There is a god in the sky

Chapter 230 The Mummified Corpse Case 23

Sun Wei's death ended with him committing suicide by poisoning.

The Sun family didn't even receive the child's remains; the government only provided a jar of ashes.

But no matter how sad or angry they were, it was all in vain. After all, their son was a murderer, and the Qian and Gao families were the ones who suffered the most.

In the end, the Sun family paid a large sum of money to both families, and the case came to an end.

Xiao Ji spent the entire day checking the roster.

Fifteen years ago, he looked through every single list of people who had been reported missing by the government.

By comparing the characteristics of each mummified body recorded in the case file at the time, they hoped to find one or two deceased individuals whose identities could be confirmed.

According to Shen Lan, although the body had become a mummified corpse, it was still possible to tell whether it was male or female.

In addition to her calculations of the shrinkage rate of the corpse after processing, she could roughly estimate the deceased's height, weight, and build before death.

Xiao Ji immediately identified several names that were suspected to be the deceased and led the officials to visit them one by one.

Unfortunately, too much time has passed, and some families have either moved away or are no longer around. In the end, only one family could be found.

When asked about his wife who disappeared years ago, the homeowner appeared dazed.

"You're talking about Chunniang? It's been over ten years, and people still remember her..."

Seeing that his hair was gray and his age did not match the record, Xiao Ji asked, "Are you Wang Dazhu?"

"Yes, my name is Wang Dazhu. Chunniang is my first wife. She has been missing for fifteen years and seven months. At first, the neighbors all said that she ran away with someone else."

At the time, I didn't believe it, so I reported it to the authorities, but they couldn't find it either. Over the years, I've given up hope.

Wang Dazhu has difficulty walking in one leg and uses a cane.

He looked at the official who had come to question him and asked, puzzled, "Why are you looking for her, sir? Has the government found her?"

After more than a decade, Wang Dazhu had given up all hope. Even if Chunniang were standing in front of him now, he felt more hatred than anything else.

Xiao Ji shook his head. "I want to know some things. Think carefully, during the last few days after she disappeared, did she go to Vulture Peak Mountain outside the city?"

“Jiufeng Mountain is a place that people from our area often go to. Many people go up the mountain to chop wood and hunt. I remember that Chunniang liked to eat the fragrant pears from that mountain. As for whether she went there before she disappeared, I can’t remember.”

Seeing that he hadn't found the person, Wang Dazhu didn't want to say anything more and went into the house leaning on his cane.

It's clear that he hasn't been living a good life these past few years.

Xiao Ji then asked Chunniang about her height and figure. Wang Dazhu also remembered that his wife had a rather large mole behind her ear.

"Since you are asking such detailed questions, you must know the whereabouts of Chunniang. If she is dead, that's fine, but if she is still alive, I will not acknowledge her."

Xiao Ji looked at him with a deep gaze, "What if I die?"

Wang Dazhu revealed a relieved expression, "She's dead... I'll bring her back for a proper burial and give her a grand funeral."

Xiao Ji returned to the yamen and informed Sui Feng, "Tell Miss Shen to prepare, we will be exhuming the body tomorrow."

The eight bodies were buried by the government back then, in a desolate mountain outside the city.

As Sui Feng went out, he bumped into Magistrate Xu, who looked exhausted.

Magistrate Xu frowned and asked, "I just heard 'excavate the coffin for autopsy.' Whose coffin should we open?"

Xiao Ji stepped forward and replied, "It's the mummified corpse case from fifteen years ago. Coincidentally, Sun Wei has confessed to some things this time, so I thought I would follow the clues to investigate the case from back then."

"The mummified corpse case? Fifteen years ago..." Magistrate Xu was a veteran official of the Criminal Investigation Department; fifteen years ago, he was just a junior clerk.

“I remember that the case was closed back then.”

Xiao Ji also had to thank Xu Yingwen. If Xu Yingwen hadn't shown him the dusty unsolved case from the corner, he might not have been able to find this file.

"The case file is still there, so it can't be considered closed; it's just that nobody's paying attention to it anymore."

"You want to reopen this case? Fifteen years have passed, things have changed, it's hard to say whether the real killer is still alive, or do you already know who the killer is?"

"do not know."

Magistrate Xu did not believe it.

If the real culprit is unknown, what is the point of reopening the case for retrial at this point?

He suspected that Xiao Ji wanted to use this case to gain merit.

“Brother Xiao, to be honest, the case at hand is more important than this old case. Minister Tong has given his word that whoever finds the murderer, the Tong family can grant him one request.”

Xiao Ji quickly waved his hand, "I'm sorry, I really have no clue about that case, and each case should be handled separately. It's not appropriate to change people midway."

Magistrate Xu knew perfectly well that this was just an excuse.

But since his superiors hadn't forced him to change, he couldn't very well just dump the case on Xiao Ji.

He said sourly, "Brother Xiao, you're investigating cases way too fast. I'm at my wit's end, but you've already caught the murderer. Sigh..."

People are more infuriating than people.

After politely seeing the person off, Xiao Ji changed into casual clothes, took the files, and went out.

He hired a carriage at the end of the street, drove around the city for a while, bought some food, and then had the driver drive him out of the city.

Xiao Ji owns many businesses.

Some of it was given to him by his family since he was a child, and some he has accumulated over the years.

He owned an estate in the suburbs of Beijing, which was part of his mother's dowry.

When they arrived at the intersection outside the village, Xiao Ji got out of the car, paid the fare, and then walked for a while.

He only knocked on the gate of the villa after confirming that no one was following him.

"Young Master, you've arrived." The head of the estate had been waiting for a long time, and when he saw the young master arrive, he couldn't stop smiling.

"How is Uncle Wang's health?"

"Good, good, everything's fine." Uncle Wang was Madam Xiao's maidservant, managing her shop for half her life before retiring to the estate in his old age.

Most of the people living in this village are like that.

Therefore, Xiao Ji dared to hide Sun Wei here.

"Where is the person who delivered it the other day?"

"They're locked up in the back mountain, and Xiaoying watches over them personally all day long. They definitely won't escape."

Xiao Ji didn't need him to lead the way and went to the back mountain on his own.

A cave has been dug here, originally used by the mountain villa to store food for the winter. Now, there is an iron cell inside, where Sun Wei, who was moved out by Xiao Ji, is imprisoned.

Sun Wei's voice has become hoarse from shouting these past few days.

However, Suiying completely ignored him and never spoke a word to him except for two meals a day.

Upon seeing Xiao Ji enter, Sun Wei angrily shouted, "A scion of a prestigious family and a government official, how dare you harbor people? What are your intentions?"

Xiao Ji walked to the iron cage and stood there, looking at him with pity.

"Do you know that on the night you were taken out of prison, the death row inmate who replaced you was poisoned?"

"What?" Sun Wei was shocked.

He shouted, "Impossible? Who would kill me? All my enemies are ordinary people. How could they possibly have the opportunity to enter the Provincial Judicial Office prison and kill someone?"

He slapped his head hard, then suddenly realized: "It was you! You framed me for Liu Xianyang's death. Was it Minister Liu who did it?"

"Think about it carefully, does the Liu family really have that much power?"