Deadly Chain

The entire warehouse felt like a prison cell, dark, eerie, and devoid of sunlight. At the end of the corridor stood five people: two in white lab coats, two in security uniforms, and a man in casual clothes crouching in the corner, quietly sobbing. He seemed to have a close relationship with the deceased.

“We are the on-duty doctor and nurse,” the doctor introduced himself. “About half an hour ago, this nurse found someone collapsed in the warehouse. Their clothes were stripped off, and they were already dead, cold to the touch, so we immediately called the police.”

The young nurse beside him suddenly couldn’t hold back and burst into tears.

“Do you know her?” Mo Lin asked.

“Yes, Peng Mei is a nurse in our department,” the doctor replied.

The nurse tried hard to control her emotions, but her body was still trembling. “This morning, Peng Mei said she was going to the warehouse to get supplies. After that, we didn’t see her. She didn’t come to work in the afternoon, and no one answered her phone. By the afternoon, I realized the supplies hadn’t been restocked, so I went to get them myself, and that’s when I found her collapsed in the warehouse…”

Gu Yuan carried an investigation kit into the warehouse, where police were taking photos and collecting evidence. Under the glaring incandescent light lay a completely naked woman. A thin layer of dust covered the ground, with overlapping footprints, but none were clear.

There were no drag marks on the ground, the goods were neatly stacked on the shelves, and there were no signs of a struggle.

After quickly putting on his gear, Gu Yuan squatted down to carefully examine the deceased. Due to the cold in the basement, the body was already cold.

The deceased’s lips were blue, and her nails were cyanotic, showing clear signs of oxygen deprivation.

“Judging by the rigor mortis and livor mortis, the time of death was about nine hours ago, around noon,” Gu Yuan stated.

“Peng Mei went to get supplies just before her shift ended, around 11:30,” the nurse added.

The deceased seemed to have gone through a painful process before dying, as evidenced by the scratch marks her nails left on the ground.

Gu Yuan clipped her fingernails, hoping to find traces of the perpetrator.

Dark purple livor mortis had settled on the underside of the body, which was stiff, and the jaw was difficult to move. Gu Yuan used a mouth opener to open the deceased’s mouth and found a wax block under her tongue.

This wax block looked very familiar and was likely made from the same mold as one found previously.

There were no other marks on the body. Referring to previous warehouse cases, the scene and the state of the body were almost identical.

Gu Yuan quickly extracted the deceased’s DNA and vaginal swabs, sending them to the lab for immediate testing.

The doctor was quite frightened. “Officer, is this a serial murder case?”

Gu Yuan’s face was mostly covered, but his eyes revealed his displeasure. He didn’t say a word as he helped the police put the body into a body bag.

“Is the basement usually locked?” Mo Lin asked.

“Each warehouse room has its own lock, so only the small doors are locked. The iron gate is locked only after work hours,” the doctor replied.

“So, anyone can come in?”

“Generally, only staff go down there. Patients and their families usually don’t, but if they sneak in while we’re not paying attention, it’s possible.”

“Is there surveillance?”

“Yes, in the monitoring room.”

Gu Yuan followed the police car back to perform an autopsy, while Mo Lin stayed behind to look for useful surveillance information.

Meanwhile, Lao Yang also arrived at the scene.

Flashlight beams moved through the grass and trees. The tree in front of Lao Yang was one of the few century-old trees in the park, with thick branches, making it an ideal spot for the killer to carry out a hanging.

A naked woman with disheveled hair hung from the tree, her hair falling over her chest, almost covering her entire face, resembling a ghostly figure from a horror movie.

The tool used for hanging was a wire slightly thicker than a pinky finger, with metal strands inside and white plastic outside for insulation.

The wire looked very much like household network cables.

The wire likely held traces of the killer, so they carefully used a hoist to lower the body and placed the entire wire into an evidence bag.

The woman’s face was now fully visible, showing a bluish-purple color from congestion, with countless pin-sized hemorrhages on her face. Her eyes bulged, and under the flashlight, her eyeballs were severely congested, with dark red capillaries filling the white sclera.

The woman’s tongue protruded from her lips, her upper and lower teeth forced apart. Due to the suffocation and pain before death, her muscles stiffened, clenching her jaw, leaving deep teeth marks on her tongue.

Lao Yang found a white wax block under her tongue.

There was a deep purple indentation on her neck from the wire, consistent with signs of hanging.

Lao Yang checked his watch. “Time of death, around 10 a.m.” He sighed. “The lighting here is poor; let’s take the body back for an autopsy.”

The sudden discovery of two bodies made the night unsettling, and the entire police station was filled with an uneasy atmosphere.

Many community police officers conducted late-night visits to residential buildings, investigating each resident’s information.

The barking of dogs in the community was incessant, making it impossible to sleep peacefully…

The clock on the wall pointed to 11, and the sound of an electric saw came from the autopsy room.

Even from a distance, the sound reached the ears of the on-duty female officer, who took a deep breath, trying not to get distracted and focus on her work.

Gu Yuan, wearing a mask and protective goggles, had bloodstained rubber gloves. Under the electric saw’s cut, the skull fell off like a bowl from the top of the head, exposing the white brain tissue to the air, with the smell of bone dust filling every corner of the autopsy room.

