Jing Mo nodded and said, "According to what you said, these two injuries are really reasonable. But since the dog was injured once and later tracked down, why did he always be quiet and not bark? Isn't that what you yourself think is a contradiction? ”

Nie Xiaoman smiled slightly, nodded and said, "Yes, of course this is a contradiction. However, when the contradiction reaches the extreme, there may be a further transformation. Why don't you turn around and think about it? The murderer who escaped, if it was the owner of Cang'er, it would naturally not bark! ”

Jing Mo felt like he had been struck by lightning, and his whole body was shaken.

Xiaoman continued: "I often say that case tracking is like a trick. No matter what kind of dumb riddle, before it is solved, it is always difficult and puzzled. As long as he says a word, he feels bland. The explanation of the problem of barking is a clear example of this. ”

Nie Xiaoman said again: "If this one puzzle is solved, the rest of the doubts will be solved one by one. For example, the suspicious behavior of the woman, the disappearance of the bird, the movement of the corpse, the shoes on the corpse's feet, and the dark skin of the dead body, which did not look like the skin color of the person who had been in the house for a long time in their confessions, all of these can prove that the deceased was not Niu Yizhi himself. And although the fatal wound of the deceased was in the throat, a lot of the face was also destroyed, and the flesh and blood were blurred, which was very satisfying for the conditions for changing the body. Because it is difficult for Niu Yizhi to go out, there are very few people who know him. The old human rights thirteen are confused and decrepit, so this trick of changing the corpse is foolproof in their plan. ”

Jing Mo asked: "But the maid Li's mother is not confused and old, is she bought by the master?" ”

Nie Xiaoman said: "Even if you haven't bought it, that kind of bloody and miserable situation, a country woman will naturally not carefully distinguish it." So the danger of exposure was very limited at the time. In the second step, I plan to gather some strong evidence to support my hypothesis materially. I had seen the remains of a newly excavated stone block on the small river beach behind the house. I was hesitant at first because I didn't have a reason to drown the dog's corpse, but then I assumed that it was used to sink the clothes of the deceased. As a result of what we fished, we also got the bird's gun. So the crux of the whole case was completely clear to me. ”

Xiao Man paused and said, "At that time, I immediately went to contact Pu Jiaoren and Hu Defu and asked them to strictly monitor Hua Yufu's actions. Because Niu Yizhi has already escaped, I will prevent her from fleeing overnight. Then I rushed back to Jinling to find Wen Zhixin. The results were not as quick as I had hoped, and the woman had no immediate intention of getting out. Naturally, I had to wait patiently. ”

Jing Mo said: "It turns out that you are in a hurry to go back to Jinling for these arrangements, no wonder." ”

Xiaoman nodded and said, "Well, later Pu Jiaoren found the donkey cart, and the murderer's trace also has a route." However, the most appropriate way to catch the murderer is to use the beautiful woman as a clue. You can always understand the situation now, right? Although this clue to track down the murderer has long been in our hands, it cannot be used lightly, and we can only wait for the development of nature. Otherwise, if you startle the snake, you will lose a whole thing. ”

Jing Mo suddenly realized: "No wonder, I said that I had been waiting for many days, but it turned out to be like this." ”

After a few days, Niu Yizhi felt that the wind outside had stabilized and the case would become unsolved, so he wrote a letter under a pseudonym and asked his wife to flee on the 16th. This letter was decisively intercepted by Hu Defu, who was in charge of surveillance, so he immediately informed me, and naturally caught the murderer effortlessly. ”

Jingmo asked, "There is one more point, you didn't explain. On a stone next to the bloodstain, there were traces like cloth patterns. What is this printed after all? ”

Nie Xiaoman said with a smile: "After this point is explained, you also have to say that it is not worth half a penny." As I said, the first time the dog was shot, it must have been in the leg. Then it must have crouched there and licked away the bleeding from the wound. So the cloth mark is the blood hair on the wound. But before it was broken, who would have thought of it? ”

Jing Mo thought back to the case again, and asked again: "Xiaoman, there is another point of the case that you haven't explained. Isn't this the 'who's the murderer?' that I often ask? But I really don't know who the person who was killed? ”

Nie Xiaoman shook his head and said, "Alas, Jingmo, I'm sorry." I don't know this person yet, and I don't know much about their relationship and the motive for the murder. I'm not a sellout, so I can't really reply. Please be patient for a few more days. ”

Half a month later, the case was concluded twice, and the circumstances of the case were fully disclosed. Zhao Leren was acquitted and released, and the Puxian Lieutenant apologized to Cen Mingkai and Zhao Leren, and Nie Xiaoman and Jing Mo's trip was finally a complete achievement. The evidence of Niu Yizhi's murder — the bird gun as physical evidence — was submitted to the county from Cen Mingkai. He no longer denied it, and fully confessed to the facts of the case.

