Chapter 118
Chapter 118
When Jun Zishu finished cleaning the living room and organizing her things, Mother Jun was also finished nagging.
“You’re so old already, so stop making Mommy worry all the time.”
“Make sure to cancel that blind date, then.”
“Did you even listen to what Mommy said?”
“Mom, I may have to go on a case at any time. Why must I date someone and waste their time? Not to mention, I’m not interested in that at all. It’s more comfortable being by myself.”
After a short silence, Mother Jun sighed and said, “Alright.”
After hanging up the call, Jun Zishu ordered a food delivery and proceeded to clean her bedroom.
The bedroom was even messier than the living room. That wasn’t to say that the original owner disliked hygiene. It was just that she really liked putting her belongings everywhere. She also stuffed her clothes randomly in the cupboard. Jun Zishu felt like dying after seeing how much of a mess she had to deal with.
After eating her dinner, Jun Zishu continued to clean without stopping. Then, once she finished cleaning, she took a shower and laid down on her bed to catch up on the news.
…
It was 5 am, and the city was still asleep.
Sounds of people talking appeared in a certain mountain, and the light from flashlights illuminated the misty surroundings.
“How much longer until we reach the top? I feel like I’ve been climbing for ages.”
“About ten more minutes. I’ve climbed this mountain before. Also, we haven’t been climbing for very long at all.”
“It’s yesterday’s rain’s fault. The path is all muddy and sticky because of it. I’m going to have to wash my shoes when I get back.”
“I’ll wash them for you, I’ll wash them for you.”
“I don’t dare to count on you. I’ll do it myself. I’ll also wash yours while I’m at it.”
The girl’s voice carried a hint of coquettishness, causing the boy beside her to laugh.
The girl stopped speaking and continued hiking up the mountain. However, the girl suddenly tripped on something and fell forward. Fortunately, the boy reacted quickly and grabbed the girl’s arm before she could hit the ground.
“What’s wrong?”
“That really gave me a scare. I think something tripped me,” the frightened girl said as she patted her chest and steadied herself. “What the hell is it?”
“It’s probably a rock.”
Two beams of light were aimed at the ground. Then, the couple lowered their heads to get a clearer look at the object on the ground. When they found out the object’s identity, the girl broke out into a scream.
…
The sun had not yet risen, so the surroundings were still gray and misty.
Jun Zishu pulled on her clothes as she stepped on the soft dirt ground, a cold and stern look on her face.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s a report we just received, Captain Jun. The ones who reported it were a young couple. They came here to catch the sunrise, but the girl stepped on something on her way up. Then, they called the police,” Wang Duoduo said as he pointed at the object on the ground.
The object in question was a severed arm. It should belong to a female by the looks of it. The jagged edges suggested that it was severed using a saw, and the degree of decay was average.
“It probably wasn’t buried too deeply, so yesterday’s heavy rain washed it out partially. We could only see parts of the palm when we arrived. This was what we found after digging it out,” Wang Duoduo explained as he put on a pair of rubber gloves.
“Dismemberment.”
Jun Zishu didn’t think that her first case would arrive so quickly. It was even such a severe case.
After putting on her rubber gloves as well, she crouched down to take a closer look at the severed arm. Then, she lifted the stiff fingers slightly.
The arm’s owner should be a girl. Although there were no traces of any jewelry being worn, the nails looked manicured.
“The others have already started searching the surroundings for other body parts,” Wang Duoduo commented.
After dismembering a body, most suspects would choose to hide the various body parts in different inconspicuous locations. However, they couldn’t exclude the possibility that other body parts were buried in the immediate vicinity.
Moreover, seeing as how this severed arm was buried at such a shallow depth, there was also a possibility that the suspect wanted it to be discovered.
However, this mountain wasn’t a tourist spot. It was simply an ordinary mountain. Apart from people who suddenly had the urge to watch the sunrise, such as the young couple Wang Duoduo mentioned, rarely anybody visited this mountain.
“I found something here, Captain Jun,” someone shouted from nearby.
Immediately, Jun Zishu stood up and walked over there.
“Based on initial observations, this torso fits the severed arm that was discovered previously. However, the head and the other arm are missing,” Yang Tianxiao said as she pointed at the mutilated torso on the ground. Now, they could conclude that the victim was female.
“Continue searching.”
Normally, suspects who dismembered the corpses of their victims would be meticulous in their actions. So, it was rather strange to see only the head and arms of this corpse severed.
Moreover, the location where they found the torso wasn’t very far from where they found the severed arm. Why was that the case?
If the person dumping the corpse was going to bury the body parts so closely, they might as well bury everything in the same spot. Why bother digging an extra hole?
If one body part was discovered, it wouldn’t be difficult to find the other part if they were buried so close to each other. Wasn’t this just a superfluous act?
Yang Tianxiao nodded to Jun Zishu’s command and resumed searching for more body parts.
Jun Zishu carefully studied the torso on the ground. Similar to the severed arm, there were also jagged cuts on the torso. Based on this observation, it could be inferred that a saw was involved in the dismemberment process.
