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墨書 Inktalez
"What does it mean?" Jiang He asked.
Captain Li pointed to his phone. "I just received a call from the Substation. Zhuang Ziming, Song You, and Shih Wenshan are all classmates from Fourth High School 8. However, back on August 4th, a female classmate from Anxiang District Class 8, Qin Qingxue, had already died."
"Why is it only coming up now?" Old Shao's eyes flashed with anger.
Captain Li replied, "The Substation wasn't aware of what we were doing before, and since so much time has passed, they didn't pay attention. Now that they've found a connection with Song You, the person who reported it brought the case to the Substation. It was only when the City Bureau personnel went to hand over the case that they learned about it."
Old Shao sighed. "It seems like the task force needs someone to coordinate with various police stations."
He then said seriously, "It's been ten days already. Have they found the murderer in Qin Qingxue's case?"
Captain Li shook his head. "No, according to the Substation's conclusion, Qin Qingxue's death was not a homicide but a suicide. However, her suicide seems to be related to Shih Wenshan's death."
"How did they come to that conclusion?" Old Shao asked.
Captain Li opened his phone to show an image. "Because Qin Qingxue committed suicide while wearing a red skirt. We heard during the call that Shih Wenshan mentioned some ghost stories, and that police officer also saw a red garment fluttering by. Could it be the work of a ghost?"
Jiang He countered, "By the common definition of ghosts, they are elusive and can go anywhere. Therefore, ghosts wouldn't use a hammer to kill or leave footprints on the ground. I am ninety-nine percent sure this isn't the work of a ghost..."
But no one paid attention to Jiang He anymore; they were all gathered around Captain Li's phone, looking at the image.
It was a photo that left them speechless because its strangeness surpassed any suicide scene they had ever encountered.
After a moment, Old Shao finally spoke up. "Suicide?"
Captain Li nodded. "That's right, suicide."
Old Shao examined the photo closely, trying to discern more details, but the image on the phone was too small to see everything clearly.
"This matter might have some twists," Old Shao said seriously. "And it must be significantly related to our case. Xu Yiman, you go perform the autopsy; the rest of you come with me to the Substation. I want to get to the bottom of this case completely. By the way, have we taken casts of the footprints?"
A Technical Crime Investigator said, "We need to clean the rainwater from the footprints thoroughly, then take impressions one by one and compare them with the others. This is a big project."
"Understood." Old Shao glanced at the investigator and replied, "Once that's done, bring the footprints back. Based on them, we need to estimate the suspect's height and weight. This person is likely connected to Class 8. Captain Li, contact the Vice Principal of the Fourth High School; I want information on Qin Qingxue. The rest of you come with me to the Substation; we need the case files on Qin Qingxue."
Jiang He also looked at the image.
The photo depicted a girl in a Red Skirt, her face a purplish-red hue. Around her neck was a rope about the width of a finger, twisted several times. Judging by the material, it appeared to be a Jump Rope. The rope was hanging from a Clothes Drying Rack, not very high off the ground.
To Jiang He, hanging suicides were a common method.
However, what struck everyone as strange was the girl's posture while hanging.
Her legs were drawn up, as if she were kneeling while hanging; but now that she was dead, her feet dangled down to the ground. The issue was that if she simply lowered her feet, she could stand up and support herself with her legs, rendering the act of hanging a false premise. Yet she chose to end her life in this manner, indicating her determination.
Even more bizarre was the girl's choice of attire—a Red Skirt.
It was unclear whether she had deliberately chosen to wear a Red Skirt while hanging; it gave those who had watched too many horror films an unsettling feeling. The photo was clearly taken at night; despite the bright flash, one could see the darkness in the background, indicating it was on a stage.
The girl's arms hung limply, yet her hands were curled as if trying to grasp something, but ultimately grasping nothing at all. Her fingers appeared purplish-blue. On her right wrist, three deep cuts were clearly visible. Since she was already deceased and blood coagulation had ceased, blood flowed freely from her wrist wounds, staining her palm red.
In other words, the girl had taken double precautions—she not only hanged herself but also cut her wrists.
Old Shao wondered what could have driven her to such a resolute decision to die.
Xu Yiman spoke up: "From just looking at the photo, it aligns with signs of strangulation. However, look at her hands; they are in a grasping position. This is postmortem rigidity—at the moment of death, her hands must have clenched tightly."
