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墨書 Inktalez
"Suicide?" Yuan Jun scratched his head and asked.
"Let's get the body down first," Old Shao replied to Yuan Jun.
Yuan Jun nodded and propped up the fallen chair. To avoid leaving any traces, he took off his shoes and stood on the chair. He wrapped his arms around Li Erdan's chest and lifted, freeing Li Erdan's head from the noose. Jiang He, standing nearby, hurried to support Li Erdan's body, managing to bring him down.
The two laid Li Erdan's body flat in the corridor, while Xu Yiman crouched down to perform a simple examination.
Xu Yiman pointed at the purplish-black ligature mark on Li Erdan's neck and said, "From this strangulation mark on his neck, it appears that the noose was positioned between the hyoid bone and the thyroid cartilage, perpendicular to the ground. The direction of force is upward, which aligns with characteristics of hanging. If it were a homicide, the force would likely be horizontal to the ground. Moreover, if you look at the shape of the ligature mark, it clearly resembles an inverted 'V' from back to front, indicating even pressure on both sides."
With that, Xu Yiman put on gloves and gently lifted Li Erdan's hand, addressing everyone, "From Li Erdan's hand, all five fingers are naturally drooping, slightly curled as if grasping something, with gaps of a few millimeters between them. His nails are intact and show no signs of struggle or fighting."
Jiang He added, "If you closely examine Li Erdan's hands and nails, you'll notice that previously they seemed unwashed for a long time, with dirt under his nails. But now, they are quite clean."
Everyone looked over and found Jiang He's observation to be accurate.
Xu Yiman nodded, gently placing Li Erdan's hand back on the ground. She then pointed at Li Erdan's face and said, "Li Erdan's face shows a slight reddish-purple hue, and his eyeballs appear somewhat protruded. Considering all this information together, it seems that Li Erdan died from mechanical asphyxiation and is likely a case of suicide. However, we cannot confirm whether he was unconscious when someone placed him there; we will need to conduct an autopsy for that."
Old Shao nodded in agreement.
Xu Yiman rolled up Li Erdan's sleeves and pressed for a moment before stating, "There is almost no postmortem reaction. Since the bathroom window was open, the indoor and outdoor temperatures are roughly the same—around seven degrees Celsius. This temperature can delay rigor mortis; however, based on the degree of stiffness observed in the body, he must have died about four hours ago—around six-thirty to seven o'clock in the evening."
"That's why Yuan Jun could carry Li Erdan's body down so easily," Xu Yiman continued as she rolled up Li Erdan's pant leg. "If the body were still in rigor mortis, it would take longer to bring him down."
As she spoke, Xu Yiman had already rolled up Li Erdan's pant leg.
"Have you noticed these livor mortis marks?" Xu Yiman addressed the group. "Take a close look at the livor mortis on the legs of the corpse. If a person dies while lying down, the livor mortis will typically appear on the neck, back, buttocks, and even on the thighs and the back of the arms. However, I just examined Li Erdan's arms and the back of his neck, and I found no livor mortis. If a person dies while hanging, then the livor mortis will mostly be found on the legs and abdomen."
"While we cannot rule out the possibility that it was staged to look like a hanging, aside from the livor mortis, we can basically conclude that he died by hanging. Moreover, I lean towards it being a suicide. The door to the room was locked from the inside, and the windows were also locked; no one could have entered through that window."
Old Shao stared at two chairs in a daze and said to Yuan Jun, "Call the City Bureau and have them take the body back. Also, search this room thoroughly; I believe he must have left something behind."
With that, Old Shao sat down on one of the chairs near the door, while Jiang He took a seat closer to the bathroom. The distance between them was only a few centimeters, making it feel like an intimate conversation. Jiang He looked at Old Shao, who was also gazing back.
"Two chairs," Old Shao remarked.
Jiang He responded, "This indicates someone has been here before."
Old Shao nodded thoughtfully, resting his elbows on his knees and supporting his chin with his hands like a composed thinker. "Who was that person?"
"The Criminal Consultant," Jiang He replied decisively.
Old Shao nodded again. "Only Li Erdan saw the Criminal Consultant's figure, and Li Erdan had expressed his loss of faith in life multiple times. After this case concluded, he must have gone to Li Erdan's residence."
Yuan Jun was searching around the room but could hear the conversation between Jiang He and Old Shao. "Isn't the Criminal Consultant known for helping others commit murder? Now he seems to have taken on a new business—encouraging people to commit suicide?"
