After the government officials sent Xinghua's parents away, they did not leave directly. Instead, they visited around the village and asked about things related to Xinghua.
Including what kind of person she is, whether she has any enemies, and whether she had any disputes with anyone before the accident.
The government officials wrote down all the information they learned, and then followed the instructions to the place where Blacksmith Hu and Xinghua met three days ago.
The privacy of the woods is good. If someone is standing inside, it is not easy for people outside to see.
Similarly, if someone is hiding behind a tree, it will not be easy for Hu Tiejiang and Xinghua to detect him.
The leading officer felt something beneath his feet. When he looked down, he found that it was an old sickle.
He knelt down and observed carefully.
It hadn't rained in the past three days, and there seemed to be blood stains on the sickle.
The yamen servant carefully picked up the sickle, wrapped it and took it back to the yamen.
In the evening, after hearing the investigation results of the government officials, Magistrate Song sat in his study and wrote the names of the suspicious persons on paper one by one.
Some of these people were jealous of Xinghua's beauty, and some had quarrels with Xinghua's mother, but these did not seem to be enough to make them kill.
And he was able to kill Xinghua and throw her into the river, so the prisoner must have considerable strength.
Looking at the bloody sickle, Magistrate Song asked Wu Zuo to be called in again, and confirmed that the weapon that caused the fatal wound on Xinghua's neck was probably the sickle.
The blood stains on it were also confirmed to be human blood.
With the evidence in hand, Magistrate Song relaxed his brows a little, but he still couldn't determine who was the murderer.
But now it seems that the person with the greatest suspicion is Tiejiang Hu.
As the sky darkened, Mrs. Song came over with a food box to deliver food to him.
"Master, have some food and rest early. We will deal with official business tomorrow."
Magistrate Song glanced at the food box and sighed with a heavy heart: "There are high-ranking officials coming from the capital, and there is another murder case. Where can I rest?"
Mrs. Song didn't know how to solve crimes, but she had been with Magistrate Song for many years and was more concerned about his health, so she advised him: "Eat first. Only when you are full can you have the strength to think about things."
Magistrate Song was persuaded by her, walked to the table, picked up his chopsticks and picked up the vegetables to eat.
Mrs. Song rubbed his sore shoulders, waited for him to finish eating, and advised him to take care of himself before leaving.
After eating, Magistrate Song continued to stare at the names on the paper in a daze, clicking circles from time to time until the horizon turned white.
Leng Moran and his party arrived at the county government office early in the morning.
Magistrate Song, who had been up all night, heard about it and hurriedly came over to entertain him.
Leng Moran sat on the Grand Master's chair, slowly stroking the cup with his fingers, and said: "Sir Song is going to be heard in court today."
Magistrate Song frowned tightly and mustered up the courage to ask: "It was interrogated yesterday, but today..."
"If you want to interrogate, you must not only interrogate, but also allow the people to watch and build up the momentum."
Magistrate Song nodded bravely. Fortunately, he spent the whole night analyzing it last night, so he would not be completely clueless during today's meeting.
Leng Moran glanced at Magistrate Song's dark eyes and guessed that he had not had a good rest last night, so he said: "Master Song, you still need to have a good rest, so that you can better solve the case. Why don't you go to sleep first to recharge your batteries?"
Rui, we won’t open the church until after noon. We should take advantage of this time to spread the news.”
"Yes, I understand."
Magistrate Song did not really go to bed, but carefully considered the case and handled some other official duties.
After noon, the county government opened a meeting to hear the murder case, which attracted many people to watch.
People were crowded outside the courtroom, and some children even rode on the necks of adults just to see what the trial was like.
Their place has always been peaceful, and few cases usually occur. There are not many opportunities to open a trial and allow people to watch.
Leng Moran still sat aside and watched Magistrate Song go to court for trial.
The magistrate of Song County summoned Blacksmith Hu and asked him to take out the sickle and asked him if he had seen the sickle before.
After a night, Tiejiang Hu looked visibly haggard. When he saw the sickle, his eyes flashed, but he still shook his head.
Magistrate Song sent several people who were familiar with Blacksmith Hu to show them the difference in the sickle.
Someone with sharp eyes immediately said: "This is the craftsmanship of Blacksmith Hu, the sickle he made looks like this!"
Magistrate Song asked Blacksmith Hu again: "What do you say?"
Blacksmith Hu sighed: "The sickle was made by the common people. The common people were stunned when they saw it just now. However, this sickle has been used for several years and is obviously worn out, so the common people said that they have never seen it before."
Blacksmith Hu runs a blacksmith shop. His family has never farmed or used a sickle.
The people watching started talking in low voices.
Everyone felt that since the sickle was made by Blacksmith Hu, he was probably the real culprit.
However, every household uses a sickle, and many people use one made by blacksmith Hu. I don’t know how to say this.
Leng Moran glanced at everyone and suddenly noticed that one person looked wrong.
The man noticed that Leng Moran was looking at him and turned his gaze towards him, but he didn't know that the moment their eyes met, Leng Moran had already figured out what was in that man's mind.
He curled his lips and said: "Since the case has been decided, let's withdraw from the court."
Magistrate Song obviously did not expect Leng Moran to speak suddenly, but since he was given the order, he did not refute in public and retreated according to Leng Moran's wishes.
However, they did not announce how to deal with Tiejiang Hu, nor did they decide whether Tiejiang Hu was the real culprit.
But in the eyes of outsiders, this kind of behavior has already confirmed that Hu Tiejiang is the murderer.
In the county prison cell, Leng Moran met Hu Tiejiang.
"Do you still have an impression of this sickle?"
Tiejiang Hu thought about it seriously and shook his head.
Seeing that he was not lying, Leng Moran asked again: "Has Xinghua ever been involved with other men?"
Before he finished asking, Hu Tiejiang, who was frowning, immediately raised his head and shook his head vigorously, "My lord, please don't misunderstand me. Xinghua is not such a person. She is a good girl. She would not do such a thing."
Leng Moran saw that Hu Tiejiang had misunderstood what he meant, so he asked in a different way: "Is there anyone else in the village who likes Xinghua?"
Hu Tiejiang said: "Many people like Xinghua, she is so good."
"Is there someone special?"
Hu Tiejiang seemed to have thought of something and said: "When you said that, I really thought of a person. Xinghua told me that every time that person saw her, he would always give her a look that made her feel uncomfortable. I
I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time, thinking that Xinghua was too sensitive, and now I feel that something is not right.”
"Who is it?"
"It's called Hai Daquan."
Leng Moran asked Feng Yan to prepare pen and ink. He drew a portrait on the paper and handed it to Hu Tiejiang for identification, "Is this the person?"
Hu Tiejiang was amazed at Leng Moran's painting skills and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's him. Have you found anything, sir?"
"Not yet. You should stay in jail for a while. If you are innocent, I will definitely clear your name."
"Thank you, sir!" Tiejiang Hu said with tears in his eyes.
Xiao Xixi, who served as the backdrop for the whole process, followed Leng Moran out of the cell and asked curiously: "Is Hai Daquan the murderer?"
