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墨書 Inktalez
When you realize that the words you say can never be taken back, you should understand that no matter what you do, you should never speak too confidently. The next morning, another suicide case emerged, and clearly, it was not in the two areas I had marked.
"Let's go, Freud." Gu Chen patted my shoulder and said meaningfully, "It seems that sometimes psychology isn't very reliable."
Guan Zengbin shrugged and added, "The police at the station still can't determine whether it's a suicide or a homicide. It's hard to tell if someone fell from above without carefully examining the scene. They want us to take a look first."
I sighed and replied, "Whether the book is reliable or not is still uncertain; after all, we haven't figured out if it's a suicide or a homicide yet."
When we arrived at the scene, the body was still lying on the ground, covered by a white cloth. A cordon had been set up around the area, and outside was a crowd of people taking photos with their phones. We struggled to push our way through the crowd, identified ourselves, and finally crossed the police line.
A police officer approached us and said, "The deceased is named Maliang, a real estate agent. He jumped from above not long ago. However, we still don't know if someone pushed him down. Since you are responsible for suicide cases lately, we thought we'd ask you to take a look."
"Let's go." The officer pointed to several witnesses nearby who were giving testimonies. "These are some witnesses who passed by when Maliang jumped; why not talk to them first?"
Guan Zengbin walked toward the body while telling the officer, "No need to rush; let's talk to him first."
"Who?" the officer asked.
Guan Zengbin placed his toolbox beside the body and lifted the white cloth: "Of course, we need to talk to Maliang. What dead people can tell us is often more than what living people can."
Before he even uncovered the cloth completely, we could see blood pooling outside. From the front view, the blood had splattered in a fan shape, with some traces possibly reaching over ten meters away. This matched the blood patterns formed by falling from a height; judging by how far it sprayed, it must have been quite a drop.
I looked up at this building—it had thirty-two floors. However, all the windows in high-rises are usually above head height; an adult shouldn't be able to jump out from their home. So it seemed he must have jumped from a balcony instead. Just thinking about that thirty-two-story height made me feel dizzy.
Guan Zengbin pulled back the white cloth, revealing the body before us.
At first glance, the body was in a prone position, but its arms were severely deformed; it appeared that the skeleton inside had broken. Looking at his feet, one was wearing a shoe while the other was not. The foot without a shoe had an ankle that was also broken and deformed, with bones piercing through muscle and exposed to view.
From an overall perspective, it resembled a creeping gecko.
The skull of the corpse was severely crushed, with brain matter oozing out and flesh in a state of disarray, making it nearly impossible to identify the person's face. It seemed that the police had obtained this individual's identity information through other channels, which was quite fast.
Guan Zengbin did not even need to open the box; just by looking at the condition of the body, he spoke up, "The time of death is likely less than an hour ago. Based on the state of the corpse, it indeed aligns with a high fall. The direction of the bruises on his limbs and skull is consistent; such falling injuries are difficult to inflict artificially."
"However, it's premature to draw conclusions. I need to check for any other injuries on him or whether there are traces of drugs in his blood before determining if he was knocked unconscious and thrown off or if he jumped willingly." Guan Zengbin covered the body with a white cloth again. "Let's move the body."
However, lifting it was easier said than done. The heat was intense, with ground temperatures reaching thirty to forty degrees Celsius. The corpse had practically adhered to the ground, and the police had to use a shovel to pry it up. The part of the body that had been in contact with the ground had already begun to liquefy, showcasing the effects of global warming.
"Let's go," I said. "Let's see what those who witnessed everything have to say."
When Maliang stood on the thirty-second floor, no pedestrians noticed him. But when he jumped from that height, he shouted with all his might, "Everyone below, get out of the way!"
As his voice echoed in people's minds, Maliang had already fallen heavily to the ground. By the time the crowd gathered around him, he was already dead. At such a height, it was likely that his organs were shattered. This indicated that Maliang was at least conscious when he jumped.
"Let's check the rooftop!" I said as I walked upstairs and turned to a police officer. "Help me find some mannequins and get me a large bag of gravel."
The officer scratched his head. "What do you need those for?"
"Naturally for a purpose; we'll bring them directly to the stage later to disperse the crowd below," I replied with a smile.
