Chapter 673: I Am the Dead

Lin Qiupu looked at Chen Shi in confusion, “You don’t really believe in this nonsense, do you?”

“Some things are hard to explain. For example, I cooked four sausages this morning, but when I turned around, one disappeared. Who can explain that?” Chen Shi said half-jokingly.

“It’s a waste of time! We already have fewer people working during the Spring Festival, and now we have to deal with a false alarm. What if there’s a real emergency later? If you want to check it out, go yourself.”

Lin Dongxue gave Chen Shi a wry smile. She knew he liked strange cases; she could tell from his eyes that he was very interested and eager to investigate.

Lin Dongxue asked, “Captain Lin, can I contact the Shiqiao Town Police Department and request the case files?”

“Sure, but you’re not allowed to go out on your own. There’s no need for fieldwork in this case.”

Soon, a faxed case file arrived. Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi sat together to review it. The case could only be described as “horrifying.” It happened in late November, with two victims, Chunqin and her husband, Li Tiezhu. They were sleeping at home when the killer entered. Their large dog in the yard didn’t make a sound, as it was later found to have been fed sleeping pills.

Chunqin was raped before being killed, strangled with a thin wire, possibly fishing line. Li Tiezhu was also strangled with the same wire, and there were binding marks on his hands and feet. The police determined that Li Tiezhu had been tied to a post facing the bed. His mouth contained a lot of textile fibers, matching a rag found at the scene.

The police suspected that before raping Chunqin, the killer tied up Li Tiezhu and stuffed his mouth with the rag, forcing him to watch the assault on his wife. Judging by the binding marks, the ordeal might have lasted two hours.

Interestingly, some witnesses, teenagers returning from an internet café, saw shadows moving in the window. They whistled excitedly and lingered for a while before leaving.

These witnesses provided detailed statements. They were unemployed youth from the town, and the police initially suspected them.

After two hours of torture, the killer murdered the couple, poured boiling water over Chunqin’s body, and scrubbed her skin with a wire brush, seemingly to remove evidence. However, the killer overlooked the most crucial detail—semen stains. He tried to remove them by pouring boiling water inside her, which of course, couldn’t eliminate the DNA evidence, suggesting the killer wasn’t very educated.

Three months had passed, and the case was still unsolved.

After reading the file, Lin Dongxue said, “Such cruel methods. Chunqin was just an ordinary town worker. Why would a female graduate student in Long’an City claim to be possessed by her spirit?”

Lin Dongxue looked at a table of the deceased’s relationships, but there was no Chang Juan, not even anyone with the surname Chang.

“Why not just meet this girl?” Chen Shi suggested.

“Captain Lin won’t allow it.” Lin Dongxue was intrigued but couldn’t disobey orders.

“Dummy, just go during lunch break, as a personal visit.”

“Good idea!”

At lunchtime, since the cafeteria was closed, everyone went out for lunch. Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue got into the car and quickly drove to the address provided by Chang Juan, her school dormitory.

The campus was quiet, with hardly anyone in sight. The flower beds still had snow from a few days ago. Only a few windows in the graduate dormitory were lit. They arrived at Chang Juan’s dormitory, knocked on the door, and heard her voice, “Police?”

“Yes, Miss Chang, we are here to see you.”

“Please wait five minutes, sorry.”

Lin Dongxue was puzzled. There was no one else in the room, and she wasn’t in the shower. Why the five-minute wait? She kept checking her watch. Exactly five minutes later, at 1 PM, the door opened.

Chang Juan was a short girl with big eyes, wearing glasses and a choker around her neck. She had a faint smile, her hair dyed brown, and wore a yellow sweater, giving her a girl-next-door vibe.

The single dorm room was very tidy and comfortable. Lin Dongxue said, “Miss Chang, why did we have to wait five minutes? Did you have something urgent to do?”

“No,” Chang Juan answered calmly.

“Then why…”

“Because the meeting had to be at 1 PM. Please come in.”

Lin Dongxue exchanged a glance with Chen Shi, feeling something was off about this girl. Chang Juan turned to pour tea for them, revealing a large bow tied in her hair.

Chang Juan sat down in front of them, hands on her knees, staring at them as if waiting for questions.

“Why did you report it that way? How do you know Chunqin from Shiqiao Town was murdered?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“You should ask a different question,” Chang Juan replied. “Ask who I am.”

Lin Dongxue didn’t believe her. “I called you ‘Miss Chang’ just now, and you responded, so you are Chang Juan. I don’t believe in possession or anything like that. How can a person’s consciousness exist independently of their body, like software running without hardware? It’s absurd.”

“Many things are invisible, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, like electromagnetic waves,” Chang Juan said calmly.

Chen Shi laughed, “That’s the favorite opening line of charlatans. Electromagnetic waves and souls are not the same. Don’t confuse concepts.”

“Are all police officers atheists?”

“Strictly speaking, I’m not an atheist, but I don’t believe in supernatural things. They’re vague and contradictory, with flawed arguments. They can’t even make a coherent case, let alone convince me,” Chen Shi said, sipping the tea, noticing the cute cup and the floral scent of the tea.

Chang Juan stared at him blankly. She could hear hidden voices that only she could hear—”This cop is so annoying, insult him!”, “Haha, insulting a cop, fun, fun, I agree!”, “Not a good idea, it’s illegal.”, “Everyone, this guy is just a consultant. I know him!”, “Then just insult him. He’s annoying!”

Chang Juan calmly asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Chen Shi, a criminal investigation consultant.”

“Mr. Chen…” Chang Juan smiled, “Your mother is dead!”