Chapter 919: The Missing Liver

Instructor Li frowned in embarrassment, saying nothing. Chen Shi pressed further, “You said you came into the alley from this end. What were you doing there?”

“Officer Chen, there are students around. It’s not appropriate to talk here. Can we go somewhere else?”

“Alright, let’s go to the car.”

Chen Shi motioned for Lin Dongxue to join them and took Instructor Li to a nearby car. Only then did Li speak up, “Actually, we… or rather, he came to meet someone. I was just accompanying him.”

“Who was he meeting?”

“Sun Lei was chatting with a woman nearby on WeChat. He genuinely wanted to date her. After all, Sun is in his thirties and still single…”

“Okay, you don’t need to explain. I understand. But lying to me isn’t acceptable,” Chen Shi said.

Instructor Li lowered his head in shame, “The woman asked to meet Sun. I was just tagging along. When we got to this street, he called her, but she didn’t answer. She texted him saying she was in the alley. Sun was smiling at me, probably feeling shy. We entered the alley and saw a woman standing with her back to us, about 5’3″, with long hair, wearing a blue dress. Sun walked up and asked, ‘Are you…?’ Suddenly, someone jumped down from above and stabbed Sun in the neck. The woman turned around, and both of them were wearing strange masks. I was terrified and ran out shouting for help. That’s what happened.”

“You’re not hiding anything else, are you?”

Instructor Li thought for a moment, then took out his phone, “Here’s the photo that woman sent to Sun. He showed it to me.”

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue glanced at the screen. It was a young, attractive girl with long hair.

“By the way, we found a piece of paper with a phone number in Sun Lei’s wallet. Do you know this number?”

Instructor Li checked his phone, “No, I don’t.”

After questioning, the trio stepped out of the car. Instructor Li wanted to return to the dorm. Typically, he would need to give a detailed statement at the station, but seeing how shaken he was, Chen Shi let him go with instructions to stay in touch, as the police would follow up in the next few days.

“That photo is fake, right?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Definitely fake. These soldiers rarely get to meet women, making them easy targets. The perpetrators exploited this. But why target the older Sun Lei? Was it a random act or a specific vendetta? We need to dig into the instructors’ backgrounds.”

“Such private matters might be hard for these young guys to admit. I’ll investigate. Hopefully, this isn’t an attack on the military, or we’ll have a serious issue.”

The body was bagged and taken away by the forensics team. Chen Shi stopped a forensic officer and pointed to a high spot on the wall with a footprint, “Looks like one of the killers was perched up there. This kind of skill is rare.”

“There might be fingerprints up there. Check it out.”

“We’ll need a ladder.”

“Figure it out.”

By 8 PM, the police found the victim’s smashed phone in a roadside bush. The number in the wallet traced to an out-of-state individual, probably using a fake identity. The number was now disconnected.

Judging by the killers’ methods, skills, counter-surveillance tactics, and teamwork, they seemed like trained professionals. The investigation revealed one was about 5’3″ and 88 pounds, likely a woman, and the other about 6′ and 260 pounds, a man.

Traffic cameras caught them fleeing in a black MPV with fake plates. They had planned their escape route, avoiding areas with heavy surveillance, and vanished on Haihe Road.

Fingerprints found at the scene had no matches in the criminal database, indicating no prior records. Some long hairs discovered turned out to be from a wig after forensic analysis.

The next afternoon, Peng Sijue called Chen Shi to the autopsy room. The autopsy was complete, the wounds still open, and the organs placed in numbered bags. The sight made Chen Shi frown.

“Any progress?” he asked.

“Take a look,” Peng Sijue showed him a tray with various knives, used for simulation. “There were two weapons: a long thin dagger and this,” he picked up a knife. “Weapon A had two blood grooves, 20 cm long, silver-plated, with a cloth-wrapped handle for grip. The first strike penetrated the shoulder, nearly reaching the lungs. The second cut the trachea, causing death by asphyxiation from blood flooding the airway.”

Then he picked up a claw knife, curved forward with a ring for the thumb, short enough to hide in the palm.

“Weapon B was a short-handled claw knife used to open the abdominal cavity in one cut, then mutilate some organs.”

“I thought using a short knife was to avoid organ damage. Did the killer take anything?” Chen Shi asked.

“At first, I thought everything was intact despite the damage. But when weighing the organs, I noticed something odd with the liver. Blood protein tests revealed…” Peng Sijue showed him a bagged piece of liver, “This isn’t human liver.”

“What is it?”

“Likely pig liver.”

“Is this some kind of mockery? No, the killers were precise. They didn’t want the missing liver to be noticed, so they substituted it. But why take a liver? Medical transplant?”

“If quick enough, the liver could be viable for transplant within hours.”

“Did the victim smoke?”

“Are you asking if the liver was healthy? The victim wasn’t in great health overall. Bone age was 35.”

“His ID says 32. Looks like he lied about his age when enlisting. If this was organ theft, he wasn’t an ideal candidate unless someone matched his liver type. We should check recent liver transplants. Lao Peng, print multiple copies of those reports.”

“The autopsy is complete. The family is here for the body. I’ll suture him now.”

Chen Shi took one last look at the body. As a soldier, the victim had a muscular, well-built physique. Feeling a pang of regret, he thought, Rest in peace. I’ll find the truth.

“Alright, go ahead. I’ll talk to the family,” he said.