Chapter 1489: Autopsy

After the two skeletons suspected to be "Dou Anzhi" arrived in the capital, they were sent to the Heavenly Prison immediately.

Chen Guanlou invited a coroner from the Ministry of Justice, along with the Heavenly Prison's own coroner and Medical Official Mu, to perform the autopsy together. To be precise, it was a bone examination!

Only bones and some remnants of clothing remained.

After waiting a day, Chen Guanlou arrived at the morgue and asked the three of them, "How is the situation? Do you have any conclusions?"

The Ministry of Justice coroner took the lead, pointing to the skeleton that was relatively shorter in stature and said, "This skeleton shows wear and tear on the shoulder blades, wrists, palms, soles of the feet, thighs, and calves, all caused by years of manual labor. Moreover, the wear is quite deep, suggesting they had been working since childhood. Their identity is highly likely to be that of a commoner or a servant in a wealthy household, constantly struggling for a living."

Chen Guanlou looked at the other two.

The Heavenly Prison coroner nodded in agreement.

Medical Official Mu then said, "Besides the severe wear, the clothing remnants on this skeleton also reveal their status; it is very likely they were a servant in a wealthy household. Commoners couldn't bear to wear cotton clothing; it was too expensive. Servants in wealthy households, if their master was lenient, had the chance to wear cotton undergarments. Even if it was just coarse cotton! Furthermore, looking at the soles of the feet, not only was there years of labor, but also a massive amount of walking on foot. Only someone of this height would have such large feet."

Short stature but a pair of large feet—either it was hereditary, or they had been walking barefoot extensively since childhood. Someone who lived in a large mansion and traveled by horse or carriage, if they were of average height and had no genetic factors, could not grow such large feet.

People always say country women have large feet; that is because country women have to labor year-round, working the fields just like men. Regardless of whether the family was poor or rich, they couldn't bear to ruin their shoes, so they wouldn't wear them while working the fields. It didn't matter if it was dry land or paddy fields.

If a job could be done barefoot, they wouldn't wear shoes.

Shoes were also an asset!

Shoes were made of cloth, and cloth was very expensive. The soles required a large amount of scrap cloth pasted together. In the countryside, scrap cloth was so hard to come by!

Even small-town citizens in the capital didn't have the financial means to get a new pair of shoes every season, let alone in the countryside.

Average height, a pair of large feet, bones with severe wear, plus the remaining clothing, were all enough to explain the identity of this skeleton: it was highly likely to be a servant from some wealthy household.

Chen Guanlou nodded in realization.

He had thought about it before: if "Dou Anzhi" were truly dead, there would always be one or two loyal servants by his side. If the valet wanted to replace the master, he would inevitably have to get rid of those loyal servants. As for the other servants, they were likely greedy for money, or perhaps they had to submit a "letter of intent" to join him, leaving them no choice but to comply!

He just hadn't expected that afterward, the valet would turn against them and deny their existence. Using his advantage in status, he had wiped out all the other people who knew the truth.

Of course, these were all guesses and could not be taken as fact.

He asked Medical Official Mu, "What is the situation with the other set of remains?"

"The other set of remains clearly came from a good background; the body was well-nourished. My lord, please look here."

Medical Official Mu raised his hand and picked up the skull of the taller skeleton.

"My lord, look at these teeth. The wear marks are almost negligible. Clearly, they ate fine grains from a young age to have developed such good teeth. As for the bones in other parts, no signs of long-term wear and tear were detected."

"These remains should have belonged to someone who rode horses," the Ministry of Justice coroner interjected, pointing at the thigh bone and speaking eloquently.

Chen Guanlou listened with great interest. Once the other party finished, he asked, "Anything else?"

"The finger bones of the right hand are different from the left. This condition is found on scholars. These remains must belong to a scholar."

"And a scholar from a well-off family who could eat fine grains from a young age."

"Moreover, looking at the remnants of their clothing also proves this point. My lord, look, this is silk, this is satin, and this is fine cotton cloth. And these shoes—even after being buried in the dirt for over ten years, one can still see the craftsmanship is very solid and the materials are top-notch. Through these, we can basically determine that these remains are those of a young, wealthy man under thirty, who was also a scholar."

Chen Guanlou walked around the two sets of remains once, then asked the most critical question: "What was the cause of death?"

"Both suffered heavy blows to the skull."

Medical Official Mu picked up both skulls again, pointing to the areas on the back of the heads that had suffered the heavy blows. "Based on the injuries on the bones, we judge that it was most likely an irregular tool. Considering the location where the remains were unearthed, it was very likely a stone."

"A stone? Could it have been an impulsive act?" Chen Guanlou was a bit surprised. He had initially estimated that it was highly likely to be poisoning. He hadn't expected it to be head-smashing, and with a stone at that. Could it be that the murderer didn't even have a handy tool at hand?

"Are you sure?"

"We cannot be certain; we can only say it is highly probable."

"What is the percentage of certainty that it was a stone?"

The three exchanged glances, and finally, the Ministry of Justice coroner spoke up: "Our judgment is that there is a ninety percent certainty that the injuries were caused by a stone impact."

Chen Guanlou asked again, "Are there no other fatal wounds?"

The three shook their heads in unison.

"My lord, look closely at these remains. Although there is wear on the shorter one's bones, it was all caused by years of labor. Only on the leg and hand bones are there a few marks left from early impacts, all of which had already healed. As for the taller one, the bones are so clean that, let alone accidental injuries, there isn't even a scratch. Both have injuries to the skull; barring any surprises, the cause of death was a heavy blow to the head, and the murder weapon was most likely a stone."

"Is it possible they were walking carelessly and bumped into a stone themselves?"

Chen Guanlou asked.

The Heavenly Prison coroner was the first to shake his head in denial.

"Impact injuries and strike injuries look similar at a glance. In reality, the difference is huge. After repeated simulations, the injuries on both skulls are definitely strike injuries."

After speaking, he worked with the Ministry of Justice coroner to bring over two wooden dummies.

They took a stone from somewhere unknown to simulate the strike.

"We repeatedly tried various positions and heights; the greatest possibility is that the tall one was sitting and resting at the time."

The Ministry of Justice coroner simulated the tall skeleton and found a stool to sit on.

The Heavenly Prison coroner held a stone to simulate the strike. "At this angle, smashing down hard, the tall one was knocked to the ground instantly. Then the murderer chased after him and delivered a few more blows."

The Ministry of Justice coroner fell to the ground, and the Heavenly Prison coroner straddled him, holding the stone to simulate the striking motion.

Chen Guanlou frowned deeply as he watched.

Then he asked again, "Did the short one die the same way?"

"The situation with the short skeleton is different. Because of his height, he was likely struck from behind while standing. Looking at the marks on his hand bones, he should have attempted to counterattack for a split second. Unfortunately, the other party struck first, and in the end, he still died."

Medical Official Mu picked up the short one's hand bones for Chen Guanlou to see.

"We judge that these marks were all caused at the time of death. These are old scars, and these are the scars from the time of death; they are clearly different. Even after being buried in the ground for ten years, an experienced coroner can distinguish the difference between these marks at a glance."