SFTD -Chapter 176 A Severed Thumb (Part 6)

Zhou Hai knew that the hardest part of a dismemberment case was finding leads and direction.

He inserted the USB drive into the computer, and all the photographs appeared on the projector screen. Zhou Hai pulled up the route map alongside the city map, then stood and pointed at the confirmed body-dumping locations with an infrared pointer.

“Dumping remains far away while burying evidence nearby is an important characteristic of dismemberment cases. It’s also a fixed pattern of thinking for criminal investigators.

But this case is somewhat different. This location here is the dumping site we identified for Victim A. It’s in Zoujiawa of Changhe District, near Mocheng—a typical urban-rural fringe area.

Around this garbage collection point, only the surveillance camera in front of this internet café can capture the area. Captain Chu’s team is currently analyzing the footage.

As for Victim B’s fingerprints, the wear on them is too severe, so no match has been found in the database yet. We’re attempting restoration, but that will take time. At the earliest, we should have results tomorrow morning.

Now, looking back at the case, the first place where Victim B’s thumb was discovered was outside Jujingyuan Residential Complex, six kilometers away from the first dumping site. If this was the work of the same killer, why deliberately leave the thumb outside the trash bin?

Even if it had been thrown away inside the garbage bag with the rest, the chance of discovery would have been much lower. The sanitation driver happened to be working alone and didn’t follow normal operating procedures. He simply loaded nearby trash and even knocked several dumpsters into a pile together. That’s why the thumb wasn’t discovered immediately.”

Chu Menghan frowned tightly.

“You mean the killer wanted it to be found?”

“Yes.”

While Zhou Hai spoke, Liu Da had been taking notes nonstop. Seeing Zhou Hai pause, he quickly pressed further.

“What about the killer? Have you tried profiling him?”

Zhou Hai walked to the whiteboard and circled a section written in the upper-left corner.

“Based on the current evidence, this is the profile I’ve constructed for the killer:

Male;

Between twenty and thirty years old;

Acquainted with both victims;

Left-handed;

A medical student or someone working in a related field;

Reclusive and poor at communication.

Judging from how every strip of flesh was cut neatly along the muscle grain, as well as the nearly identical lengths and widths, it’s not difficult to conclude that the killer suffers from obsessive-compulsive tendencies and has a strong desire for control.

Perhaps the killer had already disposed of some of the victim’s tissue at the first dumping site before this, but no one noticed. And today, deliberately leaving a finger behind was simply a way to draw attention. After all, ordinary people would find it hard to identify muscle tissue as human remains.”

Director Song and Secretary Zhao both grew increasingly grim.

“Forensic Doctor Zhou, are you saying he’s provoking the police?”

Zhou Hai drew a deep breath. He knew very well that his conclusions would determine the direction of the investigation, but he trusted what the evidence was telling him.

“Yes. He’s provoking the police. And if my judgment is correct, more body parts and remains will be discovered tomorrow. Also, Victim B’s fingerprints are still too damaged for database matching. We’re trying to restore them, but that will take time. We should have results by tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

Liu Da exchanged a few words with Director Song and the others before speaking.

“It’s not like we’ve never handled dismemberment cases before, but we absolutely will not tolerate a killer bold enough to challenge the police.

As for combining the cases like Forensic Doctor Zhou suggested—we agree. At minimum, there are already two victims involved.

I expect everyone to devote their full effort to solving this case. It’s the Spring Festival period, and we need to minimize public impact as much as possible.

As for the next investigative direction: locate more body parts, identify the victims, and find the primary murder and dismemberment scene.

The Changhe branch will immediately investigate missing persons reports, review surveillance around the Zoujiawa and Jujingyuan garbage sites, and combine that with the suspect profile provided by Forensic Doctor Zhou to screen all suspicious individuals one by one.

And since the killer is provoking the police, he’ll dump remains again. Deploy personnel to stake out all major garbage collection points within a ten-kilometer radius between Zoujiawa and Jujingyuan.

If you need people, I’ll give you people. If you need equipment, I’ll provide equipment.

