Chapter 309 The Case of the Abandoned Corpse of a Prostitute
The horse's hooves stepped on the bluestone ground, causing splashes of water. Li Guolou raised his voice: "Gao Yao arrests the head. Can you see the traces of the thieves?"
Gao Yao Wuyun, who was marching in front to clear the way, did not look back. He waved his hand and said: "Follow me, there are five thieves and five horses. You can't go wrong." As he spoke, the group had already arrived at Fucheng Gate in the west of the city. They were nervous and rigorous. The atmosphere permeated the city gate.
Chief Lan Ling, who was in charge of the city gate, and a row of guards watching the city gate respectfully sent a group of policemen out of the city. These gatekeepers would also be punished. They did not recognize Prince Gong's "Red Rabbit Rouge Beast". It is also a serious crime to let a thief out of the city.
Li Guolou and others walked out of the city gate in the rain. The roads were not as good as those in the city. The muddy loess road was full of wheel marks, human footprints, and animal footprints. The dark clouds were shining brightly among the many footprints. I looked for the footprints left by the "Red Rabbit Rouge Beast". The speed was slower than the speed in the city. But no one complained. They rode on the horse, ate dry food, drank a few sips of water, and walked towards the west with stops. .
Time passed by one minute and one second. The team led by Li Guolou was three or four hours later than the previous group of people sent by Prince Gong's Mansion. When they marched to two o'clock in the afternoon, there was not even the first team. Meet, let alone see five horse thieves.
The light rain came on and off. Except for Gao Yao Wuyun who led the team, the others said nothing and maintained a strict formation. There were few pedestrians on the road. Green grass and willows could be seen everywhere. A winding river accompanied them. Curious people Passers-by paid attention to these policemen and some even waved hello to Li Guolou and others.
From being full of confidence when he set out in the morning to the extremely boring pursuit, Li Guolou became less and less confident in this capture operation. The thief who dared to steal Prince Gong’s beloved horse was a daring thief. He didn’t expect that someone would Will they follow and pursue them? To attract them to the western suburbs of the city. Such a far place. I don’t know when it will end. What is the purpose of the wilderness?
If it were not for the four guards from Prince Gong's palace following them, Li Guolou would have been the boss long ago. There is little hope ahead. But now Li Guolou has only one way to go to the dark. He grits his teeth and grits his teeth. His Xiaoxiaoxi is far away. .A strong man never looks back. It seems he doesn’t know where to sleep tonight.
Gao Yao Wuyun jumped off the horse and checked the horse hoof prints and horse dung. If the weather was clear, she would also touch the hot horse dung to estimate how far away the horse thief was from their group. The horse dung was now wet and the five horse thieves could not be seen. How far is it from them?
Li Guolou was patient and did not lose his temper with his subordinates. He said dryly: "Gao Yao captures the head. What's so interesting. Now I am also an experienced follower. Go all the way to the left. You can't go wrong."
Gao Yaowun said hesitantly: "Head, there is an inn on the right. We can continue on our way. The horses are not good. We need to feed the horses and rest for half an hour. Otherwise, these horses will get sick from the rain and they will not be able to run tomorrow. It’s moving.”
In his words, Gao Yao Wuyun had no confidence in catching the horse thief today. He couldn't say it clearly. He could only find an excuse about the horse first to follow the horse thief. Gao Yao Wuyun was experienced and seasoned. This was the moment to test the detective's perseverance. He was lonely and lonely. Hidden deep in the soul, sleeping in the wilderness, living in squalid living conditions, the four Manchu guards may not be able to adapt. They don't even have much sense of accomplishment. The criminals they caught were just horse thieves.
Li Guolou glanced at Chen Rong, the foreman of the bodyguard of Prince Gong's Mansion. Seeing that he was pretending to be deaf and dumb, he didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"Yes. Capt. Gao Yao works in an orderly manner. I agree with her point of view. Now I order you to turn right and enter the inn to rest. Let the war horses rest for half an hour." Li Guolou waved his men to enter the inn first. .He set an example and was the last one to enter the inn.
Li Guolou's war horses were taken care of by his servant Battelle. He sat in the lobby with four guards from Prince Gong's palace, drank hot tea, cursed the weather, complained in his heart about doing a thankless job, and looked forward to the strong wind. When the heavy rain comes, it is best to wash away the traces of horse hooves on the ground. They can justifiably end the pursuit of the horse thieves.
