Struggle in the Steam Age

"Let's not talk about the cult." Lawrence put down the slide in his hand and said. "Have you confirmed where my two cousins ​​were taken after they were kidnapped?"

"Should have been taken directly to the village where the cult lived. After all, that village is relatively close to the royal hunting ground, and the place where the two victims were killed was found on the cult altar in that village. So we deduce that the group of people After kidnapping the two victims, he should have brought the two victims directly to this place and killed them."

"But now I have found some evidence that is different from your inference." Lawrence stood up and lifted off the part of the white linen sheet that covered his cousin's body and exposed the hands and feet of the body. Obviously, the wrists and ankles of the two corpses have a circle of purplish-black strangle marks and scrapes.

"Obviously, these marks were caused by struggle," Lawrence said. "This also shows that my two cousins ​​were conscious for a long time after they were kidnapped. At the same time, they were also trying to break free from the state of being kidnapped."

"This is normal. It is human nature to struggle desperately after being kidnapped." The coroner went on to introduce, "In the case of offering sacrifices to purgatory creatures like this, the sacrifices are generally not left in a coma. Because those Demons love the fear and rage of their victims before they die."

"I'm not surprised that they were killed while awake, because I still have some understanding of this cult sacrificial ceremony." Lawrence said, using tweezers to grab a stick that looked only 1cm from the gap in the sole of the shoe. Most of the golden silk threads of left and right lengths were stained with mud. "I'm saying that their struggles have them putting on their clothing something from the environment they're exposed to. And that can give us valuable clues that we haven't seen before."

"Are you saying that you found clues in half an hour that we hadn't found for a long time?" The coroner showed a little dissatisfaction on his face, but he quickly shifted his attention to On the tweezers in Lawrence's hand. "What's that thing you're holding, some kind of wire?"

"No, it looks more like some kind of silk fabric from Cathay." Lawrence said as he took out a brass-rimmed magnifying glass and fixed it on his left eye, and then used a cotton swab and alcohol to wash off this small part The soil on the silk thread, and soon, a golden silk thread appeared in Lawrence's sight.

"My God, this is twisted gold thread. How did it appear here?" Lawrence exclaimed softly after checking it with tweezers and probes. Because Lawrence's last proper noun was in Cathaan, the coroner next to him repeated the word with his tongue open after hearing it, and then asked: "Golden thread, what is that?"

"That's a top-quality silk fabric from Cathay." Lawrence said, staring at the silk thread on the table. Through the magnifying glass on his eyes, he could clearly see that the golden thread was not a whole silk thread at all. Instead, it is divided into two layers, inside and outside, like a wire. The inside is a core composed of fine filaments, and the outside is made of gold foil cut into filaments and then wound in an S shape on the core.

If he hadn't traveled to the Xinzhou Republic, which was transformed into a Cathay colony this time, he wouldn't have recognized this kind of thing at all. When he was shopping, he saw gorgeous clothes made of this silk thread in a luxury store, and even wanted to buy one for Safir. But after seeing that a handkerchief cost more than 30 yuan, Safiel resolutely declined Lawrence's kindness.

"Top textiles?" The coroner thought for a while and said, "Could it be something made at home? After all, your home is the Earl's Mansion, maybe—"

"First of all, my family is not in the Earl's Mansion in the small town of the White Eagle Federation." Lawrence shrugged, "And our family's mansion, whether it is Sauer's hometown or the residence in the capital, does not have a dressing room. The habit of laying carpets outside, let alone such top-quality goods."

Looking at the other party still a little confused, Lawrence then explained further. "My two cousins ​​who died were wearing hunting suits. These clothes will be placed in a dressing room alone and will not be taken into other rooms. And the hunting suits will be removed after each use. The servants cleaned it up, at least such a long golden thread could not have been left on the shoe."

"That is to say, these golden silk threads were indeed glued to the soles of the shoes before the death of the two deceased." The coroner also reacted immediately. "Because according to our investigation, they went straight to the hunting ground after going out, and didn't stop anywhere in the middle."

