Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Yuan Jun finally managed to get Zhao Jie down from upstairs, and by this time, Jiang He, Old Shao, and Xu Yiman were already gathered around the mangled body. Even Xu Yiman, who had seen many corpses before, couldn't help but feel a chill at the sight.
Guo Xiyue had been pulled down by the Security Window, which crashed heavily to the ground. Guo Xiyue also fell hard onto the Security Window. Due to gravity, the flesh on Guo Xiyue's body was embedded between the bars of the Security Window, like sharp steel knives carving out chunks of her flesh, resembling large pieces of freshly cut pork belly still dripping with blood.
However, this pork belly looked terrifying and bloody. Blood and stomach fluids had already dripped onto the bars and continued to drip onto the ground, while Guo Xiyue's blood had splattered as far as ten meters away. On the wall next door, blood had even splattered up to the third floor, painting a vivid crimson flower on the sides of the building.
"What exactly happened upstairs?" Old Shao asked Jiang He. "What occurred when you went up?"
As Jiang He observed the corpse, he replied, "When we went upstairs, we found the door tightly closed. Zhao Jie was a bit anxious and crashed into it. I saw a copper wire connected from the doorknob to a bedroom, and on the other end of the copper wire was attached to the Security Window in that bedroom."
Jiang He recalled what he had seen and quickly thought of the murderer's method: "It all happened so fast; I can say I only caught a glimpse. But I have already guessed how the murderer operated. It was actually a simple mechanism—the copper wire connected to the doorknob. When someone crashed into the door and it opened just a crack, the doorknob would inevitably bend, causing the copper wire to snap."
With Guo Xiyue in such a state, it was clear she had no hope of survival. Jiang He looked up at the tall building: "The other end of the copper wire was attached to the Security Window that had been tampered with by the murderer. When I observed upstairs, I noticed that the screws around the Security Window were already loose; if it weren't for the copper wire holding it in place, it would have fallen long ago."
"The murderer knew we would find this place; he did this deliberately to use our hands to kill Guo Xiyue," Jiang He said. "Did you see the rope tied around Guo Xiyue? As soon as the Security Window falls, Guo Xiyue will be dragged down with it. This way, the murderer doesn't need to appear at the crime scene but can still kill her."
Jiang He pointed at the towel in Guo Xiyue's mouth and continued, "Did you see that towel? It's clearly meant to prevent her from calling for help. This means that during this time, Guo Xiyue must not have had a drop of water. In other words—"
Old Shao interjected Jiang He's thoughts: "In other words, by the time we saw this corpse, the murderer already had time to execute his next killing plan."
"Exactly," Jiang He confirmed. "I am eighty percent sure that the murderer has already planned his next kill and is likely preparing to carry it out right now."
"Find him," Old Shao said decisively. "Every time this criminal consultant kills someone, he leaves behind a clue for us to follow. This time will be no exception; I believe this clue is not in the house but on Guo Xiyue herself."
"Come on, Yuan Jun, Jiang He, Guan Deng; you guys lift the body aside. Xu Yiman, have the officers extend the perimeter a bit further and see what else might have fallen along with Guo Xiyue."
Guo Xiyue's body was unrecognizable; from its appearance alone, one could hardly tell it was her.
The three struggled considerably but carefully moved Guo Xiyue's body aside, causing gasps from onlookers nearby.
Guan Deng and Yuan Jun stood off to one side as they watched Jiang He continuously search over this mangled corpse.
Zhao Jie had long been pulled aside by police officers; he covered his eyes and shouted, "She was innocent! She was innocent!"
A stir arose from the crowd.
Someone said, "Isn't that woman the one mentioned in WeChat?"
"You received it too?" another person asked. "Let me tell you, this situation is not good. I heard she cheated on her man. When he came back, she got scared and hid her lover on the balcony, but he lost his grip and fell."
Another woman chimed in, "I heard it differently. I heard that woman pushed her lover off; it wasn't an accident at all. The police just don't have evidence, so they can't arrest her. Everyone knows she did it."
