Chapter 467: Xiao Huai’an Side Story: Xiao Huai’an’s Deduction (Part 4)

Lord Yao’s gaze returned to Xiao Huai’an. This time, he didn’t dare to underestimate him anymore, and his tone grew more respectful, "So, Young Master Xiao believes that the robber’s series of actions stemmed from a premeditated desire to kill Dongfutang’s owner?

He chose a more troublesome method to kill the owner intentionally, if not because of..."

Following this line of thought, Lord Yao’s eyes widened, murmuring, "Perhaps, he not only had the intention to kill the owner long ago but also planned to frame the owner’s eldest son for the crime!

Therefore, he didn’t use the method of cutting the throat to kill the owner, because cutting the throat would cause blood to gush out instantly and easily stain his own clothes!

And the clothes he had prepared to swap with his own on Dongfutang’s eldest son had no blood! In such tight timing, he couldn’t let the swapped clothes have the same blood stains, so he had to avoid getting his own clothes stained with blood!"

Xiao Huai’an slightly raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he said, "Exactly, so this is not just a robbery case but a meticulously planned murder disguised as a robbery scene!"

Lord Yao looked at him in amazement and couldn’t help but secretly marvel, indeed deserving to be Miss Xu’s son, truly not to be underestimated!

After clarifying the situation, he quickly said, "But why do you want me to temporarily control the nearby citizens? Could it be that you think the murderer is still among them?"

"I do think so."

Xiao Huai’an nodded, saying, "Although the murderer replaced himself with Dongfutang’s eldest son, he couldn’t change his clothes in the short term. Just now, he ran all the way here in those clothes and was seen by many people. If he walks down the street in that suit, it will inevitably attract others’ attention.

So, if I’m not mistaken, the murderer must have hidden a new set of clothes near where he originally hid Dongfutang’s eldest son’s body. Before entering anyone’s line of sight, he will certainly try to find a secluded spot to change his clothes.

And in a guilty conscience, he won’t carry the changed clothes in hand but will hide them first and sneak them away after everyone has dispersed."

At that moment, Lord Yao looked enlightened.

Xiao Huai’an paused for a moment and said, "Of course, this is just my guess and may not be correct.

And my second reason for believing that the murderer is nearby is he’s gone through such lengths orchestrating this intricate scheme; he must want to know if he has truly deceived the officials. To confirm this, now..."

As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head, slowly scanning the onlooking citizens, and meaningfully said, "He could very well be hidden among those citizens."

Following the boy’s gaze, Lord Yao also glanced at the citizens nearby, flicked his sleeve, and said, "Men, immediately seal off this area and temporarily prevent these citizens from leaving!"

At this moment, Xiao Huai’an added, "Although I am not yet clear about the cause of death of Dongfutang’s eldest son, I examined him earlier and found no defensive wounds on his body. This indicates that regardless of how the murderer killed him, he didn’t resist before or after the murder, indicating a likely acquaintance crime.

So why not have those close to the deceased identify any acquaintances among these citizens?"

Although Lord Yao had already reassessed this young man, it was still the first time working with him, so he felt somewhat uncertain.

However, this slight uncertainty was completely dispelled when the government officials brought forth four suspects from the group of citizens.

Was there any doubt! With Miss Xu’s fine son personally involved, how could there be any doubts!

The four suspects were recognized by Dongfutang’s Madam and Manager Hu together.

As soon as the four suspects were brought before them, Madam glared fiercely at a young man and an attractive middle-aged woman, shouting angrily, "You pair of wretched mother and son! I knew it was you who killed my husband and my son! Don’t think you can take over Dongfutang this way! I will never hand Dongfutang over to you, even if I die!"

The middle-aged woman looked terrified, shrinking behind the young man, crying, "Sister, how... how could we kill the Lord and the eldest son? I... Dong’er and I were just nearby shopping. We heard... heard something happened at Dongfutang, so we came to take a look, but who knew..."

"Shut up! I don’t believe your nonsense!"

Lord Yao looked at Madam disapprovingly, coughed deeply, and fortunately, Madam seemed to understand; she bit her lip and did not continue.

Only then did Lord Yao satisfactorily look at the three men and one woman before him, pointed to the two individuals Madam had just angrily denounced, and said, "You are... Dongfutang’s second son and Miss You?"

The young Lord had a refined appearance, with a very upright figure. Except for his eyes resembling those of his older brother, there was barely any similarity in other respects.

And as Manager Hu stated, he seemed to have a much better temperament than his older brother.

He bowed to Lord Yao and said, "Yes, I am Dongfutang’s second son, Wang Changdong. The Lord over there, Wen Pengfei... is my older brother... To be honest, my mom and I just arrived a while ago, unaware of what happened, and were taken here, discovering that... that something happened to my brother..."

He spoke, a few sobs creeping into his voice.

Lord Yao peered at him and said, "Your father also met with an accident, are you aware?"

Wang Changdong pressed his lips together, facing pain, and said, "Upon combining the info we overheard earlier, I have already... have already surmised... But I do not understand why Madam claims we are the murderer. My mother and I had no prior knowledge of this incident..."

"Whether you knew or not isn’t determined by mere words."

Lord Yao spoke indistinctly, "You claimed you were shopping with your mother earlier. Do you have any witnesses to confirm this?"

Wang Changdong hesitated, then said, "My mom’s maid and my servant were with us continually, but earlier, my stomach was uncomfortable, so I went to the bathroom for a while..."

Lord Yao’s eyes flickered briefly, immediately questioning, "How long?"

"I... I had a bit of diarrhea, so about thirty minutes, but since yesterday I’ve been having some loose motion, which my mom and my servant can testify."

Lord Yao didn’t respond.

Even if evidence corroborated his diarrhea over the past two days, it did not confirm his whereabouts during those moments.

This place is not distant from Dongfutang. Thirty minutes is ample time for him to commit robbery and murder and return to his mother’s side.

Moreover, if he were the perpetrator, his mother might likely be collaborating with him to conceal his whereabouts.

He nodded, turning toward the other two men.

The two men stood tall and robust, one being a middle-aged man in his thirties, the other, seemingly a young lad, barely over ten years old.

Lord Yao addressed the middle-aged man, "And you, what is your relationship with the two deceased?"