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墨書 Inktalez
The police car stopped at the entrance of the building, and people turned to see that four or five individuals had already gathered outside Ge Dongyun's home. Some were carrying cameras, while others simply held their phones; they all appeared to be reporters. Not far from Ge Dongyun's building, some residents from the neighborhood were watching from a distance.
These people chattered among themselves, discussing the circumstances surrounding Ge Dongyun's death.
"We just received a tip-off that Ge Dongyun has been killed by the murderer."
"Right now, we're downstairs at Ge Dongyun's place, but his mother refuses to open the door for us no matter what."
"Brothers, I'm right here on the scene; I live in this area. I heard Ge Dongyun is dead. Oh, here come the police."
Upon hearing this young man's words, the reporters rushed over, bombarding the members of the special investigation team with questions. Old Shao led a few people forward while saying, "Everyone, please step aside. We're here to investigate, not to give interviews."
Old Shao then looked at Yuan Jun and instructed, "Yuan Jun, stay at the door and don't let anyone in."
"Understood." Yuan Jun extended his arms to block the reporters: "Everyone, please cooperate with the police work and stay where you should be; do not cross the line."
At the same time, Old Shao's mind was filled with a question—how did these reporters know that Ge Dongyun had been murdered?
"Stepmother, open the door." Old Shao pressed the doorbell.
After a moment, Stepmother opened the door.
Her eyes were red and swollen, her face streaked with tears. The white dress she wore was stained with blood, and her arms were covered in dried blood as well. Beside Stepmother stood a security guard who nodded slightly at the arrival of the police.
Seeing the members of the special investigation team arrive caused Stepmother's tears to flow anew.
"Take care," Xu Yiman said as she approached and gently patted Stepmother's back.
Though Stepmother was already a mother of one child, she was only twenty-seven years old—just a few years older than Xu Yiman. Such a life-altering event was something no fragile woman could bear. Xu Yiman's attempt to comfort her only made Stepmother's pent-up sorrow and grievances surge forth uncontrollably.
Jiang He, disregarding everything else, directly asked, "Is Ge Dongyun's body in the bedroom on the second floor?"
The Stepmother nodded.
Old Shao glanced at the Stepmother and said, "The priority now is to find the murderer. I know you are in great sorrow, but time is of the essence. Every minute we spend examining the scene increases our chances."
"Alright..." The Stepmother nodded, and with Xu Yiman's support, she followed Old Shao upstairs.
Jiang He took the lead and stood at the door of Ge Dongyun's bedroom on the second floor, observing inside.
As Old Shao walked up the stairs, he asked, "When was Ge Dongyun discovered dead? Describe the process in detail and don't leave out any details."
The Stepmother replied, "Ge Dongyun usually wakes up late because she doesn't go to school. I would drop my son Dong Ai off at kindergarten first before returning to make breakfast for Ge Dongyun and then call her to eat. I usually returned around eight forty, and breakfast should be ready by nine."
"After that, I called Ge Dongyun to eat, but I waited for over ten minutes without her coming down. She isn't usually like this; normally, I just have to call a few times. Although she wouldn't respond, it wouldn't take long for her to open the door and come down to eat. I thought maybe Ge Dongyun was feeling unwell, so I went upstairs to knock on her door."
As she spoke, the Stepmother struggled to control her emotions, choking back tears.
Xu Yiman patted her shoulder, prompting the Stepmother to continue, "I shouted outside for a long time with no response. I found it strange and wondered if Ge Dongyun had gone out. But when I called her phone, I heard it ringing from her bedroom. I took a spare key and tried to unlock the door, but it was locked from the inside; no one outside could open it with a key."
"It was clear that Ge Dongyun was inside, yet no matter how much I shouted, she wouldn’t open the door." The Stepmother recalled nervously, "I started to feel scared, worried that something might have happened to Ge Dongyun. So I called property management, and a security guard came."
The security guard nodded and said, "We received Ms. Wang's call. The property management sent me over. At Ms. Wang's request, we broke down the door together."
"Once inside, I saw Ge Dongyun lying on the bed with her back to the door. Normally, with such noise, she would have gotten up; yet she remained completely still. I rushed over, but as soon as my hand touched the blanket, I felt something wet. When I looked closer, I realized it was blood. I pulled back the blanket and found blood everywhere on the bed. I was completely stunned; I held Ge Dongyun's body and called out to her, but she was already dead—there was a knife lodged in her chest."
The Stepmother cried out, "She had no pulse, no heartbeat; even the wound wasn't bleeding anymore..."
The security guard added, "At that time, I conducted a simple examination of Ge Dongyun and confirmed she was dead. Afterward, Ms. Wang notified you all while we waited for your arrival."
