Chang Bin failed to notice the strange atmosphere between them. Instead, he sprang onto the reef in a single bound, crouched down beside He Shu, and waggled his eyebrows. “Damn it, my eyelid’s been twitching since early this morning. Sure enough, bad luck was coming. We barely started work before someone showed up looking for trouble.”
Perhaps because moving around underwater had taken so much energy, He Shu breathed a little heavily. She tilted her head back and listened carefully while he spoke, casually wiping away the tiny droplets clinging to her eyelashes. “Looking for trouble?”
“I mean…” Chang Bin cautiously glanced toward Ji Chen. Seeing the other man busy examining the woven sack with Ding Qi and not paying attention, he lowered his voice. “The Cold Case Unit is always like this. Every case somehow has something to do with them. Then they have to stick their noses into it. And once they get involved…” At this point, he bared his teeth and wore an expression that said the memories were too painful to revisit.
It wasn’t that the Special Crimes Unit disliked cooperating with others. The problem was that somehow every joint investigation eventually turned into a one-man show for the Cold Case Unit. Over time, people inevitably grew resentful.
They got the call first, arrived at the scene first, and launched the investigation first. Yet whenever the Cold Case Unit inserted itself into the case, everyone immediately treated Ji Chen as though he were some extraordinary genius. Even if he truly was a prodigy at criminal investigations, that didn’t erase the hard work and sacrifices ordinary detectives made on the front lines.
He Shu sniffed lightly, more or less understanding what he meant. She was about to respond when Zheng Jian began urging them on from the side.
“The sun’s about to set. Once it gets dark, the tide will start going out. If this skeleton really was originally intact, there are probably plenty of scattered bones down there. If small bones like finger bones are carried away by the current, we’ll never find them again.”
Pressed for time, He Shu could only put her goggles and breathing gear back on. Through the lenses, her eyes gave Chang Bin a meaningful look. Then she pushed forcefully off the reef and slipped back beneath the surface, disappearing into the sea once more.
Receiving her silent response, Chang Bin felt somewhat reassured.
The Special Crimes Unit had been overshadowed in the past largely because they hadn’t had a capable captain leading them. As that thought crossed his mind, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Ji Chen had already taken a loss at He Shu’s hands before. So what the hell was there for him to worry about?
“Cough… cough, cough!” Just then, another technician from the Forensics Division surfaced where He Shu had emerged moments earlier. Pulling off his regulator, he took several deep breaths and shook his head at the people on shore. Then he tossed the object in his hand upward.
“There’s way too much trash down there. Seriously, protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility.”
“If we weren’t pressed for time waiting for the professional salvage equipment to arrive, this really wouldn’t be so exhausting,” Ding Qi said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
The technician joined in complaining for a bit, but just as he was about to dive back underwater, someone called out to him.
Looking over in surprise at the man approaching him, he asked, “Team Leader Ji? What’s up?”
Ji Chen reached out, pulled him up onto the rocks, and patted his shoulder. “Thanks for your hard work.”
“…”
Even after the last person wearing diving gear had gone into the water, the technician remained standing there, looking somewhat bewildered. He glanced left and right, clearly unsure what was going on.
In the end, he could only trot obediently over to Ding Qi and help sort through the various pieces of trash hauled up from the seabed.
Underwater.
Although the water near the shore wasn’t particularly deep, visibility was poor as dusk approached and the water was littered with trash. Faint beams of light could be seen here and there below, belonging to members of the investigative team as they worked.
He Shu struggled alone with an old, tattered fishing net. It was here that she had found the two bones, leading her to suspect the woven sack containing the remains might have been nearby. Although the colleague who had surfaced earlier had already taken most of the bones away, they still needed to thoroughly search the surrounding area to make sure they hadn’t missed anything.
Everything was much more difficult underwater. The other team members had already spread out according to the search plan they had discussed earlier, so all that surrounded her was dark, murky seawater and the muffled sound of currents flowing past her ears.
Glub… glub… She stopped and closed her eyes, breathing slowly to calm her increasingly erratic heartbeat. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. Her expression had returned to normal, and she resumed tugging at the net. Unexpectedly, a beam of light suddenly shone toward her from an angle. Then the newcomer reached out a hand, and together they pulled the net free from the mud and sand where it had become trapped.
He Shu nodded her thanks and looked into the crevice between the reefs where the torn net had been lodged. Several white bones were faintly visible beneath the silt. Just as she was about to reach inside, the person beside her moved first. They collected the bones, carefully checked that nothing had been left behind, and then swam toward the surface.
He Shu paused for two seconds. Something felt off, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. In the end, she merely shrugged and followed after them.
When He Shu surfaced, she saw a tall figure in diving gear standing beside Zheng Jian. Zheng Jian had already roughly assembled the recovered bones and was muttering: “Some of the carpal bones, metacarpals, tarsals, and toe bones are missing.”
Climbing onto the reef, He Shu accepted the hand Chang Bin offered to pull her up. From this angle, she finally got a clear look at the profile of the person standing beside Zheng Jian. To say she wasn’t surprised would have been a lie. Could the person who had helped her underwater just now really have been him?
Ji Chen brushed a hand through his short, dripping hair.
“The remains discovered three years ago were relatively complete. The victim had suffered multiple fractures throughout the body, but none of them were fatal. We suspected the victim had been subjected to inhuman torture before death. In the end, the forensic examiner found notches on the ribs consistent with a bladed weapon. The conclusion was that the victim died from a ruptured spleen caused by a stab wound.”
Hearing this, Zheng Jian carefully examined the recovered bones.
