Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Everyone turned to look, and to their surprise, it was the city leaders who had arrived, including the County Police Chief, who wore a grim expression. I cursed inwardly; it seemed that the Killer had struck again! The City Director spoke as he walked, "Xiao Shao, why didn't you answer your phone? Another murder has occurred!"
It suddenly dawned on me that in my pursuit of the monster, I had forgotten about the phone calls. The person who had called me earlier was none other than someone from the Police Department. I hit my head a few times in frustration and then said, "I just confirmed that this case is not a case of rape followed by murder..."
I recounted in detail what had happened that night. The City Director remarked, "This is truly perplexing; I didn't expect this case to be a case within a case. That person!" He pointed to the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team and continued, "You're from that town, right?"
The Captain nodded. The City Director said, "You take over the investigation into this monster. Xiao Shao, I know your Special Investigation Team has been working hard, but another case has arisen..."
I nodded, understanding the immense pressure he was under. If he made one wrong move, he might lose his position as the head of the City Public Security Bureau. The Killer was ruthless; in just one week, they had killed again. If we couldn't catch the Killer quickly, not only would he likely lose his job, but our Special Investigation Team could face disbandment. Even worse, another victim could appear at any moment.
I turned to the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team and said, "You handle the monster investigation. Here's a direction for you: look into missing persons." Although this individual was merely an interlude in this case, I couldn't bear to see a living person end up like this. The Captain nodded at me and replied, "I understand."
The Special Investigation Team got into a police car and headed toward the crime scene. I turned to the Investigator from the Police Department who was driving and said, "Tell me about this case!"
He nodded and began explaining, "A few days ago, the Police Department assigned tasks; one team was responsible for locating the car driven by the Victim. The vehicle had undergone exterior modifications, so it wasn't until yesterday that we made significant progress in locating it. By tonight, we had pinpointed its location. However, when our team arrived, we found the car parked outside an abandoned hospital. During our search of the hospital, we discovered a female corpse..."
We soon arrived at the abandoned hospital and saw that the Police Department had already cordoned off the scene. Forensic experts and Investigators were busy at work. This abandoned hospital had been out of use for over a year due to planning issues and was located in the northwestern suburbs of the city; there were no surveillance cameras around, making it rarely visited even during daylight.
The car driven by Sister Qi that we had seen in live footage was now parked with its doors wide open at the entrance of the hospital's inpatient department. Its color had been altered and its appearance modified. This Killer was meticulous and highly aware of counter-surveillance; abandoning the car meant this lead was cut off completely, and there likely weren't any valuable clues left inside.
Juan Juan approached with her large kit and began her examination of the vehicle. I circled around it; there were no signs of collision on the exterior or forced entry on the doors. The keys were still on the keychain inside, indicating without a doubt that this car had been driven away by the Killer—there would be no scenario involving theft.
After a while, Juan Juan informed us, "I checked all areas where traces are most likely to be left—like the steering wheel, gear shift, and brake pedal—but unfortunately found no fingerprints or footprints. The Killer must have worn gloves while driving and even foot covers; they took those away afterward."
"Could it be someone from our system?" one Investigator on-site remarked upon hearing Juan Juan's words. "That's too professional! I doubt any of our team members could pull off something so flawless. The City Coroner also mentioned there were no footprints or fingerprints along the entire route..."
"Things have gotten serious!" Mary whispered to us. "I heard that another team's case is nearing its conclusion, and we don't even know what the Killer looks like. If that's the case, once this case is over, we might as well just go back to where we came from!"
As soon as Mary's words fell, I noticed a change in Juan Juan and Yan Junde's expressions. Both of them were top experts in their respective fields, and if they returned home looking defeated, it would be utterly humiliating. I quickly said, "Now is not the time to discuss this; let's go inside and see how the body is doing!"
Outside, police lights illuminated the area, but inside the building, it was pitch black. A few of us used flashlights as we made our way upstairs. Upon reaching the third floor, we saw light spilling out from one of the hospital rooms. Without a doubt, that was where the body had been discovered. The room was small, and several busy forensic experts were already inside. As the four of us entered, the cramped space felt even more crowded.
