Fate is a disguised character. No face is more deceiving than this one. - Victor Hugo.
Moments after the woman left the subway station, she found herself in a dark street.
Here, cold mulberry trees were planted, the night was thick, and the surroundings were deathly still.
Unbeknownst to her, a sinister figure trailed her from behind, a stranger wearing a bamboo hat, clutching a peculiar bottle.
As she walked, she saw her shadow elongate on the ground. Realizing she was being followed, she quickened her pace. The street ahead echoed with a clacking sound. There were no surveillance cameras in this area, and the street was exceptionally long and narrow. Fear began to grip her heart.
The shadow behind her grew closer. She picked up her pace, her high heels clicking, but she couldn't shake off the pursuit of the dark figure. Suddenly, she felt her lips sealed by gauze. Her struggles were in vain.
Immediately, her nostrils were completely blocked, making it difficult to breathe, and her heart convulsed simultaneously.
The entire world dissolved into chaos and darkness. A sharp dagger pierced the woman's neck. Crimson blood gushed from her throat, dyeing the night red, leaving an artistic arc in the wickedness. The dark figure revealed a horrifying, deep, and eerie grin, like that of a beast.
......
"How could it be so rotten?" a mature female police officer said.
"The killer's methods are too bizarre. Why does he always like to torture women like this?"
A female corpse, disemboweled, was discarded in the parking lot behind the funeral home. Her lower body had completely decomposed, describable only as riddled with holes.
On the surface, it appeared as if silver needles had been brutally inserted. Based on the number of needle marks, there were at least fifty-nine, executed with practiced skill and even force.
This indicated that the perpetrator had been using silver needles for a long time.
The female corpse was entirely covered in bloodstains, her face contorted.
Her hands were stretched out straight, her feet twisted together, as if a decaying soul pulled into an endless abyss by a god of hell, shattered and broken.
In front of the female corpse, a familiar, chilling, and eerie Polaris pattern, radiating a purplish-blue glow, appeared once again!!
"Quickly call him back!" The female officer was horrified, as if she had witnessed not a symbol, but a nuclear weapon capable of destroying the world.
"But he's still on vacation!"
"What vacation? Call him immediately!"
A male officer, reprimanded by the female officer, hastily picked up his phone......
My name is He Sheng, thirty years old this year. I am currently a forensic consultant attached to the Fuming City Police Department. I graduated from forensic science college, but my grandfather was actually a coroner.
On September 2, 2016, I was admitted to forensic science college with excellent grades. After several years of study, I had fully mastered forensic knowledge.
It was a week after that woman died that I returned to work, as I had gone out of town on business.
As soon as I settled into my seat, an officer rushed in, saying anxiously, "Consultant He, the 110 dispatch center just received a report: a female student's body was found under the Fushui bridge!"
"Don't panic! Let's go to the scene immediately!"
I walked out of the Special Investigation Team office, motioning for Xie Chuchu to follow.
Xie Chuchu was a junior of mine at forensic college, now twenty-eight years old. She is introverted and gentle, but remarkably cold and meticulous during autopsies.
Xie Chuchu quickly picked up the investigation kit and said, "Yes, senior."
We drove to the bridge. We had expected there wouldn't be many onlookers in a place like this, but to our surprise, there were already many police officers maintaining order on site. Xie Chuchu and I were blocked by a crowd. As we moved behind a few people, we overheard their discussion.
"Another girl dead? I thought I heard about similar cases before. Could it be the same killer?"
"Has a serial killer appeared in our Fuming City? Is he rampaging everywhere?"
"Don't talk nonsense. This isn't a joke!"
Most of these people were elderly folks from a nearby park. Such events should cause fear and unease, but their curiosity was strong. They gathered together, disregarding everything else to watch, embodying the spirit of nosiness most admired by our countrymen.
Although they were discussing animatedly, they weren't entirely wrong. Fuming City had indeed experienced a similar murder case recently; the victim was also female, and also a student.
Xie Chuchu and I squeezed for a long time but still couldn't get through. It was clear this wasn't working, and these people were wasting my time. I raised my police badge and said, "Please make way. I know you're all curious, but obstructing the police is not good for you. Besides, you want us to find the killer and solve the case quickly, so please let us pass!"
Under these circumstances, a combination of threat and benevolence was needed to move these people. Upon hearing me speak, they voluntarily moved aside, creating a path for us.
