It was already dark, and the winter night was freezing. Su Jin and others came to the courtyard from the hot hall and shivered; Xiao Sui'er and Xiao Xian'er, who were hiding somewhere, came forward one after another.
Each took a cloak and put it on Su Jin and Yan Biyun.
Fu Bi sighed: "You are still lucky, brother, I can only suffer from the cold."
Su Jin hurriedly took off the cloak from his body and handed it to Fu Bi, saying, "Brother, wear it. I'll ask them to get it again."
Fu Bi smiled and snapped his fingers. One of the guards at the campfire immediately came forward. Fu Bi said, "Go get my cloak."
The soldier agreed and trotted all the way. After a while, he came out with a silver cloak. Fu Bi took it and laughed. He shook off the cloak and put it on his body and tied the belt. His movements were done in one go and with ease. Su Jin blinked at the sight.
Eye.
Xiao Sui'er and Xiao Xian'er couldn't help covering their mouths and laughing. Fu Bi waved his hand and said, "Come on, what are you taking us to see?"
Su Jin thought to himself, this guy is quite good at looking pretty. He is a middle-aged man in his forties with a horse face, but he is wearing this brocade silver cloak, which is too cool.
Immediately, he led the two of them through the soldiers surrounding the bonfire to the entrance of the courtyard. When they arrived at the gate of the inn, Su Jin patted the seven or eight-inch thick hardwood door and said softly: "Brother, come and see, there is something to be done with this door."
Are you going to rush in with damage?"
Fu Bi searched up and down and said, "I'm kidding, this is a hardwood door. Nuo, look at the iron bars in the middle that lock the wood, which makes it several times stronger. If you want to get in, how can you get in unless you open the door from the inside?"
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Su Jin nodded and said: "That's it. Brother Fu's vision should be correct, so brother, where in the post can people enter and exit without being known? Tang Jie was killed at Niutou Post, along with
A dozen of the escorted soldiers were killed at the same time. Such a method is probably beyond the reach of ordinary bandits."
Fu Bi thought deeply: "Not only are they ordinary bandits, but even the legendary gentleman in Liang Shang is afraid of flying on grass without being noticed. It is said that the body was found by the handyman in the post on the second day. There is indeed a doubt in this."
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Yan Biyun interjected: "Is it possible to enter the inn from somewhere else? Although the wall is high, I'm afraid it may not be without loopholes."
Su Jin nodded and said: "What Biyun said makes sense, how about we walk around the wall of this inn and check it out?"
Fu Bi said: "Little brother Su, do you want to learn from Mr. Bao in solving cases? It's quite new."
Su Jin smiled and said: "I am Dong Shi Xiaochang, and everything is fine. The first update has just arrived. I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep when I go back to my room. If brother is sleepy, go back and rest, and I will go and investigate."
Yan Biyun said: "I will accompany you."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Of course you want to accompany me."
Fu Bi said: "That's not possible. I'm not sleepy. What I mean is, why did I suddenly think of this problem?"
Su Jin opened the door of the inn, stepped out and said, "I have my doubts..." The voice became extremely soft and almost inaudible.
Fu Bi looked over and heard Su Jin say in an inaudible voice: "I suspect there is an internal agent in this post station. It is surrounded by wilderness and has lookout sentries on the stone tower. How can those people escape their eyes, even if they are...
It was dark and windy when the incident occurred, so the sentry might not have been able to see the people approaching quietly, but how those people got in is definitely a mystery."
The three of them walked along the wall of the inn and looked at it all under the misty light cast by the new moon.
"Look at this wall. It's more than one foot and a half tall. The things on the wall should be thorns and stings. Look at the wall." Su Jin said as he reached out and stroked the wall.
, when you twist your thumb and index finger, the wall plaster is so greasy that you can't touch it.
"This is a rammed earth wall, and the outside is painted with river mud. Who can climb a wall like this?" Su Jin said.
Fu Bi stretched out his hand and touched the wall. He felt it and shook his head and said, "That's true. It's impossible to get past this wall without a hook or a rope. It's even more difficult to get in without anyone noticing under the surveillance of the stone tower."
It’s getting even more difficult.”
Su Jin said: "Let's go around in a circle. Even if there is something to grab, there will be traces on the wall. If you step on the wall with your feet, the river mud will not be able to withstand the force." After saying this, he would demonstrate with his toes and twist on the wall.
The outer layer of mud fell down, leaving an obvious groove, which looked quite conspicuous.
The three of them spent more than half an hour walking around the inn, but found no trace of anyone stepping on it. Fu Bi stopped and said: "However, there must be someone inside this inn. If nothing else, we will be there that night."
Anyone on duty must be suspected."
Su Jin shook his head and said: "I'm not completely sure. Maybe the group used other methods to enter. How can they enter the inn without leaving any traces?"
Yan Biyun suddenly said: "Where's the ladder? Wouldn't it be quieter to use a ladder to get in?"
Su Jin and Fu Bi both suddenly said: "Yes, the bamboo ladder is put on the wall, there is no trace, and there is no movement."
