Chapter 78

“I thought it was a zombie, turns out it’s the return of a mummy,” Song Wen settled the witnesses and walked over to the body. He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. Under the white light, the white powder on the body reflected tiny dots of light. Song Wen squatted down to take a closer look. “What was originally stored in this pit? Is it toxic? Be careful, everyone.”

Lin Xiuran replied, “We’ve already checked. It was industrial salt, namely nitrite.” Salt can quickly draw out the moisture from meat, which explains why it formed a dried-up corpse.

Song Wen frowned as he used a flashlight to inspect the surroundings. “Isn’t nitrite fatal if ingested? How could such a dangerous substance be left here in this old factory without being disposed of?”

Lin Xiuran sighed. “This factory has been shut down for a long time. It’s unlikely we’ll find anyone responsible. This industrial salt is heavy and worthless, and the workers didn’t want to move it.”

“I’ll apply to have it specially handled later. Let’s see if we can do something about it,” Song Wen said, organizing his thoughts. “After this brother was murdered, his body was abandoned here…”

Lin Xiuran pointed to some bags piled up in a corner, some of which were marked as containing nitrite. “This place was probably empty before. After the suspect committed the murder, they poured out the industrial salt and covered the body. The industrial salt absorbed the moisture from the body, corroded the skin, and prevented the body from decomposing. Time-wise, it was probably winter or spring, at lower temperatures, forming a dried-up corpse.”

Song Wen asked, “Can we confirm the victim’s identity now?”

Lin Xiuran shook his head, manipulating the body. “The face is no longer recognizable. After the killer abandoned the body here, they stripped the body’s clothes and then sprinkled industrial salt on it. So, what we know now is all we have. The rest, we’ll probably find out after the autopsy.”

An abandoned factory, a fully naked unidentified male mummy, an unsolved mystery about the victim’s identity – this puzzle lay before them. Song Wen made a decision. “Then let’s start by looking for missing male persons within the past year.”

Seeing that the preliminary inspection was almost done, Lu Siyu stood up to do the scene recording. He looked around and then lowered his head, lost in thought. Removing his gloves, he flexed his slender fingers.

Song Wen turned to Lin Xiuran. “Well, let’s get this ‘pork brother’ back.”

It was time for manual labor again. Lin Xiuran went to the car to get a body bag. Lu Siyu automatically stepped back two steps, not wanting to trouble them. Song Wen, Lin Xiuran, and two assisting police officers carefully avoided getting the powder on themselves and worked together to put the body into the bag.

Meanwhile, Xiao Cheng had taken many photos of the scene, and the other forensic evidence investigators had almost finished collecting the traces at the scene. Since there were often bands rehearsing here, there were many traces on the ground, and given that the body had been dumped several months ago, many clues were no longer useful. The young girl was frowning over there, and Lu Siyu walked over to ask her, “Did you bring the luminol?”

Outside the City Bureau gate, Lin Xiuran and Song Wen lifted the body onto the hearse together. Song Wen asked, “I thought you’d cooperate with Xu Changyin to investigate the case of Xia Weizhi. How come you’re free to come today?”

Lin Xiuran replied, “That was just something the Commissioner mentioned casually. Xu Changyin brought his own forensic expert, a woman, who arrived yesterday afternoon and took Xia Weizhi’s bones away. She said she’d have the autopsy report ready in a few days.”

Song Wen chuckled. Lin Xiuran had already prepared the report thoroughly. It seemed that Xu Changyin wanted to reexamine it. “Those people from the Provincial Bureau don’t trust anyone.”

“Of course, it’s a big case, can’t afford any mistakes. For them, the safest way is to have another trusted person double-check,” Lin Xiuran said as he took off his gloves. “It’s quite difficult to perform an autopsy on someone who has been dead for over ten years and soaked for so long. I’m happy to have some free time. By the way, do you know about them planning to transfer people from the City Bureau?”

Song Wen shook his head. “I haven’t heard about it, nor have I paid attention to it.” The director asked him to take a break these days, so he really took a break for two days. Yesterday, he packed up his things and settled his desktop computer in Lu Siyu’s study, and then played a few games to relax.

