SFTD -Chapter 183 A Severed Thumb (Part 13)

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes. “So far, everything he’s done has been experimental. Choosing blind spots in surveillance coverage or places where body parts are less likely to be discovered—these actions feel more like rehearsals. He’s practicing for whatever comes next.

By the way, has Captain Huang’s team found anything while checking the surveillance footage around those two garbage disposal sites?”

Chu Menghan shook her head. “Nothing yet. There are simply too many people throwing away trash there every day, and the cameras don’t capture the exact spots where the plastic bags were placed. It’s hard to identify anyone just from appearance alone.

Besides, it’s cold now, so everyone’s bundled up tightly. We’ve reviewed the footage several times and still haven’t found anything useful.

But I already sent the videos to Dr. Nan. Don’t they have some kind of image-processing system? Maybe they’ll get something out of it.”

Zhou Hai nodded. “Xu Biao finished collecting evidence at the scene?”

“Hold on, hold on! Just the sink drain left!”

As he spoke, Xu Biao walked over holding a high-powered flashlight and reached into the sink. Inside was a pool of dark purplish water. Xu Biao had already taken a sample. After pulling out the stopper, however, the water still wouldn’t drain.

Frowning, he leaned closer.

He reached deeper into the water and groped around for a while before hooking the filter screen. Tugging hard, he finally pulled it out.

But along with the filter came a long string of something else.

The movement happened too quickly for Xu Biao to see clearly. The thing emerged dripping with water and dangled directly in front of him.

When he focused his eyes on it, his hand shook violently, nearly throwing the filter away.

“AHHH—! AH!! Hai-zi, save me!”

Zhou Hai reached out and caught what Xu Biao had flung away. Xiao Liang had already recoiled in terror into the corner by the door. Even the usually composed Chu Menghan turned around and rushed straight out of the kitchen.

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“Xu Biao, if this were wartime, you’d be the perfect human mine detector. Every single time, you discover things nobody else notices. Impressive.”

Xu Biao sat on the floor for a long while before finally catching his breath, looking utterly wronged.

“Hai-zi, you’ve become evil. This is way too horrifying! Who the hell would expect a string of intestines hanging from a drain?! Fine, intestines are one thing—but this thing’s turned green! And the smell is unbelievably intense!”

Zhou Hai crooked a finger toward Xiao Liang. Xiao Liang tossed over an evidence bag but refused to come any closer. Xu Biao rolled his eyes at him.

“You coward. Look how scared you are. You don’t even have a sense of smell, so just close your eyes and pretend it’s pig intestines from the market or something. What’s there to fear? Ugh—!”

As he spoke, he stood up, opened the evidence bag, and turned his head away with his eyes shut. But the pungent stench was simply unbearable, and he immediately dry-heaved before shooting Xiao Liang another glare.

Xiao Liang yanked off his gloves and bolted out of the room. The visual impact alone was too much.

Holding the evidence bag, Zhou Hai examined the intestine carefully. A wire had deliberately been used to hang it over the drain opening. The entire intestinal tract had swollen and turned green from decomposition, some sections becoming semi-transparent. Combined with the bloody water constantly dripping from above, the whole thing looked wet and grotesque.

Since the killer deliberately hung the intestine there, there had to be a purpose.

Either it was a message.

Or a display.

What exactly was the killer trying so hard to achieve?

Revenge against society?

Showing off his abilities?

Or simply creating fear for the sake of fear itself?

Or perhaps… was it connected to that so-called “bone-finding game”?

Carrying the bag, Zhou Hai walked out of the kitchen.

Although Xu Biao couldn’t stand the smell, he still didn’t leave. Instead, he rechecked the bathroom once more before finally giving up after a quick inspection.

The bathroom was simply too cramped. There was only a toilet and a sink, and even the solar showerhead was wedged into the corner. With Xu Biao’s build, he could only enter facing forward and back out in reverse.

Wang Man and Xiao Liang were left behind at the scene. There were still many rooms to inspect, and since the residential complex had no surveillance cameras, the guards and all residents would need to be questioned. If someone had seen the killer, perhaps they might remember something.

Chu Menghan looked toward Zhou Hai.

“I’m not going back to the center with you. I’m heading out now to search nearby malls, supermarkets, movie theaters, and schools. I also need to investigate Wang Yanming’s workplace and social connections. A widower living alone—what kind of enemy could he possibly have that someone would murder him so brutally?”

Zhou Hai nodded and handed her the sheet of paper he had drawn earlier.

“There’s no better option right now. We can only conduct a wide-scale search. As for the search radius, I still suggest following our previous analysis and focusing within this area. All the body disposal sites fall inside this range. We’re short on manpower, so we should minimize unnecessary expansion as much as possible.”

Chu Menghan sighed.

“If you get any updates, notify me immediately.”

After taking a few steps, Zhou Hai suddenly turned back toward her.

“Don’t let your hand touch water. Keep wearing gloves at all times to avoid contamination.”

Chu Menghan waved him off impatiently before turning and climbing into another police car, which sped out of the residential complex with sirens blaring.

Zhou Hai shook his head. Somehow, Chu Menghan seemed a little different lately, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

He called for Xu Biao, and the two of them left as well.

By the time they returned to the center, it was completely dark outside.

Xu Biao delivered all the collected samples that needed testing to Sister Zeng.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hai carried the bag containing the intestine along with three bags of frozen meat into the autopsy room.

The intestine remained sealed inside the evidence bag, so the smell was temporarily contained. Zhou Hai first opened the three bags of frozen meat.

Although they had spent the afternoon inside a cooler, they had already fully thawed by now.

Taking the meat out piece by piece, he separated and examined them carefully. Every slice was identical to the ones discovered previously.

Thumb-thick.

Roughly ten centimeters long.

Neatly arranged one after another without a single piece out of order.

Such obsessive organization meant the killer’s compulsive tendencies had already reached a severe level.

After all, human tissue doesn’t naturally grow into such perfectly square and uniform shapes. Judging from the muscle fibers, these pieces had clearly been carefully selected from many different parts of the body.

Zhou Hai’s brow twitched slightly.

The words “carefully selected” surfaced in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he sorted the muscle tissue into six groups based on texture and structure.

Three groups contained finer muscle fibers.

The other three were thicker and darker.

Clearly, they belonged to two separate individuals.

He cut small samples from each piece for preservation before placing the muscle tissues into several trays.

Then his gaze fell upon the bag containing the intestine.

Switching to another cart, he placed the evidence bag on top. At this stage of decomposition, the intestinal wall had become so thin it was nearly translucent, tinged with a faint green hue.

The moment Zhou Hai cut it open, the entire intestinal tract flipped inside out, and the smell instantly intensified.

That room had heating, with a temperature between twenty and twenty-two degrees Celsius. Based on the level of decomposition, the intestine had likely been hanging there for at least three to seven days—though refrigeration beforehand remained a possibility.

Halfway through cutting, the hand supporting the intestine suddenly touched something.

Zhou Hai slowed down.

Using the scissors in his right hand, he gently probed inside the intestinal tract.

A stream of green liquid spilled out.

Then a test tube squeezed its way out from inside.

Zhou Hai froze for two seconds.

He quickly cut the intestine open completely but found nothing else unusual. The intestinal walls had been thoroughly cleaned, with no waste matter remaining inside.

Clearly, this test tube was what the killer intended to leave behind.

Carefully, Zhou Hai rinsed the exterior of the tube, then slowly removed the layers of leather wrapping sealing the mouth of the tube. After peeling away the plastic film plugging the opening, a folded slip of paper slid out from inside the test tube.