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墨書 Inktalez
Upon closer inspection, the security guards at the entrance were all dressed in suits, young men in their twenties who appeared vibrant and full of energy. They were very polite and, upon learning our identities, notified the Security Chief. Before long, a handsome man in his thirties emerged.
After sizing us up, he said, "Although I'm not clear on your purpose here, you can ask me anything. I am the Security Chief here, and I will be responsible for hosting you. Now, could you tell me why you have come to our Spring Return Nursing Home?"
I replied, "Have you heard about the incident at People's Square this afternoon?"
The Security Chief nodded and said, "If you're referring to the case of the Falling Corpse from the Sky at People's Square, then yes, I am aware. This matter has caused quite a stir; almost everyone in the country knows about it. As residents of North City, we certainly know about it. Are you here because of this case? If so, I don't know what to say."
As I observed the elderly people moving around, I continued, "However, during our investigation, we discovered that someone claiming to be Mr. Wu from Spring Return Nursing Home had contacted two Yangge teams, leading to their conflict and obscuring our vision. Because of this, we were unable to capture the Killer. Do you know this Mr. Wu?"
"Mr. Wu?" The Security Chief furrowed his brow and slowly replied, "We do have a board member with the surname Wu here, but I'm not sure if he is the same person you're referring to. If there is only one Mr. Wu we can refer to generally, it would be him. There are also a few nurses with the surname Wu, but they are unlikely to be the so-called Mr. Wu."
I nodded and said, "That's right; the caller was a male. So where is this Mr. Wu now? Could you arrange for us to meet him?"
The Security Chief replied, "That's not something I can arrange. How about this: I'll take you to our General Manager at Spring Return Nursing Home; you can ask him."
We followed the Security Chief along a beautifully landscaped path. The chirping of birds and an array of unknown fragrances made us feel refreshed. If it weren't for our investigation, we would have loved to stroll along this path; living here would indeed be a great choice—provided one has money or is homeless. Of course, the treatment of the wealthy and the poor should differ; otherwise, many would pretend to be homeless just to secure a comfortable retirement.
Entering an elegantly designed building with decor reminiscent of classical Chinese architecture—completely different from the church-like structure outside—we noticed various styles of decoration within. The interior was quiet and spacious with bright sunlight streaming in.
From every angle, it was clear that a significant amount of money had been spent on constructing this place. It was puzzling how this establishment generated profit since there were no tourists inside. Perhaps it was funded by some hidden wealthy individual; that seemed plausible given how many rich people there are in our country nowadays.
Lost in thought, we arrived at what was supposedly the General Manager's office at this Nursing Home. Manager Wang was a middle-aged man in his forties who appeared slightly plump but still exuded competence compared to most men his age. The Security Chief briefly explained our purpose so that Manager Wang could understand why we were there.
Manager Wang nodded and said, "I understand your situation and your purpose for visiting. However, in my opinion, Mr. Wu would never do such a thing. It must be some criminal using Mr. Wu's name; however, I know you have procedures to follow."
"Mr. Wu is a reasonable person," he continued calmly. "How about I give him a call to explain the situation? What do you think?" Looking at us steadily, he added, "This way won't seem abrupt; after all, I'm just doing my job..."
Manager Wang spoke softly and persuasively enough that it was hard to refuse his request. His reasoning was sound and left little room for argument. Realizing this, I responded, "Well then, that sounds good."
However, after several attempts to reach him by phone without success, Manager Wang's expression grew tense as time passed. He glanced at his phone and then at us before awkwardly saying, "It seems Mr. Wu hasn't visited the Nursing Home for quite some time; he might be traveling abroad or something like that. Once everything is formalized here at the Nursing Home and they receive their dividends, they hardly ever come back."
Mr. Wu was proving to be elusive, and whether there was something suspicious about it remained unclear. However, we had to find Mr. Wu immediately, as the Killer left clues that led directly to the next victim. This meant that the so-called Mr. Wu was likely already in danger!
Realizing this, I quickly turned to Manager Wang and said, "This is not the time to worry about etiquette or relationships; life is more important than anything else. We suspect that Mr. Wu might be in danger, so take us to his house right away."
Hearing my words and seeing the urgency in my tone, Manager Wang nodded and replied, "Alright, I'll take you there now."
