Chapter 48: The Scene of the Crime

A black Volkswagen sedan sped down the wide avenue.

“Do you know why I didn’t bring Xiao Li with us?” Katerina asked from the driver’s seat, not bothering to look back.

“No, I don’t,” Chang Yu replied honestly from the backseat.

“I know, I know! It’s because he didn’t wash his hair,” Feng Sanpao chimed in, a lollipop hanging from his mouth, clearly enjoying himself.

Feng Sanpao’s answer was a little absurd, but considering he was still a child and not particularly bright, Chang Yu didn’t expect him to say anything sensible.

“This is your first mission, so there’s a lot you don’t understand yet,” Katerina’s voice was soft, but clear enough for Chang Yu to hear.

“Our battlefield is much harsher than you imagine. Those Catastrophes are far from easy to deal with.”

“Xiao Li is different from us. He’s just an ordinary person, with no special talents or abilities.”

“Even though he’s a soldier and has undergone special physical training, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the Catastrophes.”

“Not letting him come is for his own protection. We all have families, parents, children depending on us.”

“It’s enough for him to run errands and handle logistics. Don’t bring them to the front lines.”

“If, because of our mistake, he ends up dying, how are we supposed to explain it to his family? Who will support his loved ones then?”

“I understand,” Chang Yu replied, his face heavy. “We can’t let our support staff march to their deaths. Their battlefield isn’t here, it’s behind the scenes.”

A man with backbone would never, and could never, send his own subordinates to die.

For a moment, Chang Yu felt his sense of justice surge within him.

“That’s why we rarely bring logistics personnel on missions. If we can drive ourselves, we do,” Katerina said.

“I wish I could drive myself,” Chang Yu tilted his head. “But the problem is, I don’t know how.”

As soon as he finished, Feng Sanpao became animated again, shouting, “I can drive! Next time, let me drive!”

“Shut up!” Chang Yu finally lost his patience. “Even if I had to jump off a fifty-meter building, or let a hundred elephants stomp all over me, or starve for ten days, I’d still never get in a car you were driving!”

This time it was Feng Sanpao’s turn to be confused. He stared with wide, innocent eyes, like a startled fawn. “Why not? Why won’t you ride in my car?”

“Why do you think? Who’d dare get in a car with a lunatic behind the wheel? You’d have to be tired of living!”

Feng Sanpao was indignant, his chest heaving with emotion.

“That’s discrimination against the mentally ill! What’s wrong with being mentally ill? Is it a crime?”

“Did I eat your rice, steal your onions, sleep with your wife, or smash your pots?”

Chang Yu felt his forehead throbbing, his blood pressure rising in anger. He was just about to grab the lollipop from Feng Sanpao’s mouth and stuff it somewhere the sun didn’t shine.

At that moment, Katerina abruptly intervened.

“All right, that’s enough! Gentlemen, we’ve arrived,” she announced.

...

As the capital of Province H, City H was a rapidly developing metropolis.

Years ago, large-scale shantytown renovations had been completed throughout the city.

Countless single-story houses were torn down by developers and replaced with towering buildings.

Yet, even so, some holdouts refused to accept the government’s compensation for demolition and stubbornly remained in their homes, hoping to force the developers to raise their offers.

One side refused to pay more; the other refused to accept less. And so, a stalemate ensued.

The result was that, in a few hidden corners of City H, clusters of shantytowns still remained.

Katerina and her companions had arrived at just such a place. Everywhere they looked were dilapidated houses and muddy paths.

Parking by the roadside, Chang Yu and Feng Sanpao followed Katerina to a house cordoned off with police tape.

Several police cars were parked nearby, their red and blue lights flashing. A long strip of tape blocked the entrance.

Uniformed officers stood before the tape, maintaining order and keeping people from entering the scene.

A crowd had already gathered, pointing at the house and exchanging various rumors.

“Excuse me, ma’am, there’s been a murder. No entry beyond this point,” said an officer, hurrying to intercept them.

“We’re from the inspection team sent from above,” Katerina replied. “From now on, we’re taking over the case.”

“Inspection team? I haven’t heard anything about an inspection team coming from above.” The officer looked genuinely confused.

“We really are from above,” Katerina said calmly. “We notified your superiors before we came.”

