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墨書 Inktalez
Guan Zengbin opened his toolbox and looked up at Gu Chen, who was holding the rebar. He spoke, "There shouldn't be any rebar like this in the world. No manufacturer would produce something like this. This clearly indicates that the rebar was crafted by the murderer themselves. So, the murderer must have some technical skills in this area."
We nodded in agreement.
"How did the murderer manage to pierce through two people at once?" I frowned, gazing at the rebar.
Gu Chen glanced at me and gestured with the rebar in the air, saying, "It's like grabbing one end of the rebar and then thrusting it down hard onto both people on the bed."
"That's not right." I shook my finger and continued, "Gu Chen, when you pulled out this rebar just now, didn't you use a lot of force?"
Gu Chen shook his head. "I felt it was quite easy."
I felt helpless and replied, "Not everyone has muscles like yours. Based on various traces and testimonies, we can conclude that the murderer must be someone short and frail. For such a person, thrusting the rebar into two bodies isn't an easy task."
Liu's eyes widened as he said, "Do you think there's only one murderer? The murderer could be weak at times and strong at others; sometimes male, sometimes female. Perhaps you've really guessed wrong this time. Our investigation direction is mistaken. I believe there are multiple murderers involved, and what could their motive be? Maybe that's the key to solving the case."
I looked at Liu, feeling uncertain myself. I slowly said, "If that's the case, let's split up our investigation. In criminology, I've never seen a team commit a crime like this! A team cannot come together without shared interests or goals! The murderer absolutely cannot be multiple people."
Liu and I shook our heads simultaneously.
Guan Zengbin coughed lightly before speaking again. "I don't understand criminal psychology, but from a forensic perspective, let me offer a point. The reason the murderer shaped the rebar this way might be to ensure a quick death for the victim; on another level, this type of rebar could save effort."
"Save effort?" We turned to Guan Zengbin.
Guan Zengbin nodded seriously. "Exactly. Gu Chen mentioned earlier that when a person is alive, their muscles contract. When a knife pierces the body, it may be tightly wrapped by contracting muscles, creating significant pressure that grips the knife. This is why sometimes when a knife is embedded in a body, it can remain in place for a long time without causing damage to organs."
He then pointed to the blood grooves on the rebar. "The grooves are deep; once inserted, the muscles can't tightly adhere to the rebar due to gaps filled with air. This means that strong pressure doesn't exist anymore, allowing for a swift thrust all the way through with less effort required."
This was indeed one factor to consider; however, it was uncertain how much force would be needed under these conditions and whether the murderer's strength fell within that range. The uncertainty lay in whether Liu would believe this point. I believed that a slender murderer could accomplish it, while Liu clearly seemed skeptical.
Guan Zengbin looked at the two corpses and then at us before saying, "Let's stop discussing this for now and separate the bodies."
Gu Chen and I each dragged one corpse away until we had successfully separated them, confirming that even in death, love persists.
Guan Zengbin looked at the two corpses and began a simple autopsy, while I surveyed the room. Judging by the condition of the room, this bedroom was quite luxurious. As Sister Mao had once told me, bedrooms of those who know how to enjoy life tend to be larger, and Zhou Yufeng clearly fit that description.
On one side of the room stood a screen about one and a half meters tall. I glanced at the height of the female corpse; if she had been changing clothes behind it, she would have been able to see a glimpse of her shoulder. It seemed she had a taste for such pleasures. If the murderer had been hiding behind the screen with a rebar, it wouldn't have been impossible.
However, one thing was certain: the mistress would not come to check behind the screen. Otherwise, given the male corpse's height of around one meter eighty and his build, he would have easily overpowered a slender murderer standing at one meter seventy. This meant that the murderer was confident that the mistress would not come here, indicating that he had visited her home more than once.
I closed my eyes and imagined the scene of the murder.
On the bed, a pair of passionate lovers were engaged in intense activity, completely unaware of the murderer stepping out from behind the screen with a sharp rebar in hand. The murderer slowly approached the edge of the bed, and neither of them noticed. Then, with a sudden leap, he plunged the rebar into the woman's back.
