Miss Truth
Chapter 155 - 99: Imagination

Chapter 155: Chapter 99: Imagination

Ran Yan did not elaborate further, understanding dawned upon the male officials present with a moment’s thought.

It might not involve a woman, perhaps the man was satisfying himself alone. If it wasn’t a woman, it would be easier to explain, maybe there were two, three...

"So, it is possible that there wasn’t anyone, or there could have been one, or more than one woman," Yu Bohao stated.

Ran Yan glanced at him and said flatly, "Please, Judge Yu, use a bit of imagination. In fact, there are many possibilities. First, there might have been no one at the scene, but I think we can initially disregard this possibility since, first, he was murdered and second, if it wasn’t for an affair, wouldn’t it be more convenient for him to lock himself at home and be ’self-sufficient’? Secondly, there might have been someone at the scene, but who could it have been? It could have been a woman, or perhaps two or three. Of course, it’s also possible that it was a man, or more than one man."

This remark successfully shook everyone present once again, leaving them all dumbstruck.

Ran Yan did not say this casually—such a possibility was not unfounded. More importantly, she had previously instructed Liu Pinrang to clear the area. Naturally, Liu Pinrang knew the reason. The case was not yet solved, and he would not contribute to the downfall of anyone. Thus, those remaining on-site were likely reliable and wouldn’t gossip recklessly, but precautions were still necessary.

Her primary motivation for saying this was that if another woman was determined to be involved, the nuns in the Nunnery would be the most suspicious. The Government would certainly send someone to guard strictly, so why hadn’t anything happened in the Nunnery before, but as soon as Ran Shiqi moved in, such an incident occurred—what would others think?

Although the customs of the Tang Dynasty were relatively liberal, not everyone could bear the name of a "promiscuous woman"! The words of Ran Yan today, at most, would make people think she was fierce and not pure of heart. Although such women were rare in Jiangnan, they were quite common in Chang’an. Compared to others, Ran Yan naturally chose the lesser of two evils.

Monitoring both Yingmei Temple and Yuncong Temple seemed the best action.

Yet, Ran Yan took an extra precaution, "When Inspector Liu is surveilling this area, it would be best not to alert anyone."

The implication was: it would be best if everyone present today remained confidential, and that the surveillance also be conducted covertly.

Half of what Ran Yan said was personal, and half was for the public good. If it really involved a nun or a monk, without external pressure, they might slip up and reveal themselves, or even worse, commit another crime.

Liu Pinrang nodded, "There’s sense in what you say."

Encouraged by his comment, Ran Yan proceeded to further examine the body; the previous checks were merely the most basic steps in a conventional forensic examination procedure. Before she began, she suddenly thought of something and searched through the deceased’s clothes again, pulling out a money pouch from a sleeve pocket. It felt heavy—the contents no less than twenty or thirty coins.

"It seems it was not for money." As soon as Ran Yan took the item, a Government Official immediately approached with a plain cloth to catch it.

Ran Yan continued, "The wounds on the victim’s body caused moments of confusion, if it was for money, they should not have left these."

Liu Pinrang agreed, "That makes sense."

The others, still stunned by the previous discussion, were unable to contribute their thoughts and simply watched Ran Yan dumbly. Indeed, nothing out of the ordinary could be discerned from her. She maintained a calm composure, her expression serious, showing no disrespect or jest toward the deceased. Upon further reflection, romantic relations among men had always existed since ancient times; it was nothing new. They simply had not thought of it before.

Especially Yu Bohao, who transformed his shock into admiration. Such rich thoughts, such meticulous analysis—why hadn’t he thought of it? Sometimes, the truth behind a crime is surprisingly unexpected!

"After a thorough examination, I suspect that the cause of death was due to being struck in the back of the head, or being hit forcefully in the chest..." Ran Yan’s gaze lingered on the abrasion on the chest as she looked more intently and felt that it somewhat resembled the front half of a footprint, prompting her to take a closer look.

Indeed, the arrangement of blood dots within the bruise was very uniform, not caused by excessive force, but by being pressed onto something. As Ran Yan was unfamiliar with ancient objects, she asked, "Judge Yu, look at the shape of this bruise and the blood dots on it, what could have caused this?"

After examining it, Judge Yu thought carefully and responded, "It looks like... the bottom of a shoe, a type of sole woven with hemp rope, made from a very tough grass that is dried and twisted. Typically, it is worn by commoners or monks. However, these blood dots are too small, and it doesn’t quite resemble it."

"What if the person who wove the shoe sole had done the stitching very finely?" Ran Yan inquired.

"I’m not very familiar with that," Yu Bohao honestly replied, being a man, he rarely paid attention to the details of woven shoe soles.

Wan Lu, who had been standing with her back turned, suddenly spoke, "Of course, you can make tiny stitches, and they can even be invisible! Before my aunt passed away, she was the best at weaving shoe soles!"

"You know how to do that too?" Yu Bohao asked, narrowing his eyes.

Wan Lu, being rather careless but not stupid, realized that Yu Bohao suspected her and immediately retorted, "Judge Yu, I’m just mentioning something helpful, do you have to suspect me right away? Leaving aside whether I know how to do it or not, there are many people who can weave shoe soles in this world! Do you believe that even the monks from Yuncong Temple could be found to know how to do it!"

Yu Bohao’s eyes twitched, he was merely inspired by Ran Yan and had let his imagination play too much, and now, suddenly, he had provoked someone difficult to manage. He spoke a word, and there were ten waiting for him. A bad start, indeed...

Ran Yan, however, was not upset. As a judicial Judge, one should be more suspicious and verify more, a bit of imagination wasn’t a bad thing.

"The basic examination is now complete. The surface wounds don’t confirm the cause of death, autopsy?" Ran Yan turned to look at Liu Pinrang.

Having not found the deceased’s family, performing an autopsy directly could harm Liu Pinrang’s reputation. Although Ran Yan asked this, she had already started removing her gloves, not really expecting an affirmative answer.

Liu Pinrang pondered for a moment, just as Ran Yan had anticipated, "No need for an autopsy for now."

Ran Yan nodded slightly, covered the body with a plain cloth, and summoned Wan Lu to tidy up.

"Since there’s nothing else, I shall take my leave first," Ran Yan said, bowing slightly.

Seeing her about to leave, Liu Pinrang, slightly anxious, asked, "Why is there no deduction this time? Under what circumstances did the deceased receive these injuries?"

"The wounds are quite clear, all inflicted before death. I believe Judge Yu can also infer the situation at that time. I think, the most important thing now is to identify the deceased’s identity. If we can find the family, perhaps many things won’t require brain-racking speculations," Ran Yan said indifferently, clearly not very enthusiastic.

Just then, a Constable from the foothills loudly announced, "Inspector, a bundle has been found." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)