"Hey, when will the rain stop?" "I wonder where the team of guards led by Huang are marching." "You bastard, you damn horse thief. Why are you looking for death?" "Donkey Ball. If I catch a horse thief, I will first give them forty lashes."
A group of people used violent language to vent their inner dissatisfaction. People in the inn stayed away from the angry-browed police officers and avoided the official officers who used dirty words.
Li Guolou raised his voice and said: "Boss, what is there to eat here?"
The shop owner asked softly: "Master, it's past dinner time. Is it okay to have leftover food for lunch?"
"Oh, boss. Heat it up. Bring it all up. We have a rice bucket here." Li Guolou had eaten dry food. He was ordering food for Battle.
A big pot of leftover rice was brought to the table. Although everyone didn't have much appetite, what was served was hot food. No matter how unpalatable it was, a group of people ate a few bites. As for the remaining food, Battelle was the only one who saw it. The people take over everything. One person huffs and puffs and destroys the half-filled pot of leftover rice and leftovers.
The foreman of the guards, Chen Rong, was overwhelmed by the appetite he gave to Battelle. He said suspiciously: "Captain Li, this is really your servant. Can you afford it?"
Li Guolou smiled and said: "Chief Guard Chen, you haven't seen Battle show off his skills yet. He only ate half full."
"Hey hey hey. I can do the work of two people by myself." Battelle boasted and boasted about his achievements.
"Battle, please stop raising cattle. You don't farm. What kind of work have you done?" Gao Yao Wuyun exposed the lies of half the fellow villagers.
"I feed the horses, walk the horses, wash the mangers, and the stables in the house all by myself," Battelle said proudly.
Gao Yao Wuyun glanced at him and said, "Then tell me how many horses the leader has at home."
"Well... the guests are here. I'm also helping. The horses sleeping in the stable are now considered two horses." Battelle helplessly told the truth, which caused a burst of laughter in the lobby.
Li Guolou also found some things for Battelle to do. So he raised two horses at home. He liked to hire horses from horse racing companies. One-stop service did not have to worry about labor. He had the simplicity unique to the Mongols. Battelle had the experience of being a slave. Will he cherish his hard-won life? Looking at this tall servant staring at the lady boss in floral clothes, Li Guolou knew that after he returned home, he would find a big washerwoman to be a wife for Battle.
More than half an hour later, when I left, the innkeeper did not dare to ask for money. Instead, he asked the landlady to come forward and gave him a 30% discount. A group of people ate horse chews for only 130 copper coins.
Li Guolou's ideas changed three times a day. After eating and drinking, he became energetic again. He was full of energy and led the way. The slippery muddy ground was full of footprints. The footprints with special horse hoof prints stretched forward. He was the magic catcher. He has a pair of sharp eyes. He works as a scout excitedly. He walks side by side with Gao Yaowun. He is open-minded and eager to learn. If you have any questions, just ask. He secretly learns Gao Yaowun's tracking skills.
"Head. It's so strange. Those horse thieves steal horses on rainy days. It should be when it rains heavily, or when the weather is sunny. Then the pond will cover the footprints, or there will be no footprints on the grass. It is raining lightly now. It just happened to leave horse hoof prints. Even people who don't know how to track can still see the horse hoof prints on the ground. I'm afraid those horse thieves deliberately lead us astray. The future is not good." Gao Yaowun glanced at the big man behind him. The troops secretly spoke out their inner thoughts.
Li Guolou nodded and said: "Hey, it's a big deal. The five horse thieves are veterans. How can we let them succeed? They just return empty-handed. There will be no harvest tomorrow. We will turn back and draw the shadows to collect the reward of the Red Rabbit and Rouge Beast. You can write it in gold. Let’s see who has better luck.”
A smart horse thief. Change the horseshoes and dye the fur of the Red Rabbit and Rouge beast to another color. The brand on the horse's butt can also be changed. There will be no more "Red Rabbit and Rouge Beast" in the world.
"The first thing is to be considerate of my subordinates." Gao Yao Wuyun snickered mischievously and hurried forward without any haste. It was expected that the two groups of officers and soldiers arresting the horse thieves would get nothing.
A group of people left the main road at the crossroads and walked towards the narrow path. Rain and mist were floating in the air. Li Guolou took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon. The spring breeze was blowing, and the green grass was undulating like blue waves. In the fields The sky is gray and dark, and I don’t know when the rain will stop.