Yan Biyun suddenly said again: "But even if you use a ladder, you can't escape the eyes of the guards on the stone tower."
Su Jin said softly: "This is the crux of the problem. If it can be proven that someone did use a ladder to enter the inn that night, and that there were soldiers on the stone tower watching the night, then it can be judged that either the soldiers did not fulfill their duties, or the stone tower
The soldiers on top are the internal agents. The first priority is to find traces of the ladder to prove that someone did enter from the top of the wall."
"What if there is no trace of the ladder?" Fu Bi asked.
Su Jin said softly: "Then I can only suspect that the person who kept watch in the front yard that night was an insider, because only by opening the gate of the inn and letting people in can he reach the place where Tang Jie stayed and kill him without a trace."
The three of them turned around and searched carefully. When they reached a wall in the northeast corner, Su Jin suddenly pulled Fu Bi who was walking in front. Fu Bi quickly stopped and said, "What's wrong?"
Su Jin squatted down, looked under the wall against the weak moonlight, and chuckled: "Sure enough!"
Yan Biyun and Fu Bi said at the same time: "What?"
Su Jin pointed to the withered grass at the base of the wall and said, "Look sideways and look at the grass. Is there any difference in the grass there?"
Fu Bi and Yan Biyun followed Su Jin's example and looked in the horizontal direction, and immediately discovered that the withered grass under the wall was indeed something unusual.
"Can you see anything?" Su Jin asked.
Yan Biyun said softly: "Although the grass under the roots of the north and south walls is withered and yellow, it grows in the same direction. The grass in the middle of the area is swaying this way and that, as if it has been stepped on."
Su Jin squeezed her little hand and praised: "Yes, that's exactly it."
Fu Bi said: "In other words, that group of people stayed and trampled here, so that's why it happened?"
Su Jin said: "It can be roughly judged this way. It cannot be ruled out that it was caused by wild beasts or livestock trampling. Let's take a look and find out."
Su Jin stood up first and walked towards the extremely irregular patch of grass. His attention was focused on the wall just now and he didn't notice such an abnormality. Now when he took a closer look, he found that it was indeed very conspicuous.
Su Jin bent down and took a closer look, looking back and forth a few feet away from the wall, and finally whispered: "It's here."
Fu Bi and Yan Biyun hurried over to take a look. Su Jin slowly pushed aside the grass, and two obvious traces of the ladder feet appeared in front of them. Due to the weight of the ladder, the grass at the foot of the ladder was pressed into two round scars.
Fu Bi said happily: "Little brother Su really has the style of Mr. Bao. He can discern all these details."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Master Bao once said that things are not difficult to distinguish. The rare thing is that you have to know how to distinguish them. I am just a small skill, how can I compare with Master Bao."
Fu Bi said: "Then this matter should be concluded."
Su Jin said: "Don't panic, you can help me find the same traces of ladder feet again. I want to prove whether my inference is correct."
Fu Bi said: "The same traces of ladder feet? You mean there are two ladders?"
Su Jin said: "No, it's just the same ladder going in and out. With such a high wall, after going up, people can only stand on the top of the wall, then pull the ladder up, put it on the inside, and then go down. After killing the people, they come out.
It must be the same method, and the footprints of the ladder placed twice cannot be in the same position, so if I can find another trace, it will prove my inference."
Fu Bi hurriedly raised his butt and rummaged around. Yan Biyun also tilted his head to check carefully. Su Jin stood up and looked at the top of the wall, observing the strange shape on the top of the wall. Then Fu Bi lowered his voice and said: "I found it, here.
Sure enough, there are traces, little brother Su, you are really amazing."
Su Jin hurried over to take a look, and it was indeed the case, but the two circular marks were relatively slight and not easy to detect.
Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He could almost conclude that the person who killed Tang Jie entered from here. The only thing left to do was to ask the personnel on duty that night to find out whether it was an inside job.
"If I guess correctly, there are also two traces inside, right?" Fu Bi was very proud of his cleverness.
Su Jin chuckled, shook his head and said, "No, there is only one place."
Fu Bi said in astonishment: "Why is that?"
Yan Biyun chuckled and said happily: "If you go down from the wall, kill someone and then come back up, the ladder only needs to stop at one place and there is no need to move at all. Naturally, there is only one trace."
Fu Bi suddenly realized this and slapped his forehead and called himself a fool.
Su Jin said: "Now let's do an experiment."
Fu Bi asked: "What test?"
Su Jin said: "Let's find a ladder to climb up the wall and see if the sentry guards on the stone tower can detect it."
Fu Bi said: "Okay, I'll ask someone to bring the ladder."
Su Jin said: "At the same time, ask someone to guard the gate. Once the results of the test come out, report them to Mr. Yan immediately. Grab all the staff at the post station and ask about the situation that night. You will definitely get something."
Fu Bi chuckled and said, "Very good. Let's help Mr. Bao solve this case by the way. It can be regarded as a meeting gift for him to take office in Yingtian." dd