SFTD -Chapter 9 The Faceless Female Corpse (Part 1)

June 23, 2014
6:30 AM

At the edge of a secluded grove near the seaside in Forest Park, West District of Dongnan City—

A slender, pale leg protruded from the distant grass.

A horrifying slash wound stretched across it. The kneecap was already exposed, white bone visible beneath purple-black bloodstains. Against the corpse’s deathly pale skin, the contrast was visually shocking. Judging from the shape of the leg, the victim was a young woman.

Zhou Hai didn’t slow his steps. Carrying his investigation kit, he walked straight over.

Intern forensic examiner Xiao Liang followed closely behind him.

Behind them, the trace technician Xu Biao stumbled over something and lurched forward several steps. After regaining his balance and seeing the scene ahead, he let out a startled cry.

“Damn, it’s a woman!”

As they reached the police tape, Captain Liu from the Criminal Investigation Brigade was already approaching them.

He waved toward them, his flesh-colored latex gloves stained with shocking streaks of blood.

“Forensic Zhou, your team got here pretty fast!”

Zhou Hai nodded. “Morning, Captain Liu. Can you brief me on the situation?”

Captain Liu led them forward.

“Let Wang Xuchao from the West District branch explain it. Their team arrived first.”

A burly, dark-skinned man acknowledged the order and opened a small notebook.

“The people who called the police were Old Wang and his wife, scavengers who collect recyclables in this park. It rained all day yesterday and only stopped around four in the afternoon, so they didn’t come out. Today, before four-thirty in the morning, they arrived at the park. After walking for more than ten minutes, they reached the grove above this beach. This area’s popular with couples, so there are usually bottles and trash to collect. Sometimes they even find money. When Old Wang got close to the woods, he noticed a leg sticking out of the grass and thought he’d seen wrong. But after getting closer, he realized it was a mutilated corpse surrounded by wild dogs gnawing on it. He got so scared he turned and ran, then called the police. I happened to be on duty last night. As soon as I heard there was a homicide, I brought my team over. After seeing the scene, I reported to Captain Liu. He said the command center had to send your Second Team over.”

Xu Biao poked his head out from behind them, a terrible premonition written all over his face.

“How badly was the scene contaminated?”

Captain Wang nodded grimly.

“Badly. When we arrived, there were still over a dozen wild dogs lurking nearby.”

“I’ll go take a look first.”

Xu Biao had already changed into his protective suit and walked over carrying the investigation kit. Zhou Hai could only wait for Xu Biao to establish a proper access route before beginning the external examination and scene inspection.

Zhou Hai and Liang Honggang also began changing clothes.

“Have you identified the victim yet?”

Captain Liu sighed heavily.

“Not even a clue. That’s exactly why I had the command center contact your team directly. There haven’t been any missing persons reports so far. And once you see her… you’ll understand. To be precise, the victim no longer has a face.”

Zhou Hai frowned.

Looks like this would be the toughest case he’d encountered since returning to Dongnan City.

In an instant, adrenaline surged through his body, every combative nerve awakened.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Xu Biao returned.

Zhou Hai rubbed the fingers inside his double-layered rubber gloves.

“That fast?”

Gone was Xu Biao’s usual joking demeanor. His face was filled with anger and gloom as he nodded seriously.

“It rained yesterday, and the ground here is coarse sand. The footprints around the scene are a complete mess—overlapping everywhere. There were too many wild dogs. The surface traces are basically destroyed. I only managed to collect a few partial footprints. They’ve already been photographed and preserved. The pathway’s clear now, you can go take a look. I’m going to search for the victim’s clothing. The dogs probably tore everything apart. No idea if I can recover all of it, but maybe we’ll find some identification. Sigh…You’ll understand once you see her. It’s awful.”

Following behind them, Liang Honggang swallowed hard with an audible gulp. Zhou Hai knew he was nervous.

Every new graduate had to go through this process.

Only by witnessing the tragedy of the dead firsthand could a forensic examiner truly develop the urgency and sense of duty needed to uncover evidence.

“If you can’t handle it, wait here,” Zhou Hai said. “No one will laugh at you.”

Liang Honggang shook his head, determination in his eyes.

“Thanks for the concern, Brother Hai. I want to go with you.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“Alright. Step exactly where I step.”

The closer they got, the more overpowering the stench of blood became.

Zhou Hai reached up and tugged his mask slightly outward, as though doing so might give him more room to breathe. Forensic examiners were still human; they reacted like ordinary people.

This small gesture was also a form of psychological self-conditioning.

Otherwise, anyone constantly exposed to murder scenes would eventually go insane.

Dressed in white protective coveralls and blue shoe covers, they stepped across the soft sand, producing faint rustling sounds.

Many of the detectives turned to look at them.

After climbing more than thirty meters uphill and moving around a cluster of bushes—

The full appearance of the female corpse came into view before Zhou Hai.

Even someone as accustomed to death as Zhou Hai couldn’t help inhaling sharply.

The young woman’s body lay on its side facing the grass. Her long hair was tangled above her head, while her entire face had been chopped to pieces.

Her nasal bone and both eyeballs were gone. Occasionally, bits of remaining skin mixed with severed hair could still be seen. It was impossible to identify her appearance anymore.

Her body was covered in overlapping slashes and cuts both horizontally and vertically—there were no stab wounds.

Her left breast was completely missing, while only half of the right remained. It was impossible to tell whether the missing flesh had been cut away or eaten by wild dogs.

The victim’s arms were raised above her head. There were binding marks on both wrists, and beneath her hands lay a sky-blue knot.

What made one’s heart shudder was that the knot had been tied into a butterfly bow.

The defensive wounds on her hands were severe. On her right hand, the ring finger, middle finger, and index finger were barely connected by strips of skin.

There were abrasions on her palms, and every wound on her limbs and face showed signs of vital reaction.

Her abdominal cavity had been torn open, with internal organs protruding and partially missing. Only the exposed legs suffered fewer injuries.

Aside from abrasions on the knees, there were merely four chop wounds on the legs.

However, the wounds were extremely deep, located at the knees, the backs of the knees, and the ankles—likely intended either to stop the victim from escaping or to vent rage.

Behind Zhou Hai, Liang Honggang gagged several times before suddenly running off.

He truly couldn’t endure it anymore. The heavy smell of blood made his stomach churn violently.

Zhou Hai crouched before the victim and examined her carefully.

The wounds on the victim’s face, chest, and abdomen showed numerous bite marks along the edges.

Those were likely caused by the wild dogs.

The dogs’ interference had badly damaged the corpse, creating enormous difficulties for the autopsy.

Silently counting, Zhou Hai estimated there were no fewer than a hundred wounds visible at a glance, half of them deep enough to expose bone.

At that moment, Xu Biao walked over with the camera, taking over Xiao Liang’s work and helping Zhou Hai photograph and document the corpse’s condition.

After photographing several fixed positions, Zhou Hai gently lifted the victim’s raised left leg. He wanted to lay the body flat from its side position so the facial wounds could be photographed more clearly.

But the instant he moved the corpse—

Zhou Hai suddenly discovered a pitch-black knife handle protruding from the victim’s groin.

Xu Biao lifted his head from behind the camera lens and cried out in shock before collapsing backward onto the investigation mat.

“Damn… this killer is vicious beyond belief!”