I led the two forensic experts across the blue and white cordon tape and arrived near the bridge. As soon as we got there, I saw Liu Yuning already present. They were quite fast, arriving even earlier than us.
Liu Yuning's specialty is psychological profiling, though she is currently a police officer. She was dressed in a formidable police uniform, with a pretty and beautiful face. Her wavy, long hair, a seductive shade of brown, cascaded naturally over her shoulders. However, her determined eyes reflected a stern demeanor.
Liu Yuning said, "The female corpse is entangled by something, and we can't pull her up just yet!"
"What's going on?" I asked.
"See for yourself!" Liu Yuning gestured with her eyes. I turned and saw a pale female corpse emerging near the flowing water under the bridge. However, many lotus leaves and some tendrils floated around her. Looking up, I saw that many vines were growing on the bridge. This was a plant called Hu Tiao Lan, and the female corpse was entangled by its vines.
I made a call, asking for the SWAT team to come and use cutting tools to sever the vines.
A moment later, the SWAT team arrived and began cutting with a circular saw. Soon, all the vines were severed. Xie Chuchu and others dragged the body over, brought it to the bank, and placed it on the ground.
I checked the surrounding light, took out a shadowless lamp, and tapped the corpse's chest. I quickly discovered that the internal organs were relatively intact, with no signs of injury.
Next, I shone the shadowless lamp onto the corpse's skin, using the refraction of sunlight to enhance my observation.
Under the shadowless lamp, subtle wound marks appeared on the corpse's skin.
After a routine examination of the deceased, I quickly analyzed, "Her age is not much different from Gu Xiaotong's. The deceased was healthy, of medium build, with fair skin. There are signs of wearing valuable jewelry on her wrists. There are no signs of struggle, but the left side of her neck was struck by a blunt object, deliberately inflicted. The fatal injury likely occurred here."
"That's right, senior. It's 8 AM now, so her time of death should be around 3 AM." Xie Chuchu replied.
"It is indeed 8 AM now, but the time of death was not 3 AM."
"What? How is that possible? Based on the surrounding humidity, temperature, and the degree of rigor mortis, the time of death is estimated to be about five hours ago, with a margin of error of less than 20 minutes." Xie Chuchu said dismissively.
She had never seen such a corpse. This time, she was truly mistaken, but I didn't blame her. Instead, I pointed to the deceased's middle finger and said, "Her time of death should be 12 AM."
"No way? How did you figure that out?" Although Xie Chuchu's tone was calm, I could tell she didn't believe me.
I said, "This conclusion was reached without considering the submersion in water. When the body is submerged, decomposition accelerates, and the time of death will be inaccurate."
"The body odor of the deceased at this moment far exceeds what it would be after 5 hours, so I judge it to be about 8 hours ago."
"Is that so? But are your theories accurate?" Xie Chuchu asked, a mix of doubt and curiosity in her voice.
"If you don't believe me, you can go back and verify." I replied.
"Alright, but what if you're wrong, senior?"
"What else can I do? Just accept it!"
"Uh, I have a suggestion: if you're wrong, you'll listen to me for all future autopsies!" Xie Chuchu said with a hint of seriousness.
"Let's forget it, everyone, let's get to work! Although the bridge area isn't too remote, there are no cameras. There's a park and a road nearby, so we'll have to check the surveillance footage from there."
"Okay, I'll arrange it now!" Officer Gao Mingqiang interjected and immediately turned to handle it with another officer.
Gao Mingqiang can be considered my assistant. He has an ordinary face but often thinks he looks like a certain celebrity and boasts about it to me. He has dark skin, a strong build, and often drives me or handles other daily matters.
I pressed on the female corpse's abdomen and found what appeared to be needle puncture marks again, reminding me of the location on the previous female corpse. However, this time, as I examined the area below the deceased, I found it was not pierced.
But.
This time, the place where the body was pierced had changed to the navel.
The method was almost identical to the last one.
In the previous case, the first victim was pierced in the lower body, and it occurred at the funeral home. This time, however, it was in the water under a bridge.
Moreover, as I looked at the cement wall above the bridge, I found a Polaris pattern identical to the one from the first victim. It was as if Virgil, the demon from Dante's Inferno, was staring at the woman before him, unleashing infinite curses from a prison of sin!