Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 89 - 88: Torn Clothing Fragments

No one could answer Zhuang Zhi’s question except himself.

But when he voiced this doubt, it seemed to relieve Lord Wu, the Capital Governor.

Although there wasn’t an answer yet about who the real murderer was, Zhuang Zhi’s attitude suggested he was letting go, no longer insisting that Cao Chenfeng was the one who killed Zhuang Lanlan, which allowed some to breathe easier.

Cao Chenfeng’s expression was somewhat indescribable. Earlier, his greatest fear was being unable to shake off the charge of murder, so he didn’t bother thinking about anything else.

Now, seeing that the truth seemed to be gradually becoming clearer, he felt a little more at ease and could afford to consider other things.

As he spotted a hidden compartment in the room, large enough to hide a person, and recalled that the thief mentioned someone leaving shortly after the lights were extinguished, he immediately realized that while he was intimate with Zhuang Lanlan, someone else was hiding in the room. His expression twisted further.

"Which servants did you leave to attend to Zhuang Lanlan at home?" Zhu Yu reminded Zhuang Zhi, "After Zhuang Lanlan’s incident, did anyone look for an excuse to hide or suddenly fall ’seriously ill’?"

Zhuang Zhi pondered painfully and shook his head, "There aren’t many people here, just three maids, a cook, two or three young servants, and a laborer who typically chops wood and serves as a Protector."

Mention of the cook jogged Zhu Yu’s memory, "When Boss Zhuang discovered his daughter had been murdered that morning, was the cook at the embroidery tower starting the fire to prepare breakfast?"

"She probably was. When I arrived, they were all busy downstairs. But once I went upstairs and found my Lanlan in trouble, the rest were too scared to stay on task. Nobody had the presence of mind for meals or anything," Zhuang Zhi replied uncertainly.

Zhu Yu quickly signaled to the two governmental officials who had found the hidden compartment earlier, "Quickly go to the small kitchen downstairs, search carefully in the stove, and see if you find anything that hasn’t burned completely!"

The two officials bowed to her and hurried downstairs. Before long, they returned, their hands covered in ashes, with their faces as well. They looked dirty, but one held a small piece of charred fabric.

"We found it! We found it!" the lead official displayed the item before Zhu Yu and the Capital Governor, "We found clothes that weren’t completely burned in the deepest part of the kitchen!"

The Capital Governor felt elated with the discovery, but hesitated to touch the pieces of cloth covered in grime.

While he hesitated, someone else took action.

With composure, Zhu Yu took the cloth pieces from the officials, holding up each against the light to scrutinize them. The first pieces were all covered in dust, and holding them up to the light, it penetrated evenly through the textures.

As the tattered pieces were examined one by one, without finding any significant clue, she began to doubt whether her hypothesis was wrong.

She had thought that the hidden compartment’s location, tucked in the space on the inner side of the bed in the bedroom, would be tough to discover, let alone have someone sneak in and hide silently.

Thus, if anyone hid there that night, it must have been someone very familiar with the daily life at the embroidery tower and Zhuang Lanlan, a servant who regularly came and went there.

The thief said he saw someone in dark clothing blow out the candle after Cao Chenfeng left and sneak away to the woods onshore.

After Zhuang Zhi discovered his daughter’s murder, he reported it to the government, who then sealed off the embroidery tower, taking back the maids and servants residing there.

So, if any servant was missing, Zhuang Zhi would notice immediately.

The fact that he noticed nothing suggested everyone was present, no one missing.

This indicated that for some reason, that person chose to temporarily hide in the woods that night and later snuck back to the embroidery tower, pretending nothing happened.

A clean stab that killed; if leaving immediately, it could be kept clean without traces, but the thief, upon seeing Zhuang Lanlan’s body, didn’t find a knife, and later heard a sound of the murder weapon possibly being thrown into the river.

The stab in her chest, whether she was standing or lying down, would inadvertently spray blood onto the murderer’s clothes.

No matter how calm and daring, the murderer had to deal with the bloodstained clothes when sneaking back to the tower pretending nothing had happened.

Throwing them in the river would be less prudent compared to burning them clean in a stove.

Just as Zhu Yu doubted her guesses, the next piece caught her eye.

Or more precisely, it actually dimmed what was before her eyes.

Unlike the previous dust-covered, light-permeable pieces, this piece of fabric barely allowed light to pass. Its rough texture was filled with a dark brown stain, feeling much stiffer and coarser to the touch than the others.

Zhu Yu set this piece aside and checked the remaining pieces, finding three with similar characteristics among the collection of fragments.

She asked the officials to bring over the bowl of water Lu Qing had used earlier, took one stained piece, shook it off lightly, blew on it to clear some ash, and then submerged it in the bowl.

At first, the surface water only carried away some dust.

Gradually, the bottom of the bowl tinted with a light blood hue; soon, a deepening red pooled at the bottom.

Zhu Yu nodded, satisfied with the findings.

Then, a panting official ran up from downstairs, clutching a broad-bladed knife about a foot long. Its handle was wrapped in old cloth soaked with water, exuding a stench of river mud. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Zhu Yu quickly measured the blade’s width, nodded, and signaled for the official to package the knife with the fabric pieces, courteously addressing the Capital Governor, "My lord, later, please bring back the servants who originally attended the embroidery tower, ask them to identify whose clothes these fragments belong to. The garment owner is the true murderer of Zhuang Lanlan."

Her words were absolute, causing Cao Chenfeng to collapse to the floor as though he finally relaxed and could no longer hold up under stress.

Cao Tianbao also glanced over at her, finding no hesitation or doubt in Zhu Yu’s demeanor, his tense brows finally easing a little.

However, being steadier than Cao Chenfeng, he maintained calm, not revealing emotions until everything settled firmly.

Zhuang Zhi appeared tense too, hastily kneeling before the Capital Governor, "My lord, I am willing to accompany the officials to bring back the servants from the embroidery tower, find the murderer of my daughter, and seek justice for her!"

The Capital Governor deemed it necessary and was about to give an order when he saw Zhu Yu signaling to him.

"It’s not necessary to trouble ourselves that much," Zhu Yu shook her head, pointing, "Just ask that person, and you’ll know who the murderer is!"