SFTD -Chapter 182 A Severed Thumb (Part 12)

Before Zhou Hai could even take the phone, Chu Menghan suddenly cried out and flung it away. The battered old Nokia hit the floor and shattered into pieces.

Zhou Hai immediately grabbed Chu Menghan’s wildly shaking hand and pulled her toward his evidence kit. He dug out a bottle of distilled water and poured it over her hand.

Chu Menghan winced in pain, her fingers trembling uncontrollably. Her right palm and fingers had already turned bright red from the burn.

Zhou Hai glanced back at the phone. Seeing Fengzi about to pick it up, he quickly stopped him.

“Don’t touch it. Someone modified this phone. Once it powers on and opens a designated file, the added component rapidly heats up. Looks like Wang Yanming’s phone was too outdated, so the effect was greatly reduced. Otherwise this wouldn’t have been just a simple burn. Use two wooden sticks to remove the battery and throw it into sand to cool down. Don’t discard the rest of the phone either. Send it to Xiao Hu—he has a way to trace whoever set this up.”

Fengzi hurriedly followed Zhou Hai’s instructions. Using a towel as padding, he picked up the batteryless phone, sealed it in an evidence bag, and ran out.

The distilled water in Zhou Hai’s hand had already run out. Blisters had begun forming on the burned areas of Chu Menghan’s palm. Throwing away the empty bottle, Zhou Hai applied peppermint oil to the burns.

“You should go to the hospital and get that treated.”

Chu Menghan shook her head.

“Didn’t you already treat it? Stop fussing and get back to work. A killer capable of planning this so precisely definitely prepared this for a long time.”

Zhou Hai said nothing. He simply wrapped her hand with a basic bandage. The blisters couldn’t be broken, otherwise healing would take even longer.

By then Wang Man and the others had come over after hearing the commotion. Seeing the bandages on Chu Menghan’s hand, they immediately guessed what had happened.

“The master bedroom next door is completely empty. Even the mattress is gone. Cleared out thoroughly.”

Chu Menghan nodded.

“Go help Xiao Zeng. There are too many rental properties—I’m worried their inspection won’t be thorough enough. After checking the scene, they still need to verify every tenant’s information. Contact Captain Huang directly and have his people assist. The workload is too massive. We don’t have time. We only have twenty-four hours.”

“Why only twenty-four hours? Did Captain Liu issue some kind of deadline?”

Wang Man froze.

“No. The killer left a message. Within twenty-four hours he’ll dump the victim’s dismembered remains and play a game of ‘find the bones’ with us.”

Wang Man’s eyes instantly widened.

What the hell? The killer hides body parts and the police go searching for them? Was he treating them like dogs?

“That bastard is way too arrogant. I’m going to help Xiao Zeng right now.”

Zhou Hai didn’t join their conversation. He turned and headed toward the kitchen.

But just as he raised his head, he suddenly noticed a steel hook nailed about fifty centimeters above the doorframe. The hook was thicker than an adult thumb, blackened with age where it protruded from the wall.

Zhou Hai quickly found a stool and climbed onto it. Pulling out a magnifying glass, he carefully examined the hook. The dark brown coating appeared to be rust, but near the curve of the hook were several brown fibers.

Using tweezers, he collected the fibers into an evidence bag. Then he scraped at the steel hook a few times, causing dark brown powder to fall off. He collected that as well.

Hemp rope?

What would a steel hook in that position be used for with rope attached?

For unpacking things?

No—that didn’t make sense. If it were for labor, a pulley would’ve been far more practical than a steel hook.

Besides, the heavy rust suggested it hadn’t been installed recently. Could it be unrelated to the killer?

No matter how much Zhou Hai thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. Deciding to set it aside for now, he climbed down and headed into the kitchen.

Xu Biao and the others were unusually quiet, which didn’t fit Xu Biao’s personality at all. Had his earlier judgment been wrong?

The moment Zhou Hai stepped into the kitchen, he froze.

Xiao Liang was photographing the scene while placing scale markers. Xu Biao stood nearby taking photos and marking evidence points.

The entire kitchen walls, cabinets, counters, and floor were covered with blood droplets and bits of flesh. It even looked as though blood had been deliberately splashed across the white tiled walls. The sprayed blood formed radial patterns, while elongated streaks below resembled claw marks slashing downward.

Two cleavers rested on the stove. Three pointed knives and long blades had been tossed into the sink, with a whetstone beside them.

Near the sink on the floor lay a large sheet of cardboard. On top sat a thick round chopping block, and beside it was a guillotine-style cutting machine connected to a power cord.

A thick layer of red-and-white powder coated the machine’s protective shield, though black grease stains were still visible beneath it. The moment Zhou Hai saw the grease, he thought of the oil stains on the minced flesh. No testing was needed—this was clearly the same substance.

Zhou Hai crouched down and unplugged the bloodstained cord. Tilting the cutting machine slightly, he found a red printed label on the underside:

Luweitong – Welding Team 3

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes.

So this cutting machine had been brought back by Wang Yanming from his workplace, the Ludong Weitong Traffic Facilities Co., Ltd..

Judging from how new the base looked, it wasn’t hard to guess Wang Yanming had long since appropriated it for personal use—probably for side jobs.

But no toolbox belonging to him had been found in the room.

Could this also have been part of the killer’s calculations?

If so, then this person’s thinking was terrifyingly meticulous. Everything had been planned in advance and arranged with incredible precision.

After collecting samples, Xu Biao packed all the murder weapons into evidence boxes. Straightening his sore back, he noticed Zhou Hai studying the cutting machine and let out a long breath.

“Haizi, I’ve realized something interesting about this killer.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Look at the victim’s rental place—there’s nothing there. He found an abandoned rental unit and used it as the murder and freezing site. Those two rooms were cleaned spotless. But look at this kitchen. Is he afraid we’re too stupid to find clues, so he deliberately left them behind? Or has this guy split personalities or something? He turned this place into a damn Halloween set. What’s the point?”

Zhou Hai stood and slowly scanned the room. Closing his eyes slightly, he tried reconstructing the killer’s psychology in reverse.

His mind flashed back to the bedroom scene, then to the iron hook over the living room doorway.

Suddenly, he understood where all the blood had come from.

After a long silence, he opened his eyes.

“The amount of blood splattered on these kitchen walls and floors is at least six to eight liters. That isn’t the blood volume of one person. And gathering that much blood must have taken considerable effort.

He’s showing off.

He’s flaunting his achievements—displaying his trophies.

It’s the same mentality as the Japanese soldiers posing with severed heads after the Nanjing Massacre. Whether his actions violate basic humanity no longer matters to him. His mind has been completely consumed by the excitement and stimulation this brings him.

Enough talking. Hurry up and collect the evidence here. Who knows where he’ll dump the remaining body parts within the next twenty-four hours.”

Xu Biao’s expression immediately turned serious.

“Haizi, where do you think he’ll dump the body?”

“If this is about showing off, then he’ll deliberately create a sensation. Dumping remains in garbage sites no longer satisfies his desire to flaunt himself.

He left Wang Yanming’s thumb to lure us to this primary crime scene. Then he left behind the message announcing the start of his game.

All of this is just to attract police attention. He wants recognition. He wants to become the center of attention.”

At some point, Chu Menghan had appeared at the kitchen doorway. Looking at the hellish scene before her, then hearing Zhou Hai’s deduction, fury filled her eyes.

“You mean… he’s going to dump the body in a crowded public area?”