The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 685 - 592: Murder in a Locked Room (3)_2

During the conversation, Qin Yong pointed forward: "This is Yuan Xiaoxian’s room."

Nan Zhan said, "Everyone step back."

Leng Shaoqing and Qin Yong looked at each other and both stepped back.

Nan Zhan walked forward and knocked on the door forcefully, but there was no response inside.

Then, he pressed down on the doorknob, and the door was locked from the inside.

Leng Shaoqing said in surprise, "No way, locked again? Do these people all like to lock their doors from the inside?"

"Butler, go find a tool to break the door, where’s the big hammer from earlier?"

"Alright, I’ll go immediately."

As the butler was old, it took him a while to come back with Feng Guang.

Feng Guang, seeing Nan Zhan and Leng Shaoqing standing at Yuan Xiaoxian’s door, immediately had a bad feeling, "Mr. Nan, what’s going on? Why smash Xiaoxian’s door?"

"Just smash it if I tell you to," Qin Yong urged.

Feng Guang asked no further and swung the hammer hard at the lock.

After the lock was broken, Nan Zhan kicked the room door open.

The room was very dark, with curtains tightly drawn, but faintly visible hanging from the central beam was a person. Turning on the electric light, the harsh white light fell on the bloodless face of the person.

The shadow hanging in the air was indeed Yuan Xiaoxian.

"Damn, a hanging," Leng Shaoqing stepped back and said, "Creepy."

"Xiaoxian." A heavy thud sounded from behind, and Feng Guang dropped the hammer and rushed inside, his voice hoarse with grief.

Nan Zhan held out a hand, "Don’t disturb the scene."

He then said to Qin Yong, "Go and get me shoe covers and gloves, and call Jian Chuan over."

"Alright." Qin Yong had grief on his face, and before leaving he glanced at Feng Guang, "Mr. Nan will handle this, take care."

Feng Guang was already kneeling on the ground, crying softly.

Nan Zhan did not wait for Qin Yong but walked in directly; he lifted the person hanging from the beam, checking for a pulse.

There was no saving her now.

Just then, Jian Chuan rushed over, and after the two wore shoe covers and gloves, they started examining the body.

Jian Chuan crouched down saying, "There are no livor mortis or rigor mortis, death happened within half an hour."

"Cause of death, mechanical asphyxia caused by an object like a rope, there are fiber materials and irregular traces along the rope mark, likely from this rope."

Jian Chuan picked up the rope, looked at it, then looked up at the beam.

"Why is there such a thick beam in this room?"

Standing outside the door, Qin Yong explained, "This room is the innermost room on the first floor. Due to structural reasons, an extra beam was added because it couldn’t be adjusted during renovation, so this room became a servant’s room."

Jian Chuan continued examining the body, while Nan Zhan walked up to the window and looked outside.

This room directly faces the artificial lake outside, and not far from the lake, some oblivious guests were mingling.

Jian Chuan flipped the body over, picked an object from the ground and held it up to see, "Nan Zhan, there’s a lighter here."

Nan Zhan crouched down, taking the lighter: "Did Yuan Xiaoxian smoke?"

"No," Qin Yong said. "This lighter might have been used for other purposes; she often did some small crafts, possibly for burning thread ends."

Speaking of thread ends, Nan Zhan picked up the rope, "Don’t you think this rope is strange?"

"Yes, it is strange. If the deceased stood on a table and looped the rope over the beam, and then tied a noose, the ends of the rope left out should be the same. The other end is normal, but this end looks like it was forcibly torn off, and also, the marks on it are very strange, as if cut with a sharp tool. Also, look at the height of this beam and the height of the table."

After Jian Chuan finished speaking, he pointed out a clear footprint on the table: "I’ve compared the size of this footprint, it belongs to the deceased, which means she stepped onto the table herself. Moreover, the door was locked from the inside. You’ve checked the windows; they were also locked from the inside. If the deceased was hanged by someone, then how did the murderer kill her and leave this locked room?"

Nan Zhan, of course, had also noticed these things. He didn’t speak, instead starting a detailed examination again.

"Jian Chuan, look here,"

Jian Chuan hurried over, and they both climbed up to the window sill. There was a small ventilation window above the window, and on the window ledge, a small patch of white paint had faded.

"This is a drag mark, the traces are very new, it’s left by something like a rope sliding quickly over this surface. This window is small; not even Zhengzheng could climb through it, but a rope could. And before we came in, this ventilation window was open."

"You’re suggesting the murderer used a rope from outside the window to hang the victim? But where’s the rope then? If that was the case, the rope should still be connected to the victim or if cut, a long piece should remain outside, but there’s only this strange, short piece at the scene."

"Though the evidence is not enough, I can assure you, this is a homicide."

Jian Chuan gasped, "Another murder."

Nan Zhan nodded and jumped down from the window sill.

He searched through the clothes Yuan Xiaoxian left outside and eventually found a set of keys.

The keys fit the two drawers on the desk. He rummaged through the contents and at the very bottom of the second drawer, he found a white jade bracelet.

Wrapped around the bracelet was a piece of paper, written on it: "I knew the truth would come out sooner or later, I don’t want to implicate anyone. The items and the murder, were both my doing. She was such a domineering woman, this is what she deserved."

Jian Chuan said: "So Han Feiyi was really killed by Yuan Xiaoxian, unbelievable. She murdered over a mere bracelet and planned it so meticulously. I must say, when this woman gets ruthless, she’s indeed scary. Also, I heard Han Feiyi had previously insulted Yuan Xiaoxian; probably, old grievances and new led her to commit the murder."

Nan Zhan gazed at the note, silent and introspective.

"What’s wrong, do you sense something off?"