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Глава 57

"Please sit down, Officer Zeng," she said with a smile. "I have no problem with you—I'm just using you as a test, an experiment about anger."

Zeng Rihua was stunned. He scratched his head and sat back down in his chair, his flushed face slowly fading from a look of confusion. Then he heard Mu Jianyun ask from the side, "Were you angry when I told you you didn't understand computers?"

"No." Zeng Rihua rolled his eyes. "What makes you think I don't understand computers?"

"Hmm. I know you won't be angry because your computer skills are much better than mine, so you don't care about my evaluation of you at all. But when I said you can't analyze cases, you couldn't stand it, right?"

"I'm certainly not as good at analyzing cases as you guys," Zeng Rihua muttered, "but you can't be so dismissive of others."

"It's just an experiment, don't take it to heart." Mu Jianyun patted Zeng Rihua on the shoulder, expressing his apology. The latter, like a wronged child who had received a candy, immediately brightened up.

Luo Fei looked at Mu Jianyun and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

"People are most prone to anger when their weaknesses are attacked. This is because their underlying feelings of inferiority are severely damaged. In psychology, we call this the 'scar effect'—a person's weaknesses are like scars on their soul; when they are exposed, they inevitably cause intense pain."

Luo Fei sensed something amiss: "You mean, the deceased also reopened the killer's wounds?"

"Yes. And this scar is precisely the crux of the perpetrator's 'hidden inferiority complex.' Because of this scar, the perpetrator chose to associate with the deceased, who was inferior to him in many ways. He could ignore any disrespectful language, but he could not tolerate his most secret weakness being attacked. The deceased happened to violate this taboo, and as a result, he suffered a fatal accident—this is my speculation."

"What would the perpetrator's 'scar' look like?" Luo Fei asked, squinting. This was perhaps the question he cared about most, because the conclusion drawn from it would directly affect the police's description of the perpetrator's characteristics.

This time, however, Mu Jianyun shrugged, showing a helpless expression: "That's hard to say... Perhaps it's a childhood trauma, a broken family, or some physical defect... In short, it's something the perpetrator least wants others to see. So even if we could obtain this information now, it probably wouldn't be of much use to the investigation, because the perpetrator would usually hide this 'scar' very well, making it difficult even for those close to him to know."

Luo Fei nodded. From a psychological perspective, Mu Jianyun had already done enough; you really couldn't expect her to sit in a conference room and expose the privacy of a criminal from ten years ago to everyone.

"Alright. Now let's assume Case 112 was an unplanned murder, triggered by the victim's attack on some unspeakable private matter of the killer. Now, can anyone explain why, if he wasn't a psychopath, he would mutilate the victim's body?" Zeng Rihua's gaze swept back and forth between Mu Jianyun and Luo Fei before he asked rhetorically. He was an open-minded person, and after learning that Mu Jianyun's previous sarcasm was just an "experiment," he began to ask his own questions without any reservations.

"To address this issue, we first need to consider—" Luo Fei paused briefly, and after confirming that everyone's attention was engaged, he presented the most crucial point of thought, "Let's think from the killer's perspective: after he accidentally killed someone, facing the corpse in his home, what was the most pressing problem he needed to solve?"

Without hesitation, Huang Jieyuan replied, "Of course, it's for disposing of the body."

No one disagreed with this answer. Even in winter, a corpse can emit a foul odor within a few days, so removing the body from the house as quickly as possible became the murderer's top priority.

"So, what information did he have to cover up during the disposal of the body?" Luo Fei continued to ask.

Huang Jieyuan pondered for a moment, then tapped the table lightly with his fingers and said, "Besides personal trace evidence, I think the most important thing is to prevent the police from pinpointing the location of the crime."

Yin Jian nodded in understanding. Zeng Rihua and Mu Jianyun, however, were somewhat confused, so Luo Fei explained further: "In cases involving the disposal of a body, the police are often most interested in two clues: the identity of the deceased and the crime scene. Knowing the deceased's identity allows them to narrow down the suspect pool by investigating social connections, while knowing the location of the crime scene allows them to define the core area of the investigation."

