“What the hell do you mean, making a splash right out of the gate?” Zeng Yongjia laughed. Then he turned to He Shu and said, “Captain He, let’s go take a statement from the person who reported it.”
He Shu nodded. After the two men left, she called into the area inside the police tape: “Brother Zheng, the Technical Division’s earlier report suggested that the victim may have been carrying tiny glitter particles. This body is relatively intact, so could you take a careful look?”
Zheng Jian nodded. Eventually, he found a faint trace inside the victim’s palm. He looked up and signaled to his assistant, who carefully scraped the substance into an evidence bag. “Ding Qi, this one’s for you. When you get back, see if it’s the same material as what was found in the dogs’ feces before.” He handed over the evidence bag.
Ding Qi took it and gave him a brief nod.
By now, the sea breeze felt stronger than before.
The dark blue seawater continuously crashed against the nearby reef, occasionally throwing up sprays more than half a meter high and soaking the surrounding rocks.
“Looks like the tide’s coming in. We’d better move the body quickly.” Zheng Jian sped up his work and soon began directing people to transport the corpse.
The Technical Division was equally anxious. If the seawater reached the scene, who knew how much valuable evidence might be destroyed? No one could afford that kind of loss.
Meanwhile, He Shu stood quietly and stared at the ocean. As the sky grew overcast, the sea looked even more mysterious and turbulent than before. For a moment, she felt suddenly suffocated. It was as if water were blocking her nose and mouth. Indescribable rushing sounds echoed in her ears from beneath the surface, as though the instant she tried to breathe, great gulps of water would pour into her nose and mouth, forcing tears from her eyes.
Another large wave crashed against the rocks. The spray splashed onto her black leather shoes.
She blinked and came back to herself. Taking a long, deep breath, she regained her usual composure, then turned and walked toward Zeng Yongjia and Chang Bin.
Zeng Yongjia and Chang Bin stood nearby, talking quietly with officers from the local precinct. The initial witness statement had apparently already been completed. The person who had reported the body wasn’t standing with them but remained some distance away, looking visibly frightened. A towel draped over his head gave him a rather comical appearance.
Seeing He Shu approach, Chang Bin immediately gave his report: “Captain He, the reporting witness is the owner of a restaurant inside Golden Sunshine Bathing Beach called Fat De Seafood Processing. According to him, because the beach area is usually crowded, the local business owners often come out to this more secluded area when they want to stretch their legs or get some exercise. Today was no different. After staying busy most of the day, he finally had free time after lunch and went for a walk. By chance, he discovered the victim’s body.”
“According to his statement, he did go over to confirm what he was seeing, but he didn’t touch or move the body.”
“Mhm.” He Shu nodded. “Later, have the Technical Division collect an impression of his shoe soles. We can use it when sorting through the footprints at the scene.”
Chang Bin immediately acknowledged the order and hurried off to find someone from the Technical Division.
Picking up where he left off, Zeng Yongjia continued: “I also spoke with the manager of the bathing beach. He said the beach’s actual operating area covers only the sandy shore to the east. The body dump site isn’t under their management at all, so there aren’t any surveillance cameras nearby.”
“From a terrain perspective, the suspect could easily have parked a vehicle up there…” He pointed ahead.
The area they were standing in was relatively low-lying. In front of them was a gentle slope. At the top of it, not far away, was the main road.
“Coming down this slope wouldn’t take much effort at all.”
Before he had even finished speaking, He Shu had already started walking toward the slope.
Zeng Yongjia could only follow after her.
“When Nie Han’s body was discovered, he had already been dead for three days. Most of the skin and muscle tissue on the body was gone, which meant there were many things the forensic and technical teams simply couldn’t determine,” He Shu said.
She stopped at the bottom of the slope, staring fixedly ahead, though her mouth never stopped moving.
“But today is different. This victim was discovered only a little over ten hours after death. The evidence on the body hasn’t been damaged, and the environmental evidence around the scene has been preserved relatively intact. What does that tell you?”
“The killer had bad luck?”
“…”
For the first time, He Shu tore her gaze away from the slope and shot him an expressionless look.
Under that glance, Zeng Yongjia immediately felt as though that woman with wolf-like eyes had suddenly appeared before him again. His skin tightened instinctively. After spending the past couple of days with her, he had gradually been lulled into complacency by her approachable demeanor and easygoing way of handling things. The sudden reminder jolted him awake. His thoughts immediately became much clearer.
Frowning, he considered the question carefully. After a few seconds, he replied hesitantly: “Captain He, do you think the killer made a mistake this time? But that doesn’t seem to make sense. Serial killers generally evolve through repeated offenses. Why would he make no mistakes on the first murder, only to slip up on the second?”
“Comfort zone.” He Shu suddenly threw out those two words.
“Comfort zone…?” Zeng Yongjia’s eyes widened. Then he slapped his hands together. “You mean…”
“Criminals like this generally have their own psychological comfort zone. When they first begin offending, they rarely stray outside it. At the very least, they wouldn’t suddenly leave it after only their second crime. Within that area, whether they’re selecting victims or disposing of bodies, they feel an extreme sense of confidence.”
