Chapter 163: Chips (I) A Female Corpse
January 1, New Year's Day, 8:15 AM
Nanqiao Town, Room 302 on the third floor of Fangzao Building, Mai Shaozhen, fully armed and wearing protective clothing, carefully stepped into the chilling bathroom.
As soon as her feet touched the tub, they were immediately submerged in maggot-infested filth.
With every step taken, one could hear a creepy sound of explosion, as if countless lives were crushed in an instant.
These maggots are full of energy. They swarm up Mai Shaozhen's feet, trying to find a new place to live on her body.
And while she was concentrating on examining the corpse, she had to shake her feet, trying to shake off these troublesome creatures.
The atmosphere at the scene was extremely depressing. Except for the professional forensic doctor, everyone including Ye Bai and the trace inspector were shocked by the horrific scene.
The person who called the police was Chen Shasha, the deceased's upstairs neighbor. She said: "I have been smelling a bad odor for the past two days, and I wondered if someone's cat or dog had died. After all, we don't have any mice here, and I specifically asked the neighbors upstairs and downstairs, and they all said they didn't have pets. Only my downstairs neighbor didn't respond no matter how much we knocked. We were very sure that the odor came from her house, so we went to contact the landlord, but found that the phone was not answered no matter how we called. We thought something might have happened, so we called the police."
The police officers at the scene covered their mouths and could not help but run out of the bathroom, squatting in the corner and retching, trying to vomit out all the food in their stomachs to relieve the strong visual and psychological impact.
Mai Shaozhen gently brushed away the maggots on the face of the deceased and began to take pictures. "The deceased was a woman, about 160 cm tall, her body was beginning to swell, blood foam was coming out of her mouth and nose, she was wearing pajamas, her wrists were resting outside the bathtub, and there was a dagger on the ground. It looked like she committed suicide at night."
Then he took a closer look at the neck of the deceased. "It looks like there are traces of strangulation here. Let's take a closer look at it when we return to the autopsy room."
The bathroom was filled with a foul smell, and the walls were filled with wriggling maggots all over the floor. Qi Xiaolei stepped on several of the exploding maggots while walking, which made her feel extremely sick.
Mai Shaozhen stared at Si Yue and said, "There are obvious strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased. We need to bring him back for a detailed autopsy to determine whether it was suicide. According to current observations, the time of death was about five days ago."
"In other words, it was around December 27th." Si Yue raised his eyebrows slightly, a hint of doubt on his face, "Isn't it? It looks very much like suicide." He pointed to the bloodstains and the dagger on the ground.
Mai Shaozhen nodded, his expression solemn: "If we only look at the surface phenomenon, it is indeed easy for people to mistake it for suicide. But the strangulation marks on the deceased's neck make people have to doubt that this is probably a suicide scene carefully faked by the murderer."
"Okay, I'll wait for your report." Si Yue thought, "If it's a criminal case, it's probably someone familiar with the perpetrator."
"Yes. After all, I brought them all back home."
At this time, Ye Bai and Liao Wei had just returned from investigating the landlord and had already found out the identity of the deceased.
Liao Wei reported: "Deputy Captain Si, we have investigated thoroughly. The deceased is Fang Yuan, a 24-year-old woman living alone, who was an ear cleaner."
"Living alone?" Si Yue glanced at the furnishings and objects in the house. "There are male items, but not many."
He was not sure whether the deceased had many friends or family members who left them.
Several trace investigators have gathered at the scene, and they are conducting a meticulous investigation.
Ye Bai stood outside the door, looking around the house, and finally fixed his eyes on the direction of the bathroom.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Generally speaking, a suicide would leave a suicide note, right? But I see no signs of a struggle here, and the room is kept very tidy, with no signs of being turned over. The deceased lived alone, and if she really committed suicide, there must be a trigger that led her to make such a decision. Was she trapped in love? Or did she owe a huge debt? Or was she seriously ill? There must be a reasonable reason."
Si Yue also noticed that the deceased's cell phone was not found at the crime scene. "If it was really suicide, the cell phone should have been left at home."
Su Wan said firmly: "The phone must have been taken away by the murderer."
Qi Xiaolei has already retrieved the surveillance video from the floor, but has not returned yet.
But fortunately, trace examination personnel had collected multiple fingerprints at the scene and found semen stains on the bed sheets.
In this way, Ye Bai could be sure without a doubt that the deceased had had sexual intercourse with someone before being killed.
The murderer is most likely a man who had an intimate relationship with the deceased. Perhaps the two had a fierce dispute over something, which eventually led to this tragedy.
Si Yue decisively issued an order: "It is now minus two degrees Celsius, the coldest time of the year, and the weather is extremely cold, which greatly slows down the decay and worm-eaten process of the corpse. Because of this, the corpse was not discovered for a full five days. Therefore, the last person the deceased contacted before his death is extremely important. I speculate that the motive for this murder is likely to be due to a complicated emotional entanglement."
Liao Wei echoed, "Yes, five days is enough time for the murderer to escape from the country."
"Don't say such depressing words." Su Wan interrupted Liao Wei, "Maybe the murderer is still in Zhunan City."
At this moment, Qi Xiaolei was returning with the surveillance video from five days ago.
"Deputy Captain, the surveillance equipment in this building only covers the main entrance on the first floor. Due to the large flow of people in this area and the complex composition of the personnel, we can only bring the surveillance video back to the bureau for careful screening."
"Well, it would be best if we could find footage of Fang Yuan going upstairs with the man." Si Yue pondered, and added, "If we want to trace back the surveillance video, the workload is huge. To be safe, all surveillance cameras within a radius of several kilometers need to be checked."
"That's right. I guess I'll have to watch videos non-stop for 24 hours." Liao Wei interrupted.
Si Yue smiled and patted Liao Wei on the shoulder. "Fortunately, there are many clues left at the scene this time. It is a blessing in disguise."
Ye Bai walked back and forth in the deceased's room, with a hint of doubt in his heart.
The deceased's room was unusually tidy. Was this due to the deceased's habit of cleanliness during his lifetime? Or did the murderer clean up the scene after committing the crime?
It is possible that the murderer had certain anti-detection capabilities, but there were many fingerprints left at the scene.
He didn't know whether it was because of his preconceived ideas or because he thought the case was too complicated, but in any case, he had a personal feeling that this case was far from being as simple as it seemed.