I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 42: Chapter 40: An Assortment of Knowledge

”I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t! I really didn’t kill anyone.”

”Name,” Qi Feng asked.

”Officer, I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t!” The man’s shouts were turning into sobs.

”Just your name first,” Qi Feng said.

”Zhao Hai.”

”Age?”

”Forty-three,” Zhao Hai answered, then added, ”Officer, I really didn’t kill anyone. I really didn’t.”

”If you didn’t kill anyone, you’ll be cleared,” Qi Feng said.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Yanzheng called for the salvage team.

Yan Cheng followed Su Miaoyi to confirm the body disposal site.

”I think it was the opposite bank. The river is pretty shallow on this side,” Su Miaoyi said. ”He just gave the body a push into the river, and SPLASH, it made a huge splash.”

Yan Cheng surveyed the area. This river passed through many places.

Even if they crossed to the other side, they would still need to pinpoint a general location.

”And this area is all grass, so it wouldn’t leave any footprints,” Su Miaoyi mused. ’After dumping the body, he must have erased his tracks before he left.’

”Are you familiar with this area?” Yan Cheng asked.

After asking, he waited a few seconds. When she didn’t answer, he turned his head and saw Su Miaoyi staring blankly at the river’s surface.

’This state she’s in...’

The next second, Su Miaoyi suddenly started walking toward the river.

Yan Cheng immediately grabbed her arm.

The step Su Miaoyi had taken was pulled back.

She turned her head to look at Yan Cheng.

Yan Cheng looked into her eyes. ”What’s wrong?”

”I, I...” Su Miaoyi looked back at the river. ”I hear someone calling me. Asking me to help her.”

Yan Cheng frowned and also looked at the river, which was glinting in the sunlight.

Su Miaoyi looked around and pointed to the southwest corner of the opposite bank. ”Over there. The voice is coming from over there.”

’It’s the same voice as that night.’

’So... she was drawn here by that voice and just happened to stumble upon the body in the sack.’

’And... if it weren’t for those two old men...’

’Was she planning to swim across the river to the other side?’

’Couldn’t she have just taken the long way around?’

’Did she really have to jump into the river?’

’She can’t even swim!’

...

The salvage team arrived.

Yan Cheng, Su Miaoyi, and the salvage team went to the opposite bank of the river.

The local police officers brought Zhao Hai over as well.

Zhuang Yanzheng stayed behind with Qi Feng and Chu Xingrou to continue examining the disposal site.

Su Miaoyi described the approximate location to the salvage team.

Before crossing to the other side, Yan Cheng had grabbed his autopsy toolkit from the car.

It was a habit formed from years on the job—always bring the toolkit to a crime scene.

Meanwhile, one of the local police officers was staring at Su Miaoyi.

”Isn’t that the young lady who jumped into the river last night?”

Su Miaoyi: ”...”

Su Miaoyi forced a polite smile. ”I found the meaning of life. Don’t feel like jumping anymore.”

Yan Cheng glanced at her.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze and sighed softly.

While the salvage team worked on recovering the body, she called Lu Zhishen again.

Lu Zhishen, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up once more.

Lying on his stomach, he fumbled for his phone, checked the caller ID, then rolled onto his back and answered, ”Yeah?”

Hearing the sound of his voice, Su Miaoyi felt a little apologetic. ”Um... I have to trouble you again.”

”Hm?” Lu Zhishen felt he was too tired to say anything more.

”A victim sketch,” Su Miaoyi said. ”But I only saw half of her face.”

The scene had been dark, but with the victim lying by the river, she had still managed to see half of her face.

”Okay,” Lu Zhishen replied, getting up and heading to the art studio next door.

’Today is not a day for sleeping.’

’Not a day for sleeping at all...’

...

When Zhuang Yanzheng was finished on his end, he left Qi Feng and Chu Xingrou behind to help and returned to the municipal bureau himself.

While the body was being recovered, Su Miaoyi stayed on the phone with Lu Zhishen and described the victim for the sketch.

After a long while, Su Miaoyi heard someone shout from the river, ”Got something!”

Yan Cheng immediately walked to the riverbank.

He watched as they dredged up skeletal remains.

The salvage team first brought a portion of them to the bank.

Yan Cheng spread a white cloth on the ground and began arranging the bones on it.

Qi Feng and Chu Xingrou helped.

They carried the bones from the river’s edge over to Yan Cheng.

As Yan Cheng reached out to take them, he noticed the skull was shaking.

He took it first, then looked at Chu Xingrou.

Chu Xingrou had only been an intern for a week, and this was her first time out in the field.

She had never seen a scene like this before.

She was on the verge of tears from fright.

But she was still gritting her teeth and enduring it.

Yan Cheng looked at her and offered a placid, toneless attempt at comfort: ”You’ll get used to it over time.”

”I’m not scared,” Chu Xingrou said, her tone resolute, but her voice... was trembling uncontrollably.

Yan Cheng said nothing more and continued piecing the skeleton together.

Having finished her call, Su Miaoyi walked over.

Recovering a skeleton was a major undertaking. An adult human has two hundred and six bones.

For now, they could only recover the larger ones.

”It’s completely skeletonized,” Su Miaoyi said. ”How long does it take... for this to happen?”

”Over a year, usually. It also depends on the environment,” Yan Cheng said, rinsing the mud off the bones with water.

The mud at the bottom of the river was thick, which was why the bones hadn’t been washed too far away.

”It’s the skeleton of a female,” Su Miaoyi said. ”It’s most likely the one I saw.”

Yan Cheng glanced at her, then paused and asked, ”How did you determine that?”

”The pelvis and the skull,” Su Miaoyi said. ”The pelvis is more delicate, its inlet is oval-shaped, the outlet is wider, and the pubic arch is U-shaped. As for the skull, the surface is smooth and round, and the brow ridge and superciliary arches aren’t prominent. These are all consistent with female characteristics.”

Yan Cheng nodded. ”Estimate the age.”

Su Miaoyi examined the wear on the teeth and the pubic symphysis, taking a while before saying, ”Around thirty-two?”

”What method did you use to determine that?” Yan Cheng asked again.

”The nine-phase classification method,” Su Miaoyi blurted out.

Yan Cheng stared at her.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze for two seconds, then suddenly realized what she had just said.

She opened her mouth, then said, ”I, uh, I seem to know quite a lot... ha.”

Yan Cheng nodded. ”And the method for estimating height?”

Su Miaoyi looked at the bones, thought for a moment, and said, ”To estimate height, you’d generally measure the long bones of the limbs, then add the average thickness of the sole and scalp?”

As she finished, her voice turned questioning.

Yan Cheng said, ”Correct. Your assessment isn’t far off from mine.”

Su Miaoyi didn’t say anything.

’Is the knowledge in my head a bit too... miscellaneous? Why does it feel like I know a little bit of everything?’

Just as she was thinking this, Zhao Hai started shouting again from nearby.

”I didn’t kill anyone! I want to go home! You’re cops, but you can’t just detain someone without cause! You can’t solve the case, so you’re trying to frame me! You’re trying to pin it on a powerless nobody like me!”

”Stop shouting! Shut up!” a police officer ordered.

Su Miaoyi looked up, then walked over.

Zhao Hai glared at Su Miaoyi. ”It was you! You’re the one spouting nonsense! You’re the one framing me! I obviously didn’t kill anyone! What are you trying to do? Why are you slandering me?! I have no grudge against you, so why are you trying to set me up?! Why?!”