Neverland

The "skeleton" in the bedroom was kneeling on the floor, leaning back against the edge of the bed, with its upper body lying on the bed, with sparse pieces of meat hanging on its body.

The male corpse is about 1.7 meters tall by visual inspection. The musculature of the head and limbs is intact, and it is hanging weakly on both sides of the body.But the muscles in his chest were all cut open, the wound was messy and hideous, the turned flesh was wide open, revealing the black hole-like shell inside, the flesh of his torso was completely cut open and smashed, and the broken flesh could hang on the skeleton and fall on the ground on the floor.

Standing at the door of the bedroom, Xu Muzhou could see the glistening spine through the wound.

Xu Muzhou frowned, and understood the meaning of Shen Shuang's phrase "have to wait for the forensic doctor" - this corpse was disembowelled and placed here, whether it was "intact" or mutilated, I'm afraid It is also difficult to judge at this glance.

The shape of the corpse will directly affect the filing of the case. Xu Muzhou did not rush into the bedroom, but stood at the door and looked around.

"Where's the forensic doctor?" Xu Muzhou asked casually, "When will you come?"

"On the way." Shen Shuang said: "But it's raining too much outside. Go to the city bureau first and then turn back. It may be a bit congested."

Xu Muzhou nodded dispensably.

The size of the bedroom is half, about half the size of the living room. There is a single bed near the corner on the left hand side of the door. The size is not much different from that of a student dormitory. The body is leaning against the bed, and the floor is covered with blood.

The window facing the bedroom door was tightly blocked by black double-layer curtains, and the room couldn't get any light in, making it look extremely depressing. Only the dim night light at the end of the bed was still shining, probably forgot to turn it off the night before.

In the bedroom, like the living room, there were several paintings that had been knocked over. The oil paint pot beside the easel was overturned on the ground, and the dark yellow paint inside flowed out, mixed with some of the blood on the ground, and dried up into an ugly convex shape. trace.

— looks like a scar.

Only an easel near the corner of the window survived the accident because of its position. The easel was covered with a thick white cloth, and it was impossible to see what was underneath.

Xu Muzhou probably had an idea in his mind, he turned around and asked, making sure that after the technical detective had finished collecting evidence in this room, he put on plastic gloves and was about to go in to check the situation.

But before he stepped into the door, Shen Shuang came back from behind him, holding a notepad the size of a palm in his hand.

"Brother Xu, the identity of the deceased has been confirmed." Shen Shuang greeted him: "The deceased is Xu Kang, a local, 28 years old, freelance... well, he should be a painter. He lives alone and rarely goes out. He seems to be a bit withdrawn He is afraid of people. The property management still has an impression of him. Several property aunts said that they often received complaints in the summer before, saying that the takeaway boxes at his door were piled up and they were not thrown away, which affected the sanitation of the corridor. The property management came to knock I opened the door a few times to explain the situation, there was obviously movement at home, but no one opened the door."

"There may be some social barriers." Xu Muzhou said.

In fact, it can be seen that the windows in this house are tightly blocked by curtains, and the whole room smells like paint. Xu Muzhou wonders if all those who engage in art have to be unique, different from normal people Anyway, there is an "artist's style" gloomy atmosphere everywhere in this room.

"Have you contacted the family of the deceased?" Xu Muzhou said.

"Not yet." Shen Shuang closed the notebook: "It's just that this matter is a bit difficult...Xu Kang has no family members."

"What do you mean?" Xu Muzhou asked sideways: "The old people in the family have passed away?"

"I checked his identity information at the household registration office, and he is a child from the Linshi Orphanage." Shen Shuang said, "I have no parents and no mother. The orphanage closed down 20 years ago, and he was arranged to be transferred to Shanghai."

Without relatives or friends, it means that more than half of the social circle has been lost at once.Xu Muzhou frowned, thinking that this matter might be a bit troublesome.

"Understood." Xu Muzhou said.

He bent down to put the shoe covers on his shoes, tightened the plastic gloves on his hands, and walked into the bedroom.

The amount of blood on the ground was too large, and some parts were not completely dry. Xu Muzhou tried his best to avoid the area with the densest blood and walked to the side of the corpse.

Xu Kang looked older than his actual age. He was unshaven, his hair was messy, and he was unkempt. He didn't know how many days he hadn't cleaned himself up.

——There will be no chance to clean up in the future.

Xu Muzhou knelt down beside him, and stretched out his hand to look at his wound.

Xu Kang's wound was so hideous that the murderer didn't know how hard he used it. He even broke several ribs, and the internal organs were also messed up, and blood seeped out when he touched it.

This posture of his leaning back made him completely empty, and he didn't know whether he was deliberately put like this by the murderer or just died like this.

Xu Kang is still clutching an iron paper cutter in his right hand—this kind of paper cutter is commonly used in painting, and it is different from the ordinary plastic shrunk one. The blade of this knife is combined with a wooden knife The handle is [-] centimeters in total, without a scabbard, its lethality is about equal to a small watermelon knife.

Xu Muzhou took out a large evidence bag from his pocket, took the knife out of Xu Kang's hand, and put it in the bag.