"You're right, so I think that after they were kidnapped, they must not have been kidnapped directly to that small village. At least according to the conjectures you provided, it can't explain why this part of some top luxury fabric will be appear on the soles of the dead."

"Please wait a moment." Hearing what Lawrence said, the coroner immediately interrupted him. "It's really important that you found this clue now. I need to notify the people in charge of this case."

After speaking, the coroner quickly ran out the door, and Lawrence took this opportunity to release the identification technique on the golden thread on his hand. Sure enough, the results of the identification told him that this silk thread was indeed a twisted gold thread imported from Sinian, and it should have come from a carpet.

Just ten minutes after Lawrence finished casting the spell, the door of the examination room was opened. A few serious-looking royal internal affairs policemen, two priests of the God of War walked in together with the judge who had sent Lawrence over earlier. Then he asked Lawrence about his previous discovery.

Lawrence truthfully explained his findings, and pretended that he had seen such things in the New Island Republic before as an excuse to inform that this golden silk thread should come from a carpet imported from Cathay.

After listening to Lawrence's words, these investigators found a treasure, and soon an old man with a white beard took out a pendulum. And lightly hung the twisted gold thread that Lawrence had found before on the pendulum, and then began to mutter words. As a Bai Ze Warlock, Lawrence could feel that the man opposite him was casting some kind of prophecy spell.

However, when the spell was cast for most of the time, the old man's spell casting was suddenly interrupted, and his face turned pale suddenly, looking a little ugly. And that small thread suddenly ignited spontaneously.

It seemed that the casting of the spell had failed, but there was not much frustration on the faces of everyone present. Then they let Lawrence continue to look for more clues of this kind, and they simply discussed the case here. Listening to their discussion, Lawrence learned that this case has become one of the most important cases in the capital and even in the entire empire.

After all, this is the empire, and the successive mysterious deaths of the two nobles have become a serious provocation to the cornerstone of the empire. Therefore, the eagerness of the nobles who control the power of the empire to find out the news behind the incident has become a very important thing.

After further investigation, Lawrence found a small piece of vermilion dyed leather under the nails of one of his cousins. After taking this piece of dyed leather out for inspection for half an hour, they learned from the paint on it that this piece of leather should be used for some kind of high-end vehicle seat.

"Thank you, thanks for your help. The scope of our investigation this time has been greatly narrowed." After Lawrence checked all the evidence and the corpse and found no more clues and ended the inspection, the investigation team The leader thanked Lawrence. "Don't worry, we will find your uncle's murderer soon."

"I trust you." Lawrence nodded in response, and then returned to the city in a carriage with the judge who had accompanied him here before. It's just different from the smooth journey just now, this time their carriage was blocked at the gate of the city.

After waiting for a few minutes, the carriage was finally able to move forward slowly. When passing through the city gate, Lawrence saw through the car window many people in gold and black uniforms mingling with the guards of the city gate, while more policemen in dark blue clothes and soldiers in gray and blue clothes People in gold and black uniforms kept coming to drive people off the road so that the gates of the city could be reopened.

"What happened?" Lawrence asked a little uneasily as he watched the group of hundreds of people fighting. It seemed unbelievable to him to fight in a ball at the gate of the capital.

"It's not because of the recent military reform." The judge sitting opposite Lawrence knew this matter very well because he was a local. "The emperor hoped to be able to take charge of the defense of the capital by mobilizing the newly formed internal guards that were completely loyal to the royal family on the front lines, and then replace the imperial guards in the capital to the front lines. The nobles who regard the army as a good place to get promoted and earn money are definitely not willing to do this."

"So since the news came from the cabinet half a year ago, these guards have been making trouble almost every week. Those of us in Wendobona are getting tired of watching it. And when they fight, they will always take advantage of the chaos. What is it, I really hope that the emperor can quickly solve all these things."

Lawrence just shrugged his shoulders as he listened to the judge's chatter. Anyway, he only stayed here for a short period of time. As long as nothing happens here before he leaves.

He wasn't native to him anyway. There is no interest relationship in the local area, and it is impossible to tell who is right and who is wrong between the two parties in the conflict. So he only needs to care about the part that concerns him.