I gave a wry smile and lay down among the beggars, pretending to sleep, as I heard more footsteps approaching. It was the police. Before, I would have been excited to hear them, thinking support had arrived. Now, seeing them was my greatest fear because they were here to arrest me.
My heart pounded uncontrollably. With my back to them, I closed my eyes among the beggars, curling up as much as possible. A policeman approached a beggar and asked, "Hello, have you seen this person?"
"Oh? A murderer, hahaha! Definitely not. If he were here, we'd probably be dead by now, ahahaha! That guy wouldn't come here!"
"Alright then, if you see anyone resembling him, please let us know. There's a reward!"
"Sure!"
Those beggars were eager to get the reward. I had seen the wanted poster earlier, and the bounty was 500,000. My heavens, Deputy Minister Ma was really going for the kill. I reckoned every beggar in Guangming City would be trying to turn me in.
If I hadn't disguised myself earlier, I would have been exposed by now.
After the police left, the beggar who had spoken to me pulled me aside. "You look so secretive. Are you a tomb raider, hiding here after stealing something?"
"Uh, of course not. I'm just an ordinary person, failed in business, that's why I'm like this!"
"Is that so? Don't lie to me. You look a bit like that... He Sheng fellow..."
"You..." I was instantly drenched in cold sweat. I had smeared my face to look like a clown, yet this guy could still recognize me! Damn it!
"Hahaha, ankhahahaha!! I'm just kidding. With your look, how could you possibly be He Sheng? But that guy seems quite unlucky. He's wanted city-wide. He's probably ruined now, facing imprisonment, maybe even death... A shame. Such a brilliant detective ending up like this. People, really... cough cough. I remember his grandfather was some sort of judge, wasn't he..."
My grandfather being mentioned by the beggar made me incredibly sad. I truly felt like banging my head against something and ending it all. But if I were found dead the next day and my grandfather knew, he would surely think I was a failure. So, I couldn't die!
I didn't continue talking with the beggar. The old man didn't say much either, just offered a few words of comfort. In the evening, he somehow found a shriveled piece of bread for me. I didn't really want to eat it, but hunger gnawed at me, and I couldn't resist taking a few bites.
As I drifted into a daze, I felt the old beggar covering me with a blanket. Suddenly, I heard my wristband beeping, and I knew they would use this method to contact me.
I abruptly opened my eyes and looked at the wristband. A message appeared: "Senior, where are you? Your daughter and I have retrieved the body from the lab. We only have one hour. I had to send Ling Xiaotao and another forensic investigator away to get it..."
"Ling Xiaotao? Is he trying to obstruct us too?"
"I don't know. I just don't trust her. Where are you? We're at Kanghua East Road. Come here! I found a hidden factory workshop for your dissection room!"
"Alright, I'm coming immediately!"
After typing my reply, I carefully left the beggar's den. As I turned to go, I left behind a cough medicine. Ling Xiaotao had bought it for me earlier, but I hadn't taken it. She must have bought everything without knowing my exact symptoms.
I placed the cough medicine next to the old beggar and wrote a few words on a small piece of paper: "I heard you coughing. You might have pneumonia. Please take some. Wish you good luck!"
After all, the old beggar had taken care of me for a while. After leaving, I found the car hidden by Dao Zhiyong and drove straight to Kanghua East Road. When I found Xie Chuchu and the others, I whispered, "He Xin, why did you come too!"
Before I could finish speaking, He Xin started sobbing, "Dad, what is going on? Did you really kill someone?"
"Don't worry, it's all a conspiracy by the accusers. I'll be fine!"
"Wuwu, please don't be okay. My eyes have been swollen from crying these past few days."
"Don't be like this, child. You are a police officer, do you understand? Be strong!" I stroked He Xin's head, forcing down the sadness in my heart and putting on a forced, unpleasant smile.
Xie Chuchu said sternly at this moment, "Senior, we need to start immediately. We're running out of time!"
"Understood!"
Five minutes later, we found the factory. We brought the body here together. Facing Ma Biao on an iron bed, I said gravely, "Ma Biao, I'm sorry. I have to dissect your body now!"
With that, I picked up the examination forceps, the shadowless reflecting tube, the bone sound hammer, the UV lamp, the shadowless lamp, the hemostatic forceps, the bamboo leaf extractor, and all other tools available to forensic investigators and coroners. This was arguably the most meticulous autopsy of my life.
After all, if I couldn't find evidence to clear my name from Ma Biao's body, I was truly finished!
I first shaved his hair, then began cutting from the cranial cavity. Xie Chuchu helped me by holding the UV light and other tools, while He Xin held the examination forceps. Now I realized her presence was crucial; without two assistants, I would have a hard time completing this autopsy.
Starting from the skull, I discovered dense, small, clustered hemorrhages on Ma Biao's head, with several arc-shaped small wounds. These were connected to subcutaneous bleeding in large areas, without damaging the periosteum or causing skull fractures or injuries.
This meant the deceased's head had been struck, but not with enough force to cause such wounds. The arcs were upward, the rounded part below, with both ends curving upwards. The arc was quite large. If this were a circular area, the tool would have been about 4 cm in diameter. What kind of tool was it?
Seeing my examination of this area, Xie Chuchu said, "Based on the significant subcutaneous bleeding and the presence of inter-tissue bridges in the wounds, this was caused by a blunt instrument. When I performed the autopsy, I noticed that besides the stab wounds from the dagger, Ma Biao's skull also had damage. However, it wasn't a fatal injury, so I didn't elaborate on it in the report."
"It's fortunate I'm doing this myself, or there would have been a discrepancy!"
As I spoke, I sprinkled seaweed ash and yellow wine onto the deceased's head. It was swift, decisive, and accurate.
Soon, a distinct purple-blue reaction appeared on Ma Biao's frontal bone, along with a clear palm print!!