The blood on the paper knife needs to be tested. The traces of fighting in this room are too obvious, and the blood on the knife may be the murderer's blood.

Xu Muzhou maintained the posture of kneeling beside him, he slightly adjusted the angle, and observed the nearby blood condition on the basis of keeping parallel with Xu Kang.

Most of the bloodstains on the ground were dripping, and some bloodstains were messy. Xu Muzhou found a very inconspicuous footprint [-] centimeters in front of Xu Kang. About ten yards.

The pattern of this footprint is exactly the same as that of Xu Kang's slippers, and it is his own.

Xu Muzhou stood up, compared the position of the footprint with his own height, and then stepped back slightly, which happened to be where Xu Kang fell.

Wen Hao, the captain of the Second Technical Investigation Team, stood at the door and knocked on the door, and said, "Deputy Captain Xu, the evidence collection outside is almost done."

"Yeah." Xu Muzhou raised his head: "Is there any sign that the door lock outside has been picked?"

"The door lock outside the door showed no signs of forcibly breaking the door, so it should have entered the house normally." Wen Hao said: "In addition, there were no obvious signs of dragging or moving the body. This should be the first crime scene. There are both in the living room and the bedroom. There are traces of fighting, but judging by the extent of the blood distribution, the bedroom should be the fatal scene."

"The crime scene is too messy. The murderer probably didn't clean it up at all. It's a bit troublesome to collect evidence." Wen Hao continued: "Most of the valid footprints that can be collected are the victim's own, and the rest have to be taken back for comparison. Check it out."

"En." Xu Muzhou said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Xu Muzhou looked at the victim's body for a while, and said: "Acquaintances are more likely to commit the crime... The wounds are messy and irregular, and the crime scene is chaotic. The possibility of a crime of passion cannot be ruled out."

As Xu Muzhou said, he raised his head and pointed at Shen Shuang with his fingers in the air, and ordered: "Check his social circle. If others don't go out, they must have a way to get money to live. Let's follow this line first." .”

Shen Shuang agreed.

"Oh yes." Xu Muzhou remembered something: "Where is the reporter?"

"Take notes in the stairwell." Shen Shuang said, "Do you want to go over and have a look?"

Before Xu Muzhou could speak, there was a small commotion at the door.Xu Muzhou took off the plastic gloves on his hands, got up and walked towards the door of the bedroom.

Shen Shuang poked his head to look outside the door, then turned to Xu Muzhou and said, "The forensic doctor is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a handsome man walked in the door.The man wore a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose, and was wearing a clean white coat with the buttons unbuttoned, revealing a pure white turtleneck sweater underneath.

Holding a metal box in his hand, he stood at the door and looked around.

"Forensic doctor Yan." Shen Shuang greeted him, "This way, the bedroom."

Yan Cen hummed softly, his eyes accurately caught Xu Muzhou at the door of the bedroom, and he walked over here.

Xu Muzhou was in a hurry to go out today, so he only wore a thin black down jacket. Now that the zipper of the clothes is open, the inner layer is a bit too thin.

Yan Cen frowned indistinctly, looked him up and down with the slight frequency of walking, and made sure that he was in good complexion, then looked back and greeted him politely.

"Deputy Captain Xu." Yan Cen said.

"Hmm." Xu Muzhou sized him up, frowned and asked, "Forensic doctor Zhang didn't come today?"

Xu Muzhou's impression of the young forensic doctor in front of him is very shallow. During the short distance when the other party walked over from the door just now, he dug through the memories in his mind, and only managed to dig out the slightest impression of this person. Come.

The other party was a student of Mr. Zhang from the forensic department of the Municipal Bureau. He joined the Municipal Bureau after graduation and was busy with Mr. Zhang. He spent most of his time in the office and seldom came out to socialize.

Because most of the scenes were attended by Mr. Zhang himself, Xu Muzhou's impression of him was only that of a college student who was busy writing reports in the forensic room.

"Master is sick, Master asked for leave to take care of her." Yan Cen said gently: "I will stand for Master for two days."

"Oh." Xu Muzhou wasn't suspicious. He was used to partnering with Mr. Zhang. Although he felt that this young man might not be able to do it, it was hard to show it because of Mr. Zhang's face, so he nodded and stepped aside to get out of the way. Let Yan Cen come in to check the corpse.

Yan Cen walked into the bedroom rubbing his shoulders, looked back from the corner of his eyes, and saw the back of Xu Muzhou taking off his shoe covers and walking towards the door.

Just now he saw Xu Muzhou's sizing up clearly, the other party's eyes were clear, doubts and distrust were clearly classified into categories - indeed he did not remember him.

Yan Cen's mood was very calm, he put on his clothes, knelt down beside the victim, and opened the metal box.

It doesn't matter, Yan Cen thought, this time is a complete replacement mission, Xu Muzhou carried the memories and instincts of his identity, and has a complete new life, in Xu Muzhou's cognition, he is indeed living in this world "Vice Team Xu" for many years.

But it doesn't matter whether Xu Muzhou remembers him or not, Yan Cen thought.

——Anyway, as long as he comes, Xu Muzhou will have a backer.