Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

Chapter 135: The Case of the Intestine Stabbing

According to etiquette, Su Wen returned to his residence after delivering the betrothal gifts, while Cui Lin asked Zhang Shuo to lead a team to return the dowry.

With the dowry procession returning to Su Wen's home, the betrothal ceremony was officially concluded, which was relatively easy for Su Wen.

After that, Su Wen stayed at home with peace of mind, going to the court every day to get to know people and listen to the court proceedings. Other matters were not of much concern to Su Wen, since the prison was still under construction and there were hardly any cases in Chang'an and Wannian counties that needed to go through Su Wen.

Therefore, the people in the prison were basically on paid leave. Su Wen, on the other hand, started tinkering with some gadgets at home, chatting with Cui Lingyu and strolling around Chang'an City on weekdays. He didn't have much to do.

That day, as Su Wen was reviewing case files in the prison ward, the sound of a grievance drum being struck came from outside the door.

Su Wen frowned and said, "Go and invite them in."

As a constable brought in a man, who was dressed in plain clothes, with dark skin, short stature, less than six feet tall, and somewhat thin.

Su Wen asked, "What grievance do you have?"

Upon seeing Su Wen dressed in red official robes, the man immediately bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, I am Chen Jinwen, the village head of Beixiang Village in Lantian County. I have no grievances. This morning, I went to Chang'an City on business. When I passed by the foot of Qingshan Mountain, I noticed that the usually empty cave was suddenly filled with flies and mosquitoes, making a constant buzzing sound. I became curious and looked into the cave. I found several fingers at the entrance. I broke off a branch and pulled it out of the cave. I pulled out a bloody, mangled human head."

"Besides, there were also severed hands and feet. When I saw this, I immediately rushed to Chang'an City to report to the authorities. However, neither the Dali Temple nor the Chang'an Wannian County would accept cases outside Chang'an City. So I had no choice but to report to the prison ward."

Upon hearing this, Su Wen stood up and looked at the constable to the side, asking, "Where is Physician Jiang Feng?"

The constable reported, "Reporting to my superior, Physician Jiang Feng left Chang'an the day before yesterday to go to Huazhou with Li Xingguo to investigate a case."

Su Wen frowned and said, "Chen Jinwen, take me with you to the place where you found the body."

Chen Jinwen replied, "Yes, sir."

......

When Su Wen and several constables arrived at the scene of the crime, there was indeed a cave at the foot of the green mountain. The cave entrance was narrow, but the inside was spacious. There were three severed fingers at the entrance, and the rest of the severed limbs were deep inside the cave. A section of a severed leg was found in a small ditch on the side of the cave entrance, with jagged teeth that had been chewed to pieces.

The constables collected the body parts from the cave and the surrounding area, and placed them carefully on the straw mat. Su Wen then pieced the fragments together to roughly recreate the appearance of a person.

Su Wen said, "Make a note of this!"

A constable took out paper and pen, preparing to take notes.

"The body was male, aged between forty-four and forty-eight, six feet five inches tall, died face up, with a wound on the forehead, two inches and one-tenth of an inch long, and a finger mark on the throat, six inches long and three-tenths of an inch wide. These wounds were all left before death. The deceased's head was cut off, both arms and legs were cut off, the chest to the lower abdomen and the back were cut open, the two ribs were cut open horizontally with a knife, and there was a wooden stick as thick as an arm in the deceased's anus, which pierced the anus and intestines, which was the most fatal wound."

"The following is a speculation: this person was likely strangled and stabbed in the anus with a wooden stick, then had his head and limbs chopped off with an axe. There must have been a great hatred between the murderer and the victim, and the method used was extremely cruel."

After examining the body, Su Wen frowned. Such ruthless methods of murder were truly rare.

Su Wen looked at Chen Jinwen, the village head, who was standing to the side, and asked, "Village Head Chen, do you know who this person is?"

