Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"This head provides us with too few clues. At the moment, I haven't formed a high-probability lead based on this head," Jiang He said seriously as he looked at Old Shao.
Old Shao shook his head. "Actually, you've already figured it out, but you haven't applied it to your reasoning. You noticed that this soccer ball is slightly larger than those used in matches, which is a good deduction. If it were an ordinary match ball, it would be unlikely that a head could fit inside it, so he must have bought a larger soccer ball."
Jiang He nodded and replied earnestly, "That's right; I noticed that. Based on my experience, I have a hundred percent certainty that this is a size seven soccer ball."
"You watch soccer matches?" Old Shao glanced at Jiang He.
Jiang He shook his head. "My great-aunt loved watching soccer. She taught me a lot about it, so I’ve kept that knowledge in my mind. Soccer ball sizes range from one to seven; as the number increases, the diameter of the ball also increases. Size five is the standard for adult matches."
Old Shao nodded and said, "So we already have a clue: this person is a soccer fan."
Jiang He shook his head again. "I don't understand."
Old Shao explained, "Think about it—very few people know that soccer balls come in different sizes. Most people only see size five balls; when buying one, they rarely ask for a size seven. Only someone who understands soccer would make such a request. Moreover, since a size seven ball is similar in size to a basketball and he chose not to go for the basketball, it clearly shows that this person prefers soccer far more than basketball."
"Specifically purchased a size seven soccer ball," Shao the Elder concluded. "Let's search the entire city for such a person."
"Understood." Captain Li arranged for people to be dispatched again.
Jiang He shook his head once more. "Analyzing rational information to infer emotional psychology is something I don't agree with. Information should lead to objective reality rather than guide us toward an individual's psychology; human psychology is the most complex and cannot be easily deciphered."
Old Shao spoke up, "In that case, would you like to make a bet with me?"
"A bet on what?" Jiang He asked.
"Let's bet on whether the murderer is a soccer fan," Shao the Elder replied.
"Bet." Jiang He said without hesitation.
"Then after the case is closed, I'll treat everyone to watermelon," Old Shao replied.
Jiang He nodded, "Alright. However, you deduced that the murderer is a football fan based on just one football. I have a seventy percent probability of believing that your information is insufficient to support that claim, so there's a high chance it could fail."
Old Shao shook his head, "It seems you really enjoy using data and probabilities in your arguments, but you should understand that when a person performs any action, it is a command given by their conscious or subconscious mind. What you think are careless actions are actually controlled by the subconscious. As long as you can grasp the psychology behind all actions in this world, you'll find that this isn't mysticism; it's real science."
Xu Yiman listened carefully to their conversation and interrupted them, "While you two were observing and discussing, I carefully dissected this head. Based on my initial observations, I found that after cleaning the bloodstains off the head, the face was swollen and had a bluish tint. You can see the livor mortis is purplish-red, so I opened the skull to confirm that the cause of death was asphyxiation."
"Asphyxiation," Jiang He murmured.
"That's right," Xu Yiman continued. "Asphyxiation. I will have the collected blood tested to see if it contains any poison or sedatives. So until we gather more information or find the rest of the body, I can't determine whether it was mechanical or non-mechanical asphyxiation."
The two nodded.
Xu Yiman added, "Since there's only one head, after clearing the blood from the eyes, I observed that the cornea has become completely opaque; the pupil is not visible anymore. After injecting atropine into the anterior chamber of the eye, there was no positive reaction. The rigor mortis in the masseter and neck muscles has completely disappeared, indicating that the time of death should be over seventy-two hours ago—about three days."
Jiang He calculated the time; it was now August 12th, meaning three days prior would be August 9th at around 3 PM.
This time frame indicated that it had been a full night since the children saw the football.
If we consider this timeline, with such a long duration, it's very likely that the murderer could be any resident from any district in Shangxi City. They could have disposed of the body anywhere within one night. If this person was able to stuff a head into a football for disposal, then it's likely that the rest of the body is hidden very discreetly.
"No one has come forward to claim it?" Old Shao asked as he looked at the head and inquired of Captain Li nearby. "From its appearance, the deceased seems quite young—likely a high school or college student. Are we sure there haven't been any missing person reports related to this?"
"No," Captain Li said. "We have also released the photos, but no one has come forward to claim them."