From my position at the back, I could see the body lying on the floor, her skirt pulled up to her waist, exposing her lower half. From her appearance, she seemed to be a slender woman. There was a dent on her head that matched the wounds of the previous two victims. It appeared that this was further evidence for the forensic team to conclude that all three cases were committed by the same Killer.
Upon seeing us arrive, especially Juan Juan, one of the forensic experts immediately made room for him. It seemed that Juan Juan held quite a bit of respect among them. One of the forensic experts spoke up: "The victim has a blunt force trauma to her head; preliminary findings suggest it was caused by a metal object like a hammer. The skull is fractured, indicating that the Killer used significant force—one blow was enough to kill her. There’s bleeding and bruising in the brain tissue; she likely died around 1:30 AM yesterday."
Yesterday morning—when two police officers spotted the "monster"—none of them had any idea that at that very moment, a woman was brutally murdered by the Killer inside this abandoned hospital. As I scanned the room, I noticed a detail: four candles were placed in each corner of the room, half-burned and leaning at odd angles.
At that moment, one of the forensic experts turned the body over. With the aid of police lights, I could clearly see the woman's face. She was quite pretty but covered in blood; she truly had fallen into a pool of it. Then everyone watched as Yang Xiaojuan slowly retrieved something from between the woman's legs—it turned out to be an unburned candle, measuring about twenty centimeters long.
Yan Junde gasped in surprise and said, "Something that long... how could it have been inserted?"
It was my first time seeing Yan Junde so bashful; during our last autopsy he hadn't been present, but now he faced a corpse directly and expressed such astonishment—it wasn't surprising at all. However, all the forensic experts shot him disdainful looks. Yang Xiaojuan replied, "What you refer to has many internal walls and is elastic; besides, this candle isn't thick—you don't need to be so shocked!"
Hearing this, Yan Junde's face flushed red and he fell silent. I thought to myself that he really lacked experience—especially in front of so many forensic experts; wasn't he just asking for trouble? I pointed a finger at Yan Junde and said, "The fatal injuries are almost identical; plus something was inserted into their lower bodies—there's no doubt that it's the same Killer!"
Everyone turned to look at me as I continued, "This isn't going to be the last murder case. If we don't catch the Killer quickly, there will be another one. From what we've seen so far, this Killer has certain perverse tendencies and enjoys inserting objects into women's bodies—he clearly has severe sexual psychological issues."
Juan Juan picked up on my train of thought and added, "According to Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, this person likely suffered some form of torment or abuse related to this behavior in their past. However, their conscious and unconscious conflicts haven't reached a breaking point yet; otherwise, someone with such issues wouldn't be able to drive or commit such meticulous murders without leaving any traces..."
"Yan Junde, inform the Police Department to focus on finding individuals with sexual psychological disorders!" I said to Yan Junde. "These individuals should appear to have decent jobs, hold a respectable social status, be indifferent, live alone, and dislike talking."
Juan Juan glanced at me and said, "The psychological profile is quite accurate, but we should add one more detail: this person might frequently visit the Red-Light District. We need to check for customers with special preferences across the city. He has a strong inclination; this should be an important breakthrough! The evidence left at the crime scene is limited. There was nothing on her that could prove her identity, so it seems we'll have to wait for someone to identify the body!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. At that moment, Mary weakly asked, "Do you know what these candles are for?"
I spoke up first, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be related to some sort of ghost hunting game."
Mary nodded and said, "But do you know that this game requires five people to play?"
A forensic expert replied, "We checked the fingerprints on the candles; only the victim's fingerprints were found. Besides, with five people involved, it would be chaotic. Look at the ground; there are only the victim's footprints here. This doesn't add up. In my opinion, only the victim has been here."
At this point, the forensic expert seemed to realize his mistake and looked at us in surprise. I said, "There must have been more than one person here; otherwise, how did the killer commit the murder? They couldn't have just flown in! The killer must have meticulously cleared all footprints when leaving! I initially thought there were only two people involved—the killer and the victim—but I didn't expect this so-called supernatural game to have so many participants! By the way, Mary, can you explain how this game is played?"
Mary nodded and then told us, "This type of game is a form of spiritual communication. It is said that if you play this game at midnight, you can summon ghosts; it's a method of encountering spirits. The specific procedure is like this..."
Comment 0 Comment Count