Lin Xiuran gossiped with him, “I heard that they’re short of manpower and will recruit people from the City Bureau to join the task force. After the case is over, they may be directly transferred to the Provincial Bureau.”

Song Wen casually replied, “That’s a leap in one’s career. I’m afraid many people would be eager to go, right?”

“Yeah, I heard Zhao Li from the second team volunteered, and then, it ended up tragically,” Lin Xiuran continued, “Ordinary folks may not be appreciated by the elites of the Provincial Bureau.” Then he hesitated, but felt he needed to remind Song Wen, so he started a new topic, “Guess who that surnamed Xu has taken a liking to?”

Song Wen sensed an implied meaning in his words and thought of how Lu Siyu had come out of the conference room looking hesitant earlier. Suddenly, a sinister premonition arose in his heart. “It wouldn’t be… that little ancestor from my team, would it?”

Lin Xiuran nodded, motioning towards the factory building with a slight tilt of his head. Then he made a hushing gesture, indicating to Song Wen not to let others hear.

Song Wen cursed, “Digging someone’s wall and ending up on my head!” He completely ignored the matter of losing the case, treating it as a setback in his career and success in his love life. He initially thought that moving into Lu Siyu’s house would bring him closer, but unexpectedly, someone surnamed Xu came out of nowhere.

Seeing Song Wen’s reaction, Lin Xiuran knowingly asked in a low voice, “Didn’t Lu Siyu tell you?”

Song Wen squinted his eyes, sorting out the whole situation. “He didn’t tell me. Maybe he’s still hesitating. I’ll talk to him later. Thanks, Brother Lin.” Then he took out his phone and checked the time. It was almost nine o’clock, and this ordeal would likely keep him working until past ten. “Let’s go in and take a look. We’ll call it a day for today. Otherwise, you’ll be working all night on the autopsy.”

After closing the hearse’s back door, the two returned to the factory building. Song Wen casually unlocked the entrance and walked in, asking, “How’s the progress, everyone?”

Having been busy for a while, Lu Siyu spoke up now. His clear voice echoed behind Song Wen, “Captain Song, turn off the lights.”

Song Wen didn’t understand the meaning and turned to look at Lu Siyu, who was waiting for his action. Song Wen raised his head and saw the switches for the spotlights not far away. He reached over and pulled the exposed junction box.

The entire factory was suddenly shrouded in darkness, with only a hint of moonlight streaming in from the windows.

The air became quiet as if about to solidify. Then, purple light appeared. Lu Siyu had turned on his ultraviolet light, and everyone hurriedly looked. It was like witnessing magic – wherever the purple light touched, there were scattered fluorescent colors. In this pitch-black factory, an indescribable eerie beauty emerged, akin to a dream.

As the light moved, a “blood trail” appeared, and near the industrial salt pit, there was a half-palm-sized bloody handprint.

“Ah!” Although it was an incomplete handprint, it was still highly valuable. Cheng Xiaobing took a few steps, wanting to see more clearly. Song Wen suddenly pulled her arm and exclaimed, “Be careful!”

Cheng Xiaobing lowered her head, finally realizing that she had already reached the edge of the salt pit. If Song Wen hadn’t pulled her, she would have fallen into the pit. Cheng Xiaobing shivered with fear, crouching down carefully and entering the pit. She took a few photos; the palm print was left with gloves, and the base of the right middle finger was slightly thicker than the other fingers.

Lu Siyu crouched down and stared, saying, “The suspect’s right middle finger may have had a ring. This ring doesn’t seem small either…”

Cheng Xiaobing was curious and asked, “Lu Siyu, how did you know there would be bloodstains here?”

The entire factory was enormous, making it almost impossible to accurately find bloodstains like finding a needle in a haystack.

Lin Xiuran nodded, motioning towards the factory building with a slight tilt of his head. Then he made a hushing gesture, indicating to Song Wen not to let others hear.

Song Wen cursed, “Digging someone’s wall and ending up on my head!” He completely ignored the matter of losing the case, treating it as a setback in his career and success in his love life. He initially thought that moving into Lu Siyu’s house would bring him closer, but unexpectedly, someone surnamed Xu came out of nowhere.

