The suspect seemed injured, or perhaps he was holding another hostage.
The police officers were all armed with submachine guns, while I only had my father's Type 64 pistol. My original Falcon handgun was currently in for repairs. It had been damaged during a confrontation with a criminal in a previous case and hadn't been fixed yet.
The cave was empty, as if no one was there. However, a fissure seemed to have opened in the cave wall, from which a large amount of murky liquid was flowing. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a stream originating from inside the cave, but why was this water colored blue and yellow?
I immediately realized that the body must be hidden within the cave wall.
There were signs of soil being piled up on the cave wall. Fortunately, one of our officers had a shovel with him. I took it and, along with a few other officers, began to dig. After a while, a large amount of soil crumbled from the upper part of the cave wall.
A dismembered corpse was soon exposed. The victim had numerous strip-shaped wounds, mostly blue in color, with some localized yellow discoloration. I suspected this was a sign of poisoning.
The deceased was a male, and his build was remarkably similar to the burly man we were currently pursuing. Yet, I estimated that this person had been dead for at least 12 hours.
But we had seen him not long ago?
Could it have been a hallucination? Dozens of people had seen him at that time. If one person had a hallucination, it might be understandable, but if so many people experienced the same illusion simultaneously, then it was impossible to be mistaken.
I asked Li Fan and the others to help me remove the body. As we moved it, we discovered that his entire body was dismembered. When we pulled his arm, the upper part came off directly. An officer accidentally touched the victim's chest, and with a rustle, a piece of metal flew out from a wound in his chest. The officer instinctively stepped back, and the metal piece fell to the ground, emitting a cloud of murky smoke. I immediately covered my mouth and nose and shouted, "Hold your breath!"
Everyone reacted quickly and put on masks. I, however, didn't move from my spot. I took out a spray bottle, sprayed a few times, and the smoke was neutralized. This was a new agent I had developed while conducting chemical experiments in the courtyard; it could neutralize certain toxic fumes.
Once that was done, the air around us became much fresher. Now that the suspect was dead, I asked everyone to come over and called for reinforcements.
Before the reinforcements arrived, we had gathered all the dismembered parts of the body on the ground and pieced them together like building blocks.
After assembly, we found that no parts of the body were missing. In fact, apart from some wounds, the person was not as severely fragmented as we had initially thought. Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying arrived and immediately began to examine the body.
After a brief examination, Zhang Keying moved the victim's joints and said, "Livor mortis is blanched by pressure, corneas are cloudy, rigor mortis is not severe. The time of death should be around 12 hours, but..."
During the autopsy, Zhang Keying also realized the anomaly. At this point, Li Fan, Liu Yuning, and others present exclaimed in surprise. However, Xia Hou calmly stated, "The suspect we saw earlier was definitely not this person! Perhaps the perpetrator found someone who looked very similar to them to create confusion?"
I touched the victim's face. There were no signs of a face mask being used. However, in some of the skin and flesh tissues on his jaw and forehead, I found some folds. This person might have had plastic surgery. Xia Hou's conjecture was plausible.
I clapped my hands and stood up. "Let's take the body back first. Even if there is another person, we can't find them now. There are no surveillance cameras in this area, and very few traces can be found at the scene."
"Understood!"
Everyone carried out their respective tasks. After the scene was thoroughly investigated, Xie Chuchu took the body away first.
This time, I followed the original plan and met with Director Huang. However, knowing I had important duties, he didn't detain me. An hour later, Gao Mingqiang picked me up and we drove back to the provincial department.
For us, the real challenge began when we arrived at the morgue. Indeed, the body parts were brought to the morgue this time.
The man had been cut into 44 pieces. On his spine, we discovered the symbol for Virgo. It seemed the killer was not arranging these constellation patterns in order.
The victim's identity was not difficult to determine, as his face was relatively intact. After obtaining the consent for dissection, I took a bottle of anhydrous ethanol and vigorously wiped the body. Alcohol, with its volatility, could remove moisture from the skin, enhancing its permeability and making even minor subcutaneous damage more visible.
When used in conjunction with a shadowless reflector tube or an autopsy umbrella, the signs became even more apparent. This time, I also took out a bone percussion hammer and carefully tapped the victim's skin. Upon observing some wounds on his shoulder, I immediately said, "Bamboo striking, hollow!"
Anyone who had studied forensic science would know the meaning of this term. Zhang Keying immediately added, "Indeed, it's an injury caused by a cylindrical object. 'Bamboo striking, hollow,' also known as rail-like contusion or hollow contusion, is characterized by two parallel band-like hemorrhages with a pale area in between. Such contusions can clearly reveal the size or shape of the striking object."
"Exactly. The suspect was beaten with this weapon in many places before being dismembered and stuffed into the cave wall. Then, the symbol for Virgo was carved onto his spine. What is the connection between this constellation and the person himself?"
As I spoke, Xie Chuchu began to cut through the skin and separate the victim's muscles. She made a forceful incision along the ribs, then separated the sternoclavicular joint and dealt with the first rib. The body was thus completely dissected before us.
She used scissors to cut open the pericardium in a "人" shape, revealing the victim's heart. It appeared normal, with no signs of disease.
Next were the lungs, stomach, and other organs. I used hemostatic forceps to assist, while Zhang Keying began drawing blood for analysis.
Finally, I pulled out the thermometer inserted into the anus. "At the current temperature, and considering a decrease of one degree per hour, the time of death is precisely around 11 hours."
I looked at the clock hanging in the laboratory. It was now around 2 AM. Eleven hours earlier would be around 3 PM yesterday, the time the suspect was killed.
With our combined efforts, the cause of death was determined to be high concentration of potassium. While potassium is not theoretically lethal, excessive amounts can lead to potassium metabolism disorders, negatively affecting heart, muscle, and nerve function. If severely elevated, it could lead to myocardial infarction and sudden death.