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The Self-Rescuing Corpse
墨書 Inktalez
Snow, a vast expanse of white. The world was enveloped in a blanket of silver. Complementing this scene was a pale corpse.
The crime scene was a student dormitory room in D High School, where the deceased was the occupant of this single room—a small, slender senior student.
The body lay on its back behind the door, with a hemp rope tightly wrapped around its neck. A frayed end of the rope extended from the noose, falling to the ground like a little girl’s braided hair. The corpse was dressed in a disheveled white nightgown, now serving as its burial shroud.
The thin wrists, resembling withered branches, were exposed outside the sleeves, and the right hand clutched something cold—a pair of scissors that were on the verge of rusting. The cold wind from outside rushed through the window, stirring another frayed piece of rope tied to the ceiling Electric Fan, which swayed like a ribbon.
Deputy Captain Ni Zhe crouched beside the body, examining its contorted face. The forensic expert beside him reported the preliminary autopsy results: “Captain Ni, the victim died from asphyxiation due to the hemp rope. The estimated time of death is between 3 and 4 AM. There are minor abrasions on the arms and back of the head, and no drug reactions.”
Ni Zhe nodded and stepped out of the dormitory. He looked down from the window in the corridor to see a small river outside, its surface frozen over. At that moment, Officer Xiao Hu approached him with the Dormitory Supervisor, who had discovered the body.
“Please recount how you found the body,” Xiao Hu said to Dormitory Supervisor.
“Sure,” Dormitory Supervisor replied, feeling somewhat nervous in front of the tall Ni Zhe. “It was like this: at 7 AM, I went to check each dorm room as usual. When I reached room 305, I used my spare key to unlock the door but found it blocked by something. I leaned in to take a look and discovered Zhu Kai lying on the floor.”
“Zhu Kai is the name of the deceased?” Ni Zhe asked.
Dormitory Supervisor nodded. “Yes, he was a good student; both teachers and classmates liked him. How could he have died so inexplicably?”
“We will find out. What did you do after discovering the body?”
“I immediately contacted the duty guard via intercom to report it and then waited by the door until you officers arrived.”
“Did you touch anything at the scene?”
The Dormitory Supervisor frowned and said, "Of course not."
"I'll ask again," Ni Zhe's tone softened, "Is this door automatically locked?"
"No," the Dormitory Supervisor replied firmly. "The doors here require a key to lock from both outside and inside. If it isn't locked, you can simply turn the doorknob to open it."
"Then when you checked the rooms, was the door indeed locked?" Ni Zhe asked, hitting the crucial point.
"Of course it was locked; I used a spare key to open it," the Dormitory Supervisor answered without hesitation.
"How many keys are there for each dormitory?"
"There are two keys for each single room—one for the student and one spare key that I keep."
"Can the keys be duplicated?"
"The locks and keys here are specially made for the school, so regular key shops can't easily duplicate them. If duplication is needed, it must be specially ordered from the factory in the school's name."
"I understand, thank you." Ni Zhe nodded in gratitude and then turned to Xiao Hu, saying, "You take him down to make a statement first."
"Okay." Xiao Hu led the Dormitory Supervisor away.
Ni Zhe entered the room and continued to crouch beside the body.
His attention was drawn to the pockets of the pajama pants. He put on a pair of white gloves and began to search through the pocket. When he pulled his hand out, he found a metal key in his grasp. He quickly stood up and walked over to the door, inserting the key into the small keyhole and turning it. The copper bolt at the edge of the door sprang out like a bullet.
Ni Zhe hurried towards the window opposite the door, which was the only other exit in the dormitory aside from the door. The window opened inward, and two iron bars on the window frame were missing, allowing enough space for a person to pass through.
A fleeting sense of joy washed over Ni Zhe, only to be swiftly extinguished by the sight outside the window. Below lay a pristine expanse of white, as if covered by an immaculate sheet of white silk—there were no footprints in the snow.
The phrase "locked room murder" sprang to mind, a common theme in detective novels. Now, this "locked room" scenario had manifested in a real-life case.
The door was locked with a key, and the only key was found in the deceased's pajama pocket. Although the window was not locked from the inside, the ground below was blanketed in untouched snow. The snowfall had ceased around 8:30 the previous evening, indicating that no one had stepped onto this area after that time; thus, it was impossible for anyone to have entered or exited through the window.
The remaining question was whether the deceased had committed suicide or been murdered. If it was murder, then theoretically, this case would be an impossible event.
This posed a challenge for Ni Zhe, who was encountering such a case for the first time.
He meticulously examined the scene. On the Electric Fan's stand hung a severed piece of rope, its end appearing to have been cut by a sharp instrument. There was also a length of rope tied around the corpse's neck that had been similarly severed.
The body clutched a pair of scissors. Was it possible that things unfolded this way?
The deceased intended to hang himself, tying one end of the rope to the Electric Fan stand while securing the other end tightly around his neck. However, fearing he might not withstand the agony of asphyxiation, he had prepared a pair of scissors in advance—just in case he regretted his decision and wanted to cut himself free. He kicked away the chair beneath him and, at that moment, regretted wanting to die; he immediately used the scissors to sever the rope from around his neck but fell to the ground instead. He attempted to crawl toward help, but it was too late; by the time he reached the door, he could not escape his fate.
Ni Zhe furrowed his brow, contemplating this possibility.
If this were indeed the truth, then there would be no locked room after all.
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