I called Lu Chusheng and asked him to cooperate with Li Fan and Xiao Yuande to arrest the person directly, but He Xin had just investigated and found that he seemed not to be at the company, and his place of residence could not be determined. His mobile phone's PIN code could not even be found. It was too strange. This guy must have installed an encryption program on his phone, because this was the first time we had encountered such a situation.
It seemed we had to investigate the cleaning company first. Bringing Liu Yuning and Zhang Keying, the six of us arrived at Fudu Cleaning Company immediately. Upon learning that we were looking for Xing Lean, a front desk customer service lady seemed to know something and told us, "Mr. Xing seems to have taken leave. He said he was going home for a blind date or something!"
"A blind date? How long has he been on leave?"
"Just yesterday. Seeing he had packed his luggage, he probably won't be back after this trip. Nowadays, many employees are like this. Even if our company offers generous treatment, it seems useless."
We walked out of the company. By then, He Xin had already investigated Xing Lean's hometown to be in Hunan. However, recently there were no records of him buying train or plane tickets. We had even investigated waterways. I thought Xing Lean was not going back to his hometown. He said that just to mislead us.
He should still be hiding somewhere in Guangming City, and he never intended to go back at all.
By the time we realized it, we could only contact the various police stations to help keep an eye on this person.
However, just as we were about to return to the provincial department, we suddenly heard screams from the street not far away. At that time, we thought something had happened. A woman came out of a back alley and said in horror, "Someone's dead, someone's dead!"
"What?"
Following the woman's instructions, we went to a back alley next to the cleaning company and found that there seemed to be many green-bottle flies in the trash cans. This was a sign of a dead body appearing nearby, which would attract them. At that moment, I walked into the back alley and, inside a trash can, discovered a male corpse curled up inside!
However, this person was none other than the Xing Lean we were looking for!
He was actually dead, and right next to his company. How could this be?
Amidst the astonishment, everyone did not panic and quickly dialed for support.
After Xie Chuchu and others arrived at the scene, everyone started to work in the back alley. Xie Chuchu and I handled the body for half an hour before we managed to get it out. This was because the trash can was covered in greasy substances. It must have been a broken garbage bag, and the oil had leaked out.
It felt quite disgusting, but in this profession, such situations were unavoidable.
After we laid the body flat on the cement ground in the back alley, we discovered that this time the deceased was not strangled, but had clear trauma to the back of the head, and a deep wound on the forehead. According to Xie Chuchu's experience, the fatal injury should have been here, and the time of death was around 3 AM yesterday.
No wonder Xing Lean had taken leave yesterday. If we hadn't guessed wrong, he should have been murdered not long after taking leave.
We originally thought he was the killer, but it seems we were mistaken.
There were no surveillance cameras in this back alley, but there were cameras on the road outside. I asked everyone to contact the traffic management department first, and then the body would be temporarily taken back. If my guess was correct, the findings from the body would be very similar to the previous ones.
During the forensic examination, I ignored it and took the body back first.
Upon arriving at the forensic science laboratory building, I asked Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying to follow me. We quickly began the examination of Xing Lean's body.
Before the family members arrived, we had already examined the deceased's fingernails and the surface of his body. However, this time, due to many traces on the deceased seeming to have been destroyed by the oil from the garbage, it was a bit troublesome.
Zhang Keying said, "What can we do? Did the killer intentionally break that garbage bag?"
"There's a possibility. Destroying the evidence on the deceased will lead to irreversible factors in our autopsy!" Xie Chuchu said impatiently, looking stumped.
I closed my eyes tightly, my mind churning. A lot of knowledge about coroner work swirled through my brain. At this moment, my mind was like a spiral staircase in an ancient castle, constantly extending upwards until I opened my eyes again.
Since forensic medicine was of no use now, I would open a new path.
Facing the corpse in front of me, I couldn't help but murmur, "Xing Lean, I don't know how you died, nor do I know the killer's reason this time. Regardless, I will definitely find this person and bring you justice!"
This was not the first time I had spoken to a corpse. Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying at the scene did not seem surprised, but they were still wondering how to conduct the autopsy.
At this moment, when they were most confused, I broke the stalemate: "Alkaline water brushing technique, do you still remember it?"
"Ah, senior, you're thinking of... again?"
"This time it might be a bit more troublesome. Fortunately, I still have scallops, alkaline water, and white scallions, but this time I also need some physiological saline!"
"Oh? I have some here, I'll get it for you!" Xie Chuchu replied.
After Xie Chuchu went to handle it, Zhang Keying asked curiously, "Why physiological saline?"
"This is to enhance the effect of brushing the corpse. This time I will use the He family's coroner's alkaline water penetration technique!"
"Alkaline water penetration technique? What is that?"
"This can actually be considered an upgraded version of the alkaline water brushing technique. If the body wasn't in a suitable state of decay and had been contaminated by foul substances, I wouldn't have tried to use it!"
"It sounds quite interesting. This time, don't make us eat that dish again! He Sheng ge!" Zhang Keying teased.
I gave a wry smile. No one could eat that dish.
When Xie Chuchu returned, I asked them to help me prepare the solution. The method was basically the same as the previous alkaline water brushing technique, but this time I also needed to inject physiological saline into the deceased's body.
After the process was completed, there was still a final step. I heated the alkaline water, to which I had added some traditional Chinese medicine, and then, somewhat pervertedly, took a sip. At that moment, Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying stared at me with wide eyes, their gazes as if they were watching a monster rampage. It was the first time I had seen them react like this.
But I ignored them and then proceeded to kiss the corpse's face!