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墨書 Inktalez
For more than a month, we had not received any missions from A-Bao, allowing us to enjoy a good New Year. Mary’s parents lived abroad, so she returned to Yuzhou City with me and Juan Juan. On the train home, I learned that Mary was of mixed Chinese and French descent, which explained her exotic charm.
After the New Year, the northern region clearly entered a period of severe cold, and Yuzhou City had already experienced its second snowfall. As the leader of the Special Investigation Team, I found myself once again relegated to being a doorman for the Police Department after returning to Yuzhou City. Mary was outside, playfully pestering Juan Juan as they built a snowman. Seizing the moment, I sneaked out from the doorman's area, scooped up some snow from the ground, and shaped two snowballs. I threw them at the duo, causing two bursts of snowflakes to explode on their backs.
“Hey, Brother Shao! How dare you ambush us!” Mary turned around with her hands on her hips and exclaimed. I burst into laughter just as a snowball flew into my mouth, sending a chill from my head down to my toes— Juan Juan had taken advantage of my distraction to throw one at me.
A snowball fight ensued. Suddenly, my phone rang. I pulled it out to check and saw that it was A-Bao calling. No need to ask; there must be a new case. I shook my phone to show the others before answering. A-Bao's voice came through: “Heh heh, Shilin! Happy New Year!”
“As soon as you call, I know happiness is out of the question. So where are we headed this time?” I asked directly.
While we were talking, I suddenly heard a feminine gasp from the phone and quickly asked, “What are you doing?”
“Ahem! I'm working! You know my position!” A-Bao hurriedly replied. “I've sent the details to Mary's computer…”
I sighed; this detective truly loved his work. Annoyed, I asked, “What's the location? I need to buy tickets.”
“No need for that; a helicopter is already coming to pick you up,” A-Bao said. “It should be arriving soon. By the way, I'm quite busy with work too—gotta go now!”
Before I could respond, A-Bao hung up. Instantly, I realized this must be a significant case; otherwise, they wouldn't send a helicopter for us. I told the others, “This case seems serious; it must be major. The helicopter will be here shortly—get ready to leave.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the sound of helicopter blades reached us first. In the distance, a helicopter approached. By the time it circled above us, Juan Juan and Mary had already prepared their gear while I had nothing to pack—I was ready to go at any moment.
The helicopter didn't land; instead, a soft ladder dropped down. When the cabin door opened, I saw that Yan Junde was already on board. The three of us climbed into the helicopter, which took off without delay. Once seated, Mary pulled out her laptop and said, “A shocking case has occurred in Beiyu City. This morning, winter swimmers discovered a body by the riverbank. The forensic results are astonishing because it’s not just any body…”
At Beiyu City’s City Public Security Bureau, when we entered the conference room, we found many people already seated inside. After some brief introductions, we learned that several leaders from the provincial department were present. Just looking at this lineup made it clear how serious this case was.
Leader Wang from the Police Department said, “I won’t waste time with small talk; the body was discovered in the morning and you arrived in Beiyu City by afternoon. You can imagine how urgent this matter is.” I nodded; such a short time frame indicated that they must have reported our arrival within an hour of discovering the body.
Most people actually preferred not to have the Special Investigation Team involved; it meant they couldn’t solve this case on their own and needed our assistance. The Beiyu City Police Department had barely conducted any investigation before calling us in—this showed they recognized early on that they would struggle with this case alone.
Realizing this, I quickly asked, “What exactly happened?”
Leader Wang replied, “You should go take a look at the body first.”
The body lay still in the forensic autopsy room. Since it was clear that we were being called in, only a simple examination had been conducted; no dissection had taken place. Juan Juan took the autopsy report from the City Forensic Expert, and I noticed her expression darkening.
As we examined the body, I realized immediately that something was wrong, even though I wasn't a forensic expert. Mary was right on the plane; this was not just "one" body. The connections between the limbs, head, and torso were clearly stitched together. The torso was evidently that of a male, but the head on it belonged to a female.
Yan Junde frowned and said, "This is two people sewn together!"
But Juan Juan's next statement sent chills down everyone's spine. She said, "Not two people, but six. I just compared the DNA from the limbs, head, and torso and found that they do not match. This means we can deduce that six people have already been murdered from this one body!"
The shock lingered in the air; indeed, this was a sensational case. If I hadn't joined the Special Investigation Team, I might never have encountered such a bloody and terrifying case in my life. How depraved must the killer be to dismember six people and sew them together?
