novelraw Chapter 32 I heard that the murderer wanted me
Chapter 32 I heard that the murderer wanted me
The assailant has a relationship with the hairpin, which is basically gone.
In the Nonghua Teahouse, Yan Buzhou and Zhan Zhao ask Hua Niangzi to try her best to recall who in the Hairpin Club fits the characteristics of the assailant - gentle and harmless in appearance, very knowledgeable about hair styles, and possesses strength beyond ordinary people.
In view of the presence of the ghost's aura at that moment, the assailant's strength is very likely to be given extra blessing by the ghost possessed by him.
On the other side, Ying Wangdong was about to close his house when he ran into Ma Han who came to investigate the case.
Ma Han checked the suppliers of Yuemu Flower Decoration Shop, and found out that his main store in Bianjing had recently tried out flowers from a new flower shop.
He knew that the Bumilu flower shop was funded by Yan Buzhou, but he didn't expect to check the source of flowers and find it here. "Treasurer Ying, has the flower shop had any troubles with anyone recently? Or did someone intentionally destroy the flowers in the flower shop? Or is there any unusual situation?"
"The situation that the horse catcher said basically didn't happen." Ying Wangdong was sure that no one was going to pick it up, "However, there is one unusual situation. Some people say that the flowers I sell are withering faster than others. This is absolutely true. It's not a trivial matter. I will find out about this matter, and what is accelerating the withering of flowers."
Ying Wangdong's serious expression made Ma Han unable to attribute this to rumors of competition among flower shops.
The next day, without taking a break after breakfast, Ying Wangdong went to the residence of the bad reviewer.
Yan Buzhou compared the roster of the Hairpin Club in Kaifeng Mansion last night, and together with Zhan Zhao searched out all the people on the roster from the household registration archives.The workload was huge, even with the newcomers Zhang Long and Zhao Hu working together, they still couldn't find out all of them at once.
However, Yan Buzhou got up early today to do product usage surveys together.
Yingwangdong needs a guide to reach his destination on time when he goes out. Usually, he is accompanied by Zhixuan or Zhibai, but this time his words caught the attention of Yan Buzhou.
It is common for flowers to wither all the time, but if they wither too quickly, they must be affected by external factors.Or temperature and humidity, or some dark atmosphere will ruin its flowering period.
Do you hate flowers?
Ordinary flowers do not affect it, but Yingwangdong products are slightly different, even if the content is very small, there is still a trace of distinctive vitality.
Just like Zhan Zhao sitting in the back garden of the flower shop, he will feel a kind of refreshing tranquility and comfort.Sui absorbs the breath of darkness and death, so how can he fall in love with beautiful flowers.
Based on this, it can be deduced that the flower crown worn by Yang Ci was obtained from a flower shop that never got lost, which is why her flower decoration was the only one among the three victims who was intentionally stepped on—Song hated it very much. Vibrant flower whose loathing affects the possessed assailant.
In this way, a customer said that she never got lost. The flowers bought in the store withered quickly, maybe she had an intersection with a ghost, and the insurance period of the flowers was greatly shortened due to the influence of evil spirits.
It's not a door-to-door smashing, but a door-to-door questioning the whole story.
Yan Buzhou specially packed a bouquet of flowers and went to Zhang's pastry shop, hoping that this visit would further narrow down the suspicion of the skinned murderer.
"Mr. Yan, why are you here? I, can I ask if you will add a storytelling session at Qushuxuan recently?"
Zhang Rong was helping her parents pack the cakes, but she never thought that the magpie call in the early morning would allow her to come into contact with Yan Buzhou so closely.
Ahhhh, let her scream in her heart for a while, and she even received flowers specially sent by Yan Buzhou.This flower needs to be offered, even if it withers, it must be made into a dried flower bookmark.
Yan Buzhou met a book fan by accident, but he was not too surprised. At that time, the advertisement for the opening of the flower shop was still posted on the outer wall of Qushuxuan.
"I've been busy with the flower shop recently, so I might have to wait a while for the storytelling. With all due respect, I came to find Miss Zhang today because of the flowers you bought earlier. I heard that you will thank you after three days of buying flowers. My family The shopkeeper is worried about this and wants to find out the reason, so I wonder if Miss Zhang can tell me where she went with it?"