Chen Jinwen carefully examined the deceased, but the body was completely disfigured and mangled beyond recognition. He shook his head and said, "Reporting to my superior, it's impossible to identify. However, although Beixiang Village has a large population, everyone has a name and household registration. If we check the household registration records one by one, it won't be difficult to find this person's identity!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen nodded and said, "Village Head Chen, please go and fetch the household registration books immediately!"

Chen Lizheng nodded in agreement. Su Wen looked at the constables and said, "Carry the body to Beixiang Village and let the villagers identify it. See if anyone recognizes who this person is!"

Just then, a ruffian rushed over in a panic. Upon seeing Chen Lizheng and Su Wen, who was dressed in a red official robe, he immediately bowed and said, "This humble servant greets his superior, and greets Chen Lizheng!"

Chen Lizheng looked at the scoundrel and asked, "What's wrong?"

The rogue said, "A murder has occurred in the Wang family of the village. The head of the household, Wang Hongqiu, has been killed in his home. We implore the officials and the village head to come and investigate!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wen frowned and said, "Take me there immediately!"

Before long, the group arrived at the village. Strictly speaking, Beixiang Village is not a village, but a fort, because the entire village is surrounded by low earthen walls, like a small town.

The Wang family had three houses in a row. In the middle room, Wang Hongqiu's body lay supine on the floor. Su Wen went forward to examine it carefully.

"Note: The deceased was Wang Hongqiu. He had a metal object wound on his left ear, nine-tenths of an inch long and three-tenths of an inch wide, which was not fatal. On his left eyebrow bone, there was a metal object strike wound, one inch long and three-tenths of an inch wide. There was a metal object wound on each of his arms, eight-tenths of an inch long and three-tenths of an inch wide. A wooden stick about the thickness of a forearm was also inserted into his anus, piercing his rectum and causing his death!"

At this point, Su Wen suddenly became alert, stood up, and frowned, saying, "This modus operandi is almost identical to that of the corpse we just found!"

Su Wen looked at Chen Jinwen and asked, "Chen, does Wang Hongqiu have any enemies?"

Chen Jinwen said, "Reporting to the superior, Wang Hongqiu has not remarried since his wife passed away a year ago. He lives alone and has never been seen arguing with anyone!"

Su Wen frowned, thought carefully for a moment, and then said, "This place is some distance from Chang'an City. Let's first set up a temporary mortuary in Beixiang Village, put the body in the mortuary, and wait for the examination. Chen, the village head, go door to door and check the household registers to identify the name of the deceased before you come back to investigate!"

Chen Jinwen responded, "Sir, although Beixiang Village is not large, it still has more than two thousand people. It may take one or two days to make the journey!"

Su Wen responded, "It's alright. I'll have a few constables assist you. You two split up and make sure no one is missed!"

The constables responded in unison, "Yes, sir!"

Su Wen temporarily returned to Chang'an City. In fact, Su Wen wanted to investigate Wang Hongqiu first, but the problem was that the village head said that he had no grudges against anyone. As a result, Wang Hongqiu was at a stalemate. Moreover, this case was obviously a serial murder case.

Since it's a serial murder case, we can't rush it. We can only identify the other victim first to find the connection between the two. Only by finding the connection between the victims can the case continue to be investigated; otherwise, solving the case is just empty talk.

The next day, at noon.

Chen Jinwen arrived at the prison office and, upon seeing Su Wen, said, "Sir, after investigation and comparison, we discovered that a man named Zhao Yi from this village has gone missing. He is forty-six years old and lives three miles away from Wang Hongqiu's house. Some villagers reported that Wang Hongqiu and Zhao Yi had argued before his death. Both of them were murdered under mysterious circumstances, so there must be a connection between them!"

Su Wen asked, "Besides Zhao Yi, are there any other people in his family?"

Chen Jinwen said, "Zhao Yi also has a wife, Shi, and a six-year-old daughter, Zhao Yunu!"

Su Wen said, "Men, you will accompany Chen Jinwen to Zhao Yi's house and bring his wife, Shi, and daughter, Zhao Yunu, for questioning."

The constable replied, "Yes, sir!"