Restoration

Swish!

All eyes followed Liang Yue's pointing finger, turning in unison towards that direction. It was the floor of the inner room, where the body of the victim in this case, the Ministry of Works official Zhen Changzhi, lay.

"Little Liang, what nonsense are you spouting?" Hu Tiehan was stunned. "Are you saying the victim helped the killer?"

"He means that if no one forcibly opened the window from the outside, then perhaps someone opened the window from the inside." Ling Yuanbao's eyes were bright, seemingly inspired. She continued, "And the only person who could have done that was Official Zhen, who was alone in the study at the time."

"Exactly." Liang Yue smiled at Ling Yuanbao and said, "According to my guess, the killer and Official Zhen had some secret plot and couldn't meet openly, so they arranged to meet in this way. When Official Zhen opened the window to let the killer in, he probably didn't expect that the other party would kill him."

"I also considered this possibility, but after thinking about it again, I realized it doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all." Ling Yuanbao frowned again and said, "Even if the killer was let in by Official Zhen, who hooked the window latch from the inside after he left? It couldn't have been the already dead Official Zhen."

"Who said the killer had to leave through the window?" Liang Yue said, "The killer left through the main door."

"Impossible!" Zhen Xiaohao immediately shouted, "Don't listen to his sophistry! I was kneeling outside the door the whole time, and absolutely no one opened the door!"

Liang Yue suddenly pointed at Zhen Xiaohao: "You opened the door!"

"Huh?" Zhen Xiaohao was startled, and the others around him were also taken aback.

Liang Yue looked at Zhen Xiaohao and said, "At that time, his hour of kneeling punishment was over, and it was already late. He found it strange that there were no lights on in the study, so he pushed open the door to go in and check... The light inside the room was dim at that time, and he probably didn't pay attention to too many things."

"If he had looked up when he entered the door, he might have seen..." Liang Yue took a few more steps forward and suddenly raised his hand to point above the threshold of the study door, "On the beam above this door, there was a figure lying in wait!"

"Ah?" Following his pointing, sounds of surprise and doubt rose again from the surroundings.

"The killer climbed over the backyard wall, and Official Zhen opened the window for him and led him into the study. After the killer killed Official Zhen, he arranged the scene, re-hooked the window latch, and then he didn't leave. If he had opened the door and left at this time, Zhen Xiaohao would have definitely seen him. But when Zhen Xiaohao opened the door, the killer was lying in wait above the threshold, supporting himself with his hands and feet. When Zhen Xiaohao entered the inner room, the killer took the opportunity to flip out, silently moving along the eaves and roof tiles, and climbing over the wall to leave. For a martial arts expert, this would be effortless."

"When Zhen Xiaohao discovered his father's body, he probably didn't guess that the real killer of his father was just above his head! And the person who helped the killer open the door to escape was himself!"

As Liang Yue loudly stated his deduction of the case, everyone's faces showed surprise, while the dazed Zhen Xiaohao on the side revealed a look of lingering fear, and a chill began to run down his spine.

So I entered the study under the killer's gaze?

And I even opened the door for the other party with my own hands?

Thinking of a pair of cold eyes watching his steps from above his head, his limbs felt as if poisonous snakes were crawling over them, sending shivers down his spine. If the other party had been more ruthless, wouldn't he have killed him too?

Fortunately, he only killed Dad.

"This..." Ling Yuanbao fell into thought, her delicate features slightly furrowed on her fair face.

She had never thought of such a possibility, and besides Liang Yue, no one else had ever proposed such a deduction. If the killer really waited calmly here after killing someone, how cold-blooded and terrifying would that be?

But upon closer thought, it was quite reasonable.

"Officer Ling, please go up to the beam to verify." Liang Yue pointed.

Ling Yuanbao immediately leaped up, supporting herself on the beam above the door with one hand, and lay prone on the beam.

After getting up there, she felt something was wrong. She tilted her head and muttered softly, "Huh? Why am I following his orders?"

But since she was already here, she couldn't help but look up.

The Zhen family lacked servants to clean, and the beams were covered in a thick layer of accumulated dust. And in that patch of dust, there were indeed two areas that had been wiped away, vaguely showing hand and foot prints.

"There are indeed traces of someone hiding here!" she said loudly.

Her tone carried surprise, realization, and a hint of admiration. It was truly remarkable that this Subordinate Guard could actually solve this locked-room murder method.

And not a single person from the Ministry of Justice, including himself, had thought of it.

Ling Yuanbao didn't stop there. With a leap, she grabbed onto the eaves and swiftly flipped onto the roof, her figure as agile as a swimming dragon. She crouched down and looked carefully. Sure enough, there were two faint footprints on the dark green tiles of the roof.

