02 Hong Kong Island Amusement Park

Lin Long approached Fang Chengjin and asked, "How is it?"

Fang Cheng remained silent, staring intently at the corpse on the wall, lost in thought.

Zhou Yun also unconsciously looked at the corpse hanging on the wall. Upon closer inspection, she found that the face hidden under the brim of the hat was extremely pale, covered with a thick layer of pale foundation. Even if she could smell the faint smell of blood in the air, she would only suspect that this "dummy" was too realistic.

"The blood is still warm; the time of death is no more than an hour," Fang Chengjin suddenly blurted out.

"How do you know? The forensic doctor hasn't even performed the autopsy yet!" Lin Long winked.

"I can smell it," Fang Cheng replied calmly.

Lin Long shook his head and clicked his tongue twice. "Master Fang is indeed a master. He's showing off his skills to us again. I, as the sheriff, am really lucky to have you by my side. It saves me a lot of trouble."

Fang Cheng glanced at him and said, "You really should thank me."

Lin Long was speechless. He was really getting a good deal and then acting innocent. He turned around and was about to complain to Zhou Yun when Zhou Yun walked closer to the corpse to examine it. Well, here comes another person to help him with his work.

"Did you notice anything?" Lin Long walked over to Zhou Yun and asked while examining the corpse.

Zhou Yun analyzed word by word: "If the time of death was less than an hour ago, then this person must have died inside the scenic area. The scenic area is open from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., and today is Saturday, which is the busiest time for tourists. It's 5 p.m. now. If the murder happened outside the scenic area, bringing the body in from outside would definitely be discovered. In other words, even if the murder happened inside the scenic area, how could the murderer hang the body up in broad daylight without attracting attention?"

Lin Long snapped his fingers: "So the most likely culprit is a staff member of the scenic area. They are familiar with the environment and would know better than the average person how to handle a murder and hide the body!"

Zhou Yun turned her head and looked at Fang Chengjin, "But is the time of death necessarily within one hour?"

Their eyes met, and Fang Chengjin was also gazing at Zhou Yun.

Neither of them spoke, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Lin Long exclaimed and raised his little finger: "Yun, don't underestimate Fang Dashen. His nose is incredibly sensitive, even more useful than a police dog. Based on past murder cases, he's 100% right in every smell. Finding even the slightest mistake is like searching for a needle in a haystack, it's so difficult!"

Zhou Yun smiled, "Of course I didn't underestimate you."

**

Zhou Yun stepped forward, looked at Fang Chengjin, and extended her hand: "Professor Fang, hello. I am Zhou Yun, who is here to report for duty today."

This was the first meeting between the mentor and the student, and it happened at the scene of a murder.

Fang Cheng's gaze fell upon Zhou Yun's fair, calloused hand, and after lingering there for a few seconds, he slowly reached out and grasped her tense, soft hand.

"Welcome to Hong Kong Island for your internship." His voice was cold and serious, with a touch of old-fashioned authority.

After that conversation, Fang Chengjin didn't say much more, and Zhou Yun didn't know what to say either, fearing that saying too much would be a mistake. Apart from their first meeting during the graduate school interview, Zhou Yun and Fang Chengjin had no interaction whatsoever; they were more like parallel strangers.

Before Zhou Yun was accepted into Fang Chengjin's graduate program, her only interaction with Fang Chengjin was through the PPT presentations on the big screen in the police station's conference room.

Zhou Yun is one of the branch captains of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau. Within three years of joining the force, she had quickly risen to the rank of squad leader. She was somewhat arrogant, and whenever the bureau held a case analysis and study conference, Fang Chengjin's case would always come up. Over time, Zhou Yun became aware of this person.

Fang Chengjin has become very famous in recent years, even earning the nickname "Detective Conan." Wherever he is, there is a murder case. He specializes in investigating murder cases, and is most famous for his sense of smell; it is said that he can smell the killer.

**

On the other side, Lin Long and his subordinates slowly lowered the corpse from the wall.

Forensic pathologist Pan Xiaoxia immediately stepped forward with her toolbox to examine the body. She quickly checked the limbs and neck, and took out a thermometer to test the body.

"The body was covered in livor mortis and had turned purple. Lividity first appears 30 minutes after death, and usually appears 1-2 hours after death. Based on the body temperature, the estimated time of death was about an hour ago."

Lin Long crossed his arms and announced the cause of death.

Pan Xiaoxia replied: "He died of suffocation. There was a fatal ligature mark on his neck. Judging from the appearance, the murder weapon was a thin, sharp rope that had also cut some skin."

Another investigator came over holding a bag of identification documents. "Sir, this is the body's ID card. He was from Shanghai, mainland China."

Lin Long raised his thick eyebrows, took the transparent document bag, glanced at the ID card, and said, "Mainland China. He probably came here for work. Go check the identity information of the corpse."

"Yes, sir."

Looking at the incredibly high walls, Lin Long asked one of the staff members watching over the haunted house, "Are there any security cameras?"

"Yes, we've already shown it to this gentleman." The staff member hesitated, a little scared, and pointed to Fang Chengjin.