The woman's porcelain-like skin was pierced at an angle, creating a large wound from which bright red blood gushed forth, splattering onto the man and also onto the murderer. The man was bewildered as he looked down to see a hole in the woman's abdomen, through which the rebar protruded.
Before he could comprehend what was happening, the rebar stabbed into his own belly. Their blood mingled together as they finally understood the true essence of life—whether in creating life or in life itself, it was all raw and bloody.
The woman tried to turn her head to look; the man attempted to raise his gaze, but neither could manage it. A single rebar pierced them both; any slight movement they made was accompanied by immense pain. The murderer brushed his hands together and walked past them, leaving without a trace.
And so they died in agony, their lower bodies connected and their upper bodies intertwined.
At that moment, Guan Zengbin spoke up: "From examining both corpses, it appears they only have this single penetrating wound each. The woman's kidneys and liver were pierced by the rebar at an angle, while only the man's stomach and intestines were punctured."
Guan Zengbin pointed out their wounds: "There are numerous life traces around these injuries, indicating that this is indeed a fatal wound. The cause of death is likely due to excessive blood loss leading to organ failure; however, we cannot make a definitive conclusion until after the autopsy. There are traces of residual sperm found inside the female corpse, and considering rigor mortis among other factors, we estimate that she died around ten o'clock last night."
"Ten o'clock?" several people asked in unison.
Guan Zengbin nodded seriously: "Don't be surprised; although we haven't conducted an autopsy yet, it's unlikely to be far off. This means that after killing this couple, the murderer went upstairs to kill that child."
I asked: "Have you investigated the child's situation? When did he go missing?"
A police officer stepped forward and replied: "We questioned neighbors nearby. The child went out to play yesterday afternoon and didn't return home until around seven or eight in the evening. Gao Ze usually loves to play but always comes home on time; he has never stayed out late before. His parents went looking for him but couldn't find him. By ten o'clock or so, they started to panic."
"And then everyone in the building began searching," another officer scratched his head and said: "Some thought he was just playing too far away; others feared he might have been taken by human traffickers. But he's six years old—too big for someone to just carry away like that. In any case, they searched for quite some time before anyone thought to call the police."
At ten o'clock last night, this couple had met their end.
If I guessed correctly, at this moment, the boy was already under the control of the Murderer. He might have heard his parents calling for him, after all, they were on the second floor, but this couple didn’t care whose child was missing; they were only concerned with discussing the great harmony of life.
The police officer continued to explain to us, “These people kept searching, and around one o'clock, someone thought the child might have fallen asleep at Old Wang's house. Old Wang is a nice guy, and he always gives the kids some treats when they visit, so they all like to hang around him.”
“So some people went upstairs to Old Wang's place to look for him while others continued searching downstairs.” The officer glanced out the window and said, “When they entered, they found Old Wang hanging. At that moment, the clothes drying rod just happened to break, and Old Wang fell down hard. At the same time, Gao Ze also fell from upstairs; it was a terrible sight.”
We understood what happened next. Old Wang and the child were taken to the hospital, but unfortunately, the child's injuries were too severe, and he did not survive.
What everyone didn’t know was that this couple had died long before, at around ten o'clock. At that time, the Murderer was still inside the building; there were people downstairs, and it was impossible for the Murderer to go down. Analyzing this point leads to the conclusion that the child was already in the Murderer's hands.
Suddenly, an image flashed in my mind: there wasn’t just one Murderer behind the screen; both the Murderer and the child were there. The Murderer brought the child here to make him watch the movements of two people on the bed to satisfy his twisted desires. After killing them both, the Murderer took the child up to the rooftop.
No one would ever think that the child they were desperately searching for was actually inside the building at that very moment on the roof.
“This is bad!” I said to everyone. “The Murderer is indeed killing according to Old Wang's fantasies as written. Now that the widow is dead and the child is dead, all that’s left are the workers in the factory. If the Murderer continues killing, it will definitely happen in the factory, and…”
“And it will involve being caught in a machine?” Liu exclaimed with wide eyes.
“Exactly,” I replied. “We need to contact that factory immediately and send our people to check it out; the Murderer will surely show up there soon.”
I turned to the other officers and said, “Take the bodies back to City Bureau. Guan Zengbin, you’re in charge of the autopsy. The rest of us will head over to the factory.”
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