The body retrieved from the abandoned oil drum was that of a young male.

The clothing on the body was intact, just a regular t-shirt and a pair of black pants. The shoes had been removed, leaving the feet bare.

Su Hui couldn’t clearly see the body and squinted, wearing a mask as he leaned in to take a closer look.

The flesh on the face seemed to have been excavated from the inside. The eyeballs were sunken, and the cheeks were concave. The skin had taken on a strange, burnt yellow color. The facial soft tissues had become a thin layer, as if a piece of skin was glued onto the skull.

After soaking for a while, the body had become extremely soft. The joints seemed to have slipped out of their sockets, and the flesh and blood had undergone changes, resembling a soft pool of butter.

A forensic examiner lifted a corner of the clothing, allowing Su Hui to see that the area below the sternum was deeply sunken, with the anterior abdominal wall almost touching the spine, resembling a boat.

In medical and forensic terms, this is known as a boat-shaped depression.

Multiple knife wounds could be seen under the ribs of the body. The wounds were densely packed, possibly more than a dozen, and maybe even more upon closer inspection.

Su Hui squatted down, observing the knife wounds. Many of the cuts were close together, indicating the perpetrator’s frenzy and aggression.

Lu Junchi raised his head and asked the junior forensic examiner, “Can the time of death be determined based on the degree of decomposition?”

In cases involving multiple corpses like this, determining the time of death would help clarify the situation.

The junior examiner, seemingly inexperienced, stuttered, “The body has been soaked in oil, so the usual methods for estimating time are not applicable. You should wait for Senior Jing. She should know.”

Just then, Xing Jing walked in from outside and asked, “Is everything recovered here as well?”

She calmly glanced at the body on the ground, extending her gloved hand to press against the skin and abdomen of the corpse. Some gasoline seeped out from the knife wounds. It appeared that the gasoline had permeated the body from the inside out.

After assessing for a while, she said, “This one was killed earlier, soaked for approximately two months. The other body is more recent, around a month or so. Therefore, based on the time of discovery and the time of death, the corpse before you is Victim Number One.”

The junior examiner took a few photos of the body and asked, “The severe indentation in the abdomen, is it caused by a wound or were the internal organs removed by the killer?”

Xing Jing replied, “It’s hard to say. Oil can cause shrinkage of the organs. His lungs may have shrunk to the size of a palm, and the heart would have significantly reduced in size as well.”

The junior examiner suddenly realized, “Oil can cause such extensive damage to a body.”

Xing Jing nodded, “Oil, water, and other fluids have different properties. It’s rare to encounter a body soaked in oil, and it’s not even mentioned in textbooks. I’ve only come across one before. The most vivid memory I have is of the brain tissue. The oil turns it into a slurry-like substance. However, the oil immersion does have some advantages for us forensic examiners. It preserves the contents of the stomach very well. Even after a long time, they won’t spoil. It can serve as a reference for forensic analysis.”

The master and disciple were discussing without a care in the world, but the forensic examiner standing nearby turned pale and kept retching.

Lu Junchi glanced at Su Hui, who appeared indifferent. They had almost finished examining this scene, so Lu Junchi suggested, “Shall we go and see the other side?”

Su Hui nodded in agreement.

The other scene was about a hundred meters away, an abandoned livestock farm. Upon entering, a strong smell of animal feces permeated the air. There was a larger oil drum present, and there were some oil stains on the ground.

A slightly overweight male body was retrieved, with half a barrel of oil placed nearby, its contents already murky.

In comparison, this second body appeared more “plump” than the other one, with two wounds on the chest.

“What kind of oil is this?” Lu Junchi asked. There was a slight smell of gasoline in the air, but it wasn’t overpowering.

The forensic examiner replied, “It should be a mixture of cooking oil and gasoline.”

Su Hui observed the body for a while and suddenly asked the forensic examiner who was taking photos beside him, “What was the condition of the body when it was found?”

The examiner quickly retrieved a photo and showed it to him. It was different from the previous body. This one had been stuffed into the oil drum, and you could see some floating hair on the surface of the oil. Vaguely, you could also make out the raised feet.

Zheng Bai squatted nearby and asked, “In this case, are we looking for a serial killer targeting adult males?”

Qiao Ze, using his knowledge, tried to analyze, saying, “Serial killers have certain criteria when selecting victims. Most of them target women, a small percentage target children, and some target the elderly. It’s rare to find a serial killer specifically targeting males, but it does happen. Many of them hunting males are related to their sexual preferences…”

For those killers, thin and weak victims satisfy their desire for dominance, while strong victims, especially adult males, bring about many variables and dangers during the killing process.

Su Hui coughed a few times but remained silent.

Lu Junchi looked at the scene and raised his head, saying, “The murder weapons in these two cases are similar, the body preservation methods are alike, but the person dumping the bodies may be different.”

Qiao Ze, holding his notebook, looked a bit puzzled. Being a diligent and inquisitive student, he raised his face and asked, “Captain Lu, what is your basis for this judgment?”

