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墨書 Inktalez
We soon arrived at the scene, located in the suburbs of the northern part of the city. However, the body was discovered on a small path leading to a village, a place where few people would normally go. The person who found the body and reported it was a villager who had gone out to purchase supplies for the upcoming New Year. As he walked along the path, he stumbled upon a figure lying on the side.
At first, this villager thought someone had been robbed and knocked unconscious. The body was facing away from him, but as he approached, he was startled to see the front of the corpse. The mouth was wide open, yet inside it was hollow—there was no tongue.
He was so frightened that he nearly lost control of himself, taking a long time to regain his composure before heading to the local police station to report the incident. The police quickly secured the scene, but since it was a homicide, they immediately notified the Police Department. After briefly describing the situation, the Police Department quickly realized this was similar to a previous case and promptly informed us.
When we arrived, Yuzelin was already directing operations at the scene. Villagers from miles around had rushed over upon hearing about the murder; there were at least fifty people gathered around, with bicycles lined up nearby. We pushed through the crowd to get closer to the body and assess the situation.
Throughout our journey there, we felt uneasy, fearing that this might be the same person who had gotten into the car earlier—the Boss Lady. If it truly was her, it meant she had been taken nearby and murdered here. We all felt conflicted; we hoped it wasn't her, but if it wasn't, it meant that someone else had fallen victim, which was equally distressing.
As we approached the corpse for a closer look, we realized that this female body was not the Boss Lady. We all breathed a sigh of relief, but then we were left wondering—who was this woman? She wore no clothes, and we couldn't find anything to identify her.
Yuzelin said, "There are too many people here; we should move the body to the Police Department for further examination."
I nodded in agreement; a murder had occurred, and having so many onlookers around wasn't good for anyone involved. Just as we were about to transport the body away, someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Isn't that... isn't that Zheng Yunyun from Old Zheng's Family?"
Upon hearing this, I realized someone might know her identity. I immediately asked, "Does anyone know who this girl is?"
"I do!" said a man in his thirties. "I know who she is; her name is Zheng Yunyun from Old Zheng's Family."
After careful questioning, we learned more about her background. Zheng Yunyun was a villager from Zhengjia Village who had dropped out of high school and worked as a waitress in town. She usually had two hours off during lunch and would ride her bike home to eat. This meant she likely encountered trouble after finishing work.
We contacted Zheng Yunyun's parents, who confirmed our findings. Typically at this hour, she would have been home already; however, since she sometimes ate lunch in town, her parents hadn't thought much of her absence. Upon hearing about their daughter's death, they broke down in tears. As parents themselves, we could understand their profound sorrow at seeing their daughter murdered in such a brutal manner.
The subsequent matters were left to the Police Department personnel to continue communicating with Zheng Yunyun's parents and search for useful clues nearby while we prepared to take the body away. Juan Juan hadn't brought her own kit and could only observe some basic details with her eyes; to gather more useful information, we needed to return to the Police Department.
Juan Juan completed a preliminary examination of the corpse and leaned closer to whisper in my ear: "This woman hasn't been dead long—no more than an hour at most. The blood on the ground hasn't coagulated yet; some areas haven't even shown signs of rigor mortis. Plus, this is a small path with considerable distance from both the city and village; it's likely that the killer hasn't gone far."
Juan Juan's analysis made sense. A crucial point raised by local villagers indicated that Zheng Yunyun rode her bike home after work; however, we found no bicycle at the scene. This suggested that after killing her, the killer took both her and her bicycle away.
Thinking along these lines, I said to Yuzelin: "The victim died less than an hour ago on this long path. If she was attacked in the middle of it, there are only two possibilities: either the killer was leaving or heading toward the village. Both scenarios are plausible; however, it's strange that they took her bicycle as well."
"There are many things we can analyze from this," I said, rubbing my temples. "We can draw a few hypotheses. First, if the Killer walked here, then why did the Killer come to this village?"
"Guo Guoqing is currently in jail, so he couldn't be the one who committed the murder. But if the Killer is an accomplice of Guo Guoqing, what could be his purpose for coming to this village? If he walked here, it’s unlikely he followed this woman here. That would mean it was a coincidence, but that raises another question: what was he doing in this village?"
