Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 39 Autopsy Report

   Lieutenant Colonel Field, who had vomited up all his bile, was obviously not in the mood to go back to the Army Headquarters. Lieutenant Colonel could smell a peculiar smell all over his body now, and he just wanted to go home and wash it.

  He led his dark horse and instructed Winters as he walked: "Take these two files back to the gendarmerie, let Moluc file them, and let him transcribe two more copies."

Walking back to the rammed earth road from the roadside drainage ditch, the lieutenant colonel turned on his horse, looked at Winters, who was just as miserable as him, and said in a hoarse voice: "You are very good today, and you didn't embarrass the army. Send the file to you. After giving it to Moluc, you can also go home directly, wash well, and sleep well, today is really hard enough."

   After that, Field clamped his legs on the horse's belly, swung his whip, and galloped away, it seemed that he went straight home.

  Although as a pragmatist, Winters deeply felt that there was no point in earning face in such a ruthless way. But being praised verbally by his boss made him a little happy.

Warrant Lieutenant Montagne, a newcomer with a relatively low threshold for the time being, checked the two files in his saddlebag, and after confirming that they were all complete, he also mounted his horse and headed straight for the Army Headquarters.

   returned the horse, returned to the gendarmerie, and handed the file to Moluc, the blond scribe, but Winters did not go home directly. While Moluc buried his head in copying the dossier, he took the autopsy report and sat on the bench to read it carefully.

  Although Winters didn't know the specifics, he judged from the words of the customs officer, Lope, that the task of investigating this dock assassination case had obviously been handed over to Lieutenant Colonel Field.

   If this is the case, even if the lieutenant colonel does not speak, he thinks that he should try to understand the relevant information.

Another reason for    is that, as a witness to this case, or even the first witness, he very much wanted to know what the customs found.

  The autopsy report of the customs is very detailed. The three passengers with complete corpses all died of sharp weapon injuries, punctured many important organs, and eventually died of massive internal bleeding. The doctor in charge of the autopsy speculated that the sharp weapon should have been a narrow-blade straight weapon.

   The coroner has a bit of a knack, thought Winters. He recalled that the one-handed sword in the hands of the man in black robe was as flexible as a poisonous snake.

   As for the specific weapon, the coroner believes that the most likely one is the Swift Sword [Rapier].

   Swift Sword? Winters had heard of the weapon in military academy, but he had never seen the real thing.

   He continued to look down. Of the three passengers who were supposed to be guards, only one died from the frontal wound, and the fatal wounds of the other two were on the side and rear.

   Winters thought: The person who died of the frontal injury should be the one who was attacked at the beginning, and the other two died from the side and rear, indicating that these guards were also good at swordsmanship, and the men in black robes could not quickly solve them one-on-one.

   The rest of the autopsy report is a few scattered contents such as height and hair color.

  The coroner judged that the three men were between 25 and 30 years old based on factors such as the degree of tooth wear. The body is strong and the body is in good shape. From these two points, the social class will not be very low. At least I can always eat meat on weekdays, because eating wheat flour alone can't grow such muscles.

The coroner concluded: "The three deceased had hard calluses on the palms of their hands. Considering that the three deceased were obviously not farmers who needed to work, these calluses should be traces left by practicing weapons all year round. It is speculated that the three deceased It should be someone like a mercenary, or a craftsman or businessman who is rich enough to have time to practice weapons, or maybe…”

The    text stopped abruptly at the "maybe", and the back part was smeared out with ink.

   When copying documents by hand, there will always be typos, and it is normal to smear them. When Moluc transcribes, he will naturally ignore the tick marks, and the newly transcribed documents will end at "Craftsmen and Merchants". And this document is obviously the original handwritten by the coroner.

   Winters couldn't see what was being smeared out, but he could guess what the coroner meant - soldier.

The word    soldier is even deviated, a more accurate description should be "officer".

  The soldiers at the bottom also lived very **** weekdays, and they would not have the pampered demeanor of the few passengers. The officers fit the description of practicing cold weapons all year round and eating well.

   The coroner had written the officer as one of the speculations on the report, but Customs, apparently not wanting to make any extra fuss, painted it out.

   If there is conclusive evidence, it would be fine. If there is no conclusive evidence, the three deceased are said to be officers, and the Army, which has been detaining the trainee officer for no reason, is still not allowed to fry?

   Winters began to understand a little why the case was being transferred to the Army.

   If he hadn't witnessed the whole incident at the first scene, Winters would have sneered when he saw that the customs speculated that the three might be officers.

But he always thought about the traveler who could use the deflector, because the musket was not accurate, so Winters didn't dare to conclude that the shot must be the effect of the deflector, but he was always nervous in his heart. on this string.

   "Do you want to report this information to Lieutenant Colonel Field?" Winters pondered on his forehead, feeling a little headache: "But I have promised to discuss this matter secretly with Major Moritz."

