Chapter 203: Dignity
With so many nobles present, how could they be intimidated by just one sentence from Yang Ming?
Immediately, someone started shouting, "Whose child is this? How can he be so uneducated? He sits there with his legs crossed while talking to his elders."
Yang Ming leaned back and sat more steadily.
There were a few more questions coming from all around.
But soon, an old man from the Saka family asked in a deep voice: "Xiaohui, do you know who the murderer is?"
"Yes," Yang Ming said calmly, "but I can't tell you now. A local police officer must be present."
"Why does the presence of a police officer have to be necessary? Just tell us and we'll take care of the rest."
"No one dares to retaliate against you."
"We all know your identity," said an old man, "Although nephew Godoy does not have much ambition, our respect for the bloodline of the main family has never changed."
Viscount Godoy Saka's square face with loose skin turned red.
He almost retorted.
Yang Ming said seriously:
“It has nothing to do with other people, it is my personal insistence that a police officer must be present.
“The Imperial Code clearly stipulates that nobles cannot carry out lynching, nor can they replace the judiciary under any name or circumstances.
"Please be careful when dealing with murder cases like this. Commoners like me love to see nobles get humiliated. Please treat this with caution."
The expressions of the surrounding imperial nobles became varied.
An old man said, "In that case, please ask the officer waiting outside to enter the hotel."
Immediately, a middle-aged man walked away quickly.
Yang Ming continued to sit there with his legs crossed, looking quite natural, but with a hint of nervousness underneath.
Godoy came close to Yang Ming, put his hands behind his back, lowered his body, and asked in a low voice: "Have you really found the murderer?"
"Yeah," Yang Ming responded calmly, "I think I found it."
Godoy's legs went weak and he almost couldn't stand.
Big, probably?
Can this thing be approximated?
However, it's just embarrassing at most, and it's no big deal for young people to make mistakes.
There were dull footsteps coming from the lobby on the first floor.
Yang Ming put down his crossed legs, stood up and stood beside Godoy, and together they looked towards the hall outside the meeting room.
A black bear just appeared in Yang Ming's eyes.
This is a middle-aged man who is nearly two meters tall. He is covered with muscular muscles. His large police uniform is filled to the brim. His face resembles a chimpanzee, and his rough beard seems to have not been groomed for a long time.
The police officer had very sharp eyes. He stood at the door of the conference room and glanced inside. Most people present did not dare to make eye contact with him.
He frowned and asked, "I don't really like the way you nobles act. Criminal cases should be left to us! Where is the murder scene?"
"Mr. Police Officer," an old man said calmly, "You are facing the Saka family. Please remain humble and polite."
The corners of Officer Black Bear's mouth twitched slightly, and then he forced an ugly smile and said in a muffled voice:
"What do you need from me, a junior police officer?
"Would you like me to witness how you destroy the murder scene, or listen to you read out the privileges of the nobility?
"When I was waiting at the door for half the galaxy, were you trying to give the murderer a chance to escape punishment?"
Several young men glared at Officer Black Bear.
Yang Ming suddenly said, "Believe me, officer. These are a group of imperial nobles who cherish their reputation and have noble character. They cannot tolerate a blow to their family's reputation, and they cannot tolerate criminals going unpunished. It will not do you any good to have a bad relationship with them."
Officer Black Bear shrugged and said calmly, "None of this matters to me. I'm just here to do my job. Where is the murder scene? I haven't handled a case like this for more than a month."
"I have found the murderer. I am letting you in to be a witness."
Yang Ming took the initiative to step forward and made a gesture of invitation:
“This way, I’ll take the officer to the scene first.
"If my judgment differs greatly from the police officer's, it is equally unconvincing."
"Well," the police officer nodded, looked at Yang Ming for a few times, and felt that this was just a student with little personal fighting ability, "What's your name?"
"My name is Hui," Yang Ming said with a smile, "Hui means glorious."
