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墨書 Inktalez
"I'll do it." I looked at Guan Zengbin seriously.
Gu Chen chuckled, "Usually, you leave all the dirty work to me. Why is it that this time, when Guan Zengbin is simulating, you want to join in too? Do you have feelings for Guan Zengbin? If you like her, go after her. Be proactive; don’t regret it later."
At that moment, especially in front of others, I felt a bit shy and quickly explained, "From my perspective, the Murderer followed the Footprints and returned wearing someone else's shoes. I think the height difference between them shouldn't be too much."
Seeing everyone’s expressions change to one of understanding, I continued, "The length of a person's foot is directly proportional to their height. Although there are occasional exceptions, that's generally how it is. If the difference is too great, the Murderer wouldn't be able to wear the Victim's shoes and leave."
"Since that's the case, let's get started," Gu Chen said.
We nodded and began the crime simulation on-site.
Guan Zengbin specifically chose a path without Footprints to walk on so that things would be clearer. She pretended to be a white-collar worker in a hurry to get home late at night, portraying the image of a woman eager to return after a long day.
I followed closely behind Guan Zengbin. Honestly, this was not an easy task. It suddenly reminded me of my high school days when I struggled with walking on a designer stone path—one step felt awkward, two steps felt ridiculous. Now I was facing a similarly embarrassing situation.
As a woman, Guan Zengbin walked quickly with long strides. I had to match her Footprints precisely; if I misstepped, it would create an obvious discrepancy in the Footprints. Therefore, I had to walk on my tiptoes.
This way of walking was exhausting and mentally draining.
After about ten steps, my legs felt as heavy as lead. I thought if I continued like this, my legs would surely give out. If I couldn’t take care of myself, there was no way I could pull off such a precise act of murder.
Guan Zengbin ahead had already noticed me trailing behind her; we still had to keep up the simulation.
After walking for a while, my legs were so sore that I could hardly bear it anymore. So I quickly darted behind Guan Zengbin and swiftly made a move to slash her throat from behind. Without hesitation, she collapsed onto the ground. I covered her body with my Footprints and then took off her shoes.
As soon as I slipped into Guan Zengbin's shoes, it felt like being bound by ancient foot-binding practices; my entire foot couldn't fit into these high heels. And when I tried to step back, I realized it was an incredibly difficult task.
I held my shoe in one hand and slowly backed away, but my foot couldn't fit into it at all. It felt like I was trying to walk in flip-flops, making it difficult to move backward, let alone retrace the previous Footprints. After struggling for a few steps, I finally fell flat on my back.
A few people rushed over to help me up.
"You're being a bit too clumsy," Gu Chen said. "Let me give it a try?"
With that, Gu Chen insisted on shoving his foot into the shoe. Standing at over six feet tall, he towered over me, and naturally, his feet were much larger as well. Watching him force his foot into the shoe reminded me of those chubby girls desperately trying to squeeze into a dress; it seemed quite similar.
After several attempts, Gu Chen chose to give up. "I guess it's unlikely that the Murderer is someone my height. This shoe is just too small; I can only fit half of my foot in it. Plus, it's a high heel, making me feel like I'm performing a circus act."
I brushed the snow off my clothes and looked at the high heel Gu Chen had kicked aside. "If even someone like you, who's trained, can't manage this, then it's even harder for an average person. So, the Murderer definitely isn't someone your height; in fact, they might even be shorter than me. Most likely, the Murderer is even shorter than the Victim."
Guan Zengbin chimed in, "There are physiological differences between men and women. Even at the same height, men's feet are generally larger than women's. Are you suggesting that the Murderer could fit perfectly into Zhao Kaifang's shoes? It's a stretch for someone to follow another's Footprints; however, if they were following their own Footprints, their chances of success would be much higher."
I found her shoes and helped tie her laces while saying, "Exactly. But I think the Murderer's feet might even be smaller than the Victim's. That way, they could step into the Victim's Footprints without making any awkward sounds."
With that thought in mind, I stood up. "We need to see the body. If the Murderer is indeed shorter than the Victim, we should be able to tell from the wounds."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
I pondered about this Murderer dressed in Black Clothes, standing between five-foot-five and five-foot-seven. I was curious about what kind of man he might be—someone who could silently follow behind the Victim in the dead of night without making a sound, like a ghost lurking in the darkness.