"What was she trying to grab?" Shao the Elder pondered aloud. "But what exactly was she reaching for?"
These were all the details visible in the photo; to uncover more information, they would need to access the case files.
Dawn was breaking.
After obtaining the files, Old Shao and Jiang He returned to the City Bureau.
At this time, Xu Yiman had already completed the autopsy of Shih Wenshan's body. Aside from a bruise on the right temple, there were no other marks on Shih Wenshan's body. According to Xu Yiman's analysis, the murderer had struck the victim near the wings of the sphenoid bone with a blunt object. The force of the blow fractured Shih Wenshan's sphenoid bone and affected the area near the right parietal bone, causing significant bleeding in the brain and resulting in immediate death.
Through detailed forensic comparison, it was determined that the weapon used was the same as that which killed Zhuang Ziming.
However, even without conducting an autopsy, everyone could see what had happened.
Old Shao asked, "Have you made any progress on the hacker situation?"
Xu Yiman waved her hand dismissively. "I don't know much about that, but I saw them bustling around inside, and they brought in a lot of people. It seems like everyone who could be called in was summoned; things don't look good. This hacker is quite skilled."
"Skilled," Old Shao sighed. "A hacker who can breach our network must be formidable. But based on this incident, he doesn't seem to be our enemy; rather, he appears to be our ally. Still, we should set that aside for now. Finding the murderer is our top priority. Jiang He, come here."
As they spoke, the two entered a conference room and spread out all the photographs for closer examination.
Old Shao looked at the documents and said to Jiang He, "Qin Qingxue, a student from Class 8 at Anxiang District Fourth Middle School, committed suicide on August 4th in an old building not far from her home. She was wearing a red dress at the time of her death. According to police investigations, it was concluded that her death was a suicide; only Qin Qingxue's fingerprints were found on the rope and other items at the scene."
Jiang He nodded.
Old Shao put on his glasses and examined the details closely. "The person who reported it was a middle-aged man. Before the incident, his wife thought it would rain soon, so she went upstairs to collect laundry. While doing so, she discovered the body—more accurately, she found Qin Qingxue still alive but barely hanging on. Qin Qingxue reached out as if trying to grab her, which startled the woman."
Old Shao paused for a moment. "Afterward, when the woman’s husband noticed she hadn’t come back down for a while, he went up to check and found this scene. He then called the police. Officers arrived within ten minutes after the incident was reported, while detectives from the Substation arrived half an hour later; it hadn't started raining yet."
"Was there really only Qin Qingxue's fingerprint on everything?" Jiang He asked.
Old Shao nodded and pointed to the text on the file. "That's correct; it says so in the report. You also noticed that Qin Qingxue made extensive preparations for her suicide—this included a knife for cutting her wrists, a rope for hanging herself, and even those candles—all of which bore only her fingerprints."
"Moreover, according to the police investigation, it was confirmed that she bought these items herself," Old Shao continued. "There is video evidence showing that around August 1st, Qin Qingxue purchased a knife, a jump rope, and candles at a convenience store near her home. After preparing these items, she went to an old residential building nearby to commit suicide."
Jiang He nodded. Based on the evidence, it seemed clear that this was indeed a suicide.
Old Shao went on, "Regarding the motive for the suicide, Qin Qingxue's family noted that after her college entrance examination, she felt she hadn't performed well. Since then, she had been somewhat listless, clearly affected by her scores. Her family also failed to provide her with enough support, which led to this tragic outcome."
Jiang He expressed some doubt. "If that's the case, why did she prepare candles? I don't understand what those candles were for."
Old Shao placed the file on the table. "Exactly. This is the point of suspicion. The file does not address this matter because they deemed it unimportant; after all, no one can truly fathom what goes on in a young girl's mind."
Jiang He agreed. "That's right; I don't understand either, but I don't think this was murder."
Old Shao spoke meaningfully. "True, but often it's not just about someone being killed to be considered murder. Many things can torment a person more than death itself. This is why we need to investigate this point thoroughly."
With that, Old Shao looked at Jiang He. "However, it's been nearly two weeks since the incident occurred, and with all this rain, there must be no traces left at the scene. Therefore, we need to find clues in these photographs. This is your specialty, Jiang He; help me find the inconsistencies."
Jiang He began to examine the photos taken that night with great seriousness.
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