Seeing Song Wen’s reaction, Lin Xiuran knowingly asked in a low voice, “Didn’t Lu Siyu tell you?”

Song Wen squinted his eyes, sorting out the whole situation. “He didn’t tell me. Maybe he’s still hesitating. I’ll talk to him later. Thanks, Brother Lin.” Then he took out his phone and checked the time. It was almost nine o’clock, and this ordeal would likely keep him working until past ten. “Let’s go in and take a look. We’ll call it a day for today. Otherwise, you’ll be working all night on the autopsy.”

After closing the hearse’s back door, the two returned to the factory building. Song Wen casually unlocked the entrance and walked in, asking, “How’s the progress, everyone?”

Having been busy for a while, Lu Siyu spoke up now. His clear voice echoed behind Song Wen, “Captain Song, turn off the lights.”

Song Wen didn’t understand the meaning and turned to look at Lu Siyu, who was waiting for his action. Song Wen raised his head and saw the switches for the spotlights not far away. He reached over and pulled the exposed junction box.

The entire factory was suddenly shrouded in darkness, with only a hint of moonlight streaming in from the windows.

The air became quiet as if about to solidify. Then, purple light appeared. Lu Siyu had turned on his ultraviolet light, and everyone hurriedly looked. It was like witnessing magic – wherever the purple light touched, there were scattered fluorescent colors. In this pitch-black factory, an indescribable eerie beauty emerged, akin to a dream.

As the light moved, a “blood trail” appeared, and near the industrial salt pit, there was a half-palm-sized bloody handprint.

“Ah!” Although it was an incomplete handprint, it was still highly valuable. Cheng Xiaobing took a few steps, wanting to see more clearly. Song Wen suddenly pulled her arm and exclaimed, “Be careful!”

Cheng Xiaobing lowered her head, finally realizing that she had already reached the edge of the salt pit. If Song Wen hadn’t pulled her, she would have fallen into the pit. Cheng Xiaobing shivered with fear, crouching down carefully and entering the pit. She took a few photos; the palm print was left with gloves, and the base of the right middle finger was slightly thicker than the other fingers.

Lu Siyu crouched down and stared, saying, “The suspect’s right middle finger may have had a ring. This ring doesn’t seem small either…”

Cheng Xiaobing was curious and asked, “Lu Siyu, how did you know there would be bloodstains here?”

The entire factory was enormous, making it almost impossible to accurately find bloodstains like finding a needle in a haystack.

“The person who disposed of the body must be very familiar with this place. His original plan was to throw the body into this pit, so when he entered, he didn’t take any detours and came straight here. Moreover, the victim was tall, and the person disposing of the body was relatively short. Therefore, the body disposer took a break here at this platform on the right, walking intermittently before throwing the body into this pit.” Explaining this, Lu Siyu also pointed to the nearby bags of industrial salt, which also showed some bloodstains. “He searched for chemical substances there, sprinkled a few bags, buried the body, and then took away the victim’s clothes, using them to wipe away some of the bloodstains.” So, some of the bloodstains are just blurry, not very clear.

“Slow in action, relatively short.” Cheng Xiaobing pursed her lips and asked, “So, does that mean the person who disposed of the body wasn’t a young person who had been here before?”

Lu Siyu shook his head, pondering for a moment. “Knowing the layout here and the location of the chemical substances, I think it’s more likely that this person used to work here years ago, maybe he’s aged, so his physical strength is a bit lacking.”

Song Wen nodded in agreement, “He only knew this was an abandoned factory and didn’t know it had become a gathering place for those young people. If he knew there would be so much traffic here, he wouldn’t have left the body here.” The killer dared to use this place as a disposal site because he thought it was secluded enough, and he destroyed the body thoroughly, thinking no one would be able to identify the victim.

If it weren’t for those underground bands gathering here, the body probably wouldn’t have been discovered for years. Song Wen pondered for a moment and added, “I think there’s a possibility that the body was disposed of before those underground bands started using this place.”

Lin Xiuran also chimed in, “I asked those young people just now, and they started using this place about five months ago. So the time of death, the time the body was disposed of, is likely before they discovered this place, which also matches the condition of the body. In other words, the victim died at least five to six months ago.”