Chapter 46: A Straw in the Corpse

  Xiao Jiading asked again: "The murder weapon that was returned, have you all carefully examined it?"

  The two police officers looked at each other and said: "After checking, all the evidence must be carefully verified before being taken away, and also when it is brought back."

  "Did you carefully examine this knife at that time?"

  "Yes."

  "Before taking it out, is the blade curled or has a nick?"

  The two soap operas looked at each other and said: "It's just like this, there are no twists and turns."

  Xiao Jiading nodded, that is to say, the initial investigation of this murder weapon did not reveal any problems. But how can the contradictions be explained? Where is the problem?

  The next question is about finding and verifying the bodies.

  They didn't go to find the coroner, because the coroner had already made it clear in the grand hall that most of the cuts on the corpse were on hard bones and were cut off alive. If so, the knife would definitely be curled or cracked. But there wasn't, where was the problem?

  He needs to find someone else to verify his statement.

  He arrived at the Catcher's Office. The catcher saw him coming in and hurried forward to pay his respects.

  Xiao Jiading asked: "In the case of Zhao's murder of his nephew, who was present at the scene of the autopsy besides the coroner?"

  "I and several bailiffs were there. It was too cruel..."

  "Did you take a close look at the break on that corpse?"

  "That's right, I saw it from a distance, but didn't go up to take a closer look. Everything was burnt to a crisp, really disgusting."

  Xiao Jiading's heart skipped a beat. This detail was not reflected in the autopsy report, nor had it been asked about in the main hall. The confession of Zhao, the murderer, also didn't mention it. "Was the corpse burned?"

  "Yes, it's disgusting."

  "What about them?"

  "They stood further away, all feeling sick and didn't come over, it was just me beside the coffin."

  "Where were those hands and feet cut off from?"

  "It's from here..." Dai pointed at his own shoulder, thigh root, and neck.

  "What part is it specifically? The joint or the bone?"

  "This I'm not clear about. I didn't look at it carefully."

  "What happened to the corpse afterwards?"

  "After the autopsy was completed, it was handed over to their family members. It should have been buried, but I'm not sure of the specifics."

  Xiao Jiading thought for a moment, this case might have to be exhumed and autopsied. Firstly, to actually see whether the break on the corpse was indeed on the bone, secondly, to confirm whether the corpse had been cremated, to supplement evidence in this regard. The third purpose was to go to the scene of the crime and get a firsthand impression. So, Xiao Jiading asked: "I need to exhume and autopsy, how should I proceed?"

  "This catcher is an old yamen catcher, and has had experience with opening coffins for autopsy in the past, so he knows very clearly. He said: 'Since it's a homicide case, the yamen can directly decide whether to open the coffin for autopsy. Just need to notify his family and the village head, that's all.'"

  "How far is it from here to Huangyan Village where the case occurred?"

  "It's not too far away, if we ride horses, we can make it back before dark."

  "Alright then, get ready quickly, we'll set off immediately."

  Dai Bu Tou agreed and went to prepare the horses while also notifying the undertaker.

  Xiao Jiading went to the signing room of the county magistrate and told him about his plan. As he passed by Deng County Wei's signing room, he was stopped by Deng County Wei. Deng County Wei came up enthusiastically and said, "Is the promotion complete?"

  Yes.

  "I heard those few witnesses have all changed their testimony?"

  "Uh-huh."

  County Magistrate Deng slapped his palm and said, "This case indeed has some doubts. The prefecture's yamen saw it accurately after all. Now, after re-examining the case, it's completely different. So, did Zhao commit this crime or not?"

  "It's hard to say, but the County Magistrate of Kang has asked me to investigate."

  "Oh? How is Xiao Ze planning to investigate?"

  Xiao Jiading looked at him and thought to himself: You really don't understand what's going on, asking questions you shouldn't be asking.

  Seeing Xiao Jia Ding didn't speak, Deng County Magistrate immediately understood and hurriedly cupped his hands to say: "Sorry! This shouldn't be asked. Heh heh, you go busy yourself then."

  Xiao Jiading bid farewell and came to the signing room, where he told County Magistrate Kang about his plan. County Magistrate Kang said that he only cared about the outcome, and as for how to investigate, it was up to Xiao Jiading himself to decide, including exhuming the body for autopsy.

  Having obtained the explicit authorization of the County Magistrate of Kang again, Xiao Jiading felt at ease.

  When he arrived at the Catcher's House again, Dai Shou was already waiting there with several official horses, accompanied by a few catchers and two executioners. After mounting their horses, they rushed straight to Huangyan Village.

  Arrived at Huangyan Village, found the village head and explained the purpose of the visit.

  The village headman knew that Xiao Jia Ding was the county magistrate's attendant and had a good relationship with him, so he listened to Xiao Jia Ding's instructions and hastily called for the deceased's grandfather to come and testify as a witness, since the deceased's mother, Tong Shi, had not yet returned to the village. He also called in several young men to help dig the grave.