"Convenient, very convenient." Zhang Rong was extremely grateful for the flower crown that withered early in her heart, and she did not hesitate to talk about everything she did after buying the flowers.What he said was that everything was in detail, just to prolong the time of getting along with the inconsequential.
After Zhang Rong bought flowers, she made her own corolla. She is a member of the Hairpin Association. In the past three years, whenever time permits, she will go to the party, and she has gradually become a small expert in handmade corolla.I didn't go to the Lantern Festival this year, because the pastry shop was very busy that day.
On the [-]th day of the first lunar month, Zhang Rong bought flowers for the third time at the Flower Shop not lost.At first, she just wanted to support a favorite storyteller, but she bought it twice and felt that the quality of the flowers was very good. She just wanted to buy them there after she was sure, but she didn't expect that the flowers she bought would fade in three days.
"I don't think it's a problem with the flowers." Zhang Rong saw that the bad words sitting in front of her directly denied all the bad quality of the flowers that she said before, "Maybe it was because the wind on the painting boat was a bit cold that day, and the flower crowns Mr. Yan has no need to blame himself for blowing it off."
Ying Wangdong said nonsense to himself, who knows who grows the flowers, the flowers from his hands are not so delicate that they will fall apart when the wind blows.What's more, there is no such thing as a windy day recently. On the 23rd of the first lunar month, we just experienced a two-day spring rain. It was sunny and sunny after the rain.
"Painting boat? Which river are you enjoying?"
Yan Buzhou thought about the four rivers running through the city of Bianjing, the Bianhe River, Caihe River, Wuzhang River, and Jinshui River may surround or cross the capital city, seeing boats coming and going every day, she has never experienced such fun. "Is it also a party event of the Hairpin Association?"
Zhang Rong shook her head, "The sisters who swim in the river are basically members of the Hairpin Club, but the boat ride is not a gathering activity, because it requires extra money. Usually, the activities on weekdays choose venues that do not require tickets, such as in Huaniangzi At the party in the teahouse, Hua Niangzi also waived the tea fee. The number of people participating in the painting boat ride was less, about 30 people in total.”
"Has anyone ever touched your corolla?" Ying Wangdong asked and suddenly thought of something. Zhang Rong is obviously a fan of the book, so did she not throw away the corolla that she had given up before? "Miss Zhang, do you still keep that corolla?"
Zhang Rong's face was hot, and she took a peek at the inconsequential words, and was relieved to see that he was expressionless.She still wants to maintain her image of being a rational star chaser. How can she say that even if the corolla fades, she is still not willing to throw it away.
"Yes. You can make sachets after the flowers wither, and you can make the best use of everything without wasting it."
So, Zhang Rong took out the sachet embroidered with Bingdilian and handed it to Ying Wangdong, watching him with some reluctance to pour out all the dried petals inside.
"Woof!" Nian Fei, who was carried out early in the morning, still wanted to drink Zhou Gong to meet again in her dream, until she was awakened by the smell of this pinch of dried petals. "It's it, it's it, it's the beast that appeared yesterday.The petals smelled of evil spirits, that guy must not be used to the smell of flowers, so he deliberately withered the flowers. 』
Ying Wangdong had never touched the beast, but he could feel the taint of the petals. It is not an exaggeration to say that the beast killed the blooming of the flower.
These petals were thrown away well. Although the scent of ghosts on them was very weak and would not affect Zhang Rong's health, there might be something wrong with his mentality. Follow the smell to get back and trip Zhang Rong.
Because Sui's aura was exposed, it was confirmed that the assailant had boarded the boat.
Although Zhang Rong didn't remember anyone touching her corolla on purpose, it made sense that Sui used the hand of the possessed person to pretend to touch her corolla lightly inadvertently.
This river cruise list is particularly important, including the crew, a total of 37 people.
In addition to the eight crew members of Huafang, nineteen of the remaining 29 guests appeared on the roster of the Lantern Festival party at Nonghua Teahouse.