Jun Zishu crouched down and fell into thought.
The suspect had cut off the hands and head but not the legs. Why was this the case? There was no symmetry in the act at all.
Moreover, the method of dismemberment was violent and sloppy. It did not look aesthetic at all.
Judging by the traces of minced flesh, it could be seen that the suspect who dismembered the body had made more than one attempt to sever the body parts. The suspect decisively saw off the body parts in one go.
The corpse was wearing a white shirt and black sweatpants. Although the shirt had large stains of blood and dirt, it was still possible to determine that it was originally white.
Jun Zishu carefully pulled the pants legs up and found a silver anklet with a small heart dangling from the corpse’s left ankle.
“Snap a picture of it,” Jun Zishu said as she stood up.
In response, the officer standing next to Jun Zishu held up the camera in his hands and took a close-up of the anklet.
Unfortunately, even after everyone had searched until sunrise, they didn’t make any more discoveries.
“We’ll head back to the station first. Have two people keep an eye on this place,” Jun Zishu said to Yang Tianxiao. By the time she returned to the foot of the mountain, the young couple who discovered the severed arm was no longer there.
“I already had those two children head home first, Captain Jun. I also told them not to share this matter with others. That girl looked quite traumatized. After this incident, they probably won’t be having the urge to watch any sunrises in the future. Before leaving, that girl even looked at me and asked that we catch the killer as soon as possible,” Yang Tianxiao said, shrugging. Then, she sighed as she continued, “It seems we have work to do again.”
“Let’s go.”
Jun Zishu patted Yang Tianxiao on the shoulder and made her way to the car.
…
“Chief, the preliminary autopsy report is out. The deceased is female, age is between 19 and 21 years old, height is about 170cm, weight is about 54kg, and the time of death should be between eight and ten o’clock in the evening of the 19th. The cause of death is excessive blood loss, and there are three obvious puncture wounds on the body: one in the heart, one below the left rib cage, and one in the central lower abdomen.
“The knife wound at the heart is a fatal wound, and it was inserted through the back. The wound’s width is 1.8 cm, and the entry wound is slanted by a 30-degree angle. The other two puncture wounds have similar widths, so they should be caused by the same murder weapon.
“Preliminary analysis shows that the murder weapon is a 100-by-18 millimeter hobby knife.
“Based on the incisions at the arms and head sections, the tool used to carry out dismemberment should be a saw. There are several incoherent saw wounds on the body, so it is determined that the suspect was in an unstable state when carrying out the deed.”
After concluding his report, Wang Duoduo placed the autopsy report in front of Jun Zishu.
“Check and see if there are any missing person reports made on the 19th. Filter the results based on the deceased’s description.”
“Tianxian is already on it.”
“Mhm. Keep an eye out for similar reports made recently as well.”
Jun Zishu sat on her table, her fingers twirling a pen as she began to sort out her thoughts.
This was undoubtedly a premeditated murder. The killer might have been in an emotionally excited state when dismembering the body, but the killer should be very calm when ending the victim’s life. Otherwise, the knife wounds wouldn’t have been so stable and accurate.
These emotions were very contradictory. There was no question that the murder had taken place before the dismemberment. The question was, why did the killer behave manically after calmly killing the victim?
The way the killer dumped the body was also strange. Why would the killer bury an arm and the torso so closely to each other yet bury the other arm and the head in an entirely different location? Even now, the other arm and the head still hadn’t been found.
The difference in psychological behavior was too significant, so perhaps the killer wasn’t working alone.
“I found three people who fit the bill, Chief,” Yang Tianxiao said out loud.
Jun Zishu walked over to Yang Tianxiao’s desk and looked at the three photos displayed on the computer.
All three photos showed young and beautiful girls.
“Invite the parents here and have them identify the body. Conduct a DNA test as well.”
“Understood.”
Yang Tianxiao nodded. Although doing so might be cruel to the victim’s parents, the victim’s death was already a fact. The only thing they could do now was to find the killer.
…
Sometime later, six parents wearing anxious and expectant expressions on their faces arrived at the police station.
“Officer, have you found our daughter yet?”
The parents asked one after another.
“We received a report of a mutilated corpse being found on a mountain east of the city this morning. It is still not possible to confirm the identity of the deceased. After screening, we found that your children might fit the situation,” Jun Zishu said. Then, when she noticed that a few parents were about to cry, she hurriedly added, “But that doesn’t mean that the deceased must be your daughter, so please take it easy for now.”
After hearing Jun Zishu’s words, the several parents looked at each other before silently praying that the corpse wasn’t their respective daughter.
“Please come over here for a DNA test.”
After the DNA test, the three pairs of parents fidgeted anxiously as they sat in their chairs.
“We found a silver anklet with a heart on the deceased’s ankle. Do any of you know if your daughters have such an accessory on them?” Jun Zishu asked as she placed a photo in front of the parents.
Out of the six parents, one mother visibly paled upon seeing the photo.