"I'm the deputy chief of the local police station. You can call me Mog."
"Come with me, Sheriff Merg," Yang Ming walked calmly in front. Deputy Sheriff Merg glanced at the group of people in the house, lowered his head and followed.
Godoy hesitated for two seconds, then quickly chased after him: "I'll go and take a look! Don't make any trouble."
"Let's go too," an old man whispered, "If this young man who calls himself glorious is just trying to get praise, we should also consider how to maintain the dignity of our family."
The crowd in the conference room rushed outside and quickly followed.
The murder scene was in the lounge on the second floor.
Sheriff Murger saw the mess in front of him and cursed in a low voice: "How many people have entered this lounge?"
"At least ten," Yang Ming said softly.
Merge shook his head, opened his coat with skillful movements, took out two metal discs with a diameter of more than ten centimeters, carefully activated the two tools, and let them fly into the room.
They cast rays of light, data-modeling the entire room.
Yang Ming leaned against the door frame with his arms folded, strings of data flashing across his glasses.
——Law has already sent over who the murderer is and the simulation of the crime process.
"Sheriff Murg, I already have the answer," Yang Ming said confidently.
"Hmm?" Mog frowned and looked at Yang Ming, "What's the answer?"
"About who the murderer is."
"Oh?" Murger frowned and said, "This is not the mystery game in your university club, nor is it the mystery novels you read. With modern crime-solving tools, those legendary novels are no longer of any value. The police rely on details and evidence to solve cases!"
Yang Ming smiled confidently and said, "Don't you want to listen? Maybe it can help you reduce some of your workload. Besides, I'm in a difficult situation now. Everyone is watching me."
"Now you can tell me your wonderful reasoning, if you insist."
Murg said in a muffled voice:
"Right now, data from the crime scene has begun to be uploaded to the police network. When we received the alarm, we called up the information from the surveillance network. The suspect has been initially identified, and our team has begun to collect various details. It will take about ten minutes to produce preliminary results."
Yang Ming asked: "Will you directly hand over to the Noble Court?"
"Yes, but in cases like this, we also have to have backup."
Yang Ming nodded thoughtfully.
If that was the case, he wouldn't have had to come forward before.
I underestimated the police's methods.
However, now that things have come to this, Yang Ming can only bite the bullet and go ahead. It would be best if this small problem could be resolved smoothly before the arrival of the Noble Court.
It's just the death of a baron, which is really not a big deal.
"When I first saw this murder scene, I was a little confused. Sheriff, look at these two wounds."
Sheriff Merger frowned as he looked at the body and took a few steps around the edge of the field.
Yang Ming said: "One is a gunshot wound, and the other is a chest wound. In your opinion, which order did these two wounds appear first?"
Sheriff Murger said, "First the chest, then the skull, if you judge intuitively."
"That's what I thought at first," Yang Ming said. "Indeed, it's quite logical. The murderer had an argument with the victim, first seriously injured the victim and then shot him, causing brain death."
Sheriff Merger nodded: "Are there any other possibilities?"
Yang Ming said: "Yes, we will talk about this later. This is also a flaw that the murderer accidentally revealed."
"I don't really like communicating with people like you," Sheriff Murger whispered, "Just speak your mind. There's no need to show off. I've handled more cases over the years than you've read any books!"
"I'm not showing off, but I just can't find the logical fulcrum right now," Yang Ming said with a smile, "I also want to explain this from the amount of blood on the ground and the micro-expressions of the deceased, but I don't have that much biological knowledge."
"Then come on, don't waste time," Merge made a gesture of invitation and took two steps back.
Yang Ming nodded, already having a draft of his speech in his mind.
"The state of the deceased can explain a lot," Yang Ming said. "His expression was terrified. Looking at the penetrating wound on the skull, the burn marks on the front are more obvious, and the wound on the back of the head is smaller in diameter, indicating that he was shot from the front. The mark on the wall also proves this."
Merger nodded slightly.