Lin Long turned to Fang Chengjin and asked, "Have you found anything?"

Fang Chengjin: "The video surveillance footage has been switched."

Lin Long raised an eyebrow and asked the staff to show it to him again. The staff turned on the monitoring computer on the table and opened the video.

In the video footage on the computer, there was no body hanging on the wall at the beginning. After a while, the screen suddenly flickered, and when the scene was replayed, there was a body on the wall in the shot.

Lin Long asked the staff, "Didn't you notice who hung the body up there?"

The staff member shook his head. "There were only two people on duty at the haunted house this afternoon. I happened to go to lunch, and my colleague had an upset stomach and went to the restroom. When he came back, he found the corpse hanging on the wall. Because I had been notified beforehand that the haunted house would be decorated with scary corpses, and hanging a fake corpse at the entrance was part of the plan, we didn't pay attention to who came. And since it was all set up when we came back, we didn't think much of it. Although we smelled blood, we assumed it was just a very realistic-looking fake..."

Zhou Yun guessed: "The murderer is most likely someone from within the scenic area, otherwise they wouldn't be so familiar with the place."

The scenic area manager standing nearby kept wiping away sweat, looking uncomfortable as he unbuttoned his collar and swallowed hard.

Lin Long's gaze held a scrutinizing quality. "How many people are there in the scenic area right now?"

The manager replied, "Uh... more than a hundred people." Then, he asked hesitantly, "Do you need me to compile a list?"

Lin Long did not rush to answer.

With over a hundred people, are we really going to eliminate them one by one? That's like looking for a needle in a haystack. There must be other ways to eliminate possibilities, and what other clues might be there...?

He pondered for a moment and looked at Fang Chengjin.

Fang Chengjin stood at the door the whole time, and even after the body was put down, he did not go forward to check it. It seemed that he had already observed it before. He looked at the layout of the haunted house, deep in thought, with a serious face and piercing eyes.

Lin Long stepped forward and asked, "What are your thoughts on this case?"

Fang Cheng replied, "I need a list, with everyone's name and position on it."

Lin Long's eyes lit up. "You have a sketch analysis of the murderer?"

Fang Cheng glanced at him, his eyes languid: "This case isn't that simple."

Lin Long was stunned. What did that mean?

Fang Cheng looked at the scenic area manager and said, "Prepare another map of the scenic area. It needs to be detailed. I need to know what's at each attraction."

Lin Long asked, puzzled, "What do you need this for?"

Zhou Yun suddenly realized: "A folk song!"

Lin Long raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two, puzzled. What kind of code were they exchanging?

Zhou Yun immediately explained, "When I entered the scenic area just now, I heard a strange melody. The lyrics sounded terrifying, but the staff here said that this song was not on the itinerary. Could it be that the murderer played it? I only found out that something had happened here after I heard the song."

The scenic area manager wiped his sweat repeatedly. "I've already sent people to investigate. That song this afternoon was indeed abrupt. We never intended to play it. The colleagues in charge of the broadcasting room said that the song was playing automatically, and they couldn't stop it. They even thought someone was playing pranks to scare people..."

As we were talking, suddenly the sound of static crackling came from the loudspeakers in the scenic area, followed by a strange melody.

Hide and seek, hide and seek, let's play hide and seek. Close your eyes, count to ten, quickly find a place to hide. One, two, three, four, five, little friends, hide quickly, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. I'm coming to find you, don't make a sound. Behind the tree, in the grass.

Hide and seek, it could be anywhere. In the garden, an old wooden box, where are you hiding? I'll search and search. Laughter echoes. Found you, it's your turn. Hide and seek, so much fun, until the sun sets. Hide and seek, hide and seek, let's play hide and seek, happy times, never forgotten...

**

The景区 manager was terrified and took a step back. "What's going on? Is it really haunted? I already told my colleagues in the broadcasting room to turn off the equipment, how could it still be...!"

Lin Long finally realized what was happening and instructed his subordinates: "Quickly evacuate the tourists and cordon off the scenic area so that no one else can enter!"

Zhou Yun frowned: "What if we let the murderer get away too?"

Fang Chengjin: "No, because the murderer still wants to kill more people."

Those present looked at each other in surprise, taken aback.

The景区 manager was panicked. "I'm afraid it's too late. There are already over 10,000 visitors, and there are only three entrances and exits. Even if we can evacuate everyone, it will take at least an hour. What should we do now?"

Fang Cheng remained calm: "Just catch the murderer. I need the list and the map."

The scenic area manager immediately called his subordinates to carry out the task, and soon a staff member brought over the list and map.

The music continued to play, resounding throughout the scenic area.

Lin Long wondered, "How much longer is this song going to be sung? It's giving me the creeps!"

Fang Cheng glanced at the list and put it aside. Then he stared at the map for a while. A minute later, he pointed to the Ferris wheel and said, "Here, let's go to this place first."

Lin Long asked, "Why here?"

As they were talking, the music stopped.

Zhou Yun kept staring at her watch. She calculated the time, "Ten minutes. This song has been playing for about ten minutes."

Fang Chengjin frowned slightly, his voice no longer calm but urgent, "This is bad, let's go!"