There is no doubt that we should focus on investigating these 19 people first.On the one hand, find out where they were when the three skinning cases occurred; Be careful of the breath left by the head.
Not all of these people lived in Bianjing City, half of them came from the surrounding Linxian County.You don’t have to worry about not being able to go home if you choose a painting boat to cruise the river. It happens to be able to return by water, which is smoother than taking the land.
What is not smooth is the investigation of the perpetrators.
The two-day non-stop investigation turned out to be nothing.Not only the 19 people on the two lists, but also the other 18 people on the boat were also verified one by one, but none of them matched the time of committing the crime.When the three victims of Yang Ci were brutally skinned, none of them had been to the crime scene.
Something must have been overlooked.
When the case was at an impasse, at midnight on the [-]th day of the first lunar month, news came that a fourth skinned body had appeared in the back street of Shanglanyuan on the southeast side of the outer city.
The situation of the deceased was completely different from the first three.The deceased was no longer a woman, but a man, and there were obvious signs of struggle at the scene.
Chao Chao talked about the situation discovered by the watchman, "There are three teams of people cross patrolling in that area. The first team passed Muzi Lane at the second quarter of Haizheng and did not see any abnormalities. There was a strong smell of blood."
It was late at midnight.
Lanterns are still lit in the shop buildings in the Shanglanyuan area, not brightly lit bright halls, but dimly shadowed.
Zhan Zhao took a glance, and found that half of the stores here had a red garden lantern hanging in front of them, covered with lampshades made of bamboo leaves, making the light and shadow even more ambiguous.
He was thinking of some kind of possible detour to the murder scene in the back alley, and he couldn't help frowning when he saw the clothes of the deceased.The deceased was lying on the ground, and it could be seen that his scalp was gone. Looking from the back, the deceased was thinner than ordinary men.
"Wang." Nian Fei's cry sounded at the entrance of the alley, and it shook its head towards Yan Buzhou. The smell of blood was strong but it didn't detect the smell of Sui.
Just like the other three victims, Sui will not easily show up when the assailant commits a crime, unless he encounters something that he doesn't like.
"Ayan, you..." Zhan Zhao sideways to block Weiwei's body, subconsciously wanting to tell Yan Buzhou not to look at it, but he quickly realizes that this way of doing it is a bit silly.
"What's wrong?" Yan Buzhou swept to the corner of the dead man's clothes, the victim was wearing a long blue gown.Taking a closer look, that style is [-]% similar to the Tsing Yi that was ill-advised two days ago.
The similarities are not limited to Tsing Yi.The figure from the back is also [-]% similar, the biggest difference is that the deceased is half a head taller than Yan Buzhou.
"Several adults are here, and my family Junlan was killed just like this. It was just a trip to see off the guests, and it was only a cup of tea, but I didn't return. I was still thinking about whether I met some acquaintances, who would have thought... ..."
A woman's low sobs came from the alley, she was crying, she had no intention of looking inside to see what happened, she just wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief at the alley.
Yan Buzhou took a look at the woman's attire, and had to say, this one's attire was very cool at the end of the first lunar month.At that moment, she belatedly thought of something and asked Zhan Zhao in a low voice, "Here, um, I mean where is Shanglan Garden?"
"You saw the red lanterns. Any place where such lanterns are hung provides a full set of sensual services. Orchid Viewing Garden is Nanfeng Pavilion."
There are quite a few brothels and Chu houses in Bianjing, and they are divided into three, six, and nine grades. The shops with red lanterns are not enough to talk about poetry, poetry, life and philosophy, but also to have in-depth exchanges in bed.
This is why Zhan Zhao frowned at first, the victim tonight is a red lady, he would not question others' livelihood choices, but the assailant changed his preferred target, obviously aiming at bad words.
Where to find a man with a handsome figure, it would take time to find a scholar who doesn't eat minced meat, but it would be better to search near the Nanfeng Pavilion, the possibility of finding a substitute is higher.
Yan Buzhou was stunned for a while, it really deserves the name of the red/light/district, it seems that after finishing the work of the flower shop, she really took a look around Kaifeng.Zhang Rong hadn't been on the cruise ship mentioned before, so he came to Fengyuechang without any preparation.
