SFTD -Chapter 16 The Faceless Female Corpse (Part 8)

“I asked around! Yesterday, when we were checking surveillance footage on several people, I took their photos and questioned everyone one by one. That’s why he remembered.”

“Captain Wang, let’s go take a look first.”

By then, the three of them had already crossed through the woods. Only after reaching the small path on the other side did they finally see the crime scene.

Judging by the number of steps, it was about fifty meters away.

At that distance, the light the security guard had seen was most likely from a flashlight or a phone’s flashlight.

By now the sky was fully bright. Xu Biao had already carried the equipment over and started working.

Ma Keke was kneeling in front of a large tree, both arms wrapped around the trunk.

Her wrists were tied together where they crossed behind the tree. Beside her were dried branches and pine needles, deliberately piled behind her.

The thing binding her wrists was actually a shoelace.

The discovery delighted Zhou Hai and Xu Biao.

After all, DNA from the killer might still be recoverable from the shoelace—provided the killer hadn’t worn gloves.

Xu Biao glanced around the area. The location had practically been custom-selected for the crime scene.

The ground was covered with dry leaves and hardened dirt, leaving almost no footprints behind.

The killer had clearly put a great deal of thought into choosing this place.

If the school hadn’t intensified patrols, the body probably wouldn’t have been discovered until morning.

Most likely the security guard’s sudden appearance had startled the killer, preventing them from taking the shoelace away in time.

Xu Biao quickly opened up the investigation path, allowing Zhou Hai to examine the body closely. The tacit understanding between the two seemed to be improving more and more.

Zhou Hai walked over to Ma Keke.

To be honest, after yesterday’s conversation, he had strongly suspected this somewhat hypocritical girl.

He never expected that today she would already be a corpse.

Ma Keke’s head rested lightly against the tree trunk. Her medium-length hair hung messily forward, completely covering her face.

She wore a white short-sleeved school uniform shirt and a navy-blue skirt with two white stripes.

Her knees bent forward while her feet curled backward, forming an M-shaped kneeling posture before the tree.

If she hadn’t appeared in such a place, anyone seeing her would probably think she was merely asleep.

Her shoes had both been tossed aside, and the pale soles of her feet were covered in dirt.

Zhou Hai shifted slightly and brushed aside the hair covering her face. Only then did he see her expression.

Her eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly parted, frozen in terror.

Zhou Hai inhaled sharply.

An expression like that suggested she had been utterly shocked by her own murder.

Only from this angle did he notice another shoelace tied around her neck.

What sent chills down his spine was that the killer had tied the end of the shoelace into a bow knot—and the knotting habit was identical to the one in the June 22nd Zhong Yishan case.

As Zhou Hai placed the measurement scale against the body, Xu Biao photographed and documented the ligature marks on the victim’s neck.

The entire strangulation mark formed a ring around the neck, leaving three or four deep grooves. One of the deepest, however, was only semi-circular, with a lifted gap at the back of the neck.

This indicated that the killer had first strangled Ma Keke, but fearing she might not die, repeatedly tightened the ligature to make sure.

And one important characteristic of such behavior was that it usually pointed to a crime committed by someone familiar with the victim.

Even Ma Keke’s hair had been deliberately arranged to conceal her face.

The ligature marks ran horizontally across the neck, with leathery discoloration between them, deep purple in color.

However, because the body had been discovered quickly, lividity had not yet appeared.

Zhou Hai stepped around to examine Ma Keke’s hands.

The shoelace around her wrists had already cut deep into the flesh. Both hands were tightly clenched into fists.

Zhou Hai’s pupils contracted.

Victims of mechanical asphyxiation might instinctively grasp at objects, but they would never clench their fists this tightly.

Instinctively, Zhou Hai pried open Ma Keke’s fingers.

A white B-shaped leather fragment fell from her palm.

