“If it weren’t for you, I would have had no choice but to marry the son of Magistrate Dong.” Emily Walker looked at him, thought for a moment, and added, “I’m sorry you suffered such an injury. When you recover your memory, if you wish to leave, I’ll ask my father to let you go.”

After she finished speaking, she left the room. Grace Carter walked over, closed the door, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

This Miss Walker is actually quite nice...

...

Yongan County Office.

Pa!

Judge Walker slapped the gavel and shouted, “Court in session!”

“Mighty... and powerful...”

The bailiffs on both sides held their batons, striking the ground in a rapid and rhythmic manner. Instantly, a sense of urgency filled the main hall.

Judge Walker spoke again: “Bring in the accused!”

Grace Carter sat in an inconspicuous corner toward the back left of the county court’s main hall, thinking to himself that what he’d seen in TV dramas was actually real. He had never imagined that one day, he would sit in an ancient courtroom, participating in a trial in this way.

The accused was soon brought in. Grace Carter’s task was to record the trial process, and by rights, he shouldn’t be distracted.

But he wasn’t worried. Although fate hadn’t given him some heaven-defying system or golden finger, it hadn’t been so stingy as to leave him without any skills at all.

The changes that had happened to him weren’t just for recalling a few movies he’d seen to pass the time. Anything he saw with his own eyes or heard with his own ears could be firmly imprinted in his mind.

This wasn’t just a photographic memory—he was a human video recorder.

Absolute Dolby surround, high-definition and uncut.

In the corner of the courtroom, while Grace Carter was thinking about other things, in the center seat, Charles Walker wore a stern expression. Looking at the figure kneeling below, he asked in a deep voice, “Accused Henry Clark, do you know your crime!”

Chapter Five: Solving the Case with Thunder

Although he’d watched plenty of detective dramas like “Young Justice Bao,” “The Great Song’s Imperial Inspector,” “Detective Di Renjie,” and “Justice Pao’s Strange Cases” in his previous life, this was the first time in both his lives that Grace Carter had actually experienced a plot from a TV drama firsthand.

This was a homicide case. Since ancient times, cases involving human life have always been major cases.

And in this case, his would-be father-in-law had run into trouble.

Grace Carter had finished reading all the case files last night. The case itself wasn’t complicated, nor was it particularly bizarre.

The victim was a minor landowner outside the city. A month ago, he was found dead in his own home.

After days of investigation by the constables, suspicion finally fell on the son-in-law of the deceased Mr. Turner.

Mr. Turner had no sons, only a daughter with his late wife. If Mr. Turner died, naturally his daughter and son-in-law would inherit the estate. By all accounts, Mr. Turner’s son-in-law, this man named Henry Clark, had ample motive for murder. But the problem was, on the night Mr. Turner died, Henry Clark had a perfect alibi.

That night, he was drinking with a friend and returned home very late.

The investigation reached this point. According to usual practice, as long as they subjected Henry Clark to a round of harsh interrogation, with the torture methods of this era, unless he was exceptionally strong-willed, if Mr. Turner really was killed by him, it wouldn’t be long before the accused confessed.

This was exactly the trouble his would-be father-in-law faced.

Ever since he had offended the Lingzhou Prefect by marrying off his daughter, the other party had seen him as a thorn in his side, just waiting to catch him making a mistake.

This case happened in Yongan County and involved a major homicide. The Prefect strictly ordered the county magistrate to solve the case within a deadline—this was understandable.

At the same time, in recent years the imperial court had been cracking down on cruel officials, strictly forbidding county offices from abusing torture and extracting confessions by force. If discovered, there would be no leniency.

Therefore, during the trial of major cases, local citizens would stand outside the hall to observe. If heavy torture was used in front of so many witnesses, violating the imperial ban, the Lingzhou Prefect would have ample reason to act against him.

But if he didn’t use torture and couldn’t find evidence, the accused would certainly not confess. If a murder case occurred in his jurisdiction and the killer wasn’t caught for a long time, the Lingzhou Prefect would again have reason to act against him.

His would-be father-in-law really was in a tough spot...

Grace Carter sighed, silently mourning for his would-be father-in-law, then picked up his brush and began to record.

In the courtroom, Charles Walker’s face was extremely grim. Looking at the man below, he asked, “Henry Clark, you say you were drinking with a friend that night. Besides the two of you, were there any other witnesses?”

The man knelt in the hall, a bitter look on his face, and replied loudly, “Your honor, that night I was drinking at Edward Harris’s house. Besides Edward Harris, there was no one else.”

Charles Walker looked at the other man kneeling beside Henry Clark and asked, “Edward Harris, Henry Clark says that on the night of the fifteenth last month, the two of you were drinking at your house, and he didn’t leave until midnight. Is this true?”

Before Edward Harris could answer, he raised his voice again and said, “Think carefully before you speak. This is a murder case. If you shield the accused, you will be punished as an accomplice!”

Kneeling on the ground, Edward Harris shuddered, glanced at Henry Clark beside him, and stammered, “Your honor, every word I say is true. Please investigate thoroughly!”

“Very well, then tell this official: what wine did you drink that night, and what dishes did you have with it?”