Old Shao nodded, seemingly unfazed.
"Judging by the skeletal age, they should be around eighteen years old," Xu Yiman added.
"Take the photos to various schools," Elder Shao suggested. "This person is likely a student."
Just as Old Shao finished speaking, a police officer hurried into the mortuary. "We've found the remains."
"You found the rest of the body?" Old Shao asked. "Where?"
The officer then explained the sequence of events:
On August 12th, around ten in the morning, in the Happiness District of Zhongshan District, Shangxi City, many elderly people were walking and exercising in the garden. Aunt Li had taken her granddaughter, Tongtong, to play there. On the way, Aunt Li ran into a few acquaintances and let Tongtong play nearby while she chatted with them. Tongtong wandered off and discovered a plush toy in the tall grass.
It was a medium-sized plush toy, about fifty to sixty centimeters tall, resembling a cute bear. Tongtong was enamored with it and hugged it tightly while playing. Around one o'clock, Aunt Li took Tongtong home, and she brought the plush toy with her.
Aunt Li began cooking upon returning home and paid little attention to Tongtong.
When Tongtong's parents came home, they opened the door to an awful smell. It was a difficult odor to describe—something akin to rotting food, sour and foul, wafting in waves; sometimes it was strong, other times barely noticeable.
They were puzzled about where the smell was coming from until Tongtong ran over with Bear Big in her arms. It was then that her parents realized the source of the odor, but this plush toy was not one they had bought for Tongtong.
Tong Tong finally realized that it was the teddy bear she had picked up. Her parents had told her to throw it away, and she burst into tears.
Aunt Li quickly tried to comfort her, suggesting that it might just be the sponge inside that had gone bad and that washing it would help.
However, Tong Tong's mom insisted that it was too dirty and could have been discarded by someone sick, so it needed to be thrown away immediately.
Grandma Tongtong couldn't bear to see the child cry and suggested they just wash it.
As the two women argued over the teddy bear, Tong Tong's dad grew angry. "We're trying to eat here! This thing stinks! Are you trying to add some flavor to our food by dragging it around? Let go of it!"
With that, Tong Tong's dad yanked at the plush toy.
With a loud rip, the teddy bear tore open down the middle.
Then came a thud as something fell onto the dining table.
When everyone saw what it was, they nearly fainted. The plush toy wasn't stuffed with cotton; what had fallen out was clearly a human arm! The arm had been severed at the shoulder, with the forearm and upper arm crammed into the belly of the teddy bear.
After falling out, the arm lay stretched out on the food, palm facing up, while everyone else still held onto the toy.
The arm lay quietly on the dishes, resembling a gesture of asking for a red envelope during the New Year celebrations.
The family immediately called the police. The local precinct arrived first and took the arm away. They suspected this case might be related to a previous incident involving severed heads in soccer fields, so they reported it to the City Bureau to see if it was connected.
Upon hearing this, Old Shao and Jiang He almost simultaneously said, "No need to investigate further; let's merge this case."
The method was strikingly similar, and Jiang He had a ninety percent certainty that it was the same person behind it.
They had only found one remaining arm; the rest of the body parts were still missing.
Jiang He spoke up, "This is the killer's way of disposing of the body. He cuts the corpse into several pieces and then hides them in different items that wouldn't raise suspicion. This way, he can dispose of the body without anyone noticing."
"Is Happiness District far from Fengyang Street?" Jiang He asked.
Captain Li replied, "It's quite far, not even in the same district. It would take at least two hours by car."
Hearing this, Old Shao shook his head inwardly and said, "This complicates things. While it's still light out, you should notify your director and have all the local police stations thoroughly search every district, along roadsides and in garbage heaps where things could be hidden. We must recover all of this person's body parts."
"Understood!" Captain Li saluted.
Old Shao looked at Jiang He and Xu Yiman. "The killer has had an entire night to dismember and dispose of the body. If he has a means of transportation, then during this time, he could have thrown these body parts into any corner of Shangxi City."
"Even if we find all the body parts, we won't be able to determine where the killer lives," Jiang He glanced at the two.
The three remained silent, but in their hearts, they all understood one fact: the victim's body parts could be hidden in any corner of the city right now.
Comment 0 Comment Count