“Mm… that does seem consistent with what you’re describing. And from what I saw earlier, this victim’s cheekbones and brow ridges also show signs of fractures. As for the exact cause of death, we’ll have to wait until we get back to headquarters to determine that.”
Ji Chen nodded. Seeing that there was nothing else requiring his attention at the moment, he walked past Zheng Jian. “Then I’ll see you back at the bureau.” With that, he left.
Meanwhile, the officers still underwater gradually began coming ashore. Chang Bin dragged over a thoroughly soaked Zeng Yongjia, who looked like a drowned water monkey, and began whispering something in his ear.
Sure enough, after hearing what Chang Bin had to say, Zeng Yongjia’s expression wasn’t particularly pleasant either.
As the rest of their colleagues gradually climbed ashore, Chang Bin pulled the waterlogged Zeng Yongjia, who looked like he’d just crawled out of a river, off to the side and whispered something to him.
Sure enough, after hearing the story, Zeng Yongjia’s expression darkened as well. Shaking the water from his hair, he drawled, “If I’d known about this before going into the water, there’s no way I’d have worked so hard only to make a wedding dress for the Cold Case Unit.”
Hearing the bitterness in his voice, He Shu frowned slightly and fell into thought.
…
Municipal Bureau Forensics Laboratory
After returning to headquarters, He Shu showered and changed into clean clothes before heading straight to the lab. To her surprise, someone had arrived before her. When she entered, the two men were standing together, studying something on the skeletal remains laid out on the autopsy table.
Hearing movement, Zheng Jian looked up. “Captain He, perfect timing.”
He Shu responded and walked over to Ji Chen’s side. Because they stood so close together, she could even feel waves of heat radiating from his body against her still-cool skin.
Ji Chen wore a cold expression, but contrary to her expectations, he didn’t move away.
Zheng Jian, manipulating a rib bone in his hands, seemed to sense that the atmosphere between them was somewhat strange. His suspicious gaze shifted back and forth between them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pinpoint anything unusual, so he simply pulled over a movable magnifying device and placed the rib beneath it.
“The victim was female, between twenty and twenty-five years old. That matches the victim from three years ago in both age and gender.” He pointed at the bone under the lens.
“Take a look at this tiny notch here.”
“I just pulled up the autopsy report from three years ago. The measurements recorded in that report are almost identical to what we’re seeing now. The murder weapon was most likely the same one.”
He paused before concluding:
“In other words, there’s a very strong possibility that the same person murdered both victims.”
“And there’s more. Although the second set of remains isn’t complete, most of the missing pieces are small bones and shouldn’t have a significant impact on the autopsy. The fracture patterns on this victim are largely consistent with those on the previous victim. There are varying degrees of skeletal injuries to the fingers, toes, limbs, and face. I believe the killer used essentially the same methods of torture on both victims.”
“The remains were already heavily decomposed when both victims were discovered. Today’s victim is in slightly better condition, but only marginally so. There’s too little soft tissue left for us to decide, so we can’t perform any sexual assault examination.”
Zheng Jian carefully placed the rib back in its proper position and continued: “I’ve already sent the DNA samples over to the Technical Division. We’ll see if they can identify her. If I remember correctly, the victim from three years ago was never identified, was she?”
Ji Chen nodded. “There was no matching DNA profile for her in the database. At the time, we investigated several missing persons who fit the criteria, but none of the DNA samples matched.”
Zheng Jian nodded as well. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he clapped his hands together. “Well, congratulations to both of you. The cases can officially be merged into a single investigation. Hopefully this one will be solved smoothly, without another victim appearing.” As he spoke, he looked regretfully at the badly damaged skull lying on the autopsy table. “I’ll do my best to reconstruct her facial features. She must have been very beautiful when she was alive.”
“Alright. Let me know immediately if there are any developments.” Ji Chen waved a hand and walked out of the forensic laboratory. The corridor outside seemed especially quiet at night. Before long, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.
“Um…”
“I’ll submit the report requesting a joint investigation to the higher-ups. For the next little while, I hope we’ll work together well.”
Without warning, he stopped and turned around to face the person who had caught up to him, his expression completely unreadable.
“Okay.” He Shu answered quickly. She had followed him out in the first place to discuss exactly that matter.
After the brief exchange, the corridor once again fell silent.
He Shu remained where she was. What surprised her was that the man showed no intention of leaving first, either.
Ji Chen withdrew his gaze from the empty corridor ahead, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with practiced ease. After taking a drag, he suddenly spoke. “Why did you go into the water today?” Then, as smoke drifted from his lips, he added: “You’re not afraid anymore?”
Standing opposite him, He Shu could smell the slightly acrid scent of tobacco. At first, she remained silent for two seconds after hearing the question. Then she gently shook her head. “Of course I’m afraid. I just know how to control my emotions now.” As she spoke, she gave what appeared to be an easy, carefree smile.
In the next instant, however, she accidentally inhaled a mouthful of cigarette smoke and instinctively frowned.
Lowering his gaze to the cigarette between his fingers, his hand moved before his brain could catch up. He crushed the cigarette out and tossed it into a nearby trash can in one smooth, practiced motion. Only after the fact did he realize what he’d done.
The muscles at the corner of Ji Chen’s eye twitched uncontrollably twice. Faced with He Shu’s somewhat puzzled look, he could only turn around and leave, quickening his pace as he walked away.
Once a reasonable distance separated them, Ji Chen, still with his back to her, finally squeezed out a frustrated curse through clenched teeth. He raised a hand and wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. What was that saying again? Old habits die hard.