Investigating the Crime Scene
After a while, Yanniang came to her senses.
"Why does Lord Ji ask about this? We've renovated this place. "
"But the layout hasn't changed, right?"
"Well … it hasn't."
Ji Yunshu simply said, "Take me there."
"Now?" Yanniang was shocked and tongue-tied.
But Ji Yunshu had already stood up. "The case is more important. Please lead the way."
Although Yanniang was extremely unwilling, she had to lead the way since she had the yamen's token in her hand.
She had no choice but to lead the way while trembling.
The room was located at the end of the corridor on the third floor.
There were two locks on the door.
A rusty old lock!
And a new lock that had just been locked!
"This is it." Yanniang said.
"Open it."
"Lord Ji, there's nothing inside. It's just a warehouse for storing things."
"Open it."
Yanniang sighed. She had no choice but to find the key and open the door.
The moment the door opened, a gust of cold air and the smell of rotten wood wafted out.
It made people wrinkle their noses.
Except for the ray of light that was refracted from the door and illuminated the floor inside the room, the room was pitch black.
It was supposed to be broad daylight, but it was so dark inside that not a trace of light could enter. The windows were nailed tightly with wooden boards, leaving no gaps.
Even a mosquito couldn't fly in.
At this time …
Shi Zijin took out a match from her waist and accurately found a candlestick somewhere in the room. She quickly lit it.
The room slowly lit up.
Sure enough, this place had turned into a warehouse. Things were piled up everywhere in a messy manner.
Ji Yunshu glanced at Yanniang and asked, "Is Ye 'er's old things still here?"
"Yes, some of the things piled up in this room belong to her. Bed, table, chair, clothes rack, and screen. Anyway, they're all here, so I didn't dare to throw them away. You know, she died so tragically. If the things she used when she was alive were lost or burned, this … if something strange happened, then I'd have to close this room and turn it into a warehouse. Fortunately, she's a singer, not a hostess like us, so the room I arranged is also quite remote. It's at the end of this room, so it won't affect her business. But for the sake of peace of mind, I still nailed the windows and locked the door."
Ji Yunshu took the candlestick from Shi Zijin's hands as she listened. She took a few steps forward and placed the candle in front of the pile of junk. She slowly moved it towards the mahogany bed.
The bed was covered with all sorts of things, including broken copper and iron.
The light moved to the side and moved to a screen with exquisite engravings.
She didn't know whether it was because it was moved too much or because it was crushed by those things, but a corner of the screen was worn out, revealing the red lacquered wood fragments. There were also a few scratch marks beside it.
Because she couldn't see it clearly, she moved the candle closer and reached out to touch the broken corner of the screen. Only then did she realize that it was a triangular corner that had been inlaid on the screen and could be removed directly.
She removed it and turned it around in her hand a few times. Only then did she see the scratch mark clearly. It didn't look like it was left by fingers, but by sharp claws.
She asked, "Did you keep cats here before?"
Yanniang nodded, "Yes, a few. The girls all liked them."
"At that time, who raised the cat that died in Miss Ye 'er's room?"
"Shuilian raised it. When the cat died, she cried for a while. Tell me, it's one thing for Ye 'er to commit suicide, but why did she have to strangle the cat?"
Ji Yunshu sighed.
She didn't tell Yanniang that Ye 'er didn't commit suicide. She handed the top corner to Shi Zijin and walked to the windows that were nailed tightly. She knocked on the board a few times and shook it a few times.
"Get someone to take the board apart."
"Take it apart?" Yanniang hurriedly said, "Lord Ji, I'm doing business here. Something happened in the house, so I deliberately nailed the windows shut. It's really difficult for you to open it!"
"Just open it and let me have a look. After I've seen it, you can have someone nail it back."
"That's fine."
Yanniang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly called a few people over to take the windows apart.
Because it was nailed tightly, it took a lot of effort to take it apart.
The room was finally able to see light.
Ji Yunshu stood in front of the window and poked her head out to look. Behind her was an alley. Because this room was located on the third floor of Zhichun Building, it was very high. Looking down from the top, the wall behind it didn't have any support. Only those who knew martial arts or Qinggong could climb down from here.
But … what about that cat?
Her mind was full of fog. After going around in circles, it was still about that cat.
If the murderer wasn't Qiao Zihua, then the murderer must have hidden in the room in advance. When he left, he must have jumped out of the window. That was why Qiao Zihua said that the originally closed window was open when he woke up.
Where did that cat come from?
Unless, after the person who knocked Qiao Zihua out jumped out of the window, someone else came in and the cat also slipped in.
Thinking of this, she was a little puzzled.
She turned to ask Yanniang, "Can I see Miss Shui Lian?"
"Sure."
She agreed readily and immediately found someone to call Shui Lian over.
Shui Lian stood at the door, twisting her graceful body and holding a black cat in her arms. She refused to come in.
She snorted a few times at the room.
"My cat died in there. I don't want to go in."
Fine, if you don't want to come in, then I'll come out, okay?
Ji Yunshu walked to her and asked, "Do you remember why your cat was in this room on the day Ye 'er died three years ago?"
"How would I know? Business was very good that day. I received several customers and locked the cat in the backyard. How would I know it would appear in Ye 'er's room? A perfectly good cat died just like that. I raised it for a long time. "When Shui Lian thought of the death of her beloved cat, she gnashed her teeth in hatred.
Ji Yunshu thought about it and didn't ask again.
"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. There are still customers waiting." Shui Lian turned and left with the cat in her arms.
Suddenly, the cat jumped out of her arms.
Its small body scurried everywhere under the feet of the hurrying crowd.
Someone suddenly stretched out a hand, grabbed the cat, and held it in his hand.
"Meow ~"
Little Meow cried out in pain, its four paws shaking everywhere.
Seeing this, Shui Lian hurried forward and snatched her beloved cat from the man's hand. Then, she scolded the man.
"Damned cripple, if you dare hurt my cat, I'll kill you."
The man called Damned Cripple was a manservant of the Zhichun Building. He was in his thirties, and his feet were of different heights. He wore a turtle slave hat, but most of his hair was exposed on the left side, covering half of his face. His exposed eyes were especially eerie, like the eyes of a cat. If one stared at them for a long time, it would make one shudder.
The man bowed, his face gloomy, and left without saying a word.
Ji Yunshu happened to see this scene. She stared at the back of the cripple's figure for a moment, then lowered her gaze and saw several glowing objects protruding from the sleeve of the cripple's right hand. They looked like tiny silver needles.
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