traces of all things

As soon as they came back from Jiang Province, Lu Zheng and Tang Shaoyuan were called to the Municipal Bureau to support the investigation of the new case. This was the second headless male corpse discovered in the past month, and the worst was the second The discoverer of the corpse panicked and shouted that the corpse was found in the trash can so that the whole street could hear it. The media got the news from nowhere and immediately surrounded him like a shark smelling fishy.

"Shocked! A serial killer appeared in the provincial capital of province A!"

"Real-life vampires, killing people, bleeding and dismembering their corpses—the corpses of the dead were dug out by wild dogs!"

A series of sensational news headlines began to appear in the major media, not to mention the various versions on the Internet. In an instant, the entire city of Province A was in turmoil and everyone was in danger.

Now, the public security officers of the Municipal Bureau, besides dealing with the endless reports from the masses—most of which were not related to the case, had to deal with the reporters who squatted at the gate of the Municipal Bureau from time to time.

"I received a call this morning. The person who called said that he was suspicious of her husband, because he has always been surreptitious lately, and once she accidentally found him wandering outside during working hours." Wei Xiongfeng was drinking fat house happiness Shui, while complaining: "So we separated two people to investigate, and it turned out that her husband was fired by the unit. She was embarrassed to go home and said, so she had to wander outside every day, hoping to find a new job."

At this time, Wei Xiongfeng, Xue Yiwei, Tang Shaoyuan and others were gathering in the small office of the Municipal Bureau and waiting for someone. It was one o'clock in the middle of the night, and their case analysis meeting was just about to begin.

Wei Xiongfeng stuffed instant noodles into his mouth like a starving ghost. Lu Zheng and Xue Yiwei leaned on the two ends of the sofa respectively. Tang Shaoyuan seemed to be in good spirits, and slowly set up a filter paper to make coffee.

The fragrance overflowed, and Tang Shaoyuan silently pushed a mug to Lu Zheng's hand. Lu Zheng closed his eyelids, smelled the fragrance with his nose, and immediately took a sip of it contentedly like a robot.

Xue Yiwei took a deep breath, and looked at Tang Shaoyuan with hopeful eyes, regardless of his aloofness at the moment.

Unmoved, Tang Shaoyuan poured the rest into his cup without hesitation.

"It's useless even if you blink your eyes." Wei Xiongfeng still stuffed his mouth with instant noodles, muttering, gloating and mocking: "Tang Shaoyuan can only see one person in his eyes. Who are we? ? It doesn’t exist, a tiny speck of dust between the stars.”

"Hey, the Chinese teacher is online today? You can use metaphors!" Xue Yiwei, who was being ignored by Tang Shaoyuan, was unhappy, and when he heard Wei Xiongfeng's complaints, he instantly activated the tenth level of defense, and retorted.

Wei Xiongfeng and Xue Yiwei work together, and he has to complain about [-] times a day, using idioms, idioms and metaphors, and I have long heard it: "There is no culture without you, you are a book bag!"

The two looked at each other, sparks flew, and a world war was about to break out.

"What's the matter? So happy? What fun thing?"

Geng Zhizhong's voice suddenly sounded, followed by Huang Ying and Xian Hongru with two big black eyes.

The bosses are here.

Wei Xiongfeng and Xue Yiwei misfired for a moment, obediently sat down with their legs together, and only raised their noses when their eyes swept over each other, expressing their determination not to be as knowledgeable as the other party.

The case analysis on the second body found will officially begin.

The first to report was Tang Shaoyuan who had finished examining the corpse.

"The deceased was a male, whose identity was unknown. He was about 60 years old, and his height was between 1.7 meters and 1.7 meters five. There was no scar on his body, and his body was medium. The contents of his stomach were rice and vegetables. Judging by the degree of digestion of the contents of the stomach, the time of death At about eight o'clock in the evening three days ago. Like the previous male torso, the cause of death was massive blood loss caused by a throat incision. The knife was identified through the skin flap, and it can be confirmed that it is the same as the previous headless male corpse. No trace of drug injection or taking was found."

Lu Zheng tapped the table in front of him twice with his fingers: "This murderer seems very strong?"

Tang Shaoyuan caught up with his brain at the speed of light: "Not necessarily, I found such marks on the back of the deceased."

While talking, he posted a photo on the whiteboard.

The photo shows the back of the corpse. I don't know if it's because the blood has been almost dried up, and it looks very pale.

Amid all the fiasco, two small black dots stood out.

"This is... □□?" Xian Hongru frowned.