Anyone who is not blind can see this.
"But that doesn't mean he was shot first and then stabbed," Merger said. "He could have been shot while he was injured and struggling."
"It is possible. We will discuss this issue later."
Yang Ming continued:
"The deceased was wearing a dress with all buttons on the front of the dress open except for the bottom one, and the belt was also loose, which showed that she was attacked while taking off her clothes.
"He said he was coming up to take a break and had a short teleconference to attend.
"This raises two questions: did the murderer shoot from outside the door or from inside the door?
“If the shooting took place from inside the door, then the deceased and the murderer must have been very familiar with each other, at least close enough to take off clothes in front of each other.
"If the shooting took place outside the door, then we can narrow the search scope by determining who has the authority to open the door. The doors of the lounge are equipped with fingerprint recognition to open and close the door and automatically lock. The door lock is now functioning normally and there is no sign of intrusion."
Uh, that’s enough. I can’t confirm whether the door lock has been hacked.
In order to avoid being asked about the details, Yang Ming continued:
"There are surveillance cameras in the corridors. They can serve as direct evidence. Did anyone fire a gun outside the door, Sheriff?"
"It was a gunshot indoors," Sheriff Merger said slowly. "In fact, the surveillance data we retrieved showed that within half an hour before the incident, only the deceased entered this lounge. This lounge itself is not exclusive to the deceased, but is open to all guests attending the conference. As long as there is no one inside, they can enter."
Yang Ming asked: "What about half an hour ahead?"
Sheriff Murger replied: "Seven people have used the lounge tonight. They all have alibis at the time of the crime. The deceased was the eighth user of this lounge."
"Hasn't the surveillance video been tampered with?"
"The surveillance networks of public facilities such as hotels are all connected to our police station's servers. We directly call the police server data," Sheriff Merger said slowly, "If the other party can modify our police server data, it means that this is not a murderer we can deal with, but I can guarantee that the server is intact."
"Then it's clear at a glance. This lounge has no windows, and the public surveillance video is connected to the police server, so the possibility of being tampered with is low," Yang Ming said with a smile, "The murderer can only be lurking in here all the time."
Sheriff Merger said in a deep voice: "Why can't the murderer be the first person to discover the body?"
"Which waitress is the police currently suspecting?"
"Yes," Sheriff Murger said, "She had no reason to open the room at that time. She was in the house for half a minute and had every opportunity to shoot."
Yang Ming said: "But she didn't have the opportunity to create a wound on the victim's chest."
Sheriff Merger looked serious: "You are assuming that the shooting happened first and the stabbing happened later. You need to find evidence to support your judgment."
"I have the evidence, it's right there at the scene, but it can be explained with just one hypothesis."
Yang Ming tapped the frame of his glasses with his fingers, and the lenses of the glasses were slightly reflective:
"If it was the waitress who stabbed the deceased first and then shot her as she struggled, then the period from when she fell to when she screamed and attracted our attention was only a minute and twenty seconds.
"When we found the deceased, the blood on the ground had already clearly coagulated. Under room temperature conditions, it takes two and a half to five minutes for blood out of the body to start coagulating.
"The blood most likely flowed out before she entered the room."
Sheriff Merger frowned slightly: "My team is still analyzing it, and these details will be verified soon."
Yang Ming suddenly asked: "Sheriff, where is the network access terminal of the deceased?"
Sheriff Murger glanced around, raised his eyebrows slightly, took out his police terminal, opened the stereoscopic projection map, scanned it quickly, and said in a deep voice: "It's not here."
"Yes," Yang Ming said, "This is the key to this case. The network access terminal did not leave the hotel at this time. The waitress entered the room just to take away the network access terminal."
Yang Ming turned his head and looked at the corner behind the crowd, his eyes fell on the pale-faced young waitress.
"Sir, you may search her now."
Sheriff Merger hesitated, lowered his head and walked over, holding a button-sized instrument in his hand, and opened a pair of magnetic shackles.
