181 The Girl

 

Seeing how shocked we were, Guan Zhenglin worked her wrist and explained, “Among the felids, the common cats are the only families that won’t murder us humans because they have been domesticated. Normal felids include tigers and lions, they can kill humans easily.” Guan Zhenglin shrugged, “Cats are just a miniature version of them. A small scratch and bite from a cat might not cause any injury but imagine if the cat was much larger. Felids normally like to be alone, they’re very agile, and incredibly curious.

“There is an untamed wilderness about them, which lend them that unique allure.” Guan Zhenglin continued, “But uncommon to most people is that if you suddenly die and are unable to feed your pet cat, they would start to munch on your lips and eyelids, because they are the softest parts on the human body. Of course, if the body is naked, then they might start with the genitalia because that is soft as well.”

Zhang Qinrui nodded and pointed at the two bodies’ bones. “Feline tongues are covered in little spines called papillae. They’re used to scrape down flesh from bones. That’s why the bodies are picked so clean.” Zhang Qinrui removed his gloves and added, “Stray cats are unlike house cats. They gorge whenever they have the chance because they have no idea when their next meal would come. From the missing mass of flesh on the dead bodies, it fit the bill. But,” Zhang Qinrui washed his hands and said, “Stray cats normally would stay away from human contact. If you encounter a stray cat and a stray dog on the street, the stray dog is more likely to answer your call. But you said you encountered the killer inside the hole which was filled with stray cats?”

I nodded. On the way back, I shared my experience with a few people. I was surprised Zhang Qinrui would have heard of it as well. Zhang Qinrui scratched his head and said, “That’s interesting. The strays appear to be used to the man’s presence. In other words, he often spends time with these strays.”

Zhang Qinrui was not wrong. Stray cats normally stayed away from humans, but the strays showed no resistance around the murder. I was reminded of the missing female boss from the adult toy shop. Could the killer have used her body to feed the cat to endear himself to them?

Time, time.

Suddenly, I realized there was another similarity in both of the stories. It also made me believe that the killer wasn’t picking his victims at random. In the first story, to familiarize himself with the lifestyle of the two girls, it would take time.

In the second story, the killer also needed time to endear himself to the group of stray cats. In the story, the girl said that the cats had been around for half a month already, in other words, the killer had been in preparation for at least half a month already.

However, there were only several days of difference between the first and second story. In other words, when the killer was committing to the first story, he was already spending time with these cats. In conclusion, the killer’s targets, the method and the stories were mostly all premeditated. This was a killer who followed his own plan strictly. I should have noticed this sooner, after all, these stories could not be completed without lengthy preparation.

Gu Chen sighed, “I really don’t know how to face those stray cats in the market anymore, now that some of them might have ingested human flesh.” Gu Chen painted the pictures of the cute cats munching on dead people in the dark, it was not a pretty picture alright.

Zhang Qinrui added, “Does it really make any difference? I often see pet owners picking up their pets to kiss and hug after the pets had just finished doing their business. What’s the difference?” We were speechless.

Guan Zhenglin cut in, “Well, this is nature at work, either humans eat animals or animals eat humans. We consume so many dead animals daily. In any case, there is still one last body. We should hurry up.”

Guan Zhenglin moved to the girl’s body. Zhang Qinrui put his gloves back on to help Guan Zhenglin. Gu Chen and I observed the girl’s body, her head and her body were separated. Her head was placed to the side. Seeing this, my heart was heavy. This was just a young girl, one couldn’t help but feel the sense of potential lost, especially when she had died in such an unnatural way.

Guan Zhenglin began softly, “Before we start the autopsy, perhaps we should study the English characters first.” Zhang Qinrui hissed and sighed, “The wounds around the letters are bloody and red, in other words…” He didn’t know how to continue. We turned to look at him. Then Guan Zhenglin added, “In other words, the girl was alive when the killer carved down these English letters.”

“Fuck!” Gu Chen cursed, “Fuck.”

The rest of us were silent. Guan Zhenglin must have noticed this at the crime scene but she didn’t point it out. Many English characters were carved into the girl’s stomach. The wounds were so deep that the flesh was turned inside out. The pain must have been monumental on a girl this young!

This killer must be completely inhumane to do something like this to a powerless little girl!

“Translate it.” I suppressed the heavy helplessness and sadness in my heart. I regretted not capturing the killer when I had the chance. What if the killer went after someone younger next time?

Guan Zhenglin thought for a while before she started translating, “Darkness survives in the eternal night. The hungry beasts, the cleansed human sin, expands, disappears and finally silences in nothingness. Tremble, those who are shaking, for the massacre has begun.”

Similar to last time, this was a statement that was incredibly confusing. We had no idea what the killer was trying to say. However, it was certain that there were deeper meanings behind them. We just hadn’t figured them out yet.

I nodded and the autopsy began. The whole process was silent but the sound of scalpel and scissors. There was the sound of meat being cut and the breathing of us four. When a girl was placed like this before us, what could we do but be silent?

She was a good pianist, she might grow up to make the country proud, she might become a famous celebrity, or a world-famous musician, but now she was a dead body on the table. All hope was lost.

One hour later, Guan Zhenglin said, “The time of death is around 4.30 am. The cause of death is a stab into the back of the neck. The cut severed the artery in her neck. She would have died in less than 2 minutes.” Guan Zhenglin showed us the girl’s head. The dagger was still inside the neck. It went in from the back of the neck and came out from the front. I was reminded of what I saw inside the hole. Before the cat knocked the head over, the girl’s head was connected to her body via this dagger.

Guan Zhenglin continued, “After the girl’s death, a fish line was tied around her neck. The killer slowly pulled and eventually the force decapitated the girl.”

My skin crawled with goosebumps. In the dark, endless cats were feeding on two bodies. The killer leaned against the wall and slowly pulled on the fishline around the girl’s neck. As the smell of human meat wafted out from the hole, more strays would be attracted into the hole.

The killer was perverted. But that begs the question, why didn’t the killer come after me? I frowned because I had no answer.

Guan Zhenglin concluded, “There’s nothing else. The girl’s body was extremely healthy… a shame.”

The last step of the autopsy was to replace all the organs and sew the bodies back up. We saw the girl being cut open and now being sewn back up. Her short life flashed before us. Guan Zhenglin covered the girl with white cloth. “When this case is over, the family of three will be cremated. Hopefully, they will have peace then.”

I told them, “I need you to follow me to investigate some things. I have a feeling that even though our killer is a psychopath, he is not completely crazy, he didn’t kill at random. He seems to have his own condition for picking his victim.” I said seriously, “And our job is to figure out that condition!”