In a flash, she understood why Zhan Zhao's complexion was so bad. Firstly, she was being targeted by the skinner, and secondly, the job of the substitute chosen by the skinner was quite special.
"I don't care about these things, Brother Zhan, don't worry too much. The most unlucky thing tonight is the victim on the ground."
Yan Buzhouxu nodded Zhan Zhao's brows, smiled and told him not to frown again, "By the way, Mr. Gongsun hasn't come yet? The murderer has changed his hunting target, and men and women are different. A messy scene with traces of struggle, there may be new clues."
Zhan Zhao looked at Yan Buzhou with a calm face, and he quickly put away his personal emotions and carefully reviewed the scene.
"Mr. Gongsun lives far away, and it will take a while to arrive. Although there are signs of struggle at the scene, Bianjing is paved with bluestone slabs, and there are no formed footprints on the ground for comparison. The murder time chosen by the murderer tonight is also very different from before. Don't worry, it's not a holiday today, at the second quarter of Haizheng, most young women should go to bed."
The second quarter of Haizheng is 11:30 midnight in later generations.
Bianjing is indeed a city that never sleeps, but ordinary people, regardless of gender, will not stay outside at will.
The assailant wanted to avoid the beaters, at least he had a better understanding of the situation in Muzi Lane at this time, that is to say, he might be walking from time to time in the middle of the night.
Most of the members of the Hairpin Club are young women, ranging from fifteen to thirty years old.Judging from the list of painted boats obtained, no one met the requirement of going out late at night.
But after a while, Gongsun Ce arrived in a hurry, without stopping, the autopsy work started in an orderly manner.
This test really has a new clue.
"This strangle mark is the same as the previous three deceased."
Gongsun Ce made a preliminary inspection at the scene of the crime. Although Jun Lan struggled and resisted, the murderer still did not leave any physical evidence.
Wang Chao asked puzzledly, "Is there something wrong with the same? It means that the murderer has become more and more skillful in killing people. From the perspective of strength from female to male, he has upgraded his crimes."
"It's indeed an upgrade. The murderer's target was an ordinary-looking young woman, but now he has changed to a handsome man. This is the key point. The murderer exposed his height."
Gongsun Cexu made a comparison, strangled a person from behind because of different angles of force, the position of the scars left would be different.He had made a careful comparison before, and the strangle marks of the three of Yang Ci showed that they were all shorter than the murderer, while Jun Lan, the deceased tonight, was almost a head taller than the three of Yang Ci, but the angle of the strangle marks had not changed yet.
Jun Lan's height was similar to Zhan Zhao's, she was already tall in Bianjing, and the murderer was taller than them, which should be eye-catching.
"Combined with your inferences, young women from ordinary families don't come out late at night, and none of the hairpin members on the list are tall.
It's time for us to widen the scope of our search. The murderer may be older than we thought.It is not surprising that a person has a hunchback when he is approaching middle age.It is possible that the murderer was a family member or servant of a Hairpin Association member. They did not directly participate in the party, but they would pick them up at the end.This is the intersection between the murderer and Yang Ci, and it can also explain that Zhang Rong may have had a face-to-face meeting with them. "
On the first day of February, the sky was bright, and Yan Buzhou went to the private school to find Xing Gao with a new deduction.
Gongsun Ce has gone through the files in recent years and found no clues that match this case.If the killer is in his forties and his prey is in his early twenties, then the stimulus for the killer probably goes back many years.
"For this reason, I can only chatter about Mr. Xing." Yan Buzhou briefly mentioned the skinning case to Xing Gao, "Does Mr. Xing have a general impression that he is tall, and he may have had conflicts between husband and wife because of his hair and other issues. People themselves are very kind or weak, proficient in medical skills or have a lot of research on hair accessories."
Xing Gao thought about it carefully for a long time, and he was sure that no such person appeared when Wen Qian was the Governor of Kaifeng.
"However, I have heard of an old case. It is true that he is taller. I don't know the specific names and events. According to word of mouth, it is said that Chang Chopsticks came to report to the government and asked Kaifeng Mansion to help find him. her husband.