Mu Jianyun immediately understood: "I get it. Based on our previous assumptions, since the perpetrator and the victim met by chance, he wasn't worried about the police identifying the victim; however, the fact that the crime scene was in his own home was extremely dangerous for him, so he had to cut off the police's leads to the primary crime scene during the disposal of the body."

"So that means he has to throw the body as far away as possible?" Zeng Rihua deduced from this logic.

"If it could be thrown far away, that would certainly be the safest method." Luo Fei nodded, then continued to guide the group's thinking with a question, "But the perpetrator was alone, and he didn't make any preparations beforehand. How could he possibly throw an adult corpse far enough away?"

Based on past cases of body disposal, Yin Jian explained: "First, you need to find a container to hold the body—a large suitcase or cardboard box; then you need a means of transportation, a car, or at least a tricycle. Then, set off at night, and if you're lucky, you can dump the body far away."

"Yes, you're right: it takes luck," Luo Fei commented on Yin Jian's statement. "If you're unlucky, you might get caught by patrolling officers on the way to dump the body—because such a large box is really eye-catching. Of course, we also have to consider the worst-case scenario, such as not having a car, or not even having a box big enough to hold the body. What should we do then?"

"I don't have a car, or a large suitcase..." Yin Jian squinted, looking quite troubled, "Then that's going to be difficult..."

"You can borrow or rent a car. The suitcase is even simpler, just buy one, right?" Zeng Rihua muttered to himself. Mu Jianyun, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow, seemingly puzzled.

Huang Jieyuan gave a cold laugh: "If that were the case, we would have caught him long ago."

"Finding a body disposal tool on the spot will leave the police with easily traceable clues," Yin Jian explained to Zeng Mu and the other man. "When a body disposal case occurs, the police will first start investigating the source of the disposal tool. If you borrowed a car, or just bought a box for disposing of a body, you will quickly become a prime target for police surveillance."

"I see!" Zeng Rihua pushed up his glasses. "That's really difficult to handle..."

Yin Jian then offered a new perspective: "In this situation, the only feasible method is probably dismemberment. Break the body into smaller pieces, then transport them in batches to distant locations using the method of ants carrying food."

Luo Fei said, "Dismemberment is indeed a method—it's been used by murderers in many real cases. But the process isn't as simple as people imagine. First of all, dismemberment itself is not easy; it's simply impossible to do it with just a kitchen knife. In past cases, the most commonly used tool for dismemberment by murderers was a saw blade, but a cautious murderer knows very well how much risk finding such a tool on the spot would pose to himself."

Yin Jian himself agreed: "Yes, dismemberment is only a last resort. And how to transport large body parts like the torso is still a problem—given that the murderer has neither a means of transportation nor suitable packaging."

"In this case, the murderer clearly used a better method—simple, feasible, and minimizing all risks," Luo Fei said to Yin Jian in a seductive tone.

Yin Jian pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Could it be hidden near the residence? Perhaps in a secluded spot like a well or a septic tank?"

Huang Jieyuan immediately shook his head: "Back then, we searched all the manholes, septic tanks, and cellars in the city, but we didn't find any remains of the deceased."

"Where should I throw it?" Another line of thought was cut off, and Yin Jian continued to rack his brains.

Seeing his assistant struggling so much, Luo Fei couldn't help but remind him, "Such a large body remains, and they haven't been found in ten years. Where else do you think it could be hidden in a city like this?"

"Could it be... buried underground?" Yin Jian guessed, but his confidence was clearly lacking.

"How can you bury it in the city? That's much harder than transporting it from afar!" Luo Fei initially denied it outright, then changed the subject, "But there's another method, the effect is about the same as burying it..."

Luo Fei had already said this much, and Yin Jian hadn't even reacted yet, but Huang Jieyuan had already blurted out: "In the river? Could it be that it was thrown into the river?" As he spoke, he frowned, his expression both excited and bewildered, as if he had already glimpsed a clue, but in his haste, he hadn't been able to fully sort out his thoughts.

"Throw them in the river? Yes! If there's a river near the murderer's residence, that's definitely the easiest method." Yin Jian's mind raced. "And since the remains haven't been found after all these years, they're very likely sunk to the bottom of the river!"

