You mentioned the strange person and it reminded me of something. It must have been a few days ago. While I was sleeping, I heard rustling sounds coming from deep within the forest, as if someone was passing by. But I woke up groggily and fell back asleep. The next day, I didn't find any clues.
I felt this security guard was quite oblivious. I figured he was usually quite lazy, so I asked him to recall where the person had last appeared. He pointed to a spot below a circular enclosure. When we arrived near a guardrail, we discovered that quite a few Siberian tigers were being kept in the area below the enclosure. This place was indeed quite interesting. But if the body parts were below, wouldn't the Siberian tigers have eaten them long ago?
I was speechless for a moment. We called a few administrators to take the Siberian tigers away first. Then we searched thoroughly below. While searching like this would normally be very difficult, we had some experts with us who used various precision instruments that could detect the presence of body parts based on subtle changes in the soil.
This technique was not being used for the first time. With the advancement of China's forensic technology, these are now basic procedures.
When we found some bones near a feeding trough, a chill ran down our spines. Damn, they were actually eaten!
The size of the bones indeed indicated they were human. We also found some scattered skin and flesh, along with some tissues. There were bite marks on those parts, so even without comparison, we knew they were left by the Siberian tigers.
This killer was indeed clever, discarding the body parts in a place like this to feed to the tigers. These administrators were also quite out of touch; if they had discovered this earlier, perhaps our work wouldn't have been delayed.
Perhaps the killer never expected this.
We bagged all the flesh and bones. We still had to go back and do a cross-section comparison to confirm if they belonged to Teng Yanrou. I thought the body parts at the scene were almost enough to constitute her entire body. I thought to myself that this time, the killer hadn't dismembered the body and scattered it, but had thrown it all here to be fed to the tigers. Just then, Liu Yuning interrupted me, "Does this mean the killer hated Teng Yanrou more? You know, the other victims didn't receive threatening letters."
"Highly likely. Feeding the body to tigers after death is a more severe form of mutilation. I've heard of bodies being fed to dogs before, but feeding them to tigers is a first for me."
"This killer is becoming more and more detestable. Perhaps it's because of that hatred that he has become this way."
"Hatred is indeed a terrible thing. Once it lingers, it only distorts one's inner self. These people should seek psychological counseling and guidance promptly."
"We'll see about that after you catch him."
I didn't reply. I turned back to find the administrators and located the surveillance cameras below the enclosure. Although they were a bit blurry, it was better than nothing.
I hoped they would capture the appearance of the person who dumped the body. Back at the provincial department, the body parts were handed over to Zhang Keying and her team for reassembly. My attention was focused on the surveillance footage.
The few animal administrators were also brought back with us for individual questioning.
While watching the surveillance footage, we all prepared eye drops. Now that Gao Mingqiang wasn't complaining anymore, Ma Biao had taken his place.
After watching the footage for a while, he started to feel sleepy. I patted his back, "What's wrong with you? There will be plenty more work like this in the future! Do you still want to join the Punishment and Crime Unit!?"
Mentioning the Punishment and Crime Unit reignited his fighting spirit. He immediately took out a bottle of balm and applied it to his face in a 360-degree motion, covering his entire face. The bottle of balm was used up.
Then, his attention became highly focused. He took a few deep breaths, his eyes widening like baseballs. Seeing him like that, He Xin and I both felt like laughing, but we held back. We were professionally trained, and if we couldn't help it, we wouldn't laugh, as it would seem unprofessional.
Since he was taking it seriously, we, as his seniors, couldn't fall behind a newcomer. We then combined coffee and black tea and resumed our focused examination. Theoretically, I shouldn't have had to do this kind of work, but I couldn't help it. My heart was anxious, so I couldn't completely detach myself.
After an unknown amount of time, we gradually discovered footage of someone approaching the Siberian tigers. The person seemed to know there were surveillance cameras here. However, this time, unlike before, they weren't hidden from us; they appeared several times. Even though their face wasn't exposed, we were able to estimate their height and weight. At that time, they were carrying several black plastic bags, but instead of discarding them directly upon arrival, they acted like an animal keeper and threw all the food to the Siberian tigers.
Their demeanor suggested they were a regular visitor here, and feeding tigers was something they did often. The tigers didn't react aggressively towards them. Faced with this situation, we began to analyze.