That family should have no children, but the husband and wife were running a small business in Bianjing. After losing money, Chang Chopsticks managed to get a sum of money to make ends meet. He didn't want the man to take away his belongings and disappear.
The man's surname is Chang, so everyone nicknamed his wife Chang Chopsticks.This case has not been solved. For the specific situation, I have to go to the old archives to look for it. There is a report record. "
Looking for it, Bao Zheng mobilized all the hands he could mobilize to look for it together.
Finally, at the end of noon, I found a few old files.
The reporter, Pan Yun, was 24 years old at the time, but now he is in his thirties.
The above roughly describes Pan Yun's family situation. Pan Yun's grandmother was a court lady, not a court lady surnamed Zhao in the Song Dynasty, but a court lady of the royal family in the Later Zhou Dynasty.Later Zhou Dynasty was replaced by Song Dynasty, and his grandmother also left the palace. She passed the skill of combing hair to Pan Yun's mother, and then passed it on to Pan Yun.
However, even though he has a good skill, Pan Yun's family is still poor, and he mainly spends it on treating his parents.
Later, she married Chang Shan. She thought that the Chang family who opened a clothing store would be able to make a small fortune, but who would have thought that Chang Shan would lose all its gold and jade, and without the support of her parents, she would not be able to do business at all.
A fire destroyed the clothing store, and Pan Yun had to cut off his long hair in exchange for money to support his family.But the money owed by the clothing store for the goods, that big hole, doesn't know that it will take until the year of the monkey to pay back.
This one, Pan Yun, was trying to make money greedily from morning to night, but that one, Chang Shan, fell in love with the widow facing the street at some point.This matter was broken by Pan Yun, and Chang Shan ridiculed that the only thing Pan Yun could see was long black hair.Now Pan Yun's hair is so short that it is almost the same as a monk, and he doesn't look like a woman at all. He is a widow who is still charming.
Only this part of the past is roughly left on the dossier.
After that adultery was discovered, Chang Shan still bowed his head and admitted his mistake.
Afterwards, Pan Yun thought it was because Chang Shan wanted money, so he kept a low profile, and after Chang Shan pretended to be a prodigal son and turned back a month later, taking advantage of Pan Yun's going out to work one day, he took away all the little wealth left in his family.
In the past 14 years, the case has not been solved, and there has been no follow-up.
Even though the Kaifeng government accepted the case and issued an official document for the investigation in time, Chang Shan was determined to leave. Maybe he changed his appearance when he got to another place, maybe he died on the way.
Bao Zheng's face turned darker several times after reading this old volume. Chang Shan deserved to be a scumbag, but did Pan Yun really become a skinner after many years? "How is Pan Yun doing now?"
Zhan Zhao took out Pan Yun's household registration file, "14 years ago, Pan Yun sold herself to Zhaoxiulou and became a hair-combing mother."
Zhaoxiu Building is also a brothel, and Chang Shan is gone but the joint debt of the husband and wife is still there. Pan Yun is ordinary-looking and has a skill in combing hair, so he has to choose the place where the money comes in the fastest.
"I've checked this place before." Ma Han said with certainty that there were brothel girls in the Hairpin Club, and he and Ying Wangdong had been to Zhaoxiulou. "However, I really didn't notice any of the combing mothers, who were hunchbacked or tall."
So what are you waiting for, check it out again.
But it was a step late. Pan Yun has been a hair combing mother in Zhaoxiu Building for 14 years.On the 25th of the first lunar month, he resigned. That was two days after the boat cruise and the day before Yang Ci was murdered.
This is a bit bad. The huge Bianjing went to find a murderer who wanted to hide. It could not be said that she peeled the fifth, sixth and seventh scalps first, or Kaifeng Mansion found someone first.What's more, Bianjing City is not only the bustling world on the ground, but also the underground sewer world, where there are not only many fugitive killers hidden.
Yan Buzhou broke everyone's unhappy silence, "In that case, let's lead the snake out of the hole. She wants me, doesn't she?"
"Nonsense." Without even thinking about it, Zhan Zhao raised his hand and tapped Yan Buzhou's forehead, "You really dare to think about anything."