The case of the teddy bear hiding a corpse 1.1

At 8:15 a.m., the coffee machine in the criminal investigation team's office hummed.

Fan Jinci leaned back in his chair, swiping his phone screen with his fingertips. The hashtag #JiangShaoJiangMadamAHappyMarriage# was trending, accompanied by a picture of Jiang Zhaoyan with one arm around his waist.

He scrolled past expressionlessly and clicked on the next post—#Criminal Investigation Captain Publicly Robs Bride#, in which Yu Yan pinned him against a police car and kissed him deeply.

"Tsk." He scoffed coldly, about to lock the screen, when Li Weimian's voice came from the doorway—

"Brother Fan, the case."

She held a newly printed police report in her hand, and the silver earring in her right ear gleamed coldly.

“In Jinxiu Garden residential area, a 10-year-old boy has been missing for three days. This morning, his parents reported him missing to the police…” She paused, ““The child was in a teddy bear.”

The office fell silent instantly.

The bag of potato chips in Wen Lin's hand fell to the ground with a "thud": "...What bear?"

Situ Jin pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "According to the initial description, it is a 1.5-meter-tall teddy bear doll. The parents found an odor from the 'bear's belly' when they were making the bed this morning."

Yu Yan suddenly stood up, the metal buckle on his tactical belt snapping against the edge of the table with a crisp "click": "Let's go."

The teddy bear's eyes were two black glass beads, which should have sparkled with an innocent light in the sunlight. But now, it sat crookedly in the corner of the living room, its brown fur stained with dark red stains, like a doll forgotten in a nightmare.

Situ Jin stood in the doorway, his Adam's apple bobbing. He smelled it—that cloying, rotten stench seeped out from under the door, like an invisible hand choking his breath. He instinctively took a half-step back, his shoe sinking into something sticky.

"Don't move." Yu Yan's voice came from behind, deep and calm. "You stepped in blood."

Situ Jin looked down and saw the dark red thread trailing from the sole of his shoe. He had participated in three murder scene investigations, but he had never seen anything like this—the outline drawn in chalk on the living room floor resembled an abstract painting, with three distorted human figures, headless.

"Where is the person who reported the crime?" Yu Yan put on rubber gloves, his movements clean and efficient.

"Aunt Zhang from next door," Situ Jin said, trying to keep her voice from trembling, "She said she hadn't seen this family for three days, and today she smelled something and called the police."

Yu Yan nodded, his gaze sweeping across the living room. A half-empty glass of moldy milk sat on the coffee table, and a children's picture book lay open on the page about "The Three Little Bears." In the family photo hanging on the wall, the man was serious, the woman forced a smile, and the little boy in the middle was making a face.

"A teddy bear," Yu Yan suddenly said.

Situ Jin followed his gaze and saw a brown teddy bear, as tall as a person, leaning in the corner with its belly bulging abnormally. The stitches had been roughly re-stitched, and the stitches were crooked and twisted like centipede legs.

"Go call forensic pathologist Fan." Yu Yan's voice suddenly became very soft. "I think we've found the missing part."

When Fan Jinci arrived, the scene was already cordoned off. He was wearing a white lab coat, his eyes as calm as ice. The moment he saw the teddy bear, his eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Interesting," he said softly, putting on his gloves and walking toward the bear.

Situ Jin stood two meters away, watching Fan Jinci precisely cut open the sutures with a scalpel. A stronger stench of decay wafted over, and Fan Jinci's calm voice rang out:

"Three heads, clean cuts, and signs of muscle contraction in the jaw indicate dismemberment after death. The killer was very professional; at least they had a basic understanding of anatomy."

Yu Yan crouched down, looking the teddy bear in the eye: "Why did you stuff it inside the teddy bear?"

"A sense of ritual." A woman's voice came from the doorway.

Li Weimian stood at the intersection of light and shadow, her black hair tied into a neat ponytail, and her gray suit jacket made her look more like a university professor than a police consultant.

She walked in slowly, her gaze sweeping over every corner of the room before finally settling on the teddy bear.

"The killer is performing some kind of ritual," she said softly. "Look at where the teddy bear is positioned—right in front of the TV, as if it's being 'watched' something. The family photo has been angled so it's now facing the teddy bear."

Yu Yan turned around and, sure enough, noticed that the photo frame had been slightly moved. He narrowed his eyes: "Obsessive-compulsive disorder?"

"Not only that." Li Weimian squatted beside the bloodstains. "Dismembering a body takes time and space. The killer lingered here for a long time without any concern for being discovered. Either extremely confident, or—"

"He knows the victim," Wen Lin's voice came from the doorway, a notebook in his hand. "He visited twelve neighbors, and they all said this family often argues. The husband is an alcoholic, the wife has rumors of having an affair, and the child... is particularly mischievous; last week, he even smashed the rearview mirror of the Mercedes downstairs."

Li Weimian walked up to the teddy bear and suddenly reached out to touch its right ear: "This spot is cleaner than the rest of the bear; people often stroke it here."

Fan Jinci, who was placing the head into an evidence bag, looked up upon hearing this: "You consider this an act of keeping a souvenir?"

"Not entirely." Li Weimian's eyes appeared exceptionally deep in the dim light. "The murderer had a special affection for this bear. Look at its brand label—it's a limited edition, discontinued three years ago. And based on the date the family photo was taken, the child is at most five years old."

Yu Yan suddenly understood: "It's not a child's toy."

"It's very likely her mother's," Li Weimian said softly. "A mother with a nostalgic streak would keep her toys from her teenage years. And the murderer knew that."

Wen Lin opened his notebook: "Wife Lin Qiaoqiao, 32 years old, a kindergarten teacher before marriage. Husband Liu Zhiqiang, 35 years old, a project manager at a construction company. Child Liu Xiaoyu, 5 years old."

"Investigate Lin Qiaoqiao's social connections," Yu Yan ordered, "especially those who know the origins of this bear."

Situ Jin finally recovered and asked in a low voice, "Why did you take the head and then put it back?"

Li Weimian and Fan Jinci exchanged a glance.

"Display," Fan Jinci said, "like trophies."

"No," Li Weimian shook her head, "it's more like punishment. Look at the direction of the incisions—they're all from the jaw upwards, as if forcing them to 'look up' at something." She suddenly turned to Wen Lin, "You said the children are naughty?"

Wen Lin nodded: "The neighbors say he often plays pranks, like dumping trash in front of other people's doors and urinating in the elevator."

Li Weimian's eyes lit up: "The murderer has a moral fastidiousness. Dismemberment is a kind of purification ritual, and the teddy bear... might be some kind of symbolic 'good child' image."

Yu Yan's phone suddenly rang. His expression turned serious after answering: "The technical department found this in the bear's stuffing."

The photo that came in was a blood-soaked note with the words "Bad kids will be eaten" written on it in crooked handwriting.