The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 507: Chapter 289: There’s Still One Box Left Unopened! (Part 2)

Wan suddenly had a brainwave: ”Could it be that he brings the tools every time, does the work, and then takes them away? Like an itinerant carpenter in ancient times?”

”You kid...”

Li Jian’s mouth twitched, ”Your imagination is quite rich. But I suspect there might be other similar hidden spots nearby.”

Soon, Jiang An came outdoors with a high-powered flashlight, the night wind tousling his somewhat disheveled short hair.

His sharp gaze swept over every inch of land like a searchlight.

Suddenly, he noticed an anomaly on the right side — although the grass was growing, it was much sparser than elsewhere, with a suspiciously deliberate arrangement, as if concealing some shameful secret.

He crouched down, his slender fingers gently parted the grass, and the touch of soil on his fingertips made him frown slightly.

”Wan, is there a small shovel in the toolbox?”

He asked without turning his head, his voice low and restrained, carrying the professional vigilance of a criminal police officer.

”The softness of the soil layer here is off, I suspect there might be an empty space beneath.”

The young police officer who discovered the grass hut first quickly stepped forward, pulling a folding spade from his waist.

”Mr. Jiang, I have this with me.”

Jiang An took the spade and began digging with proficient movements.

The tip of the spade had just pierced the soil when a muffled ”thud” echoed — the space below was empty!

As soil was continuously shoveled away, an entrance similar to a rural sweet potato cellar gradually became visible.

Jiang An adjusted the flashlight’s beam angle, the strong light penetrating the darkness inside, revealing a meticulously designed enclosed space.

”Mr. Li!”

Jiang An’s voice rose slightly due to the significant discovery. ”There’s a secret chamber here! It’s a double-layer structure!”

Li Jian hurried over at the sound, squatting at the edge of the entrance to observe carefully, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

”The upper layer of grass is special treatment camouflage, supported by an anti-corrosion treated pine wood ceiling...”

”This requires at least half a year’s preparation time.”

He removed his police cap and wiped his sweat, ”This killer is even more calculating than we imagined.”

With everyone’s concerted effort, the camouflaged grass was quickly cleared away.

An enclosed space less than eight square meters was fully exposed to everyone.

Even more shocking was the neatly arranged array of professional-grade woodworking tools inside, and — three rows of locked solid wood cabinets.

Seven cabinet doors in each row, a total of twenty-one doors gleamed with a chilling metallic sheen under the glare.

Li Jian involuntarily shivered; he had thought the killer merely cunning but hadn’t realized the meticulousness involved.

As a veteran detective with twenty years of experience, he knew all too well what a painstakingly designed storage space signifies.

This isn’t a spur-of-the-moment crime, but a long-term planned pathological behaviour.

”Looks like...”

Li Jian’s voice tightened as he turned to the officer who had first entered the scene, attempting to maintain the authority of a captain, ”We have to open these cabinets one by one. Make sure to wear gloves and avoid destroying any potential fingerprint evidence.”

The officer understood, immediately pulling out hydraulic pliers.

The metallic ”snap” of broken locks echoed sharply in the silent underground space, each sound like a thump on everyone’s heart.

As each lock was snipped off, cabinet doors were opened one after another —

The first cabinet contained an old Nokia phone, dark red blood stains on its body had oxidised to black.

The second cabinet held a delicately crafted silver bracelet, suspicious brown stains lingering between its links.

The third cabinet contained a platinum necklace, the heart-shaped pendant similarly stained with dried blood.

....

When the seventh cabinet door was opened, the scene descended into an eerie silence.

Seven cabinets, seven items clearly belonging to different women.

Each item bore horrifying bloodstain marks.

The eighth to fourteenth cabinets were empty, seemingly awaiting new ”collectibles.”

This systematic emptiness was more chilling than being filled.

No professional criminal investigation knowledge was needed for everyone present to understand what this implied — they were likely facing a compulsive collector serial killer, and his ’hunt’ was far from over.

”Seven cabinets...”

