Chapter 840: Heavenly Master's Mansion (Part 3)
The ladders were found by Sun Shaozong behind the main hall door, and there was more than one. It seemed that they were usually piled up here.
According to the traces above, there should have been at least two ladders used by the murderer last night, but it is difficult to tell whether they were used one after another or at the same time.
Sun Shaozong placed one of the carriages upright under the eaves, climbed up the stairs swiftly, and soon reached the same height as the corpse.
As mentioned earlier, the body is located directly above the temple gate, where the plaque is hung.
Because the Tianshi Mansion has not been fully completed, the plaque in the main hall has not been hung yet. There are only two nipples supporting the plaque, pointing diagonally towards the eaves.
The main body of the corpse was now hanging in the center of these two nipples.
Looking closer, one can clearly see that there are a total of seven iron nails as thick as a little finger nailed into the body, with the neck, chest, and abdomen in a straight line, and one each on the wrist and calf.
In addition, Sun Shaozong found obvious marks of strangulation on the abdomen of the corpse, and then found traces of rope wrapped around the two nipples.
It can be preliminarily inferred that the body was first tied to the two nipples, and then the "nailing operation" began. The ropes were untied only after the nails were strong enough to support the weight of the body.
Judging from the strain on various parts of the body, the man should be young, no more than 30 years old, and rarely engaged in heavy physical work.
His skin is also much whiter than that of ordinary people, and he should be active indoors.
But this does not mean that he is a rich young man.
Because Sun Shaozong found a lot of small bumps on the back of his shoulders, which were suspected to be eczema.
This shows that although his clothes are warm, they are not very breathable, and he can only endure the feeling of sweat on his body and cannot add or remove .
Is this due to a conservative and shy personality, or is it because of the restraints and restrictions on behavior?
If it is the former, he might be a scholar from an ordinary family who pays great attention to his appearance.
If it's the latter...
A servant of a wealthy family?
A shop assistant who doesn’t have to do heavy physical labor ?
Or maybe…
Sun Shaozong lowered his head and looked at the three Taoists thoughtfully, then raised his voice and asked, "Huang Bin, have you found this man's head and clothes?"
Huang Bin quickly sheathed his knife, raised his head and said, "Your Excellency, although we have searched the Tianshi Mansion inside and out, we have not found the head or clothes of the deceased!"
In this case, this person is most likely a young Taoist priest!
Because ordinary people’s clothes cannot directly indicate their identity most of the time, but it is different for monks.
Sun Shaozong pondered for a moment, then ordered, "Come over and hold the ladder steady."
After Huang Bin hurriedly called another yamen runner to hold the long bamboo ladder on both sides, he immediately pressed the corpse's right arm with his hand, and then slowly pulled out the iron nail nailed on the corpse's wrist.
The total length of this iron nail is about seven inches [21.77 cm], and it is generally flat from thick to thin. It has a round nail cap on the head and the bottom is not very sharp - probably because they are afraid that it will break easily if it is too thin.
This kind of nail can be made by any blacksmith shop, but it seems that it is not so easy to find out its origin and trace it.
Sun Shaozong studied it for a while, then bowed his head and ordered: "Find two hammers, one made of wood and one made of iron, and then go to the street to buy a piece of pork!"
Immediately, a bailiff took the order and went away.
Sun Shaozong held the bloody iron nail in one hand and checked the condition of the corpse with the other hand, but suddenly he noticed a cold gaze.
Looking over there, he saw the young Taoist holding the sword in both hands, looking at him with a cold face and squinting eyes.
Not to mention, this young man is quite handsome. The statue looking up at a 45-degree angle has the demeanor of some young handsome men in later generations.
Just from one glance, Sun Shaozong knew that this boy was holding a grudge against him.
However, this is exactly what Sun Shaozong had deliberately created.
Otherwise, with his mental age approaching 40, how could it be so easy for him to come into conflict with a young man?
In fact, before entering the gate, he had already made up his mind to keep a certain distance from the people from the Tianshi Mansion, and it would be best if some minor conflicts could occur.
That's why he rudely interrupted Huang Bin's introduction and deliberately praised him in front of the three people.
The purpose of doing this is to make up for the retreat this morning.
Although there was a seemingly reasonable excuse at the time, there was no shortage of smart people in the court. After discussing it afterwards, they would definitely see through his intention to protect himself.
There was nothing wrong with this, it was just human nature, and besides, he was dragged into this for no reason.
But if I get along with the people from Tianshi Mansion while investigating the case this afternoon, it will be a completely different experience.
If one is not careful, he may be accused of colluding with alchemists to cause chaos in the government!
So Sun Shaozong had to make his position clear.
Now it seems that the effect is better than imagined - offending a young Taoist priest is much more serious than offending three ordinary Taoists.
As for this young master, will he secretly make trouble for me?
hehe!
How come there is no one to help in the palace?
Stop talking nonsense.
But not long after, two hammers and pork were brought to Sun Shaozong. Without saying a word, Sun Shaozong swung the hammer and nailed the pork to the wall with a clanking sound.
After finishing the task, he ordered again: "Go ask the gatekeeper outside if he heard any knocking sounds!"
One of the yamen runners took the order and left. Huang Bin then asked, "Sir, should we invite the official from the Ministry of Works who was on duty last night to come in for questioning?"
"Don't worry yet."
As Sun Shaozong spoke, he saw that the runner who delivered the message had already stepped over the threshold. He immediately took out the iron nail and swung the wooden hammer to hit it again.
Not long after, the bailiff came running back and reported, "Sir, they heard a few noises just now, but they couldn't hear them clearly."
"Did you hear anything when you were outside the door?"
"this……"
The bailiff was stunned, then shook his head hesitantly and said, "It seems I didn't hear anything."
At least iron weapons can be ruled out - the guards can hear it during the day, let alone at night.
As for the stone tools...
Sun Shaozong had just observed carefully that there was no . Judging from the hardness of the wood in the wall, the possibility of stone tools could basically be ruled out.
At first he had suspected that the murderer had used the handle of the knife to hammer the nail in, but after trying twice, he rejected this speculation.
After all, this was a key project funded by the royal family, and the wood used was extremely hard.
If one wants to knock it in with the handle of the knife, one would probably need at least half the strength of Sun Shaozong, and the requirements for the material of the handle are far beyond the normal range.
After all, the handle of a knife is not easy to exert force on, and secondly, it is hollow [needs to clamp the tail of the knife].
Although there is no shortage of strong men in the world, the probability of someone being willing to use such a precious sword to hammer nails and being seen by Sun Shaozong by chance should not be very high.
"Is there any wood piled nearby?"
"this……"
Huang Bin exchanged glances with a dozen of his men, and then shook their heads one by one.
In this case, the murderer either found the tool from afar or brought his own equipment.
But no matter which one it is, it further proves that the murderer must have planned it carefully before committing the crime, rather than acting on impulse.
It is even very likely that he had already surveyed the scene before committing the crime!
"Someone come!"
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong decisively ordered: "Take the body off the top, and bring all the officials who were on duty last night, as well as the night watchmen."
