I took out my phone and also searched on it, but at this time Dao Zhiyong seemed to be chanting like a mantra, saying something I couldn't understand. Then there was a knock on the conference room door, and Xie Chuchu arrived.
Zhang Keying was following her. Seeing that they were holding reports, I didn't have much expectation. However, Xie Chuchu said, "Team Leader He, during our third re-examination of these bodies, we made a significant discovery. There were tiny marks on the organs of the corpses, and after repeated verification, we found that these marks were left by rats."
"Oh... what? Rats??" Not to mention me, everyone in the conference room at that moment thought they had misheard.
But Xie Chuchu solemnly raised her voice, "I'm not joking, everyone. I suspect this case is greatly related to these rats! Moreover, these rats seem to be different from the ones we usually see. Their teeth contain hallucinogenic components!"
I suddenly stood up from my seat and went to Xie Chuchu's side, "How could that be?"
"Perhaps there is a situation in the town of Leicester that we never expected. Therefore, everyone must be careful..."
"Chuchu, are you sure?"
"Definitely. This kind of autopsy result is the first time I've encountered it in my many years as a forensic investigator. Senior, this matter is not trivial, do not be careless! Because I think those rats might not be confined to Leicester. If they..."
"Stop talking. We'll investigate immediately! We can't let it spread beyond Leicester. Otherwise, Guangming City will be finished!"
"Received!" Everyone immediately started to act, transforming into technical police. Our primary task now was to determine the exact location of this town and then investigate thoroughly!
We turned the conference room into a technical department. Countless laptops were clacking away. Everyone's attention was on the computers, their fingers typing at an alarming speed.
While they were busy, I spoke to Xie Chuchu again, "There are tooth marks inside the body, but what about the outside? If they didn't tear open the body, how could there be such tooth marks? Also, we didn't see any rats at the scene at the time!"
"No, it was bitten before. They did not remain in the deceased's body, but they left behind hallucinogenic components. Perhaps this substance did not take effect immediately, but on the day of the accident, if they had done anything they shouldn't have, they would probably have seen sights they shouldn't have. That would explain the loss of control."
"What about the entry point of the rats?"
"That's a crucial point. We re-examined several times but couldn't find any wounds that allowed the rats to enter. However, since there are their tooth marks inside, there's no need to say more. Regardless of how they entered the human body, if we can find Leicester town later, we might be able to solve this mystery!"
"Perhaps... alright, this is not the time to dwell on this. By the way, Zhang Keying, do you have anything to say?"
Noticing her silence, I felt something was wrong because this woman usually had insightful opinions. Her being so quiet today was indeed incredible.
When her name was mentioned, Zhang Keying finally spoke, "I had already discovered this when I was doing the autopsy, but Xie Chuchu didn't quite believe it. We should have told you earlier. This matter might be the root cause of the car accident. Actually, I never imagined that a car accident could be linked to rats. I originally thought these people were hypnotized or controlled or something. It seems we shouldn't jump to conclusions until the very end of the case."
"Exactly. In the past, when we encountered cases, we often thought we had found the truth based on our experience. So, sometimes experienced officers get stuck in rigid thinking and can't think as broadly as newcomers."
I said this in the meeting, not naming anyone, but everyone knew who I was referring to.
At this moment, Yuan Hezizhi suddenly exclaimed excitedly as if his secret had been discovered, "Found it! Leicester is a foreign commercial street in our Guangming City, just like Chinatown in America. It was originally inhabited by Westerners, but recently some incidents have occurred. There were reports that the body of a strong woman was found. Her skin was rotten and black all over. Dissection revealed that her internal organs were torn apart, but the report didn't say it was rats."
Xie Chuchu came to the computer and looked carefully. The report was indeed vague, and it was likely that the authorities dared not disclose it. She shook her head, "It's probably sealed off there now. Let's go and see for ourselves. If I can see the body of that woman, I'll know if it's the same as what we've found now."
"Now that we know the specific location, let's take action immediately. I don't want any more similar traffic accidents to occur in our Guangming City."
I commanded, and everyone put on their clothes and set off immediately. We drove a police van, enough to carry all members of our Punitive Justice team. We headed towards the target Yuan Hezizhi had previously tracked. This time, except for him and Ling Xiaotao, all members of the Punitive Justice team were in the car.
Leicester town is located northeast of our Guangming City, about 100 kilometers from the provincial headquarters. We rarely came to this area. Even if we had been here before, we didn't know that there was a foreign town in this remote area.
However, the world is full of wonders. Perhaps we just hadn't seen it and were simply ignorant. This incident of rat teeth marks was also an unheard-of strange event.
After a period of bumpy driving, the car entered the mountainous area to the northeast. Looking at the rugged road and the plank road in the distance, He Xin exclaimed, "Holy crap! There's such a remote place in our Guangming City?"
"Of course, there is. Even in Beijing, there are such mountainous areas, just in hidden corners that we can't see. I've been to a mountainous area in Guangxi before, where people lived a self-sufficient life without working."
As I spoke, He Xin sighed, "I really don't go out enough. It seems I can't be such a homebody anymore, Father!"
"When there's time, everyone wants to go out, don't they?"
As we chatted, we suddenly noticed police officers maintaining order on the road not far away. When we reached that point, Xia Hou, who was driving, showed his police ID. I thought they would let us through when they saw the provincial police investigators, but the police officer said, "No, no one is allowed to enter Leicester. This is the director's order!"