Could Huangquan Road or the Naihe Bridge be a codename for someone? And if so, who? Was it the killer?
I suddenly noticed the surveillance camera in a nearby dormitory and stood up, asking, "You two, your cameras are on, right?"
"Yes, they have recording functions. Oh, right, we can see what she was shouting at the time from here!" Liao Ziyu suggested.
I immediately had them open the surveillance footage. Both of their phones had it, so I looked at Liao Ziyu's. Rewinding a few hours, I quickly found footage of Quan Yingzhen's situation over several nights. She indeed returned very late, and her behavior afterwards was strange. She would have nightmares in bed, muttering incessantly.
Since the video content was quite extensive, I decided to review it slowly back at the precinct. After bidding farewell to the two women, I left.
Back at the provincial department, the video was handed over to He Xin for analysis, while I continued to have people trace Quan Yingzhen's whereabouts before her incident, especially during the evenings. If we could find out who she met with during that period, that person could be a suspect.
The Sky Eye system was providing us with comprehensive map street view renderings and various videos. When we found the handover points, we saw that after Quan Yingzhen became inattentive at work, she would almost always go out after 7 PM, and each time she was picked up by a different car. We discovered from the car dashcams that the places these cars went to were all different.
Sometimes it was a villa, sometimes a mountain resort, or a luxurious residential complex. As we compared these scenes, He Xin said, "Is she providing some kind of service?"
"You mean sex services?"
"Exactly. But how does that connect to the killer murdering people? Could it be that these were all deliberate tactics by the killer to first corrupt the victim, and then, upon deeming her useless, personally destroy her?"
"There's a possibility. I've seen criminals like that before. They'd first lure victims with all sorts of temptations, and after getting them, they'd torment them mentally and physically until they couldn't escape. Then they'd send them off to be tormented by others, and finally, when they were no longer human, they'd find excuses like, 'You sluts, what use are you alive? You're dirty things, go die!'"
"I know. We cracked that case before. But this time, the killer's method of murder is completely different. This guy is not only cruel but also extremely perverted, it's astonishing."
As He Xin and I discussed this, Liu Yuning added, "If the people inside the cars couldn't be seen, we could have known who he was."
"Even if we saw them, it would be useless. I estimate that the person picking her up might have been different each time."
"He Xin, are you implying that more than one person is operating behind this? Could it be another organized conspiracy?"
"No, this time I don't think it's strongly connected to an organization, but there will likely be more victims like this."
At the time, others didn't fully grasp He Xin's precise meaning, but I had a hunch. As it turned out, her prediction was accurate. We received a report from another location. A woman called us, saying her father had been missing for several months but had suddenly received a notification that he was under the Fugui Bridge in Guangming City. She rushed there, thinking her father had returned and was planning a surprise. However, what she found was a head in a wooden bucket.
That head belonged to the woman's father!
We rushed to the bridge immediately. The woman was huddled against the wall like a frightened puppy. If our people hadn't arrived, she probably wouldn't have dared to look into the bucket.
Xie Chuchu and I, along with others, took out our forensics kits and carefully removed the victim's head. This head...
It was even more horrifying than the previous one. Half of its skull had been cut off, the eyeballs had been gouged out, and the tongue had been broken but not detached, resting on the lips. I desperately searched the vicinity for any video accessories, memory cards, or DVDs, but found nothing.
Did the killer not leave us a clue this time?
However, behind the wooden bucket, Xia Hou discovered something and pulled it out with force: a DV player.
Well, this time the killer had directly left us a DV.
We immediately turned it on. It contained many videos from various corners of Guangming City, but we couldn't immediately determine the exact locations. We would have to take them back for He Xin and Yuan Hezhu to process.
The victim's head lay on the ground, its face covered in deep puncture wounds, as if stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver. The injuries were more severe than those on the female victim. As for the whipping marks on the female victim, I later re-examined them using medicinal wine, seaweed ash, and forensic umbrellas, which finally revealed them. After taking photos and conducting comparative experiments, we determined they were caused by a whip.
The forensic team worked day and night. When the results came out, even though we had expected it, a chill still ran down our spines.
