As the wind blew, I held a metre-long leg and the chill froze inside my heart. It travelled through my body, making my limbs numb. This was a chill stronger than the wintry wind, it frosted my heart. Chief Zhou came to my side and the air puffed out of his lips as he said, “Wu Meng, shall we return now?”
I glanced at the leg I was holding and said slowly, “Let’s go back and see if we can find any useful clues from this leg.” On the way back, Chief Zhou didn’t share anymore jokes with us. It was understandable, after encountering something like this, even the most optimistic person would feel rather affected. The two vehicles slowly made their ways through the bracing winds…
…
The morgue looked like it had been abandoned for years. According to Chief Zhou, this place was just a decoration because there hadn’t been any murder at Elm Town for a long time already. Those who died from accidents were processed at the hospital so this morgue was mostly left unused. The place was not fitted with a heater and I had to stomp several times to keep my feet from freezing. Guan Zhenglin took in the dilapidated condition and sighed. “The situation can be better but at least all the basic equipment is here. However, the biggest problem is the leg is like a frozen ham now, I can’t perform an autopsy on that. We need to wait until the leg thaws out before we can do anything.”
“But this place is so cold, it’ll take forever for it to thaw out here.” Chief Zhou scratched his head and said embarrassingly, “So what should we do now?”
“How about,” I said, “We move it to somewhere warmer then?” If you opened the door to Elm Town’s police station at that moment, you would be greeted by a strange scene. There were 4 people seated around a table where a leg was sitting. This was not a pig or cow leg but a human leg. Due to the heaters in the office, the ice on the outside of the leg was melting with visible speed. It formed trickles of water and dripped down the side of the table. Soon, puddles were formed on the table as well as around it. We stared at the long leg like a bunch of hyenas waiting for the food to be ready.
After about half an hour, the whole leg finally thawed out. The defrosted leg lost its earlier rigidity and it looked wrinkled. Chief Zhou grabbed a towel to wipe off the water stains on the leg. Guan Zhenglin reached out to stop him, “Don’t, this kind of towel will leave behind fibres and it might accidentally wipe away the traces left behind by the killer. The friction might also scar the fragile skin…”
After hearing that Chief Zhou’s eyes shone and he said seriously, “Impressive! I’ve learnt so much in the last few hours. I have to admit, you people from the big city are amazing. My admiration for you guys is as deep as the water of the Yellow River…”
“Thank you!” Guan Zhenglin picked up the leg and said with some excitement, “We can start the autopsy now, let’s see what this leg can tell us.”
We all returned to the simple morgue. The environment here was truly unbearable. The cold was too much. Whenever we spoke, white mist would come out from our mouths. However, Guan Zhenglin needed to dissect the leg in this environment. To not affect her motion, she only wore a simple glove, that was not going to give much resistance against the cold. Guan Zhenglin cut fast and accurately, using the tools inside her toolbox. Chief Zhou gasped, “The technology is so advanced now?”
Eventually, Guan Zhenglin finished the job. Chief Zhou hurried to grab a hot pack from the office and handed it to Guan Zhenglin. As she removed her gloves, I saw that her palms were frozen red. As she hugged the hot pack, she said, “There is no trace of fingerprints. Either the killer wore gloves or they have been washed away by the melted snow. From the current state of the flesh, the leg has been chopped off for 6 to 9 hours already. In other words,” She continued, “When we arrived at the crime scene, the leg had been dismembered for 1 to 3 hours already. The conditions here and the leg itself doesn’t allow me to pinpoint the time further. But if we can find the other body parts, I might be able to make a comparison analysis.”
I nodded, a general time frame was already enough to provide us with a direction. Chief Zhou looked at Guan Zhenglin and said embarrassingly, “You better hurry back to the office. The conditions here are really not that comfortable.” Guan Zhenglin shrugged and then tossed me the hot pack. I grabbed it and realized the hot pack had already gone cold. I looked out the leaky windows. The snow started to fall again, looks like the cold draft coming from Siberia this year was quite strong.
“I have something to show you.” Guan Zhenglin used a tweezer to pick up one brown and short fur. It looked sturdier than human hair, I had no idea what it was.