In the elevator, feeling bored, I asked Gu Chen, "Gu Chen, why do people choose suicide? Is it because they are so disappointed with this world that they decide to leave it? If someone could delve into their inner depths, would they still choose to end their lives?"
Gu Chen looked at me for a long moment before responding, "This is a topic I really can't answer for you. But perhaps it's like this: if there’s nothing left to hold onto in this world, then being alive becomes tormenting. However, I believe that one person's death is never just their own affair; even if one no longer wishes to live, they should consider others."
"There will always be someone who will mourn for you after you die," Gu Chen said.
I asked, "Oh, does that mean you would cry when I die? Honestly, I really want to see what a tough guy looks like when he cries."
"Oh, you'll see when I visit your grave at the age of one hundred and twenty," Gu Chen shrugged.
The elevator doors opened, and as I walked out, I said, "Sorry, but according to the fortune teller, I have a hurdle at one hundred and thirty..."
"The grave collapsed?" Gu Chen replied.
Standing on the thirty-second floor and looking down was quite a feeling; I felt as if a stronger wind would blow me off. However, the view from up high was magnificent, with everything around me in sight. Although it was close to noon, it was still relatively cool up here.
Looking down, the crowd below resembled ants. After watching for a while, I inexplicably felt an urge to jump down. Perhaps many people enjoy bungee jumping because of this psychological impulse—to experience what it feels like to leap into the void. Unfortunately, those who have experienced such feelings can no longer share their sensations with us.
There were railings on the platform, but if someone wanted to commit suicide, those railings wouldn’t serve much purpose.
From the spot where Maliang fell, we determined a general area.
"I found a pair of glasses," I said to Gu Chen.
I put on gloves and picked them up. Upon closer inspection, they were gold-rimmed glasses designed for men.
I carefully observed the width of the gold-rimmed glasses and then said to Gu Chen, "These are Maliang's glasses."
"Really?" Gu Chen stared at the glasses for a moment. "How can you tell? Did his name get written on them?"
I shook my head and said, "No, just a guess. Maliang is an employee of a Real Estate Agent, and his demeanor fits that job well. He was wearing a suit, so the glasses he had must also be quite formal. Besides, the frame of these glasses is broken; he must have deliberately taken them off and placed them here."
"Why put them here?" Gu Chen asked.
I shrugged. "In the book I read, it mentioned that people who commit suicide usually do so with their eyes closed, unless they have a tendency for self-harm. Because no matter how capable a person is, they still possess animal instincts. Those instincts make us reluctant to face our own or others' deaths."
I stood at the edge and looked down, aligning my view with the position of the body.
I continued, "That's why when ordinary people see a corpse, their first reaction is not sympathy but fear. It's instinctual; in this sense, those Forensic experts are truly impressive."
"You think Guan Zengbin is impressive?" Gu Chen shook his head. "I see you two flirting in front of me all the time; why not just get together?"
"Her?" I quickly waved my hand. "Too busty!"
"Your dummy has arrived!" A police officer's voice came from behind.
I turned around to see five officers each carrying a dummy, while another one was carrying a sack filled with gravel. Gu Chen and I hurried over to help them place the five dummies beside us.
"Is this enough?" the sweating officer asked.
I nodded and quickly thanked him. "That's enough! Let's move the crowd back a bit; we're going to conduct an interesting experiment."
"An interesting experiment?" The onlookers looked puzzled.
Gu Chen understood what I was getting at and said, "Crime simulation."
"Indeed, to determine whether it was Suicide or Homicide, these dummies can help us." I said, "I just estimated that Maliang is about one hundred seventy-five centimeters tall, and these dummies are roughly the same height. His weight should be around sixty-five kilograms, so let's load these stones into him."
The combined weight of the dummy and the stones should approximate sixty-five kilograms.
Gu Chen and I positioned a dummy outside the railing.
I said, "Alright, now we're simulating someone pushing Maliang. Notify everyone below to stand clear."
We pushed the dummy off, and in less than three seconds, it hit the ground with a loud thud, shattering into pieces as stones flew everywhere. Fortunately, we had already warned people to keep their distance, so no one was harmed.
The police below marked the spot where the dummy fell, and we proceeded with the next simulation.
"This one is Maliang jumping down with force," I stated.
Another dummy.
"This one is Maliang being knocked unconscious and rolling down."
One more dummy.
"This one is Maliang walking down..." I continued.
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