Juan Juan continued, "For convenience, we'll assign numbers to this composite body: the head will be number one, the torso number two, the left arm number three, the right arm number four, the left leg number five, and the right leg number six. Currently, we can only confirm that the causes of death for numbers one and two were due to Potassium Cyanide poisoning. As for the other four victims, we cannot yet conclude whether they are dead."
Mentioning Cyanide made me recall my childhood favorite show, Detective Conan. Whenever Conan detected a bitter almond smell from a corpse's mouth, lightning would strike as he exclaimed, "Masaka? Cyanide?"
Cyanide is highly toxic and comes in three forms: Potassium Cyanide, Sodium Cyanide, and Hydrogen Cyanide. It can enter the human body through injection, ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact; just a small amount can be lethal. Its potency allows it to kill within minutes, making it a staple poison for assassins.
The Potassium Cyanide that killed victims one and two exhibited these characteristics. Once inside the body, it inhibits respiratory enzymes causing cellular suffocation; the central nervous system quickly loses its functions leading to coma, respiratory arrest, organ failure, and ultimately death.
I furrowed my brow and said, "Cyanide is classified as an A-level inorganic poison in our country. Individuals or organizations must fill out an application form at the police station to purchase it. This form requires details about usage, quantity, purpose, and proof from an organization. Moreover, transportation must be handled by designated personnel."
Detective Captain Gao nodded in agreement as I continued, "Let's start from here and check if there have been any reports of missing Sodium Cyanide from chemical factories or universities. If the killer used Sodium Cyanide for murder, tracing its source should yield some results."
Leader Wang said, "I'll arrange this immediately and mobilize the entire Police Force to find this source." With that, he left with several others.
I pondered for a moment before saying to Juan Juan, "Someone capable of dismembering and sewing bodies together must not be an ordinary person."
Juan Juan pointed at the stitched-up body and addressed everyone: "That's right. I carefully observed how this body was stitched together; there are two points indicating that the killer is skilled with a knife and has considerable knowledge of human anatomy. Look at this cross-section; it's remarkably neat—sliced cleanly along anatomical lines."
In reality, dismemberment is not as easy as one might imagine for an ordinary person; it's not just about hacking away with a kitchen knife. We watched as Juan Juan used a small knife to slowly separate the stitched areas; indeed, the cross-section was very smooth.
Juan Juan continued: "That's one point. The second point is how expertly it was stitched—so precise that I suspect it could have been done by someone within our forensic community—a highly skilled forensic expert..."
We all knew that after dissecting a body during an autopsy, the final step for forensic experts is to stitch it back up as a basic respect for the deceased. The fact that Juan Juan —a nationally renowned forensic expert—found this stitching technique impressive indicated that this killer was certainly not ordinary.
"Killer must be proficient in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Neurosurgery," Juan Juan stated decisively.
Juan Juan's words at least clarified a general scope for us. Before I could speak, Captain Gao said, "If that's the case, Killer is likely a doctor or a forensic expert. Even if not in those professions, they must have a deep understanding of human anatomy and surgery. From this perspective, we should be able to narrow down the possibilities significantly."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Juan Juan continued, "The time of death for Victim One and Victim Two was likely around one o'clock the night before last. The cause of death was Potassium Cyanide poisoning. Killer has exceptional surgical skills, and based on the bodies, that's all we can deduce for now. As for fingerprints and such, I think we can forget about that; Killer wouldn't have left any behind."
Another highly evasive criminal.
"Since we can't find any clues on the bodies, let's go check the scene where the bodies were discovered," I suggested.
Upon hearing my words, Captain Gao's expression showed some reluctance. I frowned, thinking there might be some issue at the scene. Sure enough, Captain Gao continued, "Recently, Beiyu City has had several snowfalls. After the bodies were found, heavy snow nearly covered and buried everything at the scene. I'm afraid we won't find anything useful there either."
When we arrived at the scene, it was just as Captain Gao had said—the area was blanketed in snow, turning everything into a white expanse. Snowflakes began to fall again from the sky, indicating that there would be another heavy snowfall tonight. Everyone felt somewhat disheartened, but Lockard's theory of material exchange reminded us that no matter how careful Killer was, traces would still be left behind at the crime scene.
Looking at the vast whiteness before us, I said, "Although the scene has been severely compromised, we cannot give up on searching this area. Beneath the snow could be evidence that proves Killer's involvement. We need to act quickly and try to find something before it snows heavily!"
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