Mu Jianyun and Zeng Rihua also showed expressions of sudden realization. City A is located in the Jiangnan region, with several rivers flowing through it year-round. If something were to sink to the bottom of the river, it would likely never see the light of day again.

However, after thinking it over, Yin Jian raised a question: "Wait, there's still a problem. If you throw it into the river, the body will float to the surface after it decomposes. The murderer must know this risk, right? In that case, it would actually expose that the crime scene was right by the river."

"You could attach a heavy object to it before throwing it," Zeng Rihua interjected. "There have been cases like this before."

"There are such cases—" Yin Jian said hesitantly, "but those are all cases of conspiracy involving two or more people. If the murderer is working alone, the difficulty of completing the task is too great. Moreover, tying heavy objects to the body is inherently unsafe; the weight will fall off as the rope rots, and there are countless examples of bodies being exposed because of this."

Luo Fei shook his head and gave a soft "heh," saying, "There's more to preventing corpses from floating than just tying them with heavy objects!"

"What other methods are there?" Yin Jian asked, increasingly bewildered. After a corpse decomposes, a large amount of gas is formed within the body tissue, causing a significant decrease in density and making the corpse float. Now, they don't want the corpse to float, but they can't tie heavy objects to it. Is there any way to inhibit the chemical process of decomposition?

Zeng Rihua and Mu Jianyun also frowned, their expressions showing confusion. Only Huang Jieyuan, who was familiar with the details of the case, looked grave, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, as if he had finally figured something out, he let out a long breath and said, "Cut off the head, remove the internal organs, cut out chunks of flesh... Could it be that his purpose was simply to prevent the corpse from floating to the surface?" His voice trembled slightly, whether from the horrific scene he described or from the excitement of glimpsing a path to solving the mystery.

"Yes," Luo Fei finally gave an affirmative reply. "Because the murderer killed someone unplanned, he made no preparations for disposing of the body—he had neither a container for the corpse nor any means of transportation. In this situation, he had to find a better way to dispose of the body in his home. Fortunately, there was a river very close to his residence, which he could easily throw the body into. However, he knew very well that the density of the body would decrease after decomposition, and it would float to the surface, thus exposing the crime scene. So he stripped the victim naked, removed large chunks of muscle tissue from the limbs and other parts of the body, and then cut open the victim's chest and abdomen to prevent the body from swelling into a fleshy sac while submerged in water. After doing these things, he no longer had to worry about the body floating to the surface. Of course, the internal organs that might be pulled out by fish and shrimp also had to be removed; and the victim's head also had to be cut off, because long hair left in the water would be a problem, and it might float to the surface at any time along with the decomposing scalp."

Mu Jianyun patted her chest; something in her stomach was churning, and the feeling was truly unbearable.

Luo Fei continued to describe the bloody scene.

"...After doing all this, the deceased's body was reduced to a mangled, unrecognizable skeleton. He grabbed a tattered bed sheet, wrapped it up, and then, under cover of darkness, threw the mutilated remains into the river not far from his home. The next task was to clean up the remaining body parts left at home, which was relatively simple—he just had to throw them away by hand from a distance. He found several readily available black plastic bags and retrieved an old travel bag from the garbage dump to use as containers for disposing of the body parts."

"You seem to have overlooked something," Zeng Rihua whispered to Luo Fei, "--The meat hasn't been sliced yet."

"Oh, right," Luo Fei patted his head lightly, adding, "Before the killer packed up the remains, he suddenly realized something: the police would definitely analyze why he cut off the victim's flesh and head, and some skilled individuals might guess that he dumped the body in the river. That would cause trouble if the police started searching along the riverbank. To cover this up, he needed a reason for the 'dismemberment'—a reason that could serve as a smokescreen. So he cut the flesh into slices, disguising himself as a deranged killer who loved to torture corpses. During this time, he might have also subtly misled the police into making a false judgment about his 'knife skills'..."

"Then why did he cook his internal organs and head? Was that also to show how perverted he was?" Zeng Rihua said in a hoarse voice, seemingly feeling somewhat unwell himself.

