Chapter 335 - 333: The Worst Way to Fall from a Building (Part 1)

Chapter 335: Chapter 333: The Worst Way to Fall from a Building (Part 1)

Mr. Yao, unwilling to give up, asked, "What is the identity of that tenant? How credible is his testimony?"

It can’t be ruled out that the tenant himself is the perpetrator, or an accomplice, deliberately saying such things to confuse their judgment.

Mr. Qu understood Mr. Yao’s words and said, "That tenant... should be unrelated to the case. He’s a merchant who travels frequently for business. This time he happened to pass through Western Capital and only stayed for one night. He primarily does business in the south and only passes through Western Capital occasionally when he returns home."

This makes the tenant sound indeed not suspicious.

Mr. Yao asked Mr. Qu for the tenant’s name, then called for a Government Official to investigate the tenant’s background and turned to Xu Jing: "Miss Xu, should we continue with the investigation of this case?"

Xu Jingjing was silent for a moment, then looked at Mr. Qu and said, "Did the merchant say anything other than that Sister-in-law Wu fell and that there was no one else on the rooftop?"

Mr. Qu was startled and after thinking for a while said, "Come to think of it, he also said that my mom’s falling posture was strange... she didn’t fall straight down but... but rolled down..."

Rolled down?

Everyone was stunned, and Xu Jing quickly asked, "Do you mean Sister-in-law Wu rolled off the roof lying down?"

"Yes."

Mr. Qu nodded, and from his expression, it was clear he didn’t find this statement strange, "Perhaps my mom slipped and fell on the rooftop, rolling down accidentally. After all, the roof is quite steep, not to mention covered in snow, making it hard to walk on. It’s easy for someone to fall when feeling unsettled, and the people at the government office thought the same..."

Xu Jing didn’t continue discussing this with him and asked, "How did your mom climb onto the rooftop?"

"There’s a very tall wutong tree next to the roof, and the branches stretch onto the roof. My mom’s footprints start from underneath one of those branches. She could only have climbed up via the tree."

"Can your mom climb trees?"

"I... I’ve never seen my mom climb trees, but when I was young, my mom told me she was quite mischievous as a child, often climbing trees and swimming like a boy, so she should be able to climb trees."

Xu Jingjing remained silent and then said, "I wish to open the coffin and examine your mom’s body again. Would you agree, Mr. Qu?"

This request was somewhat extreme.

Mr. Qu couldn’t help but widen his eyes and said, "But my mom was just laid to rest yesterday..."

At this moment, Jiang Yu spoke calmly, "If your mom was indeed harmed by an evil person and you were deceived into thinking she committed suicide, your mom would be restless even in the afterlife."

Mr. Qu was taken aback and glanced at this Lord who, with his noble demeanor and presence, exuded an extraordinary aura. Without much hesitation, he nodded and said, "Alright then, if it can uncover the truth behind my mom’s death, let’s open the coffin and examine the body again. I don’t wish to face my mom in shame after my death."

However, the result of the exhumation left everyone a bit disappointed.

In the current weather, bodies decompose slowly, and during the body storage period, Mr. Qu had the people from Yizhuang apply some preservative solution to Sister-in-law Wu’s body, keeping it relatively intact.

Xu Jing carefully examined her body. Sister-in-law Wu fell face down, and worst of all, her head hit the ground before any other part of her body. Her head suffered multiple fractures, and her face was severely disfigured, with one pupil larger than the other, all signs of severe brain damage.

This indicated that she almost certainly died upon impact when she landed. Falling from a building doesn’t always result in death, but falling in this manner greatly increases the likelihood of death, with almost no chance of survival.

Sister-in-law Wu indeed died from a fall.

Upon hearing Xu Jing’s conclusion, Mr. Qu sighed: "I told you, there shouldn’t have been anything suspicious about my mom’s death... Miss Xu, you know about the rumors concerning my mom outside, so you must know her emotions were unstable. Ever since I went away to study, she was left alone at home. In fact, I often worried something might happen to her...

It’s my fault. If I could have achieved success earlier, even if I didn’t have time to accompany her, I could have hired someone to take care of her. Then perhaps my mom wouldn’t have taken her own life."

This Mr. Qu turned out to be quite good. Despite his mother’s passing derailing his plans for imperial exams and marriage, he held no grudge against her, not maligning the efforts Sister-in-law Wu put into raising him alone.

Xu Jing stood up, glanced at him, and said, "Given the way your mom fell, the clothes she wore must have been in terrible condition. Did you keep those clothes?"

Even though the merchant’s testimony seemed to overturn their assumptions completely.

Xu Jing still felt something was off.

Because aside from the merchant’s testimony, Sister-in-law Wu’s case bore too many similarities to Jiang San’s case.

And to say that there were no doubts in Sister-in-law Wu’s case wasn’t entirely correct either.

The somewhat despondent Mr. Yao was surprised to see Xu Jing unwilling to give up and quickly perked up: "Right, since we’re already here, we must thoroughly investigate everything before returning!"

Mr. Qu, rest assured, we will ensure to have your mother reburied with respect."

Since they had already exhumed the body for examination, it was no trouble to cooperate further.

Mr. Qu nodded: "Though those clothes were covered in... blood, they were my mom’s belongings. Over the years, she struggled to support my studies and never indulged in even a new piece of clothing for herself. I couldn’t simply discard her clothes casually.

I washed those clothes and kept them. Please, all of you, come with me to my home."

Once home, Mr. Qu retrieved a neatly folded set of clothes and a pair of worn-out cloth shoes from the room.

Xu Jing looked at the shoes and asked, "Was your mom still wearing this pair of shoes when she fell?"

"Yes, but at that time, one of my mom’s shoes was loosely on her foot, and the other had fallen to the side."

Mr. Qu’s eyes darkened slightly, "My mom’s shoes were quite worn out. They were already loose and worn, so it was normal for them to fall off."

Xu Jing nodded and then unfolded the set of clothes.

The clothes looked quite old, and even after washing, there were still some stains that hadn’t come out.

Xu Jing sighed quietly.

Often, it’s not just the body but the clothes and overall state of the deceased that hold useful clues to the case.

If she had examined Sister-in-law Wu’s body immediately after her death, she might have found more. Now, she could only do her best.

Since it was winter, Sister-in-law Wu was wearing several layers: an undergarment, a padded jacket with cotton stuffing, and a not-so-thick outer garment. Xu Jing and Mr. Yao inspected them separately. At this moment, Xu Jing was holding the now pilled round-collared outer garment and examining it closely. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and she turned to Mr. Yao and said, "Mr. Yao, come and take a look."