These words reached Zhao Jie’s ears. His voice was hoarse from crying as he murmured amidst the noisy discussions, "What you're saying isn't true. She didn't kill anyone; she didn't cheat."
But how could the surrounding crowd hear Zhao Jie’s quiet words?
Old Shao stood before the crowd, listening to their chatter. He was certain that each of the three deceased had committed no crime; they were all innocent. Yet in the videos, they appeared utterly wicked.
In snippets of edited footage, the crowd only believed what they saw, unaware that it was merely what the murderer wanted them to see. Old Shao also knew that the voting orchestrated by the murderer was just a formality; regardless of the outcome, the murderer would continue to kill.
But Old Shao wondered how many people had chosen to press the button to kill those three? How many had repeatedly opted for murder?
Old Shao understood that this so-called Criminal Consultant would keep killing innocent people. He knew that each time, this Criminal Consultant left clues behind, just as he had openly declared to everyone: this game had only just begun.
Yet Old Shao was puzzled about the ultimate goal of this Criminal Consultant. Was it merely for the thrill of killing? To continue until his own death or capture by the police? Old Shao felt there must be more complexity to it; if it were that simple, he wouldn't be called a Criminal Consultant.
Old Shao recalled Wei Demian, the first Criminal Consultant. In Wei Demian's mind resided a jungle law: he believed humanity could only evolve through mutual slaughter, and this process of evolution must be accompanied by pain and awakening. After most people perished in this jungle, those who remained would be the selected few with evolutionary potential.
However, Wei Demian's mad ideas were thwarted before they could be implemented when Old Shao dismantled their criminal organization. Wei Demian hid for over twenty years and passed his criminal skills to his disciple—now the second Criminal Consultant.
Old Shao was certain that Wei Demian's disciple would not be satisfied with merely killing one person at a time. What kind of world did this Criminal Consultant envision? What conspiracy lay hidden behind each of his murders?
What did he truly want?
As people continued their discussions around him, Old Shao glanced over to see Zhao Jie lying on the ground, unable to cry out anymore; he simply lay there convulsing from overwhelming grief. Old Shao looked back at the crowd with an indescribable feeling in his heart—a feeling that could only be described as numbness.
At that moment, Jiang He spoke up: "Old Shao, there are no clues on Guo Xiyue; we can't find anything suspicious because aside from her clothes, there's nothing else."
Old Shao returned from his thoughts and spoke, "What about the surroundings? Did you find anything on the ground? What about upstairs?"
Jiang He replied, "In the room, I carefully examined the crime scene, but I found nothing. The resident, the wife of the deceased lover, moved away long ago due to the neighbors' gossip. There isn't even a single piece of paper left in the house, which is why the Criminal Consultant chose this place as the crime scene."
"Let's search one more time," Old Shao said. "Look carefully."
After over an hour of searching every inch of the ground around them, they still found no clues.
Old Shao had no choice but to say, "You all, put the body into the body bag. Xu Yiman, we still need to conduct an autopsy. The rest of you, let's head back to the police station. Remember to bring back the Copper Wire, the rope, and even this heavy Security Window; these are the only things left at the scene. The clues might be in these three items."
The others nodded. Yuan Jun said, "Alright, Jiang He, you and Guan Deng gather the rope and Copper Wire first. I'll move this Security Window to the car. Xu Yiman, give me two pairs of gloves; this thing is not only heavy but also looks quite slippery."
On the bars of the Security Window, there were almost entirely bodily fluids splattered across it.
Yuan Jun grasped two iron bars with both hands and quietly exclaimed as he lifted the Security Window vertically. Jiang He was busy collecting the Copper Wire and rope when he looked up and saw Yuan Jun behind the bars in the sunlight. In that moment, Jiang He was reminded of prisoners in jail peering out through bars.
Yuan Jun quickly moved the Security Window into the trunk of their car.
"This smell is really unpleasant," Yuan Jun remarked.
"Let's go back," Old Shao said. "We'll talk more at the police station."
Comment 0 Comment Count