Chapter 405: Body Parts Falling from the Sky

The boss was busy serving customers when he heard a loud smash. He turned to see that the guy had just thrown the bowl on the ground. The boss was about to scold him—if you don’t like the food, don’t break things. What a bad habit!

But the man silently placed fifty yuan under the chili sauce jar and left.

Chen Shi returned to the car and leaned back in the seat, covering his face with his hands. Lin Qiupu asked, “What did you guys talk about? You looked like old friends, laughing and chatting.”

“We were testing each other…”

“Testing what?”

“Smoke!”

Lin Qiupu was taken aback. He took out a cigarette, and Chen Shi, with shaking hands, tried to light it but hesitated and handed it back. “You smoke!”

Lin Qiupu, disgusted by the saliva on it, took a fresh one and lit it. The car quickly filled with second-hand smoke. Chen Shi took a deep breath, feeling much better. “I’ll take you to the station.”

“Much obliged.”

“Remember to pay!”

“…”

After dropping Lin Qiupu off at the station, Chen Shi turned the car around. He didn’t plan to drive today; he wanted to visit the office and continue investigating Zhou Tiannan. Just then, Lin Qiupu ran out, banging on the car door. “Take me to Jifeng Road!”

“What’s up?”

“There’s a case, and I didn’t drive today.”

“Sigh, get in!”

Lin Qiupu got in and kept making phone calls. Shortly after, Lin Dongxue also got in, and several police cars set off. Chen Shi whispered, “What’s the case?”

“I heard body parts fell from the sky. It’s freaky! I’ve never seen this in my police career.”

“How long have you been a cop?”

Lin Qiupu hung up. “Not going to Jifeng Road, go to Xinchuan Road. A second bag of body parts was found there!”

Chen Shi thought, what kind of psycho did this? Falling from the sky? That’s quite a stunt!

Chen Shi and another police car arrived at Xinchuan Road. A traffic cop was directing traffic, and the road was jammed with cars during rush hour. The drivers were very frustrated.

They got out of the car with their tools and walked over, putting on rubber gloves as they went. A black plastic bag had fallen on top of a car. Under the traffic cop’s direction, the driver temporarily parked by the roadside. Seeing the police arrive, he said excitedly, “Officers, you’re finally here! I don’t know what fell on my car with a bang, denting the roof. Then blood started dripping down. It scared the hell out of me. Please handle it!”

Chen Shi used his fingers to peel back the edge of the plastic bag on the roof and saw several fingers with purple nail polish. Lin Dongxue immediately frowned, covering her nose and mouth with the back of her hand.

Attached to the bag was a burst balloon. Chen Shi felt the balloon’s wall and said, “It’s so thick; it must be a weather balloon.”

Lin Qiupu lifted the bag and had Lin Dongxue open another bag to put it in. He weighed it with an electronic scale. “This bag is 7 kilograms. The one found on Jifeng Road should be about the same weight. By this estimate, several more bags might fall around the city.”

“What about the blood on the car?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Just wipe it off. If we cordon off every scene, it’ll cause too much chaos, and we don’t have enough manpower.”

Lin Dongxue went to the car to find a rag. Chen Shi asked the driver, “Where were you when the thing hit your car? Can you show us?”

The driver got out and looked around for a while, identifying a spot. Chen Shi stood there, opened his phone map, noted the exact location, and took a screenshot.

He looked up at the sky, surrounded by tall buildings. The wind was about 3 degrees today, with the upper wind at about 6 degrees. Why choose such a spectacular way to dispose of a body? Was the killer showing off?

Lin Dongxue nudged Chen Shi. “Let’s move.”

“Ask your brother to drive my car back first. You come with me to find the other body parts.”

“On foot?”

Chen Shi pointed up. “There’s a good chance the body parts landed on rooftops.”

Lin Qiupu came over and said, “Makes sense. I’ll assign more people to check rooftops. We’ll also have officers and auxiliary police watch for calls about found body parts… I bet reporters will swarm the station today. I’ll head back.”

The two of them went to buy binoculars and climbed to the highest building in the area. Standing on the rooftop, they scanned the surroundings. Lin Dongxue marveled, “The view is amazing!”

“Nothing here, let’s move to the next high point.”

While moving, they were added to a newly created chat group named “715 Dismemberment Case.” Old Zhang said, “Reporters are here. Captain Lin is using a press conference excuse to hold them off. We might go public this afternoon.”

Xu Xiaodong said, “Just came down from the World Trade Center, heading to the next high point. Don’t compete with me in XX district.”

Peng Siqiao’s apprentice Xiao Zhou posted an anatomical diagram, marking parts with red ink. “These are the parts found so far. The victim is a woman. Judging by body fat and bone density, she weighs about 50 kilograms. There should be about 6 more bags. Keep going.”

Chen Shi corrected, “Five bags! With dismemberment like this, most blood would be lost… Who’s the best at math here?”

Everyone agreed on Peng Siqiao.

Chen Shi said, “Check with the meteorological bureau for wind direction and speed from last night to today. Calculate the crime scene location.”

Xu Xiaodong suddenly said, “Found it! I see a suspicious bag on a building top. Heading there now.”

After running over ten kilometers all morning, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue sat on a rooftop having lunch. Chatting while sitting so high up was quite an experience.

Lin Dongxue asked, “What do you think about this case?”

“Can’t jump to conclusions until we find all the body parts.”

“Just say something.”

“Well…” Chen Shi looked at the dense buildings below. “The killer lives in a high-rise, one with tight security and lots of surveillance. Maybe a luxury hotel. No higher buildings nearby.”

“Wow, how did you deduce that?”

“Think about it. This way of disposing of the body is too flashy. The police’s first step would be to trace the balloon’s origin. Such balloons aren’t easy to find, revealing the killer’s identity. Why not cut up the body and throw small bags into the sewer? It wouldn’t be discovered for a while. The reason he didn’t is that he couldn’t. The crime scene has tight surveillance. He knew he’d be caught on camera. Only the rooftop is a blind spot. Carrying balloons and compressed hydrogen is easier than carrying a body downstairs.”

“Makes sense!” Lin Dongxue nodded in admiration.

“Another theory: The killer is well-off, holds a high social status. The murder might have been an accident. He quickly regained composure and thought of this method to dispose of the body.”