He thought to himself that the county magistrate was indeed no fool.
He and his wife had already become aware of the killer's subtle clues; however, if he were to investigate on his own, he might inadvertently alert the culprit. The sudden order from the magistrate to conduct the investigation was likely to flush out the killer with ease.
Soon, the gathered villagers were dismissed, and a total of ten people were taken to Hua Lizheng's family.
In the Hua family's main hall, the best chairs were arranged along with a tea table at the side, which bore several plates of cakes and snacks.
After Chief Wang and Hua Changxu, in collaboration with a few government officials, brought the people over, Chief Wang reported to Zheng Dejun, "Adult, ten people with injuries on their arms are here, two females and eight males."
Zheng Dejun gave a signal to the post-mortem examiner, who stepped forward to inspect each person's injuries and then let seven go.
