Seeing Officer Long hesitating, Di Zhen said, "Judging from your appearance, you must have come from afar and encountered some difficulties. Di Gong has taught me a lot over the years. If I can help, I will. If not, I promise I won't leak any secrets!"
Officer Long weighed the pros and cons and thought the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. He then placed the envelope marked "Confidential" on the tea table. "Every word in here can't be told to anyone else."
"I'll definitely keep my mouth shut."
Di Zhen reached out to take the envelope, but Officer Long pressed his hand. "Wait. What exactly did Mr. Di teach you? Criminal psychology?"
"More than that!" Di Zhen smiled. Officer Long thought this kid was a bit mysterious, with a faint aura of Mr. Di about him.
He opened the envelope, and sure enough, it was the information of a case.
On March 12th, a spring snow fell in a mountain village in the north of Huaizhong. After the snow, a young woman was found hanging from an old locust tree at the intersection of the farmland and the private forest. The ground was covered with a thin layer of snow, and only the woman's footprints remained.
The deceased was Shen Cuilan, from a neighboring village. She dropped out of middle school and went to work. She was only nineteen years old this year and had been married to her husband, Zhao Erdan, for just one year. According to Zhao Erdan, the night before, Shen Cuilan was scolded by her mother - in - law for forgetting to clean the ashes from the stove. Shen Cuilan retorted a few words, and the two started arguing.
The mother - in - law and daughter - in - law had long - standing conflicts. Since Shen Cuilan entered the family a year ago, she hadn't gotten pregnant, and the mother - in - law disliked her more and more, always finding fault with her.
Caught between his wife and his mother, Zhao Erdan could only side with his mother openly and comfort his wife secretly.
This time, the argument was so fierce that Shen Cuilan threw pots and bowls around and said she was going back to her parents' home. The mother - in - law said if she left, she shouldn't come back, saying 'What's the use of keeping a hen that doesn't lay eggs?' This enraged Shen Cuilan, and she immediately packed her things and left for her parents' home. The mother - in - law grabbed Zhao Erdan and wouldn't let him go after her.
Later, after dawn, someone found Shen Cuilan hanging herself outside the village. There was only one line of footprints on the snow.
The police who rushed to the scene asked many witnesses and concluded that Shen Cuilan had committed suicide.
Di Zhen looked through the materials. At first glance, the case seemed quite simple. He turned to look at Officer Long. Officer Long frowned slightly, with a hint of expectation and doubt in his eyes. So Di Zhen tentatively asked, "Do you think there are some doubts in this case?"
Officer Long frowned even deeper. He thought, as he expected, the apprentice was no match for the master. He said, "Shen Cuilan's family was of medium wealth. She had an older brother and a younger sister. Her older brother was quite domineering in the village. She was young, healthy, and good - looking, just having come of age. I don't think such a girl would commit suicide easily. Even if she did, why didn't she call her family before she died? There's also another doubt, which is in the dossier..."
Di Zhen continued to look. There was a post - mortem report later, which only stated the cause and time of death. Di Zhen had also learned about forensic science from Di Gong's bookshelf.
"This... isn't it a bit too simple?" Di Zhen said.
"The county police think it's just a suicide case and there's no need for a thorough investigation. Their equipment is too shabby and they don't have forensic science. If they want to conduct an autopsy, they have to send the body to a hospital or the public security bureau in the city and rent a car from the funeral home. They're not willing to go through all that trouble..." Officer Long sighed and shook his head. It seemed he had had a tough time overseeing the case in the countryside.
Just because the county police station was ready to close the case despite Officer Long's objections and he couldn't come up with strong evidence to overturn the conclusion, he traveled all the way to visit Di Gong.
Di Zhen stared at the post - mortem report, which stated that the time of death was around three o'clock in the morning. Suspicion! Where was the suspicion?
He couldn't show his weakness in front of Officer Long, or it would be a disgrace to Di Gong.
So Di Zhen summoned the mental tool he had recently crafted, a camera, and took pictures of all the text and photos on the report. Then he closed his eyes and blocked out all external distractions.
The "camera" was like a Mental Symbol for rapid memory, capable of capturing exactly what was seen with the eyes.
In deep meditation, he recombined and spliced the photos from the crime scene, restoring them into a dynamic and three - dimensional scene. In the distance were rolling mountains and scattered villages. Fine sugar - like snowflakes were floating in the sky. At the end of the snow - covered fields, a young woman in a red cotton - padded jacket was hanging from a locust tree, swaying slightly. In the pure white world, that splash of bright red was particularly eye - catching.
There was a winding trail of footprints on the ground, stretching from the ridge of the field to where the woman hanged herself.
Di Zhen walked over and saw the footprints. The size of the footprints did match the woman's shoes, but there was an indescribable sense of disharmony.
He walked in front of the woman and looked up. The rope was positioned outside the Adam's apple (women also have an Adam's apple, but it's not obvious), so the deceased's tongue wasn't sticking out. There was a large bulge in her mouth, and her whole face was flushed purple.
A hanged victim's face is the most hideous, because the rope would break the cervical vertebrae and squeeze the facial muscles and fat, making it look like the face was covered with a purple - red mask.
Di Zhen's gaze fell under the woman. There was a mound there. Were those bricks!?
He observed carefully and found that they were indeed the bricks used for standing on while hanging oneself, yet they were actually buried under the snow!
Di Zhen was overjoyed. He had found a flaw!
The deceased had first walked here, then stepped on the bricks to reach for the noose, and then kicked the bricks away.
Why were the earlier footprints so clear, while the bricks were completely buried in the snow?
"This is the suspicion!" Di Zhen pointed there and said.
"Huh? What did you say?" Officer Long's voice came. He was very puzzled. What was this kid doing, gesturing with his eyes closed?
[b]Dao Heart Clarification[/b]! Di Zhen recited a spell to dispel the illusion, and then pointed to the suspicious part in the photo for Officer Long.
Di Zhen didn't miss Officer Long's startled reaction. It seemed that Officer Long didn't know about the suspicion he had found. He asked in a respectful tone, "I'm wondering if what I said is correct?"
Officer Long nodded. "Yes, yes. I also thought those bricks were a bit odd at that time. Besides this, there's another thing. The time of death was around three o'clock, but it started snowing at four in the morning."
"Really?"
The spring snow only covered a small area, so Di Zhen didn't know the exact time it started to snow.
"I mentioned it to the police in the county. They said the weather report might not be accurate. I said I had insomnia the night before and clearly remembered it started snowing at four o'clock, but they still didn't believe me. Sigh!"
Di Zhen pondered. This should be a forged suicide. He closed his eyes and constructed a mental scenario, then returned to the scene just now.
Di Zhen stood in the snow and waved his hand. The fine snowflakes in the sky flew back up into the sky. The sunlight faded, and it turned into night, until it was three o'clock in the morning.
At this time, it was completely dark all around. A shadowy figure dragged the unconscious victim to the tree, tied a knot around her neck, then threw the other end of the rope over a branch and pulled. The victim was hanged up. She struggled due to suffocation and soon stopped moving.
Then it started to snow. The man shuffled backwards on the snow, using his toes to move in a pair of women's cloth shoes and leaving a string of footprints.
"No, that's not right!"
If this was the method, the footprints wouldn't be so clear, and the center of gravity would fall on the heels.
Judging by the snowfall speed that night, one would have to wait until morning at least to step out such clear footprints...
Anyway, it was impossible to leave one - way footprints after it started snowing. So there was only one answer: the footprints weren't made by stepping at all!