SFTD -Chapter 65 Who’s Next? (Part 3)

Everyone looked up, and all the headlamps shone toward the manhole cover above.

A mass of long hair hung down from above, swaying gently in the air. A woman’s head suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

The dredging worker “plop” sat down directly into the water.

“Ah—!”

Although Chu Menghan didn’t scream, she was still startled by the scene and instinctively grabbed Zhou Hai’s arm.

Zhou Hai didn’t shake her off. Instead, he patted her back.

“It’s fine. I’ll go up and take a look.”

“You?”

“Yeah. You all wait down here. I’ll climb up and check.”

Chu Menghan wanted to stop him, but the words stuck in her throat.

“You… be careful.”

Zhou Hai glanced back at her.

“Shine your headlamps for me. Xiao Liang, give me a pair of scissors.”

He placed the scissors into the pocket on his forensic suit sleeve, then grabbed the simple iron ladder fixed to the wall and climbed upward step by step.

The vertical shaft was about seven to eight meters above the water surface. Zhou Hai finally reached the top. As the manhole cover above trembled, the severed head swayed slightly.

Zhou Hai reached out and examined it. The killer had actually used the victim’s long hair as a rope, looping it over a horizontal anti-fall steel bar above and tying it into a double-wrapped dead knot.

Holding the ladder with his right hand, Zhou Hai used his left hand to cut the hair on one side with the scissors. Working one-handed consumed a huge amount of strength—soon his entire body was drenched in sweat.

Finally, he finished cutting it and brought the head down. Xiao Liang reached out to take it.

Zhou Hai exhaled heavily and handed it over.

With the head recovered, identifying the victim would be easier. Just as he thought this, Xiao Liang seemed to kick something. Holding the evidence bag in one hand, he reached into the sludge with the other and pulled—another upper torso fragment emerged from the mud.

Zhou Hai gave him a thumbs-up.

“Impressive.”

The tall investigator behind Chu Menghan brought over a basket. Xiao Liang placed the torso fragment and the head inside, and they were sent out through the same route.

Zhou Hai patted the dredging worker who was leaning against the wall, catching his breath.

“Sir, do you know where this opening is on the surface?”

“Yes!”

“Captain Chu, send someone in plain clothes to follow him up and locate this sewer opening. But don’t touch it—just mark the surrounding area. Then check nearby surveillance. Now we can review footage from the past two to seven days.”

“Alright!”

“But you’re not going up?” Chu Menghan asked.

Zhou Hai shook his head.

“The upper torso and head have been found. I’ll see if there’s anything else down here. If not, all the sludge in this area will need to be screened.”

His words drew a collective gasp from the officers behind him.

Chu Menghan turned around and scanned the group.

“If you can’t handle it, say so. I’ll replace you right now.”

The group fell silent.

Zhou Hai knew how difficult the work was. He and Xiao Liang continued to crouch side by side near the shaft, searching through the sludge.

It wasn’t until ten o’clock at night that the recovery work ended.

Human bones were found in both tunnels. On Fengzi and Xu Biao’s side, they recovered parts of a torso and limb bones, as well as a skull.

Zhou Hai and Xiao Liang’s team found two torso fragments, one head, and most of the limb bones.

The remains were immediately sent back to the center for DNA testing. The bones found by Fengzi’s team were temporarily labeled Victim A, while those found by Zhou Hai’s team were labeled Victim B.

Nearby trash bins and recycling stations were also searched, but nothing was found. By now, nearly a week had passed since Victim B’s death, making trace evidence difficult to recover.

Chu Menghan left early to organize surveillance footage review. Now that they had identified a specific dumping point, they could narrow the suspicious area on the pedestrian street to about 400 meters. Fortunately, this was a surveillance-dense area, with most shops having cameras.

But reviewing footage was tedious and exhausting work—there was no shortcut. Chu Menghan could only arrange teams to go through it frame by frame.

The next day, 5:30 a.m.

Zhou Hai arrived at the center, only to find Fengzi already there. They exchanged a glance, understanding each other without words.

“The 10.8 task force meeting today will definitely be held here, right?” Fengzi said.

“Most likely,” Zhou Hai replied.

“Any progress on the remains?”

Fengzi shrugged.

“You just walked in when we finished retrieving the bones.”

Zhou Hai had already put on his protective suit and forensic goggles.

“Then let’s begin.”

They started assembling the bones on two tables. Neither set of remains was complete.

Victim A’s remains, found on the pedestrian street side, were fully skeletonized.

Victim B’s remains and fragments, found toward the residential area side, had an intact head and torso, but the limbs were mostly skeletonized.

However, neither body had any hand or foot bones or remnants.

More strangely, Victim B’s torso was relatively intact, while the limbs were already mostly skeletonized.

Fengzi frowned in confusion.

“Based on the torso, Victim B died about three to five days ago, right? Then why are the limbs already skeletonized?”

Zhou Hai glanced at him.

“That suggests that after dismemberment, the muscle tissue on the limbs—and possibly the hands and feet—was removed.”

“Then where’s the flesh? Minced? Disposed of? Fed to dogs?”

Zhou Hai thought for a moment.

“Maybe this is a direction. Have Chu Menghan check the residential areas in those three zones—see if any residents reported anything unusual.”

“Like sewer odor?”

“Or drainage blockages?”

“Or an increase in stray cats and dogs nearby?”

Fengzi immediately understood and called Chu Meiren.

A moment later, he returned.

“Let’s examine Victim A first.”

Zhou Hai picked up the skull of Victim A. It was intact with no external injuries, but the mandible and hyoid bone were missing, making it impossible to determine if death was caused by suffocation.

The remaining cervical vertebrae were examined under a magnifying glass. Two of them showed clear cut marks, one with a deep groove.

“So deep… looks like it was caused during dismemberment,” Fengzi said.

“Not necessarily. We’ll need to make thin sections of this vertebra and examine it further,” Zhou Hai replied.

After setting it down, they continued examining the rest of the bones. Aside from the previously noted cut marks on the femur and humerus, there was nothing new.

At that moment, Xu Biao and Xiao Liang entered the room.

“You two didn’t even go home?”

“I thought you and Xiao Liang would arrive first,” Fengzi laughed.

“I couldn’t sleep. Every time I lie down, I can smell that stench. Might as well come early,” Fengzi said. “But you two beat me here.”

“Xiao Liang, prepare thin sections of this vertebra. I’ll examine them later.”

With more people involved, the work speed increased significantly. Xu Biao’s photography skills were excellent, and Xiao Liang handled delicate technical work with precision.

Fengzi pointed at the cut marks on Victim A’s femur, still puzzled.

“The cervical vertebrae were cut so deeply—why is there almost no force on the femur? Could it be… the killer wasn’t alone?”