"There are footprints here too!" she shouted again.

Below, Hu Tiehan looked at Liang Yue with shining eyes. "You kid, you're really something! Worthy of being taught by me!"

A moment later, everyone gathered in the study again. By this time, Liang Yue was beaming with pride. His status had jumped from the biggest suspect to the hero who had deciphered the method used at the scene.

When Ling Yuanbao landed, her eyes held a hint of admiration when she looked at him, but she still said, "Until the murderer is finally found, your suspicion cannot be completely cleared. I won't detain you and take you back to the Ministry of Justice for now, but neither of you brothers can leave Dragon Abyss City. You must report to the Ministry of Justice regularly."

"Please rest assured, Officer Ling. Not only will I not leave, but I will also do my best to help the Ministry of Justice solve the case," Liang Yue said.

He meant what he said.

Because as long as the real murderer wasn't caught, their suspicion couldn't be completely cleared. This was a serious case of a court official being murdered. If the Emperor was enraged and put pressure on the Ministry of Justice, giving them a deadline of a few days to solve the case, they might, under pressure and with no other options, turn their attention back to them.

Once they were in the Ministry of Justice prison, it was possible they would confess overnight and become the real culprits in this case.

This kind of thing had happened before.

So, for safety's sake, it was best to conclude this case as quickly as possible.

"Alright." Ling Yuanbao's expression had softened considerably. "If you have any new ideas, you can come to the Ministry of Justice to find me anytime."

"No problem." Chen Ju darted out from the side, a fawning smile on his face. "I'll accompany him to visit Officer Ling often."

"Get lost." She was still cold towards Chen Ju.

"Okay."

The two had a quick and decisive exchange.

"There are indeed a few suspicious points in this case..." Liang Yue ignored them and said directly, "First, the letter that Lord Zhen was reading. I suspect it has a significant connection to the murderer, but it hasn't been found at the scene yet. Second, since the murderer had the ability to arrange all of this, why did they use such a brutal method to kill? If they truly wanted to make Lord Zhen look like he committed suicide, it shouldn't have been difficult..."

The murderer's martial arts cultivation was not low. If they truly wanted to make Zhen Changzhi look like he committed suicide, there would definitely have been better methods. Not killing him with a single poke and then hanging him.

This kind of disguise was like trying to fool a child. Who would get such a wound from hanging? The coroner could find suspicious points with just a simple examination; it wasn't deceptive at all.

If the murderer had killed in a fit of passion and arranged things in a panic, it would be understandable. But looking at their calm and collected methods, they were definitely a calm and seasoned individual.

Then this behavior was a bit strange.

It was almost...

Like they were deliberately trying to draw you in to investigate.

Why would the murderer do this? Perhaps understanding this question was the key to finding the real murderer.

"Seal all the items here. Tomorrow, search this room thoroughly again. Send more people to investigate Zhen Changzhi's usual relationships and see who he was secretly in contact with," Ling Yuanbao ordered her subordinates one by one.

Although this Officer Ling was sometimes a bit naive, her case-solvingtrain of thought was clear and logical. Liang Yue didn't see any problems.

It was impossible to identify the murderer from the scene alone. There were countless martial artists in the Divine Capital, and it was impossible to investigate them one by one. They could only start by looking into Zhen Changzhi's usual social network.

"Wait." He suddenly remembered something and stopped the constables who were about to seal the books on the desk over there.

"Just now, when Constable Ling's scabbard hit the table, I felt the sound was a bit off." He walked forward and rubbed his palm over the large table.

This time, Ling Yuanbao didn't stop him from touching it, but watched quietly from the side.

Not only her, but everyone from the Ministry of Justice tolerated Liang Yue's actions. Although they usually detested the rough men from the Imperial Capital Guard who didn't understand how to solve cases and ruined crime scenes, this small Subordinate Guard had sharp eyes and a quick mind.

He had already earned the Ministry of Justice's approval with his performance just now.

Liang Yue bent his fingers again and knocked twice with his knuckles.

Thump-thump.

Now everyone noticed something was wrong.

Was this table hollow?

Liang Yue looked around, reached his hand underneath to feel, and indeed found a narrow hole. He inserted his middle and ring fingers, exploring with them, and quickly felt a slight protrusion. He dug at it with force.

Snap.

A drawer popped out from the middle of the table!

There really was a mechanism!

Inside this box was only a dark bronze-colored key, gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Thanks to "Regardless, Ignoring, and Not Caring" for becoming the eighth VIP Alliance Leader of this book. You're also a familiar old friend, thank you, thank you.