Upon hearing Yuan Jun's comment, Jiang He nodded in agreement. "It's very likely. I believe Li Erdan is a new lead provided by the Criminal Consultant; I suspect there will be more cases arising from this. However, we're not quite sure what role the Criminal Consultant played in this case."
"His game has never ended," Old Shao added.
Jiang He stood up. "No matter what role he plays, as soon as he shows his face, I will catch him. This is my promise to Wang Chao."
"Look at this," Xu Yiman seemed to have made a discovery.
"A photo?" Jiang He glanced at the picture in Xu Yiman's hand.
Xu Yiman nodded. "I found it in the inner pocket of Li Erdan's jacket."
Jiang He and Old Shao took the photos and leaned down to examine them.
In the pictures was a woman and a man; the woman was Wang Guihua, and the man was surprisingly Wang Da. The bottom right corner of the photo had the date stamped on it, indicating it was taken five years ago. As they flipped through the photos, a shocking truth began to surface.
Wang Guihua had only gotten together with Wang Da after her divorce from Li Erdan, but the photos clearly showed them being intimate. In some pictures, they were even seen entering a hotel together. Many of these photos were severely yellowed and creased, suggesting that Li Erdan had kept them close for all this time.
"It seems Wang Guihua has deceived us all," Old Shao remarked. "Sometimes, when intellectuals deceive, the outcomes are unexpected."
Jiang He sighed lightly. "It means Li Erdan knew about Wang Guihua's infidelity five years ago and that the person she was cheating with was his colleague, Wang Da. For all these years, he said nothing and hinted at nothing; he just endured it until they finally divorced three years ago."
Old Shao added, "Perhaps from twenty years ago, when their parents arranged this marriage without their consent, they were destined to be unhappy. They have been unhappy for twenty years, and in these last five years, it may have been Wang Guihua's happiest time—though such happiness is also false."
Jiang He suddenly felt a wave of emotion and said, "It seems Li Erdan never had necrophilia issues until five years later when he suddenly developed them. Perhaps this is related to what happened."
"Living people can betray themselves; dead ones cannot," Old Shao said as he looked down at Li Erdan lying on the ground.
"I found this thing in the grid where I keep my toiletries," Yuan Jun's voice came from the bathroom.
"What is it?" Old Shao asked.
"It looks like a voice recorder," Yuan Jun replied.
Jiang He turned to look at the voice recorder in Yuan Jun's hand and said, "It seems this is a clue left for us by Li Erdan, or perhaps by the Criminal Consultant. Before Li Erdan committed suicide, he might have taken the cleanest shower of his life and changed into a new set of clothes."
Yuan Jun walked over and gently placed the voice recorder in Jiang He's hand.
Old Shao sighed, "A person can live their whole life in a mess, yet when they leave, they tidy themselves up completely. Perhaps in Li Erdan's mind, this world is filthy, and he hopes to find a clean place in another world."
Jiang He looked at everyone and said, "Then I'll play the voice recorder."
The others nodded.
Jiang He focused on the voice recorder and pressed the "play" button.
A crackling sound came from the device, and after a while, they finally heard a person's voice.
The members of the task force were all too familiar with this voice. Hearing it reminded them of the Criminal Consultant, Wei Demian's apprentice, who was dressed entirely in black, wearing a black mask and hat, wrapping himself tightly. It was he who had directly caused Wang Chao's death.
Then they heard the voice slowly say, "What are you waiting for?"
The voice of Li Erdan came next: "I don't even know what I'm waiting for. I feel like a walking corpse, devoid of any soul."
The Criminal Consultant replied, "I understand that you feel your life has lost all meaning. You believe no one needs you, that you are a complete failure. Your marriage, your job, even your gambling—none of it has ever brought you happiness, and you've never excelled at anything."
"That's true," Li Erdan said. "Even if I were to die, no one would notice."
"You are right about that," the Criminal Consultant continued. "However, your life is not entirely without meaning. I need you to do something for me. Once you complete this task, you will find your release."
"Can I really help you?" Li Erdan asked, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Of course," the Criminal Consultant said dramatically. "Even a piece of toilet paper has its purpose. I want you to do one thing: inform my old partners that the game is still on. When you hear this recording, there will be a new case—come to Wutong Road. By the way, I'm speaking to you as a concerned citizen."
"Take a shower," the Criminal Consultant added.
Jiang He suddenly realized something: "Get back inside."
But it was all too late.
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