TGCFNM -Chapter 49 Someone Made a Move

Su He was gasping violently, and Wan Sanjin quickly steadied him.

Chu Ling asked curiously, “How did you convince them to let you open the coffin for an examination?”

Su He caught his breath, and once his breathing steadied, he said, “When A-Zhong saw Miss Hong in such a tragic state, he covered her with a quilt to spare the blacksmith Zhong from distress, then went to find him. Later, Zhong got the matron of the burial clothes shop to help change her outfit, and all the shoes and clothes were burned together.”

“Was there any problem?” Chu Ling asked.

Su He finally calmed down. “There’s a big problem. The matron said Miss Hong’s clothes and the soles of her shoes had wet soil, and it took a long time to burn them.”

Chu Ling immediately said, “So that means there’s enough evidence to prove Miss Hong didn’t die at home, but outside?”

“Yes. I asked County Magistrate Zhao. It had rained heavily the day before Miss Hong died. Although it was sunny the next day, the riverbank was still somewhat damp,” Su He explained.

Wan Sanjin quickly added, “If it’s confirmed that Miss Hong was murdered, then the other women might have been killed as well.”

Su He nodded, his gaze serious. “Exactly. That’s why they agreed to let me examine the coffin.”

Wan Sanjin remembered the case files Chu Ling had just sorted out. “Sir, you just reorganized the ten cases; everything is quite clear now. Even if you examine the corpse, it’s only bones. How much can you really find out?”

Su He’s eyes were firm. “No, even if it’s just the bones, I can still determine something.”

Chu Ling nodded. “So you came back to me because… you need my help?”

Su He shook his head. “No. It’s the matron of the burial clothes shop who wants to meet you personally.”

Chu Ling instantly realized. “The burial clothes for all deceased women… were changed by this matron?”

“Yes.”

Chu Ling said immediately, “I understand. I’ll go to the burial clothes shop right away. Master Wan, you’ve already worked hard visiting all the households today, focusing on questioning the maids.”

“Yes, Sir,” Wan Sanjin replied.

So Zhang Dong drove the carriage to take Wan Sanjin to the deceased families, while Chu Ling followed Su He toward the burial clothes shop.

Shops that sold coffins and burial clothes were usually in remote parts of the county, so it took some time to walk there. But since the matron wanted to see her personally, perhaps she knew something.

Zhong Hong floated alongside, introducing the matron to Chu Ling. “The matron of the burial clothes shop is surnamed Qin. Ever since her husband passed away, Grandma Qin seldom goes out, and her business isn’t as good as the other shop. But since the deceased were all women, she always helped out. There were even some idle rumors that she hired people to cause trouble.”

Chu Ling almost rolled her eyes.

Zhong Hong stifled a laugh. “Grandma Qin is old, with no children. How could she hire anyone? So no one believed the rumors. But people suspected the other shop spread them.”

Chu Ling shook her head. The other shop wouldn’t be that foolish.

“Sir!” Su He suddenly shouted.

Chu Ling looked up and saw a man rushing toward her, panicked. As he neared, his legs buckled, and he fell to his knees.

Su He reached out to help, but the man grabbed his hand, panting and sweating. “Qin… Grandma Qin… she’s dead… dead.”

“Dead!” Chu Ling’s eyes widened, and she grabbed the man’s arm. “Who are you? How did you find out the cause of Grandma Qin’s death?”

Zhong Hong was surprised. “He’s the owner of the burial clothes shop across the street.”

The man was frantic. “I… I just… went to knock on the door… knocked… and… she’s dead… dead…”

Seeing that he couldn’t give more information, Chu Ling let go and stood upright, looking at Su He. “Coroner Su, go report this to the county office. I’ll go check it out first.”

“Yes, Sir,” Su He replied.

“Grandma Qin… how could this happen?” Zhong Hong’s face was full of panic, her voice choking with emotion. “Was… was it because of me?”

“It was the work of the murderer,” Chu Ling said coldly, looking at Zhong Hong. “Show me the way.”

Zhong Hong immediately floated ahead of Chu Ling, who jogged after her. In no time, they arrived at Grandma Qin’s burial clothes shop.

By now, the shop’s main door was wide open, and many townspeople had gathered outside, though none dared to enter.

Chu Ling pushed through the crowd, turning his back to them. “I am Prefect Chu, here to investigate a case. Does anyone know what exactly happened?”

“M-Master!” someone shouted. “It was across the street, across the street!”

“Yes, I heard it—the loud banging on the door.”

“Yes, it must have something to do with him.”

“No, it wasn’t me!” The shop owner, Mr. Zhou, had somehow followed along. His legs were weak, but he hurriedly denied it. “I just smelled blood and knocked a little loudly, that’s all! It wasn’t me!”

“Did anyone unfamiliar appear at this street corner today?” Chu Ling asked.

Mr. Zhou thought carefully for a moment and quickly shook his head.

“Then did anyone enter this shop?” Chu Ling asked again.

Mr. Zhou shook his head once more. They were right across the street, and he could see into Grandma Qin’s shop with one glance—yet no one had entered.

“When did you smell the blood?” Chu Ling asked.

“Just… just now,” Mr. Zhou said, his face pale. He still remembered peeking through the door crack and seeing the scene inside. “She… Grandma Qin was lying on the floor. Blood… there was blood everywhere.”

Chu Ling continued, “Has Grandma Qin had any recent health issues? Dry mouth, unusual thirst, anything like that?”

Mr. Zhou shook his head. “I… I don’t know.”

Chu Ling instructed everyone to step back, warning them not to approach the crime scene to avoid accidentally covering any traces left by the perpetrator.

Chu Ling crouched down to carefully inspect the ground, and Bai Su followed suit.

“From the road, there are no obvious traces,” Bai Su said, taking a few steps forward. “The small grass here shows footprints. Judging by how subtle they are, it must be someone skilled in light-footed movement.”

Chu Ling walked over to examine it more closely. “There’s blood here, on the grass leaves.”

“Mr. Zhou!” Chu Ling suddenly stood, his gaze sharp. “You said no one entered Grandma Qin’s shop all day?”

“I-I…”

“You’re lying!” Chu Ling pointed firmly at a spot. “There’s blood here—it must have been left by the culprit.”

Mr. Zhou panicked. “R-Really, no one came in. We had the doors closed, getting ready to rest. My wife said there was a smell, so we opened the door for ventilation.”

“You didn’t notice anything at all?” Chu Ling asked skeptically.

“One crow… yes, my wife said a crow flew by and called twice,” Mr. Zhou hurriedly explained.

“Ah, a shadow, right?” Chu Ling asked.

“A shadow? Yes… it flew past quickly, then there was the bird’s call. My wife thought it was a crow,” Mr. Zhou said.

Chu Ling’s face went iron-dark. In broad daylight on this street, someone had dared to strike directly—it was sheer lawlessness.

“Grandma Qin!” Zhong Hong suddenly cried out.

Chu Ling immediately turned his head toward the house.