diskusbooks Chapter 66 There is only one truth
Chapter 66 There is only one truth
"If you dare to place me under house arrest, I will definitely impeach you."
Prefect Jing was furious. He had been an official his whole life and had never been treated like this before.
"Your Excellency, Lord Yu was with you last night and has now died here under mysterious circumstances. It is reasonable and legal for me to place him under house arrest, since you are also officials of the imperial court. Therefore, I am only placing you under house arrest and not throwing you into prison, which is already giving you face."
"Then why isn't **An under house arrest?"
"Because I trust Lord Chen."
Zhou Wu's words left Prefect Jing speechless. Prefect Jing's perception of Zhou Wu was once again completely changed; did the Great Dragon Kingdom really have such a resolute fighter?
. . . . .
"Zhou Wu, you're confused! How could you put them under house arrest?"
An was heartbroken; Zhou Wu had really messed up this time.
"Lord Chen, you described the situation at the time. If I hadn't resorted to this drastic measure, what else could I have done?"
"But you can't do that."
Indeed, if he were Zhou Wu, he wouldn't have had a choice either. Although he understands, An is still very worried about what will happen next.
"Instead of worrying about these things, you should hurry up and find out the truth of the case and clear my name."
"Eh~~"
Now that things have come to this, An can only let things take their course; finding the murderer is the most important thing.
Was anyone on duty here last night?
"The prefect and his entourage are staying here, so naturally there are people on duty."
"Then separate them and question them to see if anyone came in or went out last night."
"it is good."
In his previous life, Zhou Wu had watched quite a few crime-solving TV dramas, especially TUB's "The Cleaner's Record," and he believed he had some experience in investigating cases.
. . . .
"We have questioned each of the yamen runners who were on duty last night, and they all said that no one went in or out last night."
"So, does that mean the murderer is among these people?"
"But they are all officials from Jinshan Prefecture; it's impossible for them to harbor such deep hatred towards each other."
Magistrate Chen's words made some sense. If it really was an inside job, there was no need to choose to do it here, as the chances of being exposed were too high.
"Now all we can do is interrogate these gentlemen."
Although An had already accepted Zhou Wu's decision to place the prefect and his entourage under house arrest, he was still somewhat apprehensive about the interrogation.
"You don't need to say anything later, I'll ask."
Zhou Wu naturally saw An's concerns, so he offered to conduct the interrogation himself, while An could simply stand by and witness.
"Your Excellency, did you hear any unusual sounds last night?"
"Zhou Wu, you actually dare to interrogate me?"
Prefect Jing was furious, feeling that he had been greatly insulted.
"Lord Jing, I am only doing my duty, please cooperate with me."
"I'll definitely report you when I get out of here."
"Resisting will do you no good. Just tell the truth."
"Confess your sister! Just now you were only asking if I heard any noise, and now you want me to confess? Are you about to finalize the case? And I'm the scapegoat?" Zhou Wu's reading was so outrageous that Prefect Jing was too scared to argue back.
"No."
"That's good. You see, we need to cooperate so we can find the culprit sooner and clear the person's name, right?"
"Then I should thank you?"
"No need for thanks, sir. It's all my duty."
Prefect Jing swore to Buddha that he had never seen such a shameless person in his life.
Next, Zhou Wu and Magistrate Chen interrogated the others one by one, and they all said that they had not heard any unusual sounds last night.
"I've asked around, but haven't found a single clue. Sigh..."
An was getting anxious. If they could find the murderer quickly, there was still a chance to salvage Zhou Wu's decision to place the prefect under house arrest. The longer they delayed, the worse it would be for Zhou Wu.
Just when the two were at a loss, Zhou Wu suddenly thought of someone.
"Did Peng Zhenguo stay here last night, or did he arrive this morning?"
"Logically, he should be living at home."
"Bring here the constables who were on duty last night."
Upon hearing Zhou Wu mention Peng Zhenguo and summon the yamen runners who were on duty last night, An guessed what was going on. Although he had always been at odds with Peng Zhenguo, he did not believe that Peng Zhenguo would have the audacity to kill a prefectural official.
"Did Magistrate Peng come by last night?"
Zhou Wu went straight to the point.
"came."
"Then why didn't you say so earlier?"
"This Magistrate Peng is here on night patrol. Besides, since you're here to check for any unusual situations or outsiders coming and going, Magistrate Peng isn't an outsider, is he?"
Good heavens, as expected, the yamen runner's words left An and Zhou Wu speechless, and they even felt that the other party had some merit.
"How late last night did he arrive?"
Around the hour of Chou (1-3 AM).
When did you leave?
"Lord Peng didn't stay long, probably less than half an hour."
Was there anything unusual during his visit?
"There's really nothing unusual about this."
After several constables tried to recall, they all shook their heads, indicating that there was nothing unusual. However, at this moment, another voice rang out.
"My lord, I noticed that Lord Peng seemed perfectly normal when he arrived, but he appeared somewhat flustered when he left."
"Xiao Liu, now that you mention it, I also noticed that Lord Peng seemed a bit flustered when he left. I called him, but he didn't respond."
That's settled. Although there are no direct leads, in An and Zhou Wu's minds, Peng Zhenguo has become the prime suspect.
"Okay, you go down first."
"It's an adult."
These constables cannot leave until the case is thoroughly investigated; for now, they can only go back to their rooms to rest.
“I know what you’re trying to say, but that doesn’t prove that Peng Zhenguo is the murderer.”
Looking at Zhou Wu's excited expression, An knew what the other was thinking. To be honest, he also had some suspicions about Peng Zhenguo, but so far, there was no direct evidence, and everything was just speculation.
"I know that I have always been a fair and honest person."
An rolled her eyes, looking like she'd never believe it.
"Let's go check out Yu Hou's room."
Yu Hou's body had already been moved to another room, and by now it was probably in a state of disrepair, likely disturbed by the coroner.
"What are you looking for."
As soon as he entered the house, Zhou Wu lay down on the ground and searched every inch of the house with the hunting dogs.
"I'm looking for clues."
This was the first time An had ever seen someone crawling on the ground looking for clues, and she didn't understand what clues they could find.
"Hey, I found it."
Zhou Wu let out a lewd laugh.
"What did you find?"
An frowned. He thought Zhou Wu was joking. After all, what clues could there be on the ground?
“Look, there are shoe prints here.”
What can a shoe print prove?
"Someone come here!"
"promise."
"Go and invite all the gentlemen over."
An is getting more and more confused. What's going on? Are they about to reveal the answer? You should at least give me a heads-up first. Aren't we still best buddies, uh, teammates?