Mr. Wu lived in a villa area not far from here, about an hour's drive away. Manager Wang drove us to a villa, and upon closer inspection, although it was a villa district, the distance between each house was quite significant. This meant that if the Killer chose to strike at midnight, there was a high chance of not being noticed. Moreover, with late autumn upon us, there were hardly any wealthy residents left in the area...
Thinking about this made me increasingly convinced that Mr. Wu had a high probability of having been harmed. After knocking on the door with no response, we couldn't afford to hesitate any longer. Manager Wang, fearing something might happen, urged us, "Break it down! If nothing's wrong, I'll cover the damages, but if something happens to Mr. Wu, everything will go haywire at the Nursing Home!"
With that thought in mind, Dezi had already started looking around. Juan Juan said, "The door lock is very advanced; it won't open easily. Let Dezi break it down."
After two kicks with no reaction, I suggested, "Use a gun!"
Dezi nodded and pulled out a gun, shooting at the door lock before following up with a kick. Finally, the door burst open. We rushed inside to search; the villa was a duplex covering over one hundred fifty square meters with numerous rooms and a large living room. At that moment, we had no interest in admiring the luxury of the villa; we hurriedly searched room by room in hopes of finding Mr. Wu.
About five minutes later, we heard Dezi shout from upstairs, "Here! I've found a body!"
We rushed upstairs and found a door at the end of the second floor open. We hurried in and saw a corpse lying on a large bed with pristine white sheets that looked brand new as if they had never been used before.
At that moment, Manager Wang shouted, "Mr. Wu! Wu Litao!" He ran to the bedside intending to lift Mr. Wu's body. I quickly stopped him and said, "Look closely; Mr. Wu is already dead. Don't disturb the scene if you want the Killer who murdered Mr. Wu to be caught."
Upon hearing this, Manager Wang slumped down beside him.
We immediately put on gloves and shoe covers; however, Juan Juan hadn't brought her large kit for a simple autopsy.
We stepped closer to examine the body lying on the bed. From our observation, it was an adult male corpse approximately fifty years old. There was only one blood hole in his throat; no other injuries were visible on his body. The blood from the hole had already congealed, yet there wasn't a single drop of blood on the white sheets beside him.
From this analysis, two conclusions could be drawn: first, this was not the original crime scene; after killing him and allowing the blood in his throat to congeal, the Killer transported the body to this villa. Second, this could be the original crime scene where after committing murder, the Killer replaced the sheets with brand new ones.
Juan Juan gently pressed her gloved hand into the bloody hole, feeling around for a moment before saying, "From the texture, it seems that the soft cartilage in Killer's throat has been removed, and judging by the state of the victim's mouth, the vocal cords have also been cut out. It appears that Killer didn't want the victim to speak. But this is merely speculation; it doesn't reveal Killer's true intentions."
We nodded as Juan Juan continued, "Based on the state of blood coagulation, livor mortis, and rigor mortis, the victim has been dead for about three days. There are no signs of trauma on other parts of the body, and there are no indications of sexual assault in the lower regions. As for other factors, such as whether there was poisoning before death, we will need to return to the morgue for an autopsy to find out."
Three days ago—this meant that this victim died even earlier than Wenlan. Was Killer deliberately trying to confuse us by disrupting the timeline of the murders? I felt that this question was far more complex than I had initially imagined; it might conceal some unknown psychological issue or special motive from Killer.
It seemed we had to dig deeper into this matter.
"Surely there are surveillance cameras in the villa?" I asked Manager Wang.
Manager Wang nodded, standing up weakly before saying, "Yes, there are cameras next to the restroom. I'll take you there; I used to visit Mr. Wu's villa frequently."
With that, Manager Wang led us to the surveillance room. However, upon entering, we found that all surveillance data had been completely wiped clean; even the surveillance system itself had been violently destroyed. It appeared that Killer was quite familiar with this type of villa. Mary attempted to salvage some data from the damaged system but after a while, she threw up her hands in defeat.
"Killer attacked the system with a virus and then violently destroyed it," Mary said. "There's no way to recover anything..."
The high school student had been kidnapped along with Leggy School Beauty and Busty Third-Tier Celebrity, trapped in an abandoned cabin after mistakenly eating unknown wild fruit, feeling feverish in the middle of the night.
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