"It's a little strange." Xue Yiwei also touched his chin: "The method used by this murderer to kill the No.2 victim is almost the same as the first time, cutting the throat, scratching, bleeding, and dismembering the body. But the method used to subdue the dead But it's not the same."

Indeed, sleeping pills and hallucinogens were found in the stomach of the first victim, while the second was raped.Serial killers will stick to their own set of behavior templates in most cases and will not change easily.In such two similar cases, this small difference became obvious in an instant.

"Is there such a possibility?" Lu Zheng pondered for a moment: "I think the relationship between the murderer and the first victim should be closer and familiar."

"How to say?" Geng Zhizhong looked serious.

"Because he was able to make the first victim take the drug without his knowledge, or obedience—this at least shows that the two people can eat together." Lu Zheng analyzed: "And the second A victim is probably not that familiar with the murderer, otherwise, the murderer should take steps that he has already succeeded once."

The people in the room were thoughtful.

Makes sense does make sense.

The only problem is... who are the two dead?

Thinking of this, Captain Huang Ying also had a headache on his face: "Xiao Xue, is there any result for the corpse search notice posted by your scouts?"

After being bombarded by the media, Huang Ying simply let herself go and applied to add a notice about finding the victim in the prime-time news of the provincial TV station, which described in detail the physical appearance of the victim that could be obtained from the only body parts. It is hoped that those who have someone missing at home can take the initiative to call the police and provide some clues for their next investigation.

"No." Xue Yiwei was also very frustrated when he said this: "There are three people who came to identify, and they have compared the DNA, and they are all wrong."

"Let's do more publicity, and compare all the missing persons who have been reported in similar conditions in all surrounding provinces and cities recently." Huang Ying rubbed her temples, and put her last hope on Lu Zheng: "Lu Did the team leader find anything?"

Many pairs of eyes full of hope were fixed on him.

Lu Zheng instantly felt Alexander.

Probably because during the previous cooperation, Lu Zheng always had some new ways to solve the puzzle every time the investigation was in trouble, and everyone in the city bureau gradually developed some mysterious trust in him.

But this time even Lu Zheng could only disappoint them.

"No." He shook his head dryly. "One of the places where the corpses were dumped was in a deep mountain and old forest, and the other was in a downtown area. The environment is very complicated. There is no monitoring, and no evidence can be extracted at the scene."

"I checked the travel bag containing the corpse. It was distributed for free at the anniversary of the department store in the provincial capital of province A about a month ago. It was distributed for three consecutive weeks. During this period, I bought any more than Anything worth 50 yuan can be given as a gift. The department store has a lot of traffic, and nearly [-] bags have been distributed so far. The bags are also very clean, and no fingerprints or biological tissues of the murderer can be extracted from the fabric and zipper , there is nothing else in the bag except body parts."

"This person should be a veteran..." Geng Zhizhong sighed.

"On the contrary, I think he should be a novice." Tang Shaoyuan said suddenly: "There are many tentative wounds on the edge of the incision of the first body part. The second body part should be much neater. I am inclined to the first body part It was the murderer's first attempt to kill, or the first time he tried to dismember a corpse. I think it's more likely that he is so meticulous, or has a high IQ, or..."

"...a person who is very familiar with criminal investigation related content."

**

A few hours of case exchange passed quickly, and there was not much progress, but at least it gave a few people a direction to work hard.

Lu Zheng looked up at the sky, it was past four o'clock, the time when the night was darkest.

He and Tang Shaoyuan went straight to the Municipal Bureau after getting off the high-speed rail, and they still had a change of clothes on them. They had been busy for nearly twenty hours in a row before they could go home to catch their breath.

"I'll see you off, Senior Brother." Tang Shaoyuan suddenly appeared beside him, holding the small box that he carried wherever he went these two days.

"Do you have a car?" Lu Zheng was taken aback.

Tang Shaoyuan seemed a little shy: "I walked in a hurry that day and stopped directly at the provincial hall."

The provincial bureaus and municipal bureaus are back to back and very close.Lu Zheng had been busy all day, and he was indeed a little tired after being emotionally ups and downs in Jiang Province before, so he followed him into the car graciously.

The warm air was turned on in the car, which was very suitable for this late autumn night, and unknown light music was playing. Tang Shaoyuan's driving skills were good, and he drove steadily all the way. Lu Zheng was stuck in the soft seat, and at the beginning he said After two sentences, it didn't take long before he fell asleep peacefully.

In the dream, the elementary school where he and Azhi used to love to play on the swings appeared suddenly. Azhi was still the same as before, wearing that green dress, and happily said that he wanted to play hide-and-seek.