  The deceased's grandfather brought them to the place where the bodies were buried. At that time, after all the bodies were found, the government had finished the autopsy and handed them over to their families, so they bought a small coffin and buried it in the tomb outside the village.

  They arrived at the grave, and the gravediggers began to dig. They lifted out the coffin and placed it aside, pried open the nails, and opened the coffin. A pungent odor suddenly made everyone cover their noses, including Xiao Jiading.

  The mortician asked if he wanted to take out the corpse, Xiao Jiading shook his head and said no need. Pinching his nose, he walked forward and examined it closely. These corpses were all highly decomposed, the bottom of the coffin was full of dark corpse water, and most of the corpses were soaked in the corpse water.

  Because the murderer stripped the body naked and threw the clothes and pants into the river, he dismembered the body. At the time of burial, the family simply put the corpse blocks in the coffin without sewing or dressing, so it was basically kept in its original state. Xiao Jiading mainly examined the broken mouth. In fact, without looking closely, it can be clearly seen that what the coroner said is correct, and the broken mouth of the body is indeed on the bone, not at the joint, and the arms and thighs are all like this, which means to cut off four hard bones. The kitchen knife did not have any curl or gap. This really makes people suspicious.

  Could it be that the knife used to chop vegetables in this woman's home was actually a precious sword that could cut through iron like mud? Xiao Jia Ding smiled self-deprecatingly, and then carefully examined the remaining undissolved corpse blocks, only to find that there were indeed obvious scorch marks.

  Xiao Jiading asked the coroner who was in charge of the autopsy last time: "This corpse has been burned, why didn't you write it down?"

  The doctor looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Because it wasn't very obvious, I didn't write down the minor ones."

  "Even if it's not obvious, it must be recorded truthfully! This might be an important clue to crack the case, do you understand?" Xiao Jiading was really getting angry, his voice rising a lot.

  "Alright! I remember."

  "Was the deceased burned and then dismembered?"

  "This isn't it, the small one has already examined the corpse's throat and didn't find any grass ash, so it should be dismembered after death."

  Xiao Jiading let Dai capture the head, broke a branch for himself, and gently swept away the skull, revealing the occipital bone. Because Zhao said that the child was pushed down, the child's occipital bone just hit the stone, so he died. Since it can cause death on the spot, this injury should be very serious.

  He carefully examined the skull and found no signs of fracture, not only in the back of the head but also throughout the entire skull.

  Xiao Jiading asked the coroner again: "When you examined the body, did you find any external injuries on the deceased's head?"

  "There is no external injury." The coroner said with certainty.

  "How did the deceased die?"

  "Xiao thinks that it should be a knife cut through the throat to death. Because the victim's head was chopped off."

  Xiao Jiading pinched his nose and bent down to take a closer look at the fracture. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he saw that the deceased's neck had almost completely rotted away, revealing the white bones inside. He stared at those white bones - it seemed like there was a fracture in the thyroid cartilage!

  Xiao Jiading had studied forensic medicine in college, and later as a lawyer, he handled many intentional homicide cases, including several that involved strangulation to death. The case files included detailed autopsy photos of the victims' bodies, which showed fractures of the hyoid bone - exactly what he was seeing now! This was one of the most common characteristics of strangulation deaths.

  Was the deceased strangled to death?

  Xiao Jiading called over that servant and pointed at the fractured hyoid bone, saying: "What's going on here?"

  He took a closer look and his face changed color, saying: "This is a fracture of the laryngeal prominence. If that's the case, it could be a strangulation death."

  Xiao Jiading asked: "Didn't you discover it when you examined the body?"

  "This I don't know, because I haven't cut open my throat to take a look."

  Xiao Jiading understood that in ancient times, autopsy only examined the surface of the corpse and generally did not perform dissection. This can be proven by the fact that Song Ci's "Washing Away Wrongful Deaths" does not contain any content about dissection. Now, this coroner also says so, confirming this point.

  This discovery is very important, proving that the defendant Zhao's claim that the deceased was injured and died after being pushed over was a lie. The deceased was actually strangled to death. Strangulation can only be an intentional crime, and there is no possibility of negligence.

  Xiao Jia Ding took a last look at the corpse in the coffin, ready to let the undertaker nail it back up and bury it. Suddenly, his gaze fell on a straw that was exposed above the surface of the water!

  Hay? How is there hay in a coffin?

  He hadn't seen it before because the straw was submerged in the water, but he just moved his head and touched it, so it came out.

  Xiao Jiading did not directly go to stir that thing, he ordered the servant to scoop out the corpse water from the coffin, and be careful not to touch the straw. The servant used a water ladle to scoop out most of the corpse water, revealing the skeleton underneath.

  Xiao Jiading took a closer look and found that the straw was from the lower part of the deceased's severed torso, which was where the pelvis protruded. Only a small section was exposed.