04 | The Crime Scene - Part 1

The dimly lighted area was always packed with people who wanted to throw their garbage away during the trash collecting day. But on the other day, it was void of any kind of sounds. The orchestra of crickets could only be heard during summer but not on that winter night. So silent that one could hear their own heartbeats.

A black car stopped near the trash collecting site. From it, a tall figure whose face couldn’t be seen due to the lack of lighting came out and opened the car’s luggage right away. They took out something that turned out to be a beautiful mermaid as he walked closer to the lamp post. The mysterious figure stopped right before the pile of trashes, before throwing the mermaid just like one would cast away something once losing its worth.

Thrill . . .

Excitement . . .

It blew the place in a form of the cold wind that would chill one to the backbone.

Though it was dark, the mysterious figure definitely grinned in satisfaction for the completion of his job. Their steps echoed pride and without remorse, walking towards him without even looking back. The figure suddenly vanished into the air when they walked past him.

What was left in the area was a wavy-haired woman who was lying on top of the trashes. The woman had a purple-coloured mermaid tail from her waist all the way down to her feet—something that was very striking in the dull-looking place. Her fair skin looked even paler now that her soul was no more.

Helplessness . . .

Sorrow . . .

Scrunching his nose, he quickly rose from his position and walked away. The stench of the trashes piling on the trash site was sending something sour and unpleasant to his nostrils. As much as he hated the stench, he had to bear it for a moment just so he could sense what was on the site. A forensic staff passed him a surgical mask at his signal so he quickly wore it to dissipate the stench.

Wang Huijing always had this kind of gift. He didn’t know whether he had it from the beginning or it developed since he was raised by detectives. In this case, he knew for sure that the murderer purely did the killing for their own benefit.

She was just like the two previous victims, being discovered on trash sites, all dressed up just like mermaids. The costume was most likely hand-made because he had checked around and not even a costume rental in Taipei ever rent a mermaid costume like that.

‘From our database, the victim should be GuoLingxia, twenty-nine years old. A professional chef who worked in a French restaurant called Le Quartier. We’ve called her family to headquarter for further identification. An old lady who used to collect plastic trashes found her. She was screaming outright and that man over there, he was the one who reported.’ Yang Zhixian, his fellow detective, pointed towards a man who was talking to the forensic team, face looking pale and hands were shaking every time he animatedly told his share of the story. That kind of reaction was very normal, knowing how peaceful the city actually was. One could live their entire life without ever seeing a dead body.

‘It’s a match with the profile. She was a chef, indeed. Her fingertips are flattened and the side of her forefinger is slightly corrugated,’ Huang Yushan, the forensic leader stated. Her angled-bob hair was tied into a ponytail and she was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit over her clothes just like the other forensic team.

‘Cause of death?’ Chen Guiren asked after blowing a cloud of smoke from his back. He stepped away from his senior because he didn't like the smoke stench on his clothes.

‘Drowned. The time of death estimation is around six to eight PM. Her body shows post-mortem abrasion on her back instead of the front part of her body. My guessing is that she was immediately extracted from the water after she died and packed into a narrow place —probably when the murderer brought her here. There are also—’ Yushan lifted the victim’s hand, ‘— defence marks on the inner side of her palms and arms. Probably from hitting some object over and over when trying to save herself.’ Yushan then carefully lifted the victim’s arm, ‘There are also red marks below her underarms. See here?’ She pointed at the bruise on her underarm.

‘Probably happened when the murderer extracted her body from where the water,’ Huijing murmured. ‘He hooked his arms below her underarms.’

‘So, is she the third victim?’ Guiren stepped away from the crime scene to throw his cigarettes to the asphalt, stepping on it to completely kill the fire.

‘If I find Phencyclidine in the blood screening then yes, since it’s a match to the modus operandi,’ Yushan said. ‘I need to perform a further examination in the lab. If you’re done with all the evidence, please take her to the lab,’ Yushan said as she packed her equipment.

‘Poor woman . . . What has she done wrong to be a psychopath’s victim?’ Zhixian rubbed the back of his neck while Yushan bowed towards the victim’s body before closing her face with the white blanket.

‘A psychopath never needs to know what she has previously done to make her a victim,’ Guiren spat in disgust before lighting a new cigarette. The remarkably large man was around twenty centimeters taller than Huijing, easily towered everyone on the site. Scratching his bald head, Guiren signaled one of the staffs to pass him a folder before passing it to Huijing.’So that’s our current case, Huijing. All the details we managed to cover so far are all in here. I know that you’re a remarkable agent back when you’re working in the armed forces but since this is your first time in this field, ask me if you have any questions. I’m counting on your help from now on, Son!’

Huijing replied Guiren with a simple nod.

‘Are you done taking pictures?’ Huijing asked Zhixian, who checked the forensic team’s camera and gave an ‘OK’ sign. ‘How about the crime scene recording?’

‘We’ve done that as well, Detective Wang,’ answered an officer.

‘Alright. Pack up, boys! We need to identify the victim before midnight! Get your lazy ass off! Go, go, go!’

‘I’ll be back with Huijing. You go first,’ Zhixian said to Yushan. ‘Do you want me to bring anything for dinner?’

‘Yeah, I’m hungry. Anything is fine. As long as it’s not junk foods,’ Yushan said as she waved at Zhixian and mouthed, ‘Love you,’ to which Zhixian replied with the same gesture. Huijing rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the white line that indicated the body’s position while the rest of the forensic team packed up.

‘Oi Bastard! Are you done? Let’s grab some dinner. I’m dying over here!’Zhixian shouted while putting their stuff into the car luggage. Just when Huijing turned around and walked in the car’s direction, the wind blew past him.

‘Please find whoever did this to me . . .’

Huijing turned around to see the spot again. Seeing no one in sight, he proceeded to the car and in deep thought about the case. They literally had no time to waste to seize the murderer but everything seemed to be properly organised that the forensic team hardly got any evidence.

He could only hope that they could put this case to the end.

So no one would be crying in despair . . .

Just like the lost innocent soul in that street . . .

┏💧━━━━༻🌸༺━━━━💧┓

author's note

┗💧━━━━༻🌸༺━━━━💧┛

Phencyclidine, otherwise known as PCP or angel dust, is a hallucinogenic, dissociative drug that comes in the form of white crystalline powder or a clear, yellowish liquid. It is introduced as an intravenous anaesthetic in the 1950s. PCP can be ingested as a tablet or capsule, or snorted as a powder. People can also smoke PCP by mixing it with tobacco or marijuana.

Modus operandi (often shortened as MO) is someone’s habit of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as mode of operating.

Please note that I only upload this story on Wattpad, Goodnovel, and Webnovel. If you happen to find the story outside these two platforms, please kindly inform me.

Please follow me in Twitter & Instagram @RikkaLiao!