Gu Chen asked, “What is that?” Guan Zhenglin shook her head as she placed it inside the evidence bag. “I have no clue, there’s no device here to do the analysis. If we want to know the answer, we’ll have to send it to a better lab.” Chief Zhou looked abashed. “Okay, I’ll immediately send my men to send this to the nearest city. Let’s get back to the office now, it’s so cold here.” Everyone nodded and left the morgue. As we opened the door, we were blasted by the cold draft, it almost shoved us back into the morgue. The snow was getting heavier and the sky was getting darker. It felt like the world was ending in snow.
As we returned to the heated office, I never felt so thankful for the invention of heaters. Guan Zhenglin placed her hands around the heater and sighed, “This is the first time I’ve encountered such a cold winter. In the summer, my life is given by air-conditioners; but in the winter, my life is given by heaters.”
Guan Zhenglin’s comments made me think of the killer. Was this person immune to the cold? Based on the time frame given by Guan Zhenglin, when the body was dumped, it was snowing as heavily as it was now. We could barely function in this weather but it didn’t seem to affect the killer, why? Who was this person?
Wu Zui’s words hit me then, if I didn’t utilize the talent I was given, then I was just a normal person. But I was afraid of sinking too deep to perfect a criminal profile. I sat on the couch and watched as ice crystals formed on the surface of the glass.
“What should we do next?” Chief Zhou asked. I gritted my teeth and decided to give it a try. I closed my eyes and imagined myself as the killer, why would I kill, why did I dump the body, what was my motive? The images appeared in my mind, I began slowly, “I am the killer, I am around 1.8 to 1.9 metres tall and I am quite large. I have a big gut. I wear black or blue overalls to work, the pants are tied around my waist. I wear leather boots and gloves.” The pain appeared in my mind but I continued, “I shouldered a winter coat on my back and I carried a machete in my hand. This is a machete about 60 to 70 cm long. But since it has sawn through too many bones, the blade is no longer as sharp. The machete is covered in blood so much so that the blade has changed color. It has a bloody scent that cannot be hidden.” The headache intensified as if the killer was grabbing my brain, “My hands are calloused, there’s an apron around my stomach. The apron was originally white but it is now black and red. After I use the machete, I will use the apron to wipe down the blade… I have a slice of paradise that is my own.” I resisted the pain and hurried through the rest, “No one knows about this place, this place has no water and electricity supply…” I shouted, “I am a butcher!”
Suddenly, I felt a buzz in my brain and my head blanked. I couldn’t hear, see or feel anything. I stood in nothingness, with no one around me. “Wu Meng! Wu Meng!” The voices drifted closer and closer. The senses slowly returned to me. I could feel light and warmth as well as a hand on my shoulder shaking me. Guan Zhenglin’s nervous calls entered my ears, “Wu Meng, Wu Meng!” My eyes flew open and everyone was looking at me. I touched my forehead and found beads of sweat. I took in heavy gasps of air like I had just finished a marathon. I felt my tongue going dry and the pain pounding in my head. Chief Zhou looked at me. He wanted to say something but didn’t in the end. Guan Zhenglin asked with concern, “Are you alright?”
I rubbed my temples and cleared my throat, “I’m fine but that was all I got at the moment, if we have more clues, the image of the killer should become clearer. For now, I cannot confirm the killer’s motive or the standards they have for picking out their targets.” Guan Zhenglin accepted a towel from Chief Zhou and gave it to me. “Wait, wasn’t this towel used to wipe down the leg earlier?” I was quite touched but when I saw the towel, I couldn’t help but complain.
Chief Zhou shrugged, “It wasn’t used in the end, was it? But Wu Meng, that was amazing. With just a close of your eyes, you’ve given us a general profile of the suspect. Can you teach me that skill later on?”
“Sure, if you want to learn.” I smiled. What Chief Zhou didn’t know was this couldn’t be taught. The criminal psychologist who came up with the theory of criminal profiling was a psychologist who suffered from lifelong mental illness and probably only a true mental patient would be able to utilize this skill to its full potential…
1 comment:
Thank you for the chapter!!
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