Chapter 391: The Child’s Corpse in the Desolate Mountain

Late at night, Lin Qiupu received a text message that jolted him awake. It was from Lin Dongxue, and it felt like a thunderclap on a clear day: “Brother, I’m pregnant!”

Lin Qiupu stared at his phone for a long time before he could respond: “How long?”

“A while now. I didn’t dare tell you, but it looks like I can’t hide it anymore.”

“I’m coming over right now!”

Lin Qiupu hastily dressed and sped over to Lin Dongxue’s rented apartment. When he arrived, he found Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi laughing and eating grilled corn. They looked at him as if he were a stranger.

Lin Qiupu was furious. Pointing at Chen Shi, he shouted, “How could you be so irresponsible, hiding this from me! You scumbag!”

Chen Shi calmly chewed on his corn and replied, “She volunteered.”

Lin Dongxue added, “Yeah, I volunteered. It’s none of your business.”

Lin Qiupu’s chest heaved with anger. He grabbed a piece of grilled corn, angrily munching on it as tears streamed down his face. Then he woke up, finding himself gnawing on his pillow.

The dream had been so vivid that even after waking, Lin Qiupu was still emotional. He checked his phone for messages from Lin Dongxue over the past six months: “Got it,” “Don’t worry about it,” “Understood,” “I’m home.”

None of her texts were more than five words long. He sighed, no wonder he had such a bizarre dream.

It was now 5 AM on June 29. Lin Qiupu couldn’t go back to sleep, so he got up, showered, and exercised. By the time he finished, it was 5:58. He sat on the couch, waiting quietly until six o’clock before preparing his usual breakfast of milk and cereal.

After breakfast, his phone rang. It was the 110 emergency center reporting a child’s remains found in the mountains. Lin Qiupu said, “Give me the address. I’ll head over with a team right away.”

Three hours later, Lin Qiupu and several officers arrived at a desolate mountain on the outskirts of the city. The callers were two young campers and a forest ranger. They had been waiting anxiously and ran down to meet the officers with relief.

As they ascended the mountain, Lin Qiupu asked about the situation. The ranger explained, “The body was found by this young man. They saw a piece of cloth sticking out of the ground, got curious, and started digging. They uncovered bones, so they called me, and I reported it… Officer, I should mention those two guys seem to be gay. I was scared being alone with them for three hours.”

Lin Qiupu rolled his eyes and ignored the last comment.

In a shallow pit, partially buried remains were exposed. From the skull, it appeared to be a child around ten years old. The forensic officers immediately began excavating. After questioning the callers and determining they had no further information, they were allowed to leave.

Preliminary examination suggested the child had been dead for about six months, already completely skeletonized. Plants growing between the bones and insect shells were meticulously preserved as they were crucial for estimating the time of death.

There was an open wound at the back of the skull, likely caused by a sharp weapon such as an axe. The officers shook their heads in disbelief. “What kind of monster could do this to a child?”

Lin Qiupu instructed them, “Don’t just stand there. Search the area for more clues. Also, check with the department for any reports of missing children in the past six months.”

The officers scoured the vicinity, finding only some litter left by hikers, a piece of rotten rope, and a bloodstained child’s garment. Everything was collected as evidence.

After spending the entire morning in the desolate area, the police finally brought the complete skeleton and evidence back. Lin Qiupu decided to personally investigate this case, retrieving all missing child reports from the department and contacting local precincts.

Pang Sijue’s autopsy report indicated the deceased was an eleven-year-old boy who had been dead for five to six months. The body was fully skeletonized, requiring bone marrow extraction for testing. Surprisingly, they found a high concentration of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood, indicating carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death.

Another small discovery was an abnormality in the right tibia, suggesting a previous fracture that had healed unevenly.

Reading the report, Lin Qiupu asked, “How could it be carbon monoxide poisoning?”

Pang Sijue responded, “I had the same doubts, but the tests confirmed it.”

“So, the wound at the back of the head…?” Lin Qiupu mused. “No, the priority is identifying the victim. This case is brutal. The chief wants a thorough investigation.”

“Should we call Chen Shi?”

“Ahem, I said it’s brutal, not necessarily difficult. If we hit a dead end, then we’ll ask for his help.”

“Could it be a kidnapping?”

“You think so?”

“The rope and the child’s clothing you brought back both had DNA. If they match, it’s likely a kidnapping.”

“Let’s go. I want to see for myself!”

At the forensic unit, a technician reported, “Captain Lin, we found DNA from two people on the rope.”

“Got it.”

Nearly an hour later, the results came in. One DNA profile belonged to the boy, matching the blood on his clothing.

Lin Qiupu said, “The other DNA might be the perpetrator’s. Check if there’s a match in the database. I’ll look into kidnapping cases from that period.”

After numerous phone calls, he found a case that matched. A boy named Hao Jie was kidnapped six months ago. The kidnappers demanded ten million yuan. Following police instructions, the parents negotiated the amount down to five million and arranged to drop off the ransom on December 4th. The kidnappers wanted the money placed in a garbage bag, and the police set up a perimeter.

However, the kidnappers never showed up. By afternoon, a suspicious man took the money. The police followed him but didn’t find Hao Jie, so they arrested him. The man, a homeless drifter, claimed he found the money in a trash can and had no idea it was ransom. He had no criminal record and an alibi for the time of the kidnapping, so they had to release him.

After that, there was no word from the kidnappers, and Hao Jie’s parents blamed the police for botching the rescue and sued them. The lawsuit was ongoing.

On the phone, the officer said, “We did everything by the book. We’ve handled numerous kidnapping cases and rarely made mistakes. After the boy disappeared, we investigated his parents’ enemies for two months but had to conclude that the kidnappers killed him. Several officers, including me, were disciplined, and now we’re being sued. It’s really unfair.”

Lin Qiupu checked his watch. It was already 6 PM, but the case had just started to take shape. He said, “I want to meet you and visit the boy’s parents.”

“No, no, no, I’m exhausted from this case and don’t want to pursue it further. I can send you the files, but I won’t be involved.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mention we found a child’s body in the mountains today. We suspect it’s Hao Jie.”

There was a moment of silence. “What? They really killed him? Fine, come over. I’ll be waiting!”