  If that person is really an Army caster officer, the nature of the matter is very serious.

   Just being an officer is already sensitive enough. Who would do such a thing if you kill an officer in the street? And the dead or the caster? The dangerous smell of this case was more pungent than the stench of a customs morgue.

  If that person is not an Army caster officer, the nature of the matter...is more serious.

   This means that either the results of the Magic Warfare Bureau have been stolen by the outside world, and the thieves have also cultivated spellcasters who can use advanced spells such as deflection;

  Or... The dead traveler was a legendary court mage, and I've never heard of anyone else using magic. But could the court mages be killed so easily?

The more he thought about it, the more he had a headache, and he decided that if Colonel Field didn't ask, he would keep his mouth shut. Because he still trusts Major Moritz more than Field.

   And since you don’t ask, then I don’t take the initiative to say it doesn’t count as intentional concealment.

  Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel resentment: "Didn't we agree to discuss secretly together? As a result, why did this guy play disappear? After returning home, I have to ask my uncle if he knows where the major is now."

   From the autopsy report, there was nothing unusual about the suspected spellcaster, and the three did not have tattoos or obvious scars.

   As for the passenger who was broken into several pieces, although the coroner did not give the cause of death, Winters knew that the cause of his death was that an assassin had stabbed him in the left flank with a short knife. The explosion only accelerated his death and destroyed the body.

   But I don't know why, Winters always has some sense of incongruity, like something strange.

   He checked the autopsy report again and made sure he didn't miss anything. But still can't figure out where this inconsistency comes from.

   Moluc had already finished copying the investigation file of the Customs Guard Division, and had been silent, waiting quietly for Winters to read the autopsy report. Winters exchanged documents with the scribe apologetically and proceeded to read the investigation file.

   And the investigation file is actually shorter than the autopsy report.

  The idea of ​​​​the Customs Guard Division is simple and rude, and they immediately started to find out who the assassin was, but the assassins all wore masks and cloaks, and no one had seen the face of the assassin.

  I can't seem to find out who the assassin is for the time being, so let's find out where the assassin went? According to vendors near the pier, the assassin fled eastward along the main road in a black carriage.

   Now that you know that the carriage is black, you know where to go, and you can do the rest.

  The Veneta people like gorgeous style, so pure black carriages are not too common, only some coachmen will use this kind of carriage.

However, the investigation by the Customs and Security Department encountered difficulties. They followed the route of the assassin's escape and asked the shops along the way. They found that after six or seven blocks, no one had any impression of this carriage. Who would care about a mediocre one on the road. What about the carriage?

  When the guards described the characteristics of the carriage in detail and asked them over and over again, the vendors seemed to remember the carriage again. However, the whereabouts given are varied, and even a few people swore to see the carriage not coming out of the pier, but going to the pier.

   In this regard, Mr. Lope believed that these testimonies were not credible, simply because the customs investigators described the carriage in too much detail and the inquiries were too strong, which induced the testimonies of the vendors along the street.

  Since you don’t know who the murderer is, how about finding out who the dead person is? But the sailors of the Skua had no idea who the dead were.

  I wanted to ask the captain to ask questions, but found that the captain was only the acting captain. The original captain was still leading the Good Luck to float at sea, not knowing whether he was alive or dead.

   The final result of the investigation was that the assassin could not be found, nor the carriage. There were several corpses in the port, but no one knew who the dead were.

   Winters also had to admit that, as Lopp said, this case was a mess, almost a sure-fire unsolved case. Whoever took over would have a headache. No wonder Lieutenant Colonel Field was so angry that he cursed in the office today.

   However, as a witness, Winters also has his own intelligence advantages. He found out that the people at customs had yet to find out: the blown-up passenger was actually shot and killed by a docker disguised as a dock worker.

   And apparently there are assassins mixed in among the dock workers, these assassins are not masked, maybe they can be a breakthrough.

   In addition, the army warrant officers were all at the dock that day, and there were many witnesses. Maybe other warrant officers also noticed some valuable information that day.

  The two dossiers have been read. Winters got up and moved his stiff body. He suddenly remembered that he had not thanked Ben Venuto properly for saving him from the water.

   On the day they returned to Hailan, the two agreed to meet at night, but Winters was admitted to the customs prison that night, and it has not been met until now.

  Thinking of this, Winters felt that he should take advantage of today's opportunity to go home and change clothes and clean himself. When the dockers are off at a later date, go to Benvenuto's house to find Benwei.

   He said goodbye to Moluc and went home.

--Dividing line--

   Winters went home, and the daytime servant, who was not at home, opened the door for him. Kesha was sitting on a bench in the parlour, with a small basket on her lap, doing a little embroidery.

The general    was lying beside her to sleep, but was woken up by the sound of the door opening. He sat up vigilantly and looked in the direction of the approaching person, seeing that it was Winters lying back again.