"Second, if the Killer had a means of transportation, like a bicycle or motorcycle, then we have another problem. If he had transportation, why would he take the victim's bicycle? Is there something special about that bicycle that makes it invaluable? I doubt that's the case."
"Third, if the Killer drove here, that's the most likely scenario, but it doesn't make sense logically," I frowned. "The Killer had no reason to take the woman's bicycle; that would be unnecessary and could easily lead to his exposure. Anyone who could be an accomplice of Guo Guoqing shouldn't act so recklessly."
As I spoke, I shook my head and continued, "This case has many puzzling aspects and numerous logical inconsistencies. From a timing perspective, after the accomplice took Boss Lady away, he must first find a place to control her before committing the crime. Time might be tight."
"Then continue investigating along this line," I instructed Yuzelin. "The Killer shouldn't have gone far, especially with a bicycle involved. Inquire about the type of bicycle the victim rode and send that information to nearby police stations; we must find this Killer!"
Yuzelin nodded in agreement as we returned to the Police Department with the body.
Juan Juan began the autopsy while I stood beside her to assist. Watching Juan Juan work diligently brought back a wave of nostalgia; seven years ago when I was just an intern at the Yuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, I often assisted her in similar ways. How quickly time has passed.
Time flies indeed; Juan Juan now had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Yes, she was already thirty years old. When I first met her, she was just in her early twenties. Different people have different understandings of happiness; some may need wealth to feel happy, while others might need alcohol. For me, I call it the romance of the autopsy room.
Juan Juan has been waiting for me for seven years. Once everything settles down, I'll marry her in style.
Lost in thought for a moment, Juan Juan coughed and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you dazed?"
I smiled without answering. Would I really tell her that I was mesmerized by watching her? Instead, I asked, "Did you find anything?"
Juan Juan nodded seriously and said, "According to my findings from the autopsy, while this case appears similar to previous ones, the methods are actually different. The victim we saw in the greenhouse and this victim are distinct. You also deduced that there was only one set of footprints in the greenhouse; it's very likely that Guo Guoqing's accomplice was the murderer."
I nodded in agreement.
"That presents a problem," Juan Juan continued. "The accomplice killed by slitting the throat—one cut severed the esophagus, trachea, and blood vessels without damaging the spine. However, this person used excessive force; they injured the spine and were not precise with their cuts—the wounds on the neck are longer at both ends and clearly indicate it was their first time."
"Moreover, looking at the tongue cut off by the Killer: in previous cases, that tongue was completely excised from its root; here, however, it appears to have been cut off piece by piece with blunt force—an unprofessional technique—indicating it wasn't done by the same person. Based on these observations, it seems these two victims were killed by two different individuals!"
Juan Juan's words opened up many possibilities for speculation. Could it be that Guo Guoqing truly had more than one accomplice? Had he developed a network of helpers to assist him in his killings? But would Guo Guoqing really recruit such unprofessional individuals? From what I knew of his character, he was someone who liked to keep everything under his control, a person who paid meticulous attention to details. This aspect of his personality seemed inconsistent with the idea of relying on unreliable help.
Moreover, considering my previous analysis, if it were indeed Guo Guoqing's accomplices at work, the timing wouldn't add up. What was he doing in that village? Had he been lying in wait for several days, biding his time until the moment to kill arrived? This line of reasoning also seemed illogical.
Now, it was essential to investigate what kind of person the deceased had been in life. Based on Guo Guoqing's pattern of victims, it appeared that women who seemed pure on the surface but were actually more open in their sexual lives were the ones most likely to fall prey to him. It was undeniable that his accomplices would act according to this principle as well.
"I've thought of a possibility," Juan Juan said to me at that moment.
"Oh?" I asked. "What possibility?"
As she removed her gloves, Juan Juan replied, "Imitative murder."
Imitative murder, as the name suggests, involves mimicking the methods used in previous murder cases. The motivations behind such acts can vary; some do it to evade capture, while others seek to pay homage to a killer. Considering various factors, this possibility indeed seemed plausible.
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