The person who was killed, called Cao Weiping, was originally a local garrison officer, and he officially married Hua Yufu three years ago.

At that time, Hua Yufu's father, Hua Laoshuan, was originally a string player in the troupe, so this marriage was due to his father's order, and Hua Yuwu was extremely reluctant. Yu Yu met Niu Yizhi because of singing, and the relationship was originally very close. Cao Weiping also knew about this, but he took advantage of Lao Shuo's father's order to make this marriage of course. When Hua Yufu and Cao Weiping got married, Niu Yizhi went to Huguang to do business because he was disheartened.

Later, her father Lao Xuan died of greed, and Cao Weiping left home to fight against the Japanese slaves. At this time, Cao Weiping came back from Huguang to sell rice. Yu Yu felt dissatisfied with his marriage, and Niu Yizhi also regained his old feelings. So these two people couldn't help but elope together.

After they arrived in Chuzhou, they originally planned to live in seclusion in secret. Unexpectedly, after Cao Weiping returned home, he launched public and private relations and after many visits, he actually knew the location of Niu Yizhi's cousin Wen Zhixin, so he pursued it all the way. He inquired about Wen Zhixin's results, although he didn't know the point, but he still didn't give up, and went back and forth in the town several times to find out the whereabouts of the pair of outlaw mandarin ducks.

So early in the morning of the fourth day of the new year, Niu Yizhi saw the surnamed Cao wandering outside his bamboo fence in his own window.

Niu Yizhi knew that his secret had indeed been broken by Cao Weiping, and he had to find another way to deal with it. He expected that if Cao Weiping came to seek revenge, he would never dare to do it during the day. Therefore, when he arrived at night, he made special preparations, and on the one hand, he sent the maid away, and on the other hand, he locked up the Taihang dog. He prepared all these preparations in private, and even his wife didn't know about them.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Cao Weiping broke the window and entered the house, Niu Yizhi had already prepared and naturally heard it. So he quietly went downstairs, prepared his birds, and laid an ambush at the foot of the ladder. When Cao Weiping was groping in secret, he took the opportunity to launch a bird gun and immediately knocked Cao Weiping down.

At that time, Hua Yuwu went downstairs when she heard the sound, and Niu Yizhi explained the reason and forbade her to speak out. At first, he still wanted to remove the corpse, but later he felt that this matter was heavy and quite difficult, and saw that Cao Weiping's body was similar to his own, and the wounded was on the face, and he himself did not go out often, and there were not many people who knew him, so he thought of a plan to replace the corpse.

So Niu Yizhi changed his clothes, and when everything was in order, he tied up the clothes, shoes and hats of the deceased, and the bird of the murderer, and took them to the outside of the house, and used a stone to sink in the river behind the house. Cao Weiping originally went with a short gun, but Niu Yizhi kept the bird gun in his hands.

When Niu Yizhi committed murder and arranged the aftermath, no one except his wife knew about it, and even the dog behind him had not broken out of the window. But when he was sinking clothes, because it was close to the back room, Cang'er couldn't bear it anymore, and finally escaped, and broke the lid of the pickle jar.

So when Niu Yizhi rode the donkey cart up the gravel path, he suddenly saw Cang'er following behind. He wanted to escape, but he couldn't stop the matter from being revealed, so he ruthlessly attacked his hound, so he fired at Cang'er for the first time. Later, he crossed the turning point of the main road and fired the bird gun at Cang'er for the second time, which was completely in line with Nie Xiaoman's expectations.

This case ended like this, and Jing Mo couldn't help but feel pity for the ending of the hound. Regarding this point, Nie Xiaoman once said a playful word to Jing Mo.

He said: "Jingmo, dogs love their friends, bite their enemies, love and hate clearly, clear, and different from people; But no one can love purely, can't simply hate, people in this world, always love and hate are intertwined. ”