"If that's the case, it seems like he has been dead for a while," Xu Yiman sighed.
While they were talking, Jiang He had already been observing at the bedroom door for some time. The last time Jiang He visited, Ge Dongyun's bedroom was tidy and spacious, but this time it was in disarray—Old Shao's chair was toppled on the floor, and a blood-stained blanket was piled up. Books and a water cup filled with water were scattered all over the table.
On the bed lay Ge Dongyun's corpse. A Western Chef's Knife was embedded in his left chest, piercing directly into his heart. From the position of the knife handle, it was parallel to the ribs and had pierced through the intercostal muscles with almost no obstruction from the ribs, allowing it to penetrate deeply.
After taking photos of the crime scene from the doorway, Jiang He put on white gloves and stepped inside, followed closely by Old Shao. Xu Yiman comforted Stepmother a few times before donning her gear and entering as well.
The bedroom was large and spacious enough. One wall was lined with a tall wardrobe, while on the opposite side was a smaller suite that appeared to be a bathroom.
The bed was placed in the center of the room; it looked big enough for three people to sleep comfortably, with Ge Dongyun lying on one side.
Xu Yiman looked at Ge Dongyun and gently lifted his eyelid. Then she pinched his bicep and said, "The eyeball hasn't clouded yet. By pressing on the deceased's muscle, I can feel a faint muscular reaction."
Next, Xu Yiman touched Ge Dongyun's jawline and continued, "Rigor mortis has just begun to set in, usually starting from the jaw and gradually spreading throughout the body."
"Rigor mortis typically occurs within one to three hours after death, while muscular reactions can still occur within two hours post-mortem. By comparing the temperature and humidity of the scene, we can estimate that he died about an hour and a half ago, around eight twenty. To obtain a more precise time of death, a complete autopsy would be necessary."
With that, Xu Yiman turned her attention to the Western Chef's Knife embedded in Ge Dongyun.
"The knife entered through the gap between the fourth and fifth ribs; its placement is very precise. Even without much force, it could easily pierce the heart," Xu Yiman frowned and said. "This type of Western Chef's Knife has fine serrations along the blade edge, acting like grooves for blood. Even if it remains lodged inside, Ge Dongyun would have lost a significant amount of blood."
"I didn't find any other wounds on Ge Dongyun's body. Based on the current situation, excessive bleeding from a ruptured heart leading to insufficient blood supply to the brain is likely the direct cause of death."
Xu Yiman lightly touched the knife handle again and added, "The murderer is quite skilled and possesses some medical knowledge. They positioned the knife parallel to the ribs and chose to strike between the fourth and fifth ribs—almost a fatal blow that left Ge Dongyun no time to cry out or struggle."
"The murderer acted with premeditation," Old Shao spoke up. "This way they wouldn't be discovered or cause a commotion. But the question is, how did they get in?"
With that, Old Shao looked at Stepmother and asked, "Do you know what time Ge Dongyun usually gets up?"
"I’m not really sure. Maybe if I don’t call her, she’ll just keep sleeping..." the Stepmother said, lowering her head.
Jiang He asked, "Are you sure the door was locked from the inside?"
The Stepmother nodded. "As soon as she returns to her room, she locks the door. I know she doesn’t like talking to me and doesn’t see us as her family. She usually shuts herself in her room, and I have no idea what she does in there."
The security guard spoke up, "I can testify that the door was locked. I tried pushing it and also tried using the key, but it wouldn’t open. In the end, I had no choice but to break it down with Ms. Wang."
While they were talking, Jiang He was not idle; he was observing the door lock. Both of them were telling the truth; before the door was forcibly opened, it had indeed been locked from the inside. Once this type of lock is secured from the inside, even if someone outside has a key, it’s useless—they can only wait for the person inside to open it.
Jiang He then walked over to the window and discovered that it had been locked from the inside as well. It was a common sliding window, with the left panel facing inward and the right panel outward. The left panel had a Crescent Lock installed, which can rotate 180 degrees. When the lock handle is facing up, it indicates that the window is unlocked; when it’s facing down, it means the window is locked.
Jiang He noticed that although the handle of this Crescent Lock was facing down, it wasn’t perfectly vertical with the ground but rather at an angle of about twenty degrees. He also observed that there were no signs of forced entry on the lock. He tried pushing and pulling on the window slightly, but it wouldn’t budge; there was no way to open it.
With no signs of damage on either the door or window, Jiang He pondered as he quickly walked into the bedroom suite, which included a bathroom. The bathroom had a bathtub and a toilet but no windows—it was a closed space.
"The entire bedroom is like a big secret chamber!" Jiang He exclaimed.
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