"That's probably a consideration. But the main reason is probably for convenience in disposal. When you're carrying a travel bag around, you don't want blood or other liquids seeping out, right? Boiling it makes it much safer." Having explained his reasoning completely, Luo Fei paused for a moment to allow everyone time to think it over before asking, "What do you all think?"

"That makes sense," Mu Jianyun said positively. "The key is that the part that got us stuck before has been explained. We all thought that guy was a psychopathic killer, but it seems we were really fooled. Changing our perspective made everything clear."

Yin Jian and Zeng Rihua both nodded in agreement. Only Huang Jieyuan appeared very cautious. He closed his eyes and pondered, going over and verifying every detail of the murder case. Finally, he sighed with relief and said, "If you think about it this way, indeed all the details match up."

"That's good!" Luo Fei praised himself. Since even Huang Jieyuan, who had been immersed in this case for ten years, no longer had any objections, Luo Fei officially began issuing operational orders based on this line of thinking: "Yin Jian, Zeng Rihua!"

"Here!" the two young men answered in unison.

"I want you to get to work immediately and use your respective channels to find this person," Luo Fei said solemnly. "This person is male, over twenty-eight years old at the time of the crime, of above-average appearance, with a good social status, single, without a large vehicle, and with a separate residence suitable for dismemberment. Most importantly: the residence is located right next to the river."

"Understood!" Yin and Zeng immediately accepted the order and left. Yin Jian had a large number of informants in society, while Zeng Rihua was in charge of the police database. The two were a golden duo when it came to searching for information.

Huang Jie watched the two leave, feeling a fire burning in his chest. Luo Fei's orders had finally brought him a glimmer of hope after ten years of darkness. Although this investigation might be affected by the passage of time, the number of rivers in the city was limited, making the investigation highly targeted. If they could identify the riverside residents who met the criteria from that year and carefully examine their homes, finding blood evidence left at the dismemberment scene was entirely possible!

The Fate of the Death Sentence (33)

Compared to Huang Jieyuan, Luo Fei, as the commander, was not so optimistic. Although he was confident in his analysis, so many years had passed. Even if they could identify a few key targets, continuing the investigation and locking onto them, or even obtaining decisive evidence, would be no easy task. The most crucial point was that the Eumendes had only given him a little over ten hours. If it passed midnight, what would be the point of finding the real culprit in Case 112? They would have merely solved a ten-year-old cold case, and their confrontation with the Eumendes would once again end in defeat.

However, no matter what, even with only a one percent chance of success, one must put in one hundred percent effort. As Luo Fei himself said: "Nothing is impossible in this world." Just two hours ago, weren't they all at a loss regarding Case 112? And now, they have at least taken the most difficult first step!

Miracles always favor those who are always prepared. By a little after one o'clock in the afternoon, this proverb was once again proven true in Luo Fei's case.

Yin Jian and Zeng Rihua brought back their investigation results. Before they could even speak, the excited expressions on their faces told everyone that they must have made some major discovery.

"The investigation is over so quickly?" Luo Fei seemed a little incredulous, but at the same time, he couldn't hide his anticipation.

"The investigation isn't completely finished yet," Yin Jian replied quickly, "but we've already identified a key suspect."

Luo Fei frowned, feeling that his assistant's statement was rather arbitrary: since the investigation was not yet complete, how could the qualifier "most important" be used so easily?

"What about the suspect's information?" Luo Fei decided to make his own assessment.

“We haven’t had time to organize the specific information yet… We rushed over to report as soon as we saw this person’s file. His name is—” Perhaps he was speaking too hastily, Yin Jian had to stop and catch his breath at the most crucial moment before finishing his sentence, “—his name is Ding Zhen, he is Ding Ke’s son!”

Upon hearing those two names, Luo Fei was momentarily stunned, his mind going blank for a split second. Huang Jieyuan, sitting opposite him, also stared wide-eyed, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Only Mu Jianyun remained calm, nodding after a moment's thought, "That's right. Ding Zhen… he matches all the characteristics of the suspect we analyzed."

