Chapter 35 Case Analysis
Chapter 35 Case Analysis
Back in the dormitory, Xiao Xia sat cross-legged on the bed and pointed at the door. Xiao Zhurong hurried forward and closed the door.
Xiao Xia then lowered his voice and said, "The case is very simple. Insiders and outsiders colluded to take the things away. I tell you, there was no thief at all. It was someone in the mansion who took it."
Xiao Zhurong was shocked, "How did you know that?"
"That air vent wasn't cut the night before. It was cut long ago, at least two days ago."
"why?"
"Because there are bloodstains on the broken edge of the fence. Those bloodstains are at least four or five days old. They are definitely not from the night before."
"Ah! Is the blood still there?"
Xiao Xia shook his head, "I pinched it off!"
Xiao Zhurong was confused, "What does this mean?"
Xiao Xia smiled faintly, "Let me tell you another conclusion. The air vent is just for show. To take things away, you go in and out through the main door."
Xiao Zhurong was stunned as if he was struck by lightning.
"How did you figure that out?"
Xiao Xia did not answer him directly, but asked again: "Who can enter that warehouse?"
"Only the four brothers of the head of the family, including my father, can go in. No one else can go in except the four of them. Last night was a special case, so the ten of us legitimate sons went in to help pack the gold, silver and treasures."
Xiao Xia nodded, and then said calmly: "Didn't I ask you how heavy the spear was in the warehouse? Thirty pounds, right? If this thief escapes through the air vent, will he throw the spear out first?"
Xiao Zhurong nodded, "That's for sure. The spear head is very big. It can't pass through the air window with it. We can only throw it out first."
"30 kilograms, thrown from a height of 20 feet, there should be a mark on the ground, a hole or something? But I didn't find any mark. I looked carefully twice and didn't find any impact crater, and then..."
"Then what?" Xiao Zhurong asked nervously.
"Then you called me in the warehouse, and I jumped down directly from the air vent. I looked at the footprints, which were very deep, but the footprints around them were all shallow. I guess they were all from the teams ahead. The only deep footprint was mine. Do you understand?"
Xiao Zhurong nodded slowly, "The thief didn't jump down from the air vent!"
"So go back and ask your father, whoever had the warehouse key the night before yesterday is the thief!"
Xiao Zhurong was completely stunned. Xiao Xia glanced at him and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Xiao Zhurong said with a sad face: "The key was in my father's hand the night before last!"
"Ah!" Xiao Xia was also startled.
"Xiao Qilang, according to your reasoning, the thief is my father! How could he do such a thing?" Xiao Zhurong was almost crying.
Xiao Xia waved her hands quickly, "Wait a minute! He may not be your father."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Zhurong looked at Xiao Xia eagerly.
"There are two other possibilities. First, the things were not actually lost the night before, but were only discovered the night before. Second, someone stole the key from your father."
Xiao Zhurong nodded, "Both possibilities are possible, who could it be?"
"I don't know, who noticed that something was missing?"
"It was my father. He was on duty the night before and found that Liu Erhu had neglected his duty. He became a little worried and opened the door of the storeroom to check. He first discovered that the Liang Wang Spear was missing. He immediately called the head of the family over and everyone searched together. Only then did they discover that the Baibao Liuli Lamp was also missing."
Xiao Xia touched his chin and said, "It's strange that Liu Erhu neglected his duties! He has just been the deputy commander for a short time, so he should be working very hard. Why did he suddenly leave his post? Do you know why he left his post?"
"I don't know, but I can ask my father. They should have interrogated him."
"Go ask! And you can't tell anyone what I analyzed for you."
"My father can't say it either?" Xiao Xia shook her head. "I can't say it. I'm not doubting your father because I don't have any evidence. My inference is a bit like trying to sow discord between the brothers."
"But do you think it's true? Is it one of the four of them?" Xiao Zhurong asked hesitantly.
Xiao Xia nodded, "I think it was one of the four brothers who took the Baibao Liuli Lamp. Apart from them, no one else knows where the lamp is?"
"Maybe we should look for them one by one?"
Xiao Xia sneered and said, "Search one by one. You have to pry open the boxes. You can check how many boxes were pried open in total?"
Xiao Zhurong was speechless. He helped to move the boxes last night. He knew that only the box containing the Baibao Colored Glass Lamp was pried open while dozens of other boxes were not pried open.
"You're right, the man knew which box the light was in, but why did he do that?"
"Balang, this is probably related to the power struggle in the court. We can't understand it. I'm withdrawing from this case. It's boring!"
..........
Xiao Zhurong left in a daze. Xiao Xia sat cross-legged in front of the new small table, took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, spread out a piece of paper and wrote the two words "Xiao Hu" on it.
He did not tell Xiao Zhurong that Xiao Hu was the most suspicious and that Liu Erhu was just pretending to be derelict in his duty in order to make everyone think that the theft happened the night before, when in fact the theft should have happened before that.
And Liu Erhu is Xiao Hu's man!
Xiao Xia shook his head and put these thoughts aside. The theft had nothing to do with him.
He drew out the dagger and started practicing the steps of the reverse Thirteen Moves in the room. What the little nun said was right, the Thirteen Moves were all for attack, and if reversed, they would all be for defense.
...........
In the evening, Xiao Zhurong brought Xiao Xia an important news: Liu Erhu disappeared in the afternoon.
"The reason he gave for leaving his post the night before has been proven to be a lie. He said he went to Baihualou to find a prostitute named Chunli the night before. The owner of the house sent people to Baihualou to investigate. Chunli testified that Liu Erhu had come to see her, but today Chunli regretted it and said that Liu Erhu had not come at all and only gave false testimony because he promised to give her money."
"and then?"
"Then the head of the family has determined that Liu Erhu is on the run because he is afraid of being convicted. He is the biggest suspect in the theft case. Now all the teams are looking for Liu Erhu everywhere!"
Xiao Zhurong had obviously let go of the burden; the theft case had nothing to do with his father anymore.
He said proudly, "Part of your inference is correct. It certainly didn't happen the night before last. It must have been stolen before that. The bloodstains you saw were left by Liu Erhu when he crawled out of the air vent the day before yesterday."
"What about the fact that there are no traces on the ground?"
"Because he used a rope, he didn't jump, and the spear head was also hung down by a rope. My second uncle found the rope left at the scene the night before, but he didn't tell us."
Xiao Xia frowned. If the spear head was hung down with a rope, it would require cooperation from someone below, otherwise how to untie it?
Of course, you can also carry the spear directly on your back.
But none of this matters. What matters is, how does Liu Erhu know which box the treasure lamp is in?
At this time, Xiao Xia didn't want to say any more. Talking too much would be a thankless task and would only damage the brotherhood between other people. Anyway, the theft had nothing to do with him.
Xiao Xia nodded, "It seems that I am being petty. The four brothers are very united."
"Fortunately I didn't tell my father, otherwise it would be terrible!" Xiao Zhurong said with lingering fear.
"Liu Erhu should be easy to find!"
Xiao Zhurong shook his head. "It's not easy to find him. He rents a house outside. No one knows where he lives."
"Then where can we find it? Jiangdu City is so big!"
"Let's try our luck, Xiao Qilang. Shall we go look for it together tonight?"
Xiao Xia yawned and said, "I hardly slept last night. I'm too sleepy. If you don't find it tonight, I'll go with you to look for it tomorrow night!"
(End of this chapter)