Seeing her nephew come home, Kesha happily put down the needle and thread in her hand, got up and greeted her: "How was the first day of apprenticeship, where did this knife come from? ... Hey, where have you been? Why do you smell weird? ."

"Really? Does it really smell? I thought it was just my hallucination." Winters replied with a smile, avoiding corpses, murders, etc.: "The knife was lent to me by Lieutenant Colonel Field, he said. Soldiers have to carry their swords, and today I went to a particularly smelly place with the lieutenant colonel."

   "Quickly change your clothes and take a good bath." Kesha wrinkled her nose and called to the servant, "Mother Marita, please help Master Winters prepare some hot water."

   "Don't bother old mama, I'll just take a cold bath. I always take cold baths in the military academy. I'm used to it." Winters' nature is reluctant to cause trouble to others.

   "The well water is too cold, you will get sick." Kesha ignored Winters' advice and motioned for the maid to continue to boil the water.

She suddenly said happily: "How about you accompany me to Meiwa's house [a famous tailor shop in Hailan City]? I haven't been there for a while. I have to make some new clothes for you. Let's see you, except for the military uniform. It's not okay to have nothing else to wear."

   The thought of going to the tailor's shop made Kesha's eyes light up, and she didn't know why she was so happy.

  But Winters subconsciously wanted to refuse: "I have this military uniform to wear, it's good enough, I'm not used to wearing casual clothes, I'm still used to wearing boots."

"Then how? If you don't have decent clothes, people will laugh at you." Kesha knew that her nephew didn't like to dress up since she was a child, so she had to push it away: "Just leave it alone, just follow me, no It will take you too long. I led him to do your uncle's clothes. Go, go, go take a shower."

  Although Winters finds it troublesome, he really can't find any reason to reject Auntie. He estimated the time. Now that Benwei is still working on the pier, it won't take too long for him and his aunt to go to the tailor's shop. When he comes back, he can go directly to Benwei, so he nodded.

   Seeing Winters nodding in agreement, Kesha was afraid that her nephew would go back on it, so she pushed him to take a bath, and happily ordered the servants to let the carriage prepare the carriage.

Winters was thinking about the case on the dock now. His intuition told him that there must be a key point he hadn't figured out, but the point was like a thick layer of leather. Can't see or see.

  He took a hasty shower with cold water, then went back to his room and changed into a clean cadet uniform. Winters will continue to wear a cadet uniform until the end of his apprenticeship, and he will not be able to wear a lieutenant's uniform until he has officially attained the rank of second lieutenant.

   After Winters finished taking a shower and changed his clothes, he went downstairs. Kesha was not in the living room downstairs. Winters pushed out the door, the carriage was waiting at the door, and his aunt was not in the car.

  Where is Auntie? Winters was very puzzled.

   Winters' uncle did not use soldiers as servants like some senior officers. Except for the old lady, all the servants were hired from outside, and Major General Antonio's orderly did not enter the yard.

  The stables in the Serbian Mansion are not big, and they are all taken care of by a highlander in his fifties.

   But Winters didn't know him. During the time when Winters went to the military academy in the Union Province, the original driver left and this person was replaced.

   Winters suddenly felt that he could ask the coachman for information about the carriage. He politely said hello to the coachman, who was flattered and took off his hat and saluted.

   "May I ask you something?" Winters asked with a smile.

   "You said, young master, just ask." The driver nodded again and again.

  The coachman's seat is very high, and Winters has to raise his head to speak: "Do you know any other coachmen in Hailan City?"

   "I know a little bit, and the coachmen know a little bit." The coachman blinked and added: "There are a lot of us Paratus here as coachmen."

   "Are there many black carriages in the city? Are there many black-painted and silver-rimmed ones?"

   "I don't know, such plain cars are not very common, but there should be some. There are some Puritans who don't like too beautiful decoration, hey, those guys don't like anything." The driver obviously disdain for the Puritans.

   Puritan, Winters grabbed a point and repeated it several times in his mind.

   "What if I'm looking for a black-painted and silver-edged car now?" Winters continued.

  The coachman scratched his head: "I don't know. Are you going to rent a car or buy one? If you rent one, I can help you go to the fraternity and ask about it."

   "What is a fraternity?" Winters heard a new term.

   The coachman knew that he had lost his words, and said with a smirk, "Did I say something? I mean you can find a few coachmen with you."

   Seeing that the coachman was hiding, Winters stared into his eyes and asked word by word: "If I want a carriage to disappear, can the brotherhood you mentioned help?"

The driver didn't dare to look at Winters, he avoided Winters' sight, and said with a wry smile: "I really don't know this, I'm just a bitter haha, you can just pretend that I didn't say anything just now, okay? ?"

   is "don't know", not "can't", and Winters has got the answer he wants.

   Thanks for the recommendation ticket of Social Justice Pharaoh, the recommendation ticket of book friend 20181013204343295, and the recommendation ticket of book friend 20170726153222839. Let the four cats of my family bow to all of you.

   (end of this chapter)