The crowd parted to the left and right.
The waitress's legs went limp and she sat on the ground. "No, it's not me. I'm not the murderer, officer... I really am not!"
"Please follow me back to the police station to assist in the investigation," Chief Inspector Merger whispered.
Many nobles around breathed a sigh of relief.
This sounds much better than the same family killing each other.
At least the noble honor was preserved.
"She's not the murderer, Sheriff."
Yang Ming said:
"She just took the network access terminal. If I'm not mistaken, the network access terminal contained the chat records between the waitress and the deceased. That's what she wanted to take away.
"Madam, if you don't want to be considered a murderer and bear the death penalty for assassinating a nobleman, hand over the deceased's network access terminal and tell the truth about what you did.
"Fraud is much less serious than murder."
The waitress's hands were shaking slightly as she took out a pocket watch-shaped glass object from her bra. It was the deceased's network access terminal, and there was a trace of blood on it.
The crowd around suddenly became agitated.
The waitress trembled and said, "I just took his money and opened the lounge at this time... I don't know anything else. Really, I know nothing, Sheriff!"
Sheriff Merger frowned and looked at Yang Ming.
Yang Ming calculated in his heart that no one would ask him to produce evidence to prove it now.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to directly get out the information given by Lu.
"I actually like to observe the environment and people around me," Yang Ming said with a smile, "Tonight's party was a great experience for me. I observed many aristocratic families with ancient heritage up close."
A group of people held their heads high and their chests puffed out.
Yang Ming sighed and continued:
"But the aristocracy does not mean absolute wealth. For example, this party was funded by the three elders. The funds were somewhat insufficient, so the food and drinks were very ordinary. They just looked more luxurious."
The three old nobles had uncertain expressions.
Yang Ming continued, "There are also some guests who came out. Their clothes all exude the flavor of a long time. Of course, this is a good historical accumulation."
"Get to the point," Chief Sheriff Murger frowned.
Yang Ming said: "I just searched the Internet for some news about the deceased. I found three reports of the baron being stabbed, but they were all in very remote areas... I think this may be a way to make a profit."
"profit?"
“Insurance fraud.”
Sheriff Murger's eyes narrowed.
The crowd around them suddenly became more chaotic.
Sheriff Merger said, "Do you have any evidence?"
"The evidence is in your police hands. We can just transfer a few files across regions later."
Yang Ming said quickly:
"Listen, I'm getting to the point.
“The deceased’s plan was to forge a case of intentional injury so that he could get the valuable accident insurance compensation bill.
“The waitress was his temporary partner. Her role was to open the room at the right time, scream, call the police and send the patient to the hospital to save the deceased.
“For this plan, there must be someone who inflicts harm, and this person is the real murderer.
"I used a very simple method to find out the real insurance fraud partner of the deceased. He also had several records of 'noble stabbings', and the time of the stabbings of the deceased just happened to be staggered."
Yang Ming said calmly:
"Everyone, open the Empire Global Browser and search for keywords such as Saka, stabbing, assassination, and serious injury sent to the doctor. Wait patiently for two minutes and the search engine will give you the answer."
In the crowd, a middle-aged man slowly took two steps back, then turned around and walked away quickly.
Sheriff Merg frowned, climbed over the railing and jumped straight to the first floor, pulled out his laser pistol and quickly approached the target.
Seeing this, Yang Ming curled his lips slightly, looked at the nobles in front of him with complicated expressions and empty eyes, and said slowly:
"Is it really that important to maintain respectability? We should go back, Uncle Godoy."
"Yes," Viscount Godoy Saka walked up with his hands behind his back, "otherwise we will miss the last intercity express. Goodbye, my dear family."
He took off his hat and saluted, his manner was dignified and elegant.
On the way back.
"Hui, why do you keep staring at the back of my neck?"
"I wonder how resistant you are to anesthesia."
"Anesthetic? What do you mean?"
