Chapter 94: Sealing and Examination Protocol

"The hair-washing house lies a hundred paces outside the village wall, ten paces from the road. It faces south. There are two connected rooms, a main room and a side room. The main room has a door; the female corpse lies face down five paces inside the door. The side room is southeast of the main room, with a bed in the middle; the male corpse lies supine upon it. The side room has a window on its south side, three chi wide, standing open. The murderer likely entered the house by leaping through this window…"

Just as Scribe Nu walked over to examine the window, Heifu was also carefully searching the grassy ground outside it, and he soon made a discovery.

"Scribe, there's a footprint here!"

Nu immediately circled around and indeed saw a very distinct footprint in the mud outside the window!

He carefully crouched over the grass, stared at the footprint for a long time, and after measuring it with a 'Qin chi' ruler, immediately turned his head and said to the clerk beside him:

"Record this: half a pace outside the south wall of the side room, there is one footprint. It appears to be from a Qin-style hemp shoe, one chi and two cun long. The shoe shows signs of wear and does not look new. The forepart of the sole print has a dense pattern, four cun long; the middle part has a sparse pattern, five cun long; the heel part has a dense pattern, three cun long…"

This left Heifu stunned. During that robbery case in the tenth month, Nu's appraisal of the thief's wounds had already greatly amazed him. And now, this meticulous observation and recording of the footprint before them was already comparable to the footprint analysis of later ages.

But this was only the beginning. What followed would truly show Heifu why the prison officials of Qin, also called 'Scribes,' were known as 'China's earliest forensic investigators'!

After examining and recording the footprint beneath the window, Nu returned to the side room, where the murderer had first struck. He carefully examined the male corpse lying on its back on the bed. Its face was terrified, eyes wide open, not having closed even in death.

Nu did not dwell excessively on the corpse's facial expression and had the clerk continue recording the coroner's report.

"The deceased is a male in his prime. Skin color yellow, body length seven chi and one cun, hair length two chi. Died on the bed in the side room, lying supine, head to the north, feet to the south. There is one blade wound on the back of the hand, four cun long, one cun wide, likely sustained while resisting. The fatal wound is on the throat, along the neck, three cun long, half a cun wide. Both wounds are horizontal, with smooth edges, resembling cuts from a knife. The male corpse suffered massive bleeding from the throat, contaminating the bed, deerskin, back, and floor. No other wounds on the body."

"The male corpse's upper body is unclothed; there are two old moxibustion scars on the abdomen. The lower body wears a single-layer cloth short trouser-skirt, now stained with blood. Beneath the bed are two pairs of Qin-style hemp shoes. Placing the slightly larger pair on the male corpse's feet, they fit perfectly. On the low table beside the bed are several garments, both male and female, among them a wooden sword scabbard. The ground beneath the bed is hard; no traces of the murderer were found."

After this entire procedure, Heifu could not help but be filled with admiration. Nu's autopsy standards and procedural norms formed a 'Sealing and Examination Protocol' no less rigorous than modern forensic appraisal.

The term 'Sealing and Examination Protocol,' in Qin law, refers to different judicial acts and enforcement requirements. 'Sealing' means sealing off; 'Examination' means inspecting and testing; 'Protocol' means judicial standards. Autopsy is part of 'Examination,' and this was precisely the Scribe's duty.

As for later methods of protecting trace evidence at a scene, aside from Heifu roping off the area to prevent outsiders from entering and destroying it, and marking trace evidence with white ash circles, they essentially amount to protecting discovered corpses, bloodstains, handprints, footprints, traces, damaged objects, and tools of the crime by means of recording.

This was exactly what Nu was doing. It was only a pity that Qin had no cameras, nor even paper. The clerk could only hold a wooden tablet in one hand while laboriously recording every word Nu spoke. Because of the limitations of the medium, the language had to be concise, yet extremely precise.

After recording the first corpse, Nu immediately went without pause to the female corpse in the main room.

The lower half of this female corpse was bare. Combined with the man's bare torso, it was not hard to imagine what they were doing when the crime occurred. But one thing at a time. Because she was close to the doorway and the corpse was visible from outside, Heifu had someone cover her with a straw mat.

Nu lifted the straw mat. Beneath a disheveled mass of black hair, a pretty face was revealed, though somewhat contorted in pain.

Heifu silently grumbled to himself: "By village standards, she is indeed quite pretty. No wonder the village gatekeeper was committing adultery with her…"

Nu lifted the mat further down and saw a knife stabbed into her back, driven deep inside…

Just as with the male corpse's appraisal record earlier, Nu precisely described the female corpse's characteristics, the location and shape of the fatal wound, and even examined her hair and checked for bruises on her body! This was to ascertain whether she had been further violated before death.

Watching Nu's actions, which seemed somewhat indecent but were in fact extremely solemn, Heifu suddenly recalled some ancient case-solving dramas he had watched. An official would judge a case, find no obvious abnormalities on the deceased, and seemingly rule out homicide. Then suddenly, someone beside the official would suggest checking the corpse's hair for a nail. Upon checking, one would indeed be found, and the murderer would be smoothly tracked down…

Such a scenario was impossible in Qin. The regulations of the 'Sealing and Examination Protocol' already clearly stated that inside the hair and the perineum were the top priorities during an autopsy!

After finishing the work of examining the corpses and recording, Nu took a cloth, wiped his hands, and suddenly asked Heifu: "In the opinion of Commander Heifu, how did the murderer commit the crime?"