“Please wait here. I’ll check with my commanding officer.” Though the officer seemed bewildered, he rushed into the house.

Katerina’s group didn’t look like they were joking. If they really were from above and he kept them out, there’d be trouble. Best to let the boss handle it.

It wasn’t long before a middle-aged officer with a single stripe and three stars on his shoulder boards came out, trailed by the officer who’d gone in.

Chang Yu noticed that the officer who’d gone to report always stayed half a step behind the middle-aged man, treating him with marked respect.

This must be the person in charge, Chang Yu thought.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Li Weiguo, deputy captain of the fifth criminal investigation unit,” the man introduced himself to Katerina. “You must be the investigators sent from above. My superiors just called, instructing us to cooperate fully.”

“Hello, Captain Li. We’d like to examine the crime scene,” Katerina replied, her demeanor severe and authoritative.

“Of course. Please, follow me.” Li Weiguo waved to the officers guarding the tape, who immediately opened a narrow passage just wide enough for one person.

Following the single-file path, Chang Yu stepped within the cordoned area at last.

“This is already the third case this month,” Li Weiguo explained as he led them inside.

The house was extremely shabby. Large patches of exposed cement marred the damp walls, and the furniture was terribly old.

All in all, the environment was dreadful—worse even than the rented room Chang Yu had lived in before.

The victim lay sprawled in the center of the room, his body covered in savage wounds made by something sharp. The gashes were ghastly and pale from loss of blood.

His face was frozen in terror and despair, ashen and drained, with blood pooling across the floor.

The cramped space reeked with the nauseating stench of blood.

To preserve the scene, the corpse had yet to be moved.

“Ugh!” Unable to stomach the sight, Chang Yu turned away, retching.

It was his first time seeing a dead person—let alone one so brutally slain. He couldn’t help but feel unsettled.

The wretched image of the dead man seemed to haunt him, as persistent as the metallic tang in the air, replaying over and over in his mind.

His stomach churned with nausea.

Feng Sanpao fared little better, pressing a handkerchief—who knows where he’d gotten it—over his mouth and nose, afraid he’d lose his meal.

Katerina, by contrast, was disturbingly calm.

Without a word, she donned surgical gloves and squatted by the body, examining the wounds carefully, as if unfazed by the gruesome scene.

“What’s the victim’s identity?” she asked, probing a wound as she addressed Li Weiguo.

“His name is Wu Renyao, thirty-five years old, male, unmarried, an unemployed drifter,” Li Weiguo replied without hesitation.

“How long has he been dead?”

“Not quite an hour.”

Katerina touched the blood on the floor; it was still thick, not yet dried—proof the victim hadn’t been dead long.

“Who discovered the body?” she continued.

Li Weiguo answered, “The neighbors nearby. They rushed in after hearing Wu Renyao’s cries for help.”

“When they entered, the room was empty except for Wu Renyao, who was barely alive. They called the police immediately.”

“As soon as we arrived, we conducted a preliminary autopsy and confirmed the time of death matched the neighbors’ account.”

“So, the neighbors barged in as soon as he called for help?” Katerina mused aloud.

Li Weiguo nodded candidly. “Exactly. Several passersby can vouch for it. The neighbors were first on the scene.”

“We also checked all the surveillance in the area. No suspicious individuals appeared near his house during the relevant time.”

It took Chang Yu a while to adjust to the grisly sight, but his complexion was still pale. “That’s strange.”

“According to the witnesses, there was no one else in the house when Wu Renyao died. So how did he die? Are you saying it was suicide?”

Li Weiguo shook his head. “That’s unlikely. Suicide wouldn’t cause so many wounds.”

“That’s what puzzles us most. It can’t be suicide, but if it’s murder, then where’s the killer? It’s baffling.”

Katerina’s eyes sharpened as she made a discovery. She plucked a bloodstained hair from the pool of blood and examined it closely.

“This was no suicide, but a deliberate murder,” Katerina declared, her tone resolute.

She stood, placing the hair into a transparent evidence bag and sealing it.

“Captain Li, please tell me the identities of the previous two victims, and when they died.”

She peeled off her gloves, stuffed them into her pocket, and turned a clear, confident gaze on Li Weiguo, every gesture exuding quiet assurance.