No matter what, solve this case as quickly as possible. The longer it drags on, the more victims there may be. City leadership is paying very close attention. We can control media coverage and news reports for now, but the longer this lasts, the harder that’ll become.

Alright, everyone move out!”

Chu Menghan didn’t stand. She quietly gave Wang Man a few instructions, and Wang Man led his team out first. They still needed to wait for reinforcements from Liu Da.

Zhou Hai knew the pressure she was under was enormous. He waved for Fengzi and the other two to return the whiteboard.

As the crowd dispersed, before Zhou Hai could say anything, Liu Da walked over and motioned for Zhou Hai and Chu Menghan to follow him.

The three of them went downstairs to the Second Unit office. Liu Da dropped heavily into Zhou Hai’s seat.

“Alright, close the door. No outsiders here. Tell me honestly—do you two have any leads?”

Chu Menghan shook her head. Zhou Hai frowned and shook his as well.

Liu Da lit a cigarette.

“I’m sending Huang Zhongsheng over with a team to help you. No matter what, this case has to be solved. The impact during Spring Festival is too severe. Of course, I can also transfer you out early right now. You were supposed to leave at the end of April anyway, so maybe you should just go ahead and leave now.”

Chu Menghan instantly widened her eyes and slammed the table as she stood up.

“It’s only the first day! Is that really necessary? Isn’t it a little early to start blaming people?”

Liu Da shot to his feet and smacked the top of Chu Menghan’s cap. The cap slipped down over her eyes.

Zhou Hai instinctively edged sideways. This girl was like a firecracker—once her temper exploded, she didn’t care whether you were her superior or not.

“You—Have some respect for your elders!”

Zhou Hai froze. That line was worth pondering. Calling someone disrespectful to elders implied there actually was an elder relationship here. Liu Da was only in his early forties, and Chu Menghan wasn’t much younger than Zhou Hai himself. Could they be family friends, or perhaps uncle-and-niece figures?

One hand in his pocket, Liu Da pointed at Chu Menghan’s cap with the other.

“You little brat, always running your mouth! Your father entrusted you to me, so I’m your temporary father. I told you when you first came here—if there’s a problem, I can return the goods anytime. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that incident during Spring Festival when you injured someone. I’m still covering for you on that!”

Instantly, it was like someone had flipped a switch inside Chu Menghan. She straightened her cap, pressed her lips together, and glared.

“Why bring that up? Forensic Doctor Zhou is still here!”

“Oh? Forensic Doctor Zhou isn’t an outsider. It’s fine if he knows.”

Zhou Hai quickly lowered his head. The less he knew about internal secrets, the better. Otherwise, Chu Menghan would inevitably use it to threaten him later. And now that he had a girlfriend, he’d have to explain things to Lu Xi too.

At that thought, Zhou Hai quietly took another two steps backward.

Chu Menghan immediately spun around to glare at him. His reaction made his thoughts obvious enough. She snorted and headed for the office door, pausing just before leaving.

“Get those people you promised to lend me here immediately. I’m going to arrange surveillance and deployment right now. If this case isn’t solved, I’m not going back to Beijing.”

With a loud bang, the door slammed shut behind her.

Liu Da patted Zhou Hai on the shoulder. Arguing with Chu Menghan seemed to have relieved some of his stress.

“You need to pay more attention to this case. Back when I first transferred out of the military, I worked a dismemberment case too. We crossed paths with the killer back then, but the case still remains unsolved even now. It’s been ten years already. Cases like this are a race against time. Chu Menghan is ambitious, but she can be reckless. Help me keep an eye on her. I don’t want anything happening to her again. After all, the Chu family doesn’t have many descendants left. Her older brother also…”

Zhou Hai was puzzled, but he didn’t ask further. The fewer secrets about powerful families he knew, the better.

He simply looked at Liu Da and said,

“I’m going to supervise the fingerprint restoration now. If we can identify Victim B, then Victim A and the killer will surface soon enough.”

“Then hurry up and restore them. This time, we’re digging all the way to the bottom of this case. I want to see what kind of monster this killer really is!”