Zhou Hai quickly picked it up and sealed it into an evidence bag, then clipped Ma Keke’s fingernails for testing.

As he stood up, he tried to recall where he had seen that leather fragment before.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn’t remember.

“Xu Biao, contact someone to transport the body back to the center.”

Captain Wang walked over.

“Forensic Doctor Zhou, how is it? Any discoveries?”

“Death by mechanical asphyxiation. It can officially be classified as homicide. Time of death was within the last two hours. Based on the time the security guard reported the incident, the light he saw was probably illumination from the killer’s phone. The killer may also be female, physically weaker than Ma Keke. That’s why there are as many as three or four ligature marks on the neck. Generally speaking, behavior like this means the killer feared the victim wouldn’t die and repeatedly confirmed the kill. As for the rest, we’ll have to wait for the autopsy and lab results. It looks like we’ll need to expand the investigation. After all, two students have died in succession. Nothing is more important than human life.”

“Of course. I’m staying here at the school to oversee the investigation personally. Especially those two dormitory buildings near the woods—they’ll be our key focus. We’ll review every piece of surveillance footage one by one.”

“And also, I think we can merge this case with Zhong Yishan’s. Judging from the knot-tying habits and the choice of crime scene, the same killer committed both crimes.”

Xu Biao raised an evidence bag in his hand as he walked back.

“About twenty meters out at the nine o’clock direction from the perimeter, we found this lighter and leather clasp. Not sure yet whether they’re connected to the case.”

After Xu Biao finished speaking, Captain Wang finally seemed to emerge from the pressure weighing on him. He nodded heavily, hoping they would uncover more evidence this time.

Zhou Hai and Xu Biao quickly returned to the center.

As soon as they parked the car, Xiao Liang—now changed into a dark green short-sleeved shirt—stood anxiously at the entrance.

The moment he saw them, he hurried over.

“You’re finally back. After I signed for the body, Ma Keke’s parents arrived. They’re refusing to allow the autopsy and are making a huge scene inside! Even the criminal investigation officer handling the paperwork got scratched up by Ma Keke’s mother.”

“She actually assaulted the police?”

Xu Biao’s tiny eyes widened in shock. He shoved past Zhou Hai and stormed inside.

The moment they entered the center, they saw a woman with shoulder-length hair clutching the body bag and wailing hysterically.

Beside her stood a middle-aged man repeatedly swinging his fists at a police officer.

Several auxiliary officers who had rushed over quickly pinned the man to the ground.

Furious, Xu Biao shouted, “Why are you assaulting the police? Do you realize Ma Keke was murdered? This is a criminal case, not something you can control. An autopsy is a necessary procedure. Don’t you want the killer caught?”

Ma Keke’s mother, Liu Chunhong, flung her sleeve angrily.

“Don’t lecture me. You are absolutely not touching my daughter.”

Zhou Hai stopped Xu Biao from stepping forward again.

“There’s no need to explain anything. Obstructing official duties—take them away directly. If you truly cared about her, you should have taken good care of her while she was alive and educated her properly. Teaching her to seduce rich boys—what kind of parents does that make you? Contact their workplace immediately and have someone come collect them.”

The words stunned Liu Chunhong speechless.

Even if she had intended to exploit her status as a grieving mother to cause trouble, she no longer dared.

After all, she had indeed been the one encouraging her daughter to pursue Zhang Yang. If that truth came out, public condemnation would drown her.

Taking advantage of her stunned silence, several security guards from the center quickly wheeled the body bag into the autopsy room.

Zhou Hai and Xu Biao walked side by side into the changing room. Xiao Liang followed behind them together with the injured officer.

After the wound was briefly treated, Zhou Hai looked at the officer.

“Inform Captain Wang to investigate the relationship between this couple and Zhang Yang’s parents. Actually… since we’re already investigating these five families, check all of them thoroughly. And every timeline provided by each person must be verified one by one. I have a feeling the killer is right in front of us.”