"Could this person be an animal administrator? Otherwise, why would the Siberian tigers seem to recognize him and not growl? It's as if they've seen a familiar person. This reminds me of how pet owners interact with their pets," Liu Yuning said.
I nodded. "Could this killer be an animal administrator? Or perhaps a security guard or something similar? In any case, they are very familiar with the internal environment and also familiar with the Siberian tigers."
"It seems we need to question those administrators thoroughly. Fortunately, we brought them all back," Xiahou said.
Seeing that Xiao Yuande was not present, I assumed he was already interrogating those people in the interrogation room.
I also took the lead, bringing Xiahou, Liu Yuning, and Zhang Keying with me. With Xie Chuchu and Ling Xiaotao handling things on her end, there shouldn't be any issues.
Interrogation is quite busy right now, so I asked Zhang Keying to help. She and I were a team, and we went to the first inquiry room. Since these people weren't necessarily suspects, they didn't need to be taken to the interrogation room.
The difference between an inquiry room and an interrogation room is whether the person is confirmed to be a suspect. Inquiry rooms are generally for witnesses or eyewitnesses. The reception room is for family members or reporters to wait temporarily. If they want to interview, they do so in the press reception room, which is much larger than a regular reception room and has a stage.
The animal administrator we met was named Jian Yongwang. He had a rather unusual surname, but that was insignificant. The important thing was that I discovered he seemed to be new.
"Mr. Jian, please tell me honestly, on the evening of the 5th, did you see any suspicious individuals enter and approach those Siberian tigers?"
The time, the 5th, was determined from the surveillance footage. The person who threw the plastic bags to the Siberian tigers appeared after 10 PM on the evening of the 5th.
I told Jian Yongwang the specific time. He immediately looked like he was thinking, as if he were trying hard to recall the situation. After about five minutes, he said to us, "It's been a few days since the 5th, but I'm still young, and my memory should be good. However, I'm a very heavy sleeper. Although it was my shift that day, I didn't hear anything!"
"Who were you on shift with? Was it the administrator who found the body parts?" I asked.
"No, that guy is quite unlucky. None of us found the body parts, but he did. However, we don't usually go to that area. We just feed them. He was curious and looked inside, and then he saw something he shouldn't have."
Zhang Keying's expression became slightly annoyed. "Mr. Jian, what are you implying? It's as if you didn't want those body parts to be found. Do you have something to hide?"
I knew Zhang Keying was testing him, but Jian Yongwang seemed prepared and replied with a hint of anger, "How could I not want it to be found? I'm a timid person. If I had seen those body parts, I would have been even more scared than Xiao Guan. He's quite pitiful; he probably won't be able to eat braised pork anymore."
"You seem to take it lightly. You say you'd be more scared, but why do I find your tone more relaxed than his when I talk to you?" Zhang Keying continued to probe.
"No, this is the provincial department, isn't it? It's safer than any police station or public security bureau. Why would I still be worried?" Jian Yongwang replied as if it were a matter of course. It was as if he had prepared all these answers. The more fluently he responded, the more unsettling it felt. It was as if he had anticipated us finding him and had prepared various explanations, and no matter what we asked, he could answer immediately and perfectly.
But were his answers truly that perfect?
I began to find some loopholes and said to him, "Mr. Jian, there are no signs of trembling in your arms or legs, and the muscles in your face are also relaxed. This indicates you are not scared at all. If your colleague were sitting here, his reaction would likely be entirely different. You keep saying how timid you are. If I'm not mistaken, you're deliberately emphasizing something in front of us, and these issues are definitely related to the case. Speak! Are you hiding something? Don't think I don't know; I saw someone in the surveillance footage who was with the body dumper!"
This bombshell was something I hadn't dropped earlier. I wanted to see Jian Yongwang's reaction. In fact, the figure in the surveillance footage was a bit blurry, and it was just a shadow, different from the silhouette of the person dumping the body. At that time, we thought there must have been another person present. According to forensic analysis, Jian Yongwang was the closest to that other shadow. Otherwise, I wouldn't have singled him out. I didn't have that much time to interrogate all these animal administrators one by one.
"You're slandering me! Officer He, when was I with the killer?"
"Killer? I never said that person was the killer. I only said 'body dumper.' Why did you jump to conclusions first?"