It was troublesome to wear a bamboo hat in such light rain. Li Guolou took off the bamboo hat on his head, letting the mist floating in the sky cover his face. Suddenly, a figure jumped out from the slope of the river bank.
But not far away, I saw a man stumbling on the path. His rain gear had been half taken off. His bamboo hat flew up from his head, and was caught by the hanging string that fell to his neck. Then it was tightly pulled away from him. He strangled the middle-aged man's neck. Before he could take a breath, half of his raincoat had been blown open and rolled up from his left shoulder to his right shoulder.
The man saw a group of officers and soldiers galloping on the trail. He shouted: "Master, there is a body. It's under the river bank over there. It's so scary."
Li Guolou's forehead burst into flames. There was a murder case. Who cares about the "Red Rabbit Rouge Beast Stolen Case"? He pointed the riding whip at the other party and shouted: "I am an agent from the Criminal Department. Take me to check it out quickly." "
"Hey, I will lead the way. There is still my servant under the embankment looking at the body. We are villagers of the Chen family here. The official looks familiar." The middle-aged man had some impressions of Li Guolou. I didn't dare to identify it boldly.
Li Guolou jumped off his horse and got a little closer to the middle-aged man. After taking a few glances, he recognized Bao Yiyi as his accomplice in the court trial of his mother, Chen Luoshi, against her son, Chen Zhonghe, for the "disobedience case." He smiled and said: " Oh, is it Muramasa Chen Yajun? We met in court. I was standing next to you at that time. I didn’t say anything but shouted a few times. My official, Li Guolou, Han Zanlilang of the Criminal Department, is responsible for criminal investigation."
Chen Yajun chuckled sinisterly. Everyone had a relatively bad life in the past. He sighed: "Has Chief Li been promoted? But I'm standing still. This time there was a murder in Chencun. I'm unlucky again." A picture of mourning Face. The Sangmenxing came to the door. I couldn’t hide. I walked towards the crime scene.
"Head, are we..." Gao Yaowuyun hesitated before he could speak. He reminded Li Guolou that he was on official business.
Li Guolou waved his hand and said: "Human life is at stake. I'll go check it out first."
Walking along the river bank. There is a small river under the sloping bank. On the bank of the river, Chen Yajun's old servant stood under a willow tree, guarding a female corpse. There were also some men, women and children watching the excitement on the bank. He looked down. Towards the female body at the crime scene, curious villagers kept running from afar. People kept joining the ranks.
Li Guolou first directed his men to disperse the crowd and carefully walked down the slippery slope to the embankment.
The female corpse was soaked in the river water. She was pulled to the river bank by an old servant. The old servant, who was all wet, said: Sir, this female corpse is not from Chencun."
Li Guolou nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, old man." After saying that, Li Guolou squatted on the ground and looked at the body.
Turn over the bent female corpse. The corpse has no clothes. It has a distorted face. It does not look more than thirty years old. The hair is messy and cut into short hair. There is no swelling on the face. It should not be drowned. Look at the female corpse. On the abdomen, Li Guolou's expression changed drastically. There were three stab wounds on his chest and ribs. They had been sewn up with medical needles. The incisions were straight and the wounds were sewn neatly and carefully. At first glance, it looked like the sewing skills of someone who had studied medicine. And it was Someone who understands Western medicine.
Li Guolou suddenly had an idea. Among the unsolved criminal files of the Ministry of Punishment, there were several cases of "prostitutes' abandoned corpses". Aren't the corpses disemboweled by murderers? He also took out the case files and studied them carefully. Unexpectedly, Let him bump into the crime scene where the criminal committed the crime today.
Li Guolou's eyes were burning. He finally got what he wanted. He had the opportunity to show off his skills. He lowered his voice and said, "Liu Yu, bring the tools. I want to cut open the body and take a look." He then said, "Gao." Yao Baotou. Go to the trail to see if there are any traces left by the wheels. This kind of vehicle is roughly as wide as a carriage from Ma Kee. It is a carriage that carries people. It may be pulled by a horse or it may be Pulled by two horses. It is most likely pulled by two horses. It is not a bullock cart in the village. Check it carefully for me. If there is any, report it to me immediately."
"Tie." The enthusiasm of the police officer was rising. Even Gao Yao Wuyun changed his tiredness and strode up the embankment in high spirits. This kind of murder is what the police officer should do.