Zhang Yean’s voice trembled, her hand holding the evidence camera quivered slightly.

”He... He already killed seven people? Yet we’ve only found three bodies?”

Li Jian did not respond immediately, instead casting a questioning look at Jiang An, who was carefully inspecting the evidence.

This subtle action showed his full trust in the young partner’s professional abilities.

Jiang An took a deep breath, his voice steady and controlled: ”From the current physical evidence, such a possibility indeed exists.”

”The final conclusion awaits DNA extraction and comparison of each item by the lab.”

”If proven to be from different individuals...”

He didn’t finish, but the implication was already clear.

”Seven female victims...”

Li Jian muttered, his face turning exceptionally grave, his fingers unconsciously stroking his badge, ”Never has Jiangcheng faced such a heinous serial murder case in its history! If this gets out...”

This battle-seasoned detective rarely appeared stunned.

In his career, the most severe case he handled involved four victims, yet the current figure nearly doubled.

The nature of the case was entirely different, possibly alerting the highest judicial authority.

”So far, only three corpses found...”

Mr. Fu’s voice grew softer, as if in soliloquy.

”Could there be four yet to be found? Or... worse, are there four living victims?”

The thought caused a throbbing in his temples.

Originally believed to be just a typical homicide case, they hadn’t expected it to unrivet such a horrendous serial murder!

Unlike the others’ shock, Jiang An maintained an unusual calmness.

He donned rubber gloves, meticulously inspecting each piece of evidence, his professional eye capturing every detail:

Blood spatter patterns, wear and tear on the items, engravings on the jewellery... these items varied in style, the positioning of blood stains differed as well, increasing his internal unease — there may very well be seven victims, four of whose whereabouts are unknown.

Under normal circumstances, they should immediately cordon off the site and report to Dragon Country’s Ministry of Public Security.

But current circumstances were unique: the supervising team from the Ministry was present, with Jiang An in the criminal investigation team, they were fully capable of independently completing the preliminary examination.

Considering this point, Li Jian straightened his posture, his voice restoring its past authority.

”Comrades, this is the critical scene!”

”Everyone, proceed with a comprehensive examination according to standard procedures, the photography team to start with panoramic shots, the evidence team to handle numbering and registration, the technical team to extract all possible biological material.”

”Yes!”

The orderly and powerful response echoed in the cramped space, each person was well aware of the weight of responsibility they bore.

The investigation worked swiftly and in order.

Flashlights continuously flashed, measurement tools shuttled between pieces of evidence, the rustle of notebook pages turning resounded...

Only Li Jian, Mr. Fu, and Jiang An remained temporarily unmoving.

They needed to consider the next steps from an overall perspective.

Jiang An’s gaze roved within the secret chamber, his mind racing: ”There are so many victims’ belongings here, but where is the direct evidence pointing to Li Lei?”

”Fingerprints, DNA can only prove he’s been here.”

”How to prove he is the killer? How to construct a complete evidence chain?”

He recalled the messily flipped criminal investigation books and carefully organized newspaper clippings in the grass hut.

”This person possesses considerable professional counter-investigation abilities... could there be even more crucial evidence he has hidden here?”

This thought prompted him to quickly return above ground, re-entering the grass hut.

Donning new gloves, he began a systematic search.

Every book’s flyleaf.

Every back page of each newspaper.

Even every crevice of the furniture.

.....

Nothing was found.

Just as he was about to give up, his gaze fell on the crude wooden bed.

The bed only topped with a straw mat, but beneath it, a finely crafted hidden compartment was faintly visible.

Bending down to check, sure enough, he discovered a locked small wooden box.

”Brother!” Jiang An reached his hand out to the officer beside him, his eyes still fixed on the safe, ”Could you lend me the hydraulic pliers again?”

”Huh?”

The officer looked surprised, ”Didn’t we open all the cabinets just now?”

Jiang An pointed under the bed, a keen smile playing on his lips.

”There’s still a box here that hasn’t been checked.”

....