The police station was unusually quiet today. Almost everyone was out investigating the case, and the autopsy room was in a relatively secluded location, leaving Gu Yuan alone with a corpse.

The last rib cartilage was cut, and Gu Yuan lifted the deceased’s sternum, revealing the heart wrapped between the two lungs.

Cutting open the heart, the atrium and ventricles were filled with a large amount of bloody foam.

It was indeed death by air embolism.

A large amount of air entered the heart, forming a lot of foam after the heart’s beating and squeezing, leading to the deceased’s oxygen deprivation, chest tightness, restlessness, and eventual death.

There were needle marks on both of the deceased’s arms, clearly indicating traces left after injecting air.

The deceased weighed around 50 kilograms, requiring at least 100ml of air injection. The largest syringe currently used in hospitals is 50ml, so at least two injections were needed.

More people gradually filled the police station. After pushing the nurse’s body into the freezer, Lao Yang happened to bring back the park’s female corpse, and it was already 11:30 p.m.

“I’ll handle this autopsy. You’ve been busy all day and haven’t eaten, right?” Lao Yang asked.

Gu Yuan suddenly remembered that his last meal was a steak at Mo Lin’s house at noon.

As usual, he needed to take a shower first.

*

After showering, Gu Yuan returned to the police station, just in time to see a delivery guy carrying a large bag of boxed meals into the station.

Because today’s case happened so suddenly, no one had eaten yet.

Xiao Ze sat exhausted in the interrogation room, across from a man in a city delivery uniform.

He had spent the entire afternoon, from the south to the north of the city, finally catching up with this city delivery guy.

Even knowing the police were looking for him, he insisted on completing all his deliveries, a dedication Xiao Ze admired.

The city delivery guy was a 45-year-old man named Du Jun, with black hair but severe hair loss. The middle of his head had only a few thin strands, making him look much older than 45.

It was clear he was very scared but didn’t admit to killing anyone.

“The security guard wouldn’t let me in, so I left the package at the window and left,” Du Jun explained.

Xiao Ze sat across from him, asking questions, while a young officer took notes beside him.

“I delivered the package, but I didn’t enter the community. She sent me the receipt code, and I was in a hurry to deliver the next order, so I left.”

“What time was that?”

“It was my second order. After signing off, it should have been around 9 a.m.”

Xiao Ze pulled out a chair in the interrogation room and walked out.

Xiao Ze: “He’s not the killer. The delivery platform has his activity track. He stayed at the apartment entrance for less than a minute and left. He didn’t have time to commit the crime. Finish the record and let him go.”

“Got it, Captain.” Li Meng clicked his pen. “Captain, who should we interrogate next? The relatives of the three deceased and witnesses are all in the police station.”

“Start with the flight attendant’s side. Currently, there are more clues there. Zhang Haiyan is the most suspicious, but she seems reluctant to speak. Go search her house thoroughly.”

“Got it, Captain!”

*

Gu Yuan sat in the corner of the office with a cup of instant noodles, reviewing the entire case from start to finish during the waiting time.

Mo Lin also sat across from him with a cup of instant noodles. “After performing an autopsy, you can still eat?”

“Used to it.” Gu Yuan leaned back in his chair, putting some distance between them.

Yan Ji from the trace inspection team suddenly came over with his instant noodles and sat next to Gu Yuan. “Who do you think the killer is?”

Gu Yuan: “Assuming the killer is Zhang Haiyan, if she killed the flight attendant, she must have entered the apartment before the delivery guy arrived. The two places are 10 kilometers apart, about a half-hour drive. If she arrived at the victim’s door early, she could easily pretend to be the delivery person and interact with the victim, then enter the room.”

“She can enter the room, but she might not have the chance to drug the soda, right?” Yan Ji said.

Seeing the two engrossed in conversation, Mo Lin suddenly chimed in, “The possibility is indeed small, but not impossible. The victim might have gone to the room to find tools to open the package, or she might have had her back to the killer.”

Gu Yuan: “This kind of sleeping pill reaches peak blood concentration 15 minutes after entering the body. Once the victim passes out, the killer begins their criminal act.”

Yan Ji seemed unconvinced. “How can you ensure the victim will definitely drink the drugged soda? And let the delivery person stay in their home for over 15 minutes?”

Mo Lin calmly said, “Maybe there was a conflict or argument, causing the transaction to stall…”

Mo Lin picked up a bottle of mineral water beside him. “When people lose control of their emotions, they often need to drink water to calm down. If the killer hands the victim the soda mixed with sleeping pills at this time, the victim is very likely to drink it…”

Yan Ji: “But that doesn’t make sense. If the soda was prepared in advance, there would be signs of it being opened. Wouldn’t the victim notice?”

Mo Lin smiled and said, “Why not check the plastic bottle for hidden needle holes?”

“I think the chances of that are too small,” Yan Ji said, then walked away with his instant noodles.

“He’s going to check the evidence,” Mo Lin said with interest, looking at Gu Yuan. “Your noodles are ready. You can eat in peace now.”