Heifu, having pondered this for a long time, immediately replied: "The murderer likely first opened the side room window and discovered the man and woman inside being intimate. He then seized the opportunity when they were off guard, climbed in through the window, brandished a short knife, and stabbed at the two."

"At that moment, the man was probably on top and the woman below. Hearing the noise, the man turned and used his right arm to block the first knife strike. His blood dripped onto the woman, who then panicked and got off the bed. At this point, the man leaned back and retreated, trying to reach the weapon beside the bed…"

He made this judgment because on the low table before the bed, there was a scabbard, but the sword inside was missing. That was likely the man's weapon, and what was taken might not have been limited to this one item.

"In the end, the murderer slashed horizontally with one knife, cutting the man's throat. Then, the murderer jumped off the bed and chased the woman, who was trying to flee to the main room door. He caught up with her five paces from the door, stabbed her once in the back, and the woman fell to the ground and died…"

"Well said! Exactly as I envisioned, without the slightest difference!"

Nu looked at Heifu with some appreciation and asked him: "Have you studied the Scribe's arts?"

Heifu shook his head: "I come from a common soldier background, of lowly status, and had no opportunity to enter the academy. I do not know what the Scribe's arts are. I merely deduced this based on the corpse characteristics and scene traces recorded by the Scribe."

"Self-taught without a teacher? Remarkable. Even more remarkable is that you thought to use rope to prevent outsiders from entering, and even circled the corpses with white lines. I have been a Scribe for so many years, examined countless corpses, yet how did such a simple thing never occur to me?"

Nu sighed in admiration for a long while, saying that he absolutely must tell the Prison Aide about what he had seen today. Such a good method must become standard practice for the Anlu County Prison Office, and could even be reported up to Nan Commandery and Xianyang.

Next, Nu would collect all the physical evidence and murder weapons here and send them to the county seat. Because the village chief had gone to find the dead woman's husband, the hunter who was currently the primary suspect, and would not return for a while, the two corpses could not remain here long, causing panic. They too would be carried away on wooden planks and sent to the township.

Nu and Heifu were enjoying their discussion on solving the case based on traces, but they were caught off guard when Constable Shu Wu walked in. Seeing Heifu still there, he frowned and said: "Commander Heifu, why haven't you left yet?"

Nu immediately interjected: "Constable, Commander Heifu is merely assisting me in investigating the case."

Shu Wu, however, was quite displeased. He had just been outside with the township commander questioning the villagers about the relationships and enmities of the deceased man and woman while they were alive, and could not get away for a moment. He had not expected this Heifu to seize the opportunity so readily, chatting happily with the Scribe sent from the county, as if he were the official in charge of this matter and Shu Wu himself was merely a pavilion soldier assisting him…

In the previous Blind Mountain case, Shu Wu felt he had handed a merit to Heifu on a platter, with all the glory stolen by Huyang Pavilion. Now this case was not under Heifu's jurisdiction—did he still want to stick his hand in?

Shu Wu was already convinced that this case was definitely the hunter's doing. That man had come home, seen his wife committing adultery with another man, and in a fit of rage killed the adulterous pair before fleeing for his life.

He believed the case was clear and straightforward. All that was needed was to issue a proclamation and search everywhere; capturing the murderer would not be difficult. Such an easy task was best kept for himself to handle; he could not let someone else share the credit again.

Thus, Shu Wu put on a stern face and said: "Commander Heifu, this Willow Village is under the jurisdiction of the Township Pavilion, not your Huyang Pavilion! Since you have already told the Scribe everything you know, there is no need to linger. Return to your pavilion post swiftly! You have no official business here; if you are absent from your post for half a day, that is dereliction of duty!"

The Scribe was only a hundred-dan official, while the Constable's salary was one hundred fifty dan, making him the highest-ranking official present. This case should rightfully be under his charge, and Qin law indeed explicitly prohibited overstepping one's authority.

So although he saw through Shu Wu's intention to drive him away, Heifu did not argue strongly. He cupped his hands toward Nu and said: "If the Scribe has anything he needs to inquire about, feel free to summon me at any time."

With that, he took his leave and walked out.

Outside, the sun was brilliant, sweeping away the deathly gloom of the house. The crowd of onlookers had gradually been dispersed by shouts, leaving only a few witnesses who needed to be questioned.

Heifu skirted around them, preparing to fetch his horse, but as he passed the water ditch by the door, a glance swept over it. He seemed to see something and immediately stopped.

On a blade of grass by the water ditch, there was a smear of blood. Heifu bent down, searched through the grass for a moment, and picked up an object…

"Scribe, come quickly and see—what is this?"

Heifu shouted, and Nu immediately came out, also spotting the object in Heifu's hand.

The item was made of wood, two fingers wide and about three cun long, with some deliberately cut notched grooves on it…

It seemed to have been flung out unintentionally, or perhaps deliberately discarded…

"A thorn tally."

Nu identified it immediately, his expression growing more solemn: "It's a thorn tally used by merchants for trade!"

PS: The autopsy reports in this chapter reference the 'Violent Death' and 'Burglary' chapters of the 'Sealing and Examination Protocol.'

This case is adapted from two real cases: the 'Case of an Unknown Person Stabbing a Woman in the Zui Neighborhood' from the Zhangjiashan Han bamboo slips, and the 'Case of Wei Robbing and Killing An, Yi, and Others' from the Yuelu Academy Qin bamboo slips.

Hm, this is also Commander Hei's final case.

(End of Chapter)