"Brother, you must find me!"

The little figure ran farther and farther, but Lu Zheng's heart was suddenly empty, as if something he couldn't grasp slipped through his fingers.

"Ah Zhi! Don't go! Come back!" In the dream, he shouted heartbreakingly, trying to chase after him, but when he lowered his head, his feet turned into tree roots, firmly stuck in the soil , Ah Zhi in front seemed to be unable to hear his voice at all, and ran forward on his own, the teaching building in front of the green figure suddenly turned into a huge abyss, black hole, ready to devour him at all times .

"Do not!--"

He cried out in pain in his dream, trembled all over, and sat up.

The car was parked on the side of the road outside his community, the heater in the car was still on, and the music was playing quietly. Tang Shaoyuan was already lying on the steering wheel, with his eyes closed, and fell into a deep sleep.

As if sensing his movement, Tang Shaoyuan blinked suddenly, straightened up, and said vaguely, "What time is it, brother?"

Lu Zheng raised his wrist and saw that it was already 04:30 in the morning, and it was still pitch black outside the car window.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't pay attention and fell asleep..." Lu Zheng saw that the marks on Tang Shaoyuan's cheeks were pressed, and he felt a little distressed: "Get up first, go home and sleep well—how about it?" ? Can you still drive?”

"No problem, I'm not sleepy." Tang Shaoyuan replied subconsciously, rubbed his face and sat up, but froze for a moment.

What if... I said I can't drive...?

Ahhhhh!

What a fool I am!

However, it was too late to change his words at this moment, Lu Zheng saw that he was still in good spirits, and said considerately: "Then I will leave now, thank you Shao Yuan, you should go home quickly, you can still sleep for three or four hours. "

Missing a perfect opportunity to enter the hall, Tang Shaoyuan was so regretful that tears flowed three thousand feet, but his movements were not slow at all, and he got out of the car right behind Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng:? ? ?

Tang Shaoyuan pretended to be calm: "This road is too dark, brother, I will take you to the gate."

Lu Zheng looked up at the warm yellow light cast by the street lamp above his head, and was speechless for a while.

This section of road... is dark?

But Tang Shaoyuan seemed quite determined, he locked the car door with a wave of his hand, and when he came over, he wanted to help Lu Zheng carry his backpack.

Lu Zheng quickly stopped his movements with his hands behind his back, and said with a helpless smile, "Are you taking the girl back to the dormitory? Really, I'm such an old man, it's only a few steps away."

He was just joking casually, but Tang Shaoyuan suddenly looked serious, and stared at his eyes seriously: "I have never sent girls back to the dormitory."

After a pause, Tang Shaoyuan suddenly took a step forward, shortening the distance between the two.

"I want to send home... only you."

The leaves rustled, and the mottled street lights shone on Tang Shaoyuan's face. Lu Zheng felt a sudden heat from his neck all the way up to his forehead.

The two stared at each other in silence for a while, Tang Shaoyuan lowered his head first, took the backpack in Lu Zheng's hand, and said softly, "Let's go, go home and rest, it's cold outside."

Lu Zheng pursed his lips and followed his pace.

Soon, the two figures under the streetlight disappeared around the corner.

A tall, slender figure in a windbreaker flashed behind a street tree opposite the street lamp.

The man changed his place, stood still in the shadows, watched the man wearing glasses turn out from the door of the unit in the distance, looked up at the upstairs, and stood quietly by the side of the road for a few minutes.

Then a room on the second floor of the complex was lit with warm lights.

Seeing that the light was on, the man in glasses couldn't help but put a smile on his face, and walked briskly towards the car parked by the side of the road.

There was a sound of the engine, and the road returned to silence.

The man in the shadow let out a cold snort from his nose, let go of his tightly clenched palms, and a blood-stained cigarette slipped silently to the ground.

He took one last look at the lighted room on the second floor, turned around and disappeared into the night.

**

Unit 201, Building [-], Room [-].

Lu Zheng took off a bunch of small advertisements in the crack of the door, pushed open the door of the house he hadn't come back for a long time, reached out to touch it, and turned on the light in the living room.

The moment the light came on, he saw a neatly folded small white square on the ground of his entrance.

"It's too hard, the advertisements are stuffed at home." He muttered twice, put down the backpack on his body, bent down to pick up the small cube, and unfolded it with a few shakes.

A line of pasted square characters appeared in front of his eyes:

"Your mother is dead. There are two murderers in dark blue jackets. The tall one is in black jackets. The short one is in black jackets. The body is dismembered and the sack is set on fire."

Lu Zheng's hands trembled uncontrollably.