It was easy to imagine the horrifying scene: the killer confining the victim, whipping them, dissecting them, threatening them, cutting out their internal organs and then reattaching them, only to save them just as they were about to die, and repeating this cycle of terror. It was absolutely heinous.
Witnessing the whip marks before us was like reliving that moment. Everyone took countless photos until their fingers were tired. The forensic investigators scoured the entire tunnel under the bridge for evidence. However, when they observed the surveillance footage, they found blind spots near the wooden bucket. This indicated that the killer was very familiar with the environment and had likely scouted the location beforehand.
Before killing and dumping the body, he had probably identified a safe area for disposal. Most criminals either choose extremely remote locations where they won't be discovered, or places where they can observe at all times. This killer clearly chose the latter.
The head was taken back, but we still had to find the victim's other body parts from the videos.
It was probably another massive undertaking. We were already tired of this jigsaw puzzle game, but what else could we do?
As long as the killer wasn't caught, we had to persevere.
Back at the provincial department, I handed over the tedious tasks to others. The autopsy couldn't be performed yet, so I focused my efforts on watching the DV, working desperately with the technical team to confirm the exact locations in the videos.
After considerable effort, we initially identified three locations. We sent people to investigate and found the victim's legs, chest, and the other half of his head. The remaining parts would have to be discovered from other videos.
I had Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying reassemble the fragmented parts I had retrieved before heading out again. Seeing my hurried demeanor, Liu Yuning couldn't help but grab me and say, "Deputy Director He, let us find them. You're tired, get some rest!"
"It's okay. If I don't step in, how can we guarantee efficiency!"
"Hehe, I've never seen a leader like you!" Liu Yuning said, giving me a thumbs-up.
And so, I went out again. This time, Liu Yuning and I, along with others, went to the Pin Yue Plaza in Guangming City. In the video, we discovered that the body parts should be inside the central fountain.
We first evacuated the nearby tourists, and then began to search in the water. However, after a long time, we found nothing. I was curious, had the killer deliberately fooled us this time?
Unwilling to give up, I personally dove into the fountain and searched inside. Noticing a crack behind the central stone statue, I suddenly realized something was wrong. I called for Xia Hou, Xiao Yuande, and Liu Yuning. All of us grabbed hammers and smashed the stone statue. Inside, we found the victim's internal organs!
That's right! It was the internal organs. Instead of other body parts, it contained his viscera!
We carefully placed everything into evidence bags. Fortunately, we had evacuated the onlookers, otherwise, if they had seen what was before them, it would have undoubtedly been trending again.
We carefully took the organs away and conducted a further survey of the vicinity. This time, the surveillance might be useful. Xia Hou contacted the person in charge to obtain some data. As for the staff here, we questioned several security guards, but they all claimed they hadn't seen any suspicious individuals entering or leaving recently.
I planned to return to conduct the autopsy, then examine the surveillance footage and compare it to pinpoint a specific time for further investigation.
After all the body parts were recovered, I returned to the forensics department and began assembling the body with the team.
Fortunately, we were all highly skilled at this, and within a short time, the entire body was restored. We had already confirmed the victim's identity through his daughter: Fu Yongyuan, 54 years old, a resident of Qiaoyuan Town, Guangming City. He had formerly served as the general manager of a mural design company but had abruptly resigned before his incident.
Since the victim's internal organs were already separated, we didn't need to dissect them. I drew some of the victim's blood, placed it in a test tube, and handed it to Ling Xiaotao.
Then, another forensic doctor drew the victim's urine. Simultaneously, we processed the internal organs for slicing and tested their pathology. We examined the victim's fingernails, rigor mortis, and lividity, tested the rectal and liver temperatures, and finally, I used the bone-reading technique at the forensic station to determine the time of death, which was approximately 48 hours prior.
Combining the internal and external wounds, as well as the muscle contraction and necrosis, it appeared that during the period of his disappearance, the victim, like Quan Yingzhen, had also been subjected to the same abuse until his body could no longer endure it and he died. The killer then dismembered him and scattered the parts across Guangming City.
Based on the methods, it seemed to be the work of the same person. However, earlier, when examining Quan Yingzhen's case, we suspected she had been taken by different individuals. Could it be that the killer had significant influence and could mobilize many people to help him?