Imagine walking alone in a pitch-black and silent environment when suddenly you feel someone quietly trailing behind you. Dressed entirely in black with black shoes, he seemed to blend seamlessly with the night. A chill ran down your spine as if there were eyes watching your back from the shadows.
You quicken your pace, but it feels like whatever is behind you is keeping up with you as well. Finally resisting the urge to turn around, you catch a glimpse of a face staring back at you.
It was a smiling face, a face that looked at you and smiled.
As the Cold Light flickered, you felt a warmth rising in your neck.
Your whole body became hot as you stared at him smiling at you.
You felt increasingly warm, yet your heart grew colder. You wanted to scream, but no sound escaped your throat. You collapsed to the ground, bidding farewell to this world forever. Meanwhile, the Murderer leisurely removed your high heels, slipping them onto his own feet before retreating away.
You still had a sense of awareness as you watched a pair of feet slowly move away, eventually disappearing by the roadside. Finally, you knew nothing more.
In the City Bureau's Autopsy Room.
Although the results of the Autopsy had already come out, I decided to examine the wounds on the bodies for any clues.
Two corpses lay before us, both having their throats slit. It was evident that the wounds on their necks were inflicted from different angles. Zhao Kaifang stood at one meter seventy; the wound on her neck slashed from the right side to the left, with a deep cut on the right and a shallow one on the left.
This clearly indicated that the Murderer struck from above.
Lulu, who was only one meter sixty tall, also had a wound that slashed from right to left, but it was more gradual and slightly angled upwards to the left. The wound was similarly deep on the right and shallow on the left.
The two corpses revealed an important detail: this Murderer was not left-handed. The differing angles of their wounds also suggested that the Murderer's height was between one meter sixty and one meter seventy.
“A male Murderer between one meter sixty and one meter seventy tall, likely a young man under twenty-five years old. He may have experienced sexual abuse in his past. For some external reason, his twisted psyche gradually expanded until he finally committed murder at this moment.”
Guan Zengbin stroked his chin, puzzled. “How can you tell he’s between one meter sixty and one meter seventy?”
I tugged at my hair with one hand, pointing at the wounds on the bodies as I spoke to the two people. "Look at the wounds on these two. One is slashed diagonally downward, while the other is slashed horizontally upward. This clearly indicates two different actions during the killings."
I raised my arm and extended a finger, pretending it was a dagger, then swiftly slashed downward. "This is how Zhao Kaifang was killed. Since Zhao Kaifang is taller than Murderer, Murderer had to lift their arm to aim for her neck and then slash down hard, resulting in this kind of wound."
I then positioned my arm in front of my chest, extending a finger again as if it were a dagger. "On the other hand, Lulu is shorter than Murderer. If they raised their hand, it wouldn't be a throat slash but rather a head shave. So, Murderer kept their arm level at chest height and slashed horizontally toward Lulu's neck. Due to human anatomy, by the end of the slash, their hand naturally lifted, creating this mark."
Everyone nodded in understanding. Gu Chen remarked, "No wonder you're an expert at profiling; you can deduce Murderer's actions just from imagination."
I paused for a moment before speaking again. "If Murderer is under 1.7 meters tall and specifically targets women, I suspect they must have suffered some form of humiliation from a woman. However, it's still too early to conclude anything since this is only their first murder; the next victim could very well be a man."
We pushed the bodies back, and I added, "For now, we can only rely on these clues to profile Criminal's appearance and mindset. But given that this is a case of thrill killing, we can be almost certain about it."
At that moment, a police officer suddenly burst in and said to us, " Mary wants you to hurry over; there's something new."
"Something new?" My interest piqued as I asked.
The officer nodded seriously and explained, "After this case occurred, someone stumbled upon a story online that matches the murder process exactly. They were astonished to find that the story was written before the murder took place, which means it must have been penned by the killer. Now, that story has been updated with another installment."
"Another new story?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise.
The officer replied, "Exactly! Everyone's gone to check it out. Mary wants you to hurry over and take a look. If we can catch the murderer before they act out this new story, the characters in it won't die."
"Let's go!"
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