“Nie Han’s body was left on a remote rocky beach in Zhenxiong Bay and wasn’t discovered for three days. That place is genuinely deserted. Under normal circumstances, you might not see a single person there for half a month.”
“By the time the body was found, it had already deteriorated into that condition, making it extremely difficult for police to recover useful evidence from the victim. It’s a form of counter-investigation strategy.”
Speaking calmly, He Shu turned and glanced back toward where Zheng Jian and the others were working.
“But these reefs are different. On the surface, they seem equally deserted, but anyone familiar with the area knows this is where nearby shop owners come for walks and exercise.”
“The most likely explanation, then, is that the killer wasn’t nearly as familiar with this location.”
Zeng Yongjia nodded. “So what does that mean? The suspect’s attempt at self-improvement failed?”
Before He Shu could answer, realization suddenly dawned on him. “Choosing this dumping site wasn’t the killer’s original intention. But what could possibly have forced the suspect to take the risk of leaving his comfort zone?”
“Us.”
“Us?”
He Shu narrowed her eyes. “Although I don’t know exactly what it was, the police must have uncovered some evidence or an important lead related to the killer while investigating Nie Han’s death.”
“It made the killer feel threatened. That’s why they were forced to abandon the area they were familiar with and take the risk of using a different dumping site.”
“Unfortunately for them, that very decision ended up giving us even more leads to investigate.”
“Clues related to the killer?” Zeng Yongjia began racking his brain. But for the moment, he genuinely couldn’t think of anything.
“When we get back to the bureau, let’s consolidate and organize all the previous reports, interview records, case files, and background investigations. As for now…” He Shu took a few more steps forward, then crouched down and tilted her head, carefully examining the marks on the slope. “It looks like something rolled down from above.”
If the suspect had wrapped the body securely in something before disposal and then simply pushed it down the slope, all they would have had to do was wait at the bottom. The entire body-dumping process could have been completed with very little effort.
“Get someone over here and extend the police tape to cover this area too,” He Shu said without looking back, remaining crouched where she was.
“Got it.”
Zhenxiong Bay… a comfort zone, huh? She stared at the faint track running down the slope and slightly curled the corners of her lips.
…
With another victim discovered, the Special Crimes Unit was destined for yet another ordinary all-nighter.
The office smelled of instant noodles in every imaginable flavor, mingling with cigarette smoke and creating a drowsy atmosphere.
He Shu stood in front of the whiteboard, a marker in her hand and her left hand planted on her hip as she thought.
The whiteboard was covered with crisscrossing notes, names, and details scribbled across every available space. To a casual observer, it looked chaotic. But anyone who studied it carefully would begin to notice the subtle connections linking everything together. As the saying goes: A pattern hidden within the chaos.
“Captain He… the medical examiner’s report!” Chang Bin walked in from outside, a grilled sausage still dangling from his mouth as he mumbled, “I ran into Zheng Jian’s intern downstairs just now and brought it up along the way.”
He wolfed down the rest of the sausage in a few bites. At He Shu’s signal, he opened the report and began reading: “The injuries to the victim’s neck and wrists are the same as Nie Han’s. However, this time the body’s surface wasn’t damaged, so we can confirm your theory. There are indeed some marks that formed after death. They were most likely caused when the body rolled down the slope.”
“There was also a small amount of alcohol in the victim’s system. The concentration wasn’t high enough to significantly affect a person’s movements.” He looked up from the report. “In other words, the victim was conscious before death and would have been capable of resisting.”
Hearing that, Xie Zihao raised an eyebrow. “So it still looks like our original theory was right. If you want a man to completely let down his guard, then it’s got to be a honey trap, right?”
Bzzzz… Bzzz… The cell phone He Shu had casually left on the conference table suddenly began vibrating. She glanced at the caller ID, pressed accept, and put the call on speaker.
“Ding Qi? Find something?”
“No DNA match,” came the man’s clear voice from the other end of the line, accompanied by a faint crackle of background noise. “The victim isn’t in the database, and he doesn’t match any of the missing-person reports filed yesterday. At the moment, we can’t confirm his identity.”
“Looks like we’ll have to rely on the media to help identify him, then?” Zeng Yongjia let out a long sigh.
“As for the glitter particles found in the victim’s palm, testing confirmed that they’re the same substance as the particles recovered from the stray dog’s feces earlier. I’ve got a lead on that. Interested, Captain He?”
The moment he said “lead,” his tone changed.
“Let’s hear it.”
Ding Qi didn’t beat around the bush. “Just now, Team Leader Ji from the Cold Case Unit came by to pick up a report. He took one look at the glitter particles and casually mentioned something.”
“He said that at some of the nightclubs around Zhenxiong Bay, certain dancers use a glitter-infused body lotion. Supposedly it makes them sparkle more under the stage lights.”
“…”
He Shu fell silent for a moment.
Rubbing his chin, Zeng Yongjia blurted out without thinking: “So… how would Team Leader Ji know that?”
Author’s Note:
Zeng Yongjia: So does Team Leader Ji know all that because he has personal experience with this sort of thing?
Ji Chen: Get lost. 😑