and I will never admit it." Zhang Hebi said with certainty.

Kang Xu rubbed the center of his brows, this is really strange, according to what the maid Dongmei said, the time Tao Zhaoxue agreed with him was Zishi.But why, the letter to Zhang Hebi is ugly?

From Zhang Hebi's description and the clues we have so far, it can be determined that Tao Zhaoxue was killed before Choushi, which means that Tao Zhaoxue did indeed go to the bamboo forest during Zishi.

As a result, more doubts arose.

Dongmei didn't lie, and Zhang Hebi didn't lie, so why was there an hour difference?
This elopement is not a child's play, since Tao Zhaoxue escaped privately, the Tao family would find out at any time and search for her.

Tao Zhaoxue was able to face the murderer and calmly leave the silk scarf as a clue, which shows that she is by no means an ordinary woman. She should have made various plans for such things as elopement. How could she allow an extra hour for the Tao family? Chance to find her?

However, since Tao Zhaoxue agreed on Zishi, what happened to the letter from Choushi in Zhang Hebi's hand?

At first, Kang Xu suspected that someone had exchanged the letter, but after Zhang Hebi identified it as Tao Zhaoxue's handwriting, this inference became untenable.

Kang Xu couldn't figure it out, Zhang Hebi was also at a loss.

The two were silent for a long time, Kang Xu rubbed the center of his brows, decided to put aside the doubt for the time being, and then asked, "How did the news pass between you?"

"After I was expelled from the Tao Mansion, I secretly communicated with Zhaoxue through Dongmei's hands. Every time I wrote a letter, I would put the letter under the shrine of the statue of the earth temple, and then pass through Dongmei. Take it out and give it to Zhaoxue." Zhang Hebi replied.

Kang Xu pondered for a long time, and asked, "You guys secretly informed about the letter, but is there anyone else who knows?"

"No, apart from the three of us, no one else should know about it, otherwise Uncle Yitao's temper will definitely beat me to death and drive me out of Zhengyang City." Zhang Hebi looked up to the sky and sighed.

Kang Xu felt more and more strange, since that was the case, how could anyone know their agreed time and go to the bamboo forest to kidnap Tao Zhaoxue?
Could it be that the murderer just happened to pass by the bamboo grove and was attracted to it?

More and more mysteries made Kang Xu feel a little headache. After running around for a day, they still knew nothing about the murderer.

Kang Xu didn't give up, he continued to ask: "Did you inadvertently disclose to other people about your elopement?"

Zhang Hebi thought about it for a while, scratched his head and said, "How can I disclose this to others? After all, this matter is related to Zhaoxue's reputation."

(End of this chapter)