The two crime scenes, less than a hundred meters apart, contained the bodies of two males soaked in oil. The wounds were also caused by knives. From any angle, it seemed more likely that there was a common perpetrator for the body disposal.

“Pay attention to the oil stains on the ground here.” Lu Junchi squinted his narrow eyes, pointing to the messy oil stains on the ground. Some oil drops, likely caused by the forensic team’s handling, were still wet, easily distinguishable from the older oil marks.

“The older oil marks form a relatively even circle, not scattered splatters from pouring oil inward. It’s highly likely that the oil splashes came from putting the body into the drum,” Lu Junchi continued, pointing at the traces on the edge of the drum.

“The first body was near a clean oil drum, with only a few oil drops. However, this drum is messy with many oil stains. I suspect that the first drum had the body placed inside, and to prevent decomposition and the resulting odor, gasoline was poured in. In the second instance, the perpetrator poured in half a drum of oil first and then threw the body in,” Lu Junchi explained.

Zheng Bai was puzzled, asking, “Why pour the oil first and then put the body in?”

“We weren’t at the scene, so it’s difficult to determine. It could be that the perpetrator was flustered and made a mistake in the process, or perhaps the oil drum and oil were already there, and the killer simply utilized them for disposal,” Lu Junchi replied.

All the evidence indicated that the second body disposal was much more hurried than the first.

Su Hui coughed a few times and gave Lu Junchi an approving look. Then he whispered, “Let me add one more point. Both bodies are quite tall, especially the second one. Excluding the damage caused by oil dissolution, the deceased should have weighed between 150 to 200 kilograms during his lifetime. Even for an adult man, it would be extremely difficult to move such a weight. The height of the oil drum is around 1.3 meters, with a diameter of about the same. Although it appears large, it is still relatively small compared to the body. The body is unlikely to rotate inside it. The first body was placed headfirst, which is relatively simple and logical. However, the second body was placed in a V shape, which is much more challenging.”

In a normal body placement, either the head is curled downward, or the feet are curled downward. Placing the buttocks downward is quite eerie.

Moreover, this method of placement is more difficult than the first time and indicates a lack of experience during the second action.

Qiao Ze took note of this and raised his head to ask, “So, how was the body put in?”

Zheng Bai lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, “Either it was a piggyback position or…”

He got stuck at that point, unable to think of any other possibilities.

After contemplating for a moment, Zheng Bai turned to Qiao Ze and said, “Let’s try it out. We’ll know for sure.” Without waiting for Qiao Ze to react, he picked him up.

Qiao Ze was suddenly lifted, and he let out a startled cry, quickly grabbing onto Zheng Bai’s clothes, fearing being thrown.

With a mischievous grin, Zheng Bai looked down at him and said, “What are you afraid of? I’m just demonstrating. I won’t actually throw you into the oil drum.”

After speaking, he playfully jiggled him and walked to a spot close to the oil drum.

Qiao Ze held on tightly and gritted his teeth, saying, “If you dare to drop me, all the records will be yours!”

Although he said that, he still cooperated, trying to assume the position the body was found in the drum. He even gave instructions, “Hey, you’re not using the right amount of force. The body isn’t sitting; it’s more like a V shape!”

Zheng Bai said, “If you keep moving around, you might actually fall.”

The more they talked, the more difficult it became to assume the position. In a short period of time, Zheng Bai was already sweating profusely.

With his nearly 1.9-meter tall muscular frame and Qiao Ze’s slight build at just over 1.7 meters, the height and weight difference between them made it challenging to put Qiao Ze into the drum in that position.

Not to mention that it would be difficult even with a living person cooperating, let alone a dead body that is much heavier.

Lu Junchi realized that this approach wouldn’t work. “The second body appears to be a chubby person close to 1.8 meters tall. He’s definitely heavier than Qiao Ze. Your attempt just now demonstrates that the piggyback position is also not feasible.”

Zheng Bai asked, “Could it be that the person was put into the drum when it was already tilted?”

“But there was oil in the drum!” Qiao Ze pinched him. “Did you forget about the splatter marks on the ground?”

Su Hui, watching their actions, suddenly remembered something and spoke up, “Unless… it was carried by two people.”

The position, with the deceased’s hands hanging down, looked as if they were supported by two people—one carrying under the armpits, and the other carrying the feet—and then placed into the drum.

His words brought clarity to everyone.

Lu Junchi carefully observed the splatter marks beside the oil drum and concluded, “The positions where there are fewer splatter marks are precisely where the head and feet of the original body were placed. This indicates that the bodies of the two individuals who disposed of it blocked some of the splattered oil.”

The ground of this livestock farm is made of loose soil. When they tried to extract footprints as physical evidence, they couldn’t find any complete ones. However, the oil stains exposed the number of people involved in disposing of the bodies and their positions.

Lu Junchi looked and added, “One of the person’s feet is a bit small… possibly a female.”

The two distinct blank areas were noticeably different. One area was much smaller than the other and located in the direction of the feet.

Qiao Ze asked, “Could it be an underage person?”

