Chapter 550: You Stay Here

Lin Dongxue hurried over and touched the man’s skin, finding it cold as ice. His pants were bulging, and a yellowish-brown excretion was dripping down his pants. The skin where the rope had been was purplish, his eyes bulging out as if they might fall out at any moment. His face was flushed, contrasting starkly with the rest of his skin, making it look like he was wearing a purple mask.

Chen Shi walked over and said, “He’s been dead for at least a day. Secure the scene and call Lao Peng.”

Peng Sijue arrived with his team and began processing the scene according to protocol. When he turned around, he saw Chen Shi casually sitting on the sofa, drinking a soda. Peng Sijue scolded, “Are you drinking something from a crime scene again?”

“Why do you care so much? Do you need to test this? If you do, I’ll save the bottle for you!” Chen Shi shook the soda bottle in his hand.

Peng Sijue took a camera and snapped a photo of Chen Shi sitting there with his legs crossed. Chen Shi, unfazed, said, “What, going to report me? I don’t care!”

Lin Dongxue laughed, “Captain Peng, he’s teasing you. The soda is from outside, not from here.”

Peng Sijue glared at Chen Shi and continued his work.

Lin Dongxue had already noticed that the corpse’s left ring finger and pinky were missing, an old injury. When the forensic team carefully lowered the body, the contents of the man’s pants spilled everywhere. Peng Sijue had to collect the excrement for sampling, making Chen Shi feel nauseated and eager to leave.

“Captain, what’s this?” someone asked.

“It’s a tattoo. Chen Shi, come take a look.”

Chen Shi poked his head out from the door, then walked back in. The tattoo on the deceased’s forehead was unusual, very abstract. After some examination, Chen Shi said, “Isn’t this a penis? Am I being too elegant in my choice of words?”

Peng Sijue rolled his eyes, “You actually said something accurate for once.”

The tattoo did indeed resemble a penis, and judging by the color, it had been there for quite some time. The deceased had probably been embarrassed by it and grew his hair out to cover it.

All signs pointed to the deceased having enemies.

Peng Sijue examined the body and said, “The corneas are cloudy, the pupils are visible, there are small wrinkles on the surface, rigor mortis is partially relaxed, and livor mortis is fixed. The time of death should be around twenty-four hours ago.”

Chen Shi added, “Don’t forget, the deceased was hanging. The rope tightly constricted his neck, slowing decomposition. The time of death should be adjusted earlier.”

Peng Sijue retorted, “Do you think I need your reminder? I’ve already considered that.”

“Still holding a grudge from earlier? Petty.”

It was impossible to determine if it was suicide or murder just by looking. There was a chair overturned at the scene with shoe prints on it, but Chen Shi felt the prints were too clear. If the deceased had kicked the chair, the prints would be more smudged.

Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi went to interview the neighbors. The deceased lived in an old house, as did the surrounding homes. There was no property management, and the neighbors said they didn’t know the deceased well. He had moved in recently, and they hadn’t noticed anything suspicious.

While investigating, Lin Qiupu arrived with his team. Lin Dongxue asked, “Captain Lin, what are you doing here?”

“This case is turning into a serial murder. I came to check it out. Do you think it’s related to the previous falling case?”

Chen Shi said, “There’s an eighty percent chance. But this is just a series of murders, not a serial killing.”

Inside, Xu Xiaodong whispered, “Two suicides in a row; could this be a vengeful ghost?”

“Yes, definitely!” Chen Shi clapped his hands. “Case closed, case closed. Let’s get a master to catch the ghost tonight.”

“Oh, come on, Chen! Don’t make fun of me. I was just saying.”

“By the way, I need your help with something.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

After collecting evidence, the team was ready to leave. Chen Shi said, “Leave Xiaodong here.”

“Leave him here?” Lin Qiupu and Xu Xiaodong were both surprised.

“The deceased had a complicated social network and likely had enemies. If we go looking for them, they won’t say anything. It’s better to wait and see if anyone comes here.”

“Can’t we just ask the neighbors to keep an eye out?”

“You saw the severed fingers and the tattoo on the forehead, right? The people who come looking for him aren’t ordinary folks. It’s better to have a police officer stake out.” Chen Shi patted Xu Xiaodong’s shoulder. “Xiaodong is skilled, brave, and young. He’s the best choice.”

Xu Xiaodong’s face twitched awkwardly.

“Xiaodong?” Lin Qiupu asked for his opinion.

Xu Xiaodong stood up straight, “Let me stay. It’s an opportunity to earn some credit.”

“Alright then.”

On the way back, Lin Dongxue said, “You always find ways to set Xiaodong up.”

Chen Shi responded seriously, “Not at all. I think he’s pure-hearted and perfect for this kind of job.”

“So you’re saying he’s gullible?”

“Haha, you’ve figured me out!”

The autopsy report on Gu Daqiang had already come out. He had anesthetics in his system, ingested orally. The autopsy showed no defensive wounds, indicating he was unconscious when he fell.

No containers with the drug were found, but there was a freshly opened bottle of alcohol in the fridge, though no cups. The police suspected the killer drank with Gu Daqiang, spiked his drink, then took the cups away.

The suspicious figure in the surveillance footage was too bundled up to identify. Another camera caught him leaving the subway station, which was the last trace the police found.

That night, Xu Xiaodong sat in the dim house. Despite it being cleaned up, the thought of someone hanging from the beam made him uneasy. His eyes kept drifting to the beam, imagining the body swaying.

He encouraged himself, telling himself it was a test from Chen Shi and he had to endure it.

He reminded himself there were no ghosts and nothing to fear.

But the atmosphere was too eerie. Somewhere the house was leaking, making it colder inside than outside. There were no streetlights outside, only the occasional dog bark and the sound of a couple arguing next door. Somewhere, a pipe was leaking, creating a constant dripping sound.

“Meow!”

A wild cat’s scream outside made Xu Xiaodong jump. He looked around, the old furniture shrouded in darkness looking like strange shapes.

He wondered if Chen Shi really expected him to stay the night. Maybe he could go back?

Just then, he heard footsteps outside…