The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

It would take some time for the corpse to be transported from the Yamen to the warehouse, so Sun Shaozong first investigated the crime scene.

This warehouse was approximately 25.5 meters long from east to west and 11 meters wide from north to south. The main gate was located in the middle of the east wall. As for the south wall, there were two air windows with mesh iron fences.

On the left side of the gate was a public case with pens, ink, paper, and inkstones on top, as well as three small booklets with wooden covers.

Sun Shaozong flipped through it and found that one of them was a record of Du Ning's daily inventory check, while the other recorded the time and purpose of others entering and leaving the warehouse.

In the final booklet, some important to-do items were recorded.

Sun Shaozong picked up a lantern and carefully examined it a few times. He found that it was made of double-layer copper mesh. They couldn’t burn anything outside, even if the candles inside fell off the base and got blocked by these two layers of copper mesh.

"Which lantern did Du Ning use last night?"

“It's this one.”

Zhu Shan hurriedly took out another lantern from under the official case and presented it to Sun Shaozong with both hands.

Sun Shaozong, however, was not in a hurry to pick it up. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the four hooks on the wall, frowning and saying, "The person is dead. Did you deliberately change the lanterns?”

“There's no other way.”

Zhu Shan smiled helplessly and said, "The most important rule in our Gunpowder Bureau is to replace any damaged lanterns in important warehouses with new ones as soon as possible according to the regulations drafted above. Otherwise, it will be a crime of dereliction of duty.”

It was estimated that this system was also established by Prince Yizhong at the beginning.

Sun Shaozong took over the lantern and found that only the copper mesh on the outside was slightly deformed, while the inside was intact.

After carefully observing for a while and asking about Du Ning's height, he raised the lantern at the beginning to a height of about 1.2 meters, then released his palm and let it land freely.

The lantern hit the bluestone floor, rolled only one and a half times, and then staggered to a stop.

Sun Shaozong picked it up and saw that, although the lantern was slightly deformed, its damage was much lighter than that of Du Ning's.

So he raised it by twenty centimeters and tried again.

Then there was an increase of thirty centimeters in height…

Then, with a slight force swing...

It was not until the four lanterns on the wall were all thrown into disrepair that Sun Shaozong, under the inexplicable gaze of Zhu Shan, launched the next investigation.

About fifteen feet away from the gate, two rows of long tables were placed against the walls, each with countless wooden frames nailed to them. A total of 218 Megatron-style firearms were neatly placed on these shelves.

At the beginning of the long table on the left, the two empty shelves appear particularly eye-catching.

And equally eye-catching were the black-brown blood stains on the ground.

Sun Shaozong carefully observed the messy marks near the empty shelf and then squatted on the ground to search for a long time. He circled the suspected collision marks of the lanterns one by one with a cinnabar pen.The most update n0vels are published on ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt

“Your Excellency, the body has been transported over.”

At this moment, Jia Shanyao and Lv Yuan led four Dragon Guards and hurriedly brought in a corpse, which was naturally the body of Du Ning, the Deputy Supervisor of the Gunpowder Bureau.

“According to the way he was discovered yesterday, rearrange the body…”

Sun Shaozong didn't even glance at it, but casually gave a command and, as if slowing down, examined the gun racks on the long table inch by inch.

Seeing how meticulous he was, Lv Yuan naturally didn't dare to make a fool of things. He and Zhu Shan checked each other's mistakes and made up for them. It was only then that the body was finally restored to its original appearance at the time of the crime.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Sun Shaozong walked over with a solemn expression on his face. He was not in a hurry to examine the body, but first spoke up and asked, "Are there repair tools in this warehouse, such as hammers and axes?”

“No, there’s no such item in the warehouse.”

Zhu Shan immediately shook his head and said, "Usually, only Deputy Du enters and exits here. Even if something breaks, there's no need for him to repair it himself. There are plenty of craftsmen in our Gunpowder Bureau.”

After speaking, Zhu Shan was somewhat puzzled and said, "Did you discover something suspicious, Your Excellency? Otherwise, why did you suddenly ask about this matter?”

Sun Shaozong didn’t answer his question but instead asked, "You said before that even Du Ning, who is in charge of the warehouse, must undergo a body search and inventory when entering and exiting normally. Is this body search done once when entering, once when exiting, or only when exiting the warehouse?”

“This…”

After exchanging glances with Lv Yuan, Zhu Shan hesitated and said, "According to regulations, it is natural to check both in and out. However, when entering the door, only external objects are checked, and when coming out, a thorough body search is done.”

"That is to say, if he brings something in, nobody will find it," Sun Shaozong remarked right away.

“This... should be..."

Zhu Shan hesitated and nodded.

“Someone…”

Sun Shaozong immediately gave an order and instructed, "Conduct a careful look and see if there is anything in this warehouse that shouldn't have been here.”

Jia Shanyao and the four Dragon Guards quickly responded and then called out a team of people from outside to carry out a carpet-like search according to Sun Shaozong's instructions.

Sun Shaozong himself was not idle either; he squatted down in front of the body and carefully examined it.

This Du Ning was around forty years old, with a very thin figure but a big cake face. In addition, there were obvious black circles around his eyes, and it was estimated that his sleep condition hadn’t been very good recently.

The corpse lay on its back with its head south, feet north, and feet about half a meter away from the southern gun rack.

The fatal wound was a blood hole the size of a copper coin in the heart. As for the murder weapon, it was naturally the bayonet delivered with the body.

By the way, a separate bayonet holder was also left on the gun holder, while the third gun holder only had a musket without a bayonet. Obviously, the killer had stolen two complete muskets, including the bayonet.

Both hands of the deceased showed irregular, curved shapes, and there were recently rubbed cocoons and blisters at his mouth. The blisters had begun to swell, and it was estimated that they had not been subjected to the same friction in the past day or two.

In addition, the cuffs of the deceased's hands were stained with splashing blood.

Looking down, there was no abnormality in the legs.

The biped…

“This is…”

When checking the sole of the deceased's left foot, Sun Shaozong suddenly saw a light in his eyes. He saw a semi-transparent object the size of a sesame seed sticking to the heel of that foot!