Lu Junchi carefully examined the oil traces and said, “The shoes appear to have pointed toes, somewhat resembling small high heels. It doesn’t seem like it belongs to an underage person.”

The person who disposed of the bodies must have had knowledge of the killer’s actions, and the number of individuals involved in the case seemed to be increasing…

Only then did Zheng Bai release his grip on Qiao Ze. “So, it’s a serial killer, but multiple people involved in body disposal? Like parents helping out?”

“There are many other possibilities…” The odor inside was unbearable, and the smell of gasoline was clouding their minds. Su Hui coughed repeatedly.

The group analyzed the traces left at the body disposal scene, and it seemed that the complexity of the case was deepening.

Lu Junchi said, “Let’s wait for the forensic analysis and the results from the coroner. We need to compare them with the missing persons’ records to determine the identities of these two victims.”

He checked the time and instructed his subordinates, “You two go nearby and gather information for now.”

After leaving the scene where the bodies were dumped, Su Hui finally felt a sense of relief in his breathing. Apart from collecting physical evidence and having the bodies taken away for autopsy, the detectives also needed to conduct interviews with the locals.

Zheng Bai and Qiao Ze formed a team and went off together, while Lu Junchi found a police assistant to accompany him and asked some questions to the person who initially discovered the bodies.

Su Hui watched the forensic team busy for a while, then sat down to rest. 

This area was neither a village nor a town, neither demolished nor sold, and had very few residents nearby.

It was already past eleven o’clock when the weather began to warm up slightly. Su Hui was lost in thought when suddenly a bottle of mineral water appeared in front of him.

He looked up and saw Lu Junchi looking at him.

Su Hui accepted the water and realized it was still warm. Curiously, he asked, “Where did you buy this? It’s still warm.”

Lu Junchi sat beside him and said, “I brought it myself. When I locked the car, I placed two bottles on the back seat and let them warm up in the sun for a while. They’re just the right temperature to drink now.”

Lu Junchi thought that carrying a thermos was inconvenient. They often went to crime scenes, and there was always a box of mineral water in the car. In the spring and summer, the temperature inside the car could reach fifty degrees, and in winter, they would leave it in the engine compartment for a while. Food-grade plastic could withstand temperatures up to seventy degrees without getting damaged.

He didn’t think being a detective meant enduring wind, sun, and rain. Lu Junchi had been used to taking care of his younger brother since childhood, and even after starting work, he continued to take care of his colleagues.

Su Hui had always thought that being a detective was a tough job, especially in the Major Crimes Unit where the pressure was high and the pace was fast. However, Lu Junchi always seemed to possess a certain ability to organize everything systematically and flawlessly. He never allowed himself to be overwhelmed or burdened, and he took care of those around him with meticulous attention to detail.

As Su Hui drank the water and pondered, he realized that Lu Junchi’s care didn’t create any sense of burden for others. 

Since Lu Junchi moved in, Su Hui noticed that his home had become clean, orderly, warm, and had a sense of harmony. Meals were diverse and creative.

Sometimes, with just a frown, Lu Junchi would know what Su Hui wanted or what he wanted to do. He would remind him to wake up early or to bring an umbrella.

His office was always stocked with various items, such as medicine, stationery, and tools, neatly arranged like a treasure chest.

It was hard not to like someone like him, whether as a friend or a colleague. Even the two cats at home loved him and would expose their bellies for him to pet.

Su Hui was almost defenseless against his tenderness.

When he was with Lu Junchi, he sometimes forgot that this person was a little younger than him.

He couldn’t describe whether the assignment given to him by Director Tan was that of a bodyguard or a nanny.

Not to mention that Lu Junchi was also handsome, reliable, and could provide a sense of security…

Lost in his thoughts, Su Hui felt his face growing warm.

He pressed the water bottle against his cheek, trying to cool down, but then realized that the water was warm, making his cheeks even hotter.

In the meantime, Qiao Ze and Zheng Bai had returned, their heads sweaty from the heat.

 Lu Junchi threw two bottles of water to them, and they caught them, taking a few sips before speaking.

Zheng Bai said, “We found the source of the oil drum. There’s a small abandoned private gas station nearby that has been out of operation for a long time. There are some empty oil drums there, and the bottom of one of them had some gasoline. The forensic examiner said that the oil used to soak the bodies is a mixture of gasoline and cooking oil, which the culprit may have purchased and brought here.”

Lu Junchi pondered for a moment and said, “When you ask the nearby shop owners, check if there are any abnormal purchase records. Is there any other useful information?”

Zheng Bai added, “One of the nearby residents mentioned that about a month ago, they saw a car parked in the vacant lot one evening.”

A month ago, that might be the time when the second body was dumped.

“Can they remember the exact time?” Lu Junchi asked.

“They only remember it was a Friday. I think we can narrow down the time further by combining it with the forensic report.”

Just as they were discussing this, the forensic investigator, He Wei, ran over with an excited expression on his face. “Captain Lu, we found several clear fingerprints on the first drum!”

Upon hearing this news, everyone’s spirits were uplifted. With fingerprints, it meant they were one step closer to finding the killer.