Just a few days ago, Luo and Mu had a close encounter with Ding Zhen, and they even had a special discussion and analysis of him. Looking back now, his characteristics did indeed match Mu Jianyun's psychological profile of the perpetrator of the 112 murder case very well: handsome, a respected university teacher, who suffered family misfortune in his early years, and had remained single for many years…

“His residence is right next to the Baodai River in the north of the city,” Yin Jian continued. “That was a single apartment that the school assigned to him when he first started working. Logically speaking, he should have moved to a bigger house long ago, but he still lives there.”

Everyone understood the subtext in Yin Jian's words. Luo Fei's thinking finally returned to normal after the initial shock. He no longer needed to hear anything more, just as Yin Jian and Zeng Rihua had rushed to report upon seeing the file. Because a single clue had already revealed too much.

Why Ding Ke retired, why Eumendes is so fixated on this case that happened ten years ago... everything can perhaps be explained by this one clue.

He is Ding Ke's son!

1:21 PM.

The office of the vice dean on the eighth floor of the School of Environmental Science and Technology, Provincial University of Science and Technology.

As Ding Zhen's secretary, one of Wu Qiong's daily tasks was to take care of his meals. Every noon, she would order boxed lunches as instructed by Ding Zhen and deliver them to the inner room of his office. Ding Zhen would eat while reviewing professional materials, and he didn't want to be disturbed during this process, so Wu Qiong had to wait in the outer room. After Ding Zhen finished eating, he would call Wu Qiong to come in and collect the lunchboxes, while he would take a short nap during his remaining lunch break.

But today's situation was a bit strange. Wu Qiong delivered the boxed lunch to the house at 11:30, and nearly two hours had passed, but Ding Zhen still hadn't called her. This made her secretly worried: Could it be that he was too busy with work and forgot to eat again? His stomach already had some problems, and it wouldn't be good for his health to be so hungry!

With these concerns in mind, Wu Qiong became increasingly restless. Although she knew that Ding Zhen hated being interrupted while working, she still decided to go into the room to check on him and make sure he ate his meal first.

So Wu Qiong got up and went to the door of the inner room. She reached out and knocked lightly twice on the door, waiting for a response from the person inside.

But after about ten seconds, there was still no sound from inside. Wu Qiong knocked on the door twice more, and softly called out, "Professor Ding?"

There was still no sound from inside the room, as if no one was there at all.

"Could he have fallen asleep?" Wu Qiong frowned and wondered to herself, while another worry arose in her heart: "It's already autumn, and if he's not properly covered up, he can easily catch a cold!"

Since that was the case, Wu Qiong didn't care about anything else. She grasped the doorknob, turned it gently, and then slowly pushed the door open, slipping inside.

To her surprise, Ding Zhen was not asleep, nor was he working. The middle-aged man was sitting upright at his desk, motionless, his gaze fixed straight ahead, but clearly not on any specific object.

Wu Qiong noticed that the other person seemed lost in thought. She tiptoed forward a few steps and saw that the boxed lunch that had been delivered earlier was still on the desk, untouched.

"Professor Ding, why haven't you eaten yet?" Wu Qiong asked in a tone that was both reproachful and concerned.

Ding Zhen's eyes turned blankly to Wu Qiong, as if he had just noticed someone approaching. His gaze was still somewhat unfocused, clearly not yet fully free from his inexplicable thoughts.

“I know you’re busy, but how much time can a meal take?” Wu Qiong reached out and tested the lunchbox. “Look, it’s already ice cold—I’ll go find a place to heat it up.”

"No need," Ding Zhen said in a low voice, trying to make a gesture to stop him. However, he only raised his arm halfway before it fell limply back down, making him look like an exhausted patient.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Wu Qiong sensed something was wrong, so she quickly put down her lunchbox, walked around the desk, and came to Ding Zhen's side.

Ding Zhen raised his arm slightly again and said in a hoarse voice, as if squeezed from his throat, "I'm fine... You can go out."

Wu Qiong became increasingly worried. She reached out and touched the other person's forehead: "You don't have a fever, do you?"

The woman's soft touch, warm to the touch, made Ding Zhen's body tremble slightly. He looked up at Wu Qiong's face, a beautiful and delicate woman's face, so close to him that he could almost smell her intoxicating fragrance.