196 Penetration

 

Guan Zhenglin and Zhang Qinrui had just sewn up the body when we heard the screams from outside. We walked out and were notified there was another death. Based on the officer’s description, the person’s way of death was very strange. The crime scene had been secured by the local police.

I asked the officer, “Where’s the crime scene?” The officer looked at Xiao Liu and me. “It’s at Happiness Neighbourhood, the same neighborhood where Ol’ Wang and the boy live.” 

We looked at each other. We understood that this had to be the doing of that serial killer. However, the neighborhood was under great scrutiny after the incident with Ol’ Wang and the boy, so how did the killer continue to murder without being discovered?

The officer couldn’t answer my question. I looked at the boy’s parents and leaned to whisper into Guan Zhenglin’s ear. “Is the autopsy on the boy done?”

Guan Zhenglin nodded. 

I turned to Zhang Qinrui. “Zhang Qinrui, you can stay here to help. The rest of us will hurry to Happiness Neighborhood.” 

Then without wasting time, we hurried to the crime scene. Xiao Liu departed with his own team. 

Inside the car, I asked Guan Zhenglin, “What is the situation with the boy?” 

Guan Zhenglin balled up her gloves, placed them back in the toolbox, and then told me, “The boy did fall from a great height, and the cause of death is a broken spine. The time of death is around 1 am. There is no drug found in his body, so he was thrown off the building fully conscious. But he was unable to scream for help.”

“Why?” I asked.

Guan Zhenglin sighed sadly. “I didn’t want to elaborate when the boy’s parents were at the morgue. The boy’s tongue was cut, and a large stone was stuffed inside his mouth. When he hit the ground, the stone smashed against his teeth, and they were all knocked out. It was cruel.”

I held my chin as I tried to suppress my anger. We knew this killer was ruthless, and they wouldn’t hold back even against a child. They were like an animal who only knew how to kill.

With a sigh, I said, “Ol’ Wang’s imagined scenarios have occurred, the noisy brat is now dead, and he was permanently silenced before he died. Then who do you think would die next?”

“In the story, Ol’ Wang has three imagined scenarios.” Gu Chen said as he drove. “The first scenario was his unnamed colleague being eaten by the machine; the second was a sexual encounter with the widow opposite from him; the last was the falling child. The child is now dead.”

With that, I said, “So the victim this time is most likely the widow.” Soon we arrived at Happiness Neighborhood. Before we even got down, we saw the crowds around the neighborhood. The space before the building was cordoned off by a police line. 

After the cars were parked, two teams hustled out. Along the way, we heard the whispering of the crowd. “I hear it’s the widow on the 2nd floor who had died.” An auntie whispered to the middle-aged man standing beside her. Her throat was like a speaker, so it was impossible not to hear her. 

“Really?” The other auntie probably didn’t live here, she questioned, “The one who kept bringing men home?”

The woman nodded and said with confidence, “That’s the one. I already said with the way she kept going. She would one day die in bed.”

“How did she die?” The other woman asked. Everyone turned their gaze to the auntie because she made it sound like she was at the crime scene in person. 

As we walked through the door, an officer walked towards us. He was from Captain Lee’s group. As he led us up the stairs, he reported to Xiao Liu. “Leader Liu, Captain Lee told us to investigate every character that was mentioned in the story, so we did.”

Xiao Liu nodded. “Who is the victim?”

We reached the second floor. The door to Room 201 was left open, but there was a police line across the door. Needless to say, this was the crime scene. There were already analysts inside taking pictures and collecting evidence. As we walked over the line, the officer explained, “Based on our investigation, this woman’s name is Zhou Yufeng, 33 years ago. 5 years ago, her husband died in a car accident, and they had no children. Based on our questioning of her neighbors, Zhou Yufeng didn’t have a good reputation.”

Xiao Liu nodded. The officer continued, “During these 5 years, Zhou Yufeng didn’t work. Instead, she relied on a few constant men to keep her life afloat. Frankly, she was no different from a prostitute. Actually, we came today because we wanted to investigate her. However, no one answered the door.” The officer explained, “We smelled something wrong and kicked down the door. Then we saw this.” The officer pointed into the bedroom. 

When we saw the scene, we were speechless with shock.

“Well, the crime scene looks untouched…” Guan Zhenglin commented.

One of the analysts said, “No one has touched anything because we know you people are coming. Plus, this kind of death is definitely one of its kind.” Everyone nodded. 

Inside the bedroom was a very large bed, and on the bed were two bodies. The female was straddling the male. And they were both naked.

Gu Chen shook his head. He didn’t quite know how to arrange his expression. “At least they were happy when they were killed.” Gu Chen was not wrong because these two were killed in the middle of sex. They were adopting the cowgirl position. 

The bodies maintained their position because they were punctured by a metal pipe about the size of a person’s finger. The pipe was about 1 meter long. It entered from the female’s back and then pierced out from her stomach. Then the pipe entered the man’s stomach, joining the two bodies together. 

The female body was held in place by the metal pipe as the body leaned backward. It was like a sex sculpture. The male body was the base supporting the weight of the female body. It kept the balance of the sex position. The female’s hands were still gripping the male’s thighs, and the male had his hands around the woman’s waist. They were probably in mid penetration. 

The whole metal pipe was red with blood. The bed was dyed red as well. So were the two bodies. Even the ceiling was splattered with blood. The blood had a spray pattern. Some hit the ceiling and then dripped back down. This was like a horror movie scene. The blood spatter suggested that when they were punctured, they were both alive.

An officer whispered, “I wonder if they were happy or painful when they died.” Xiao Liu glared at him and the officer immediately. Xiao Liu then began, “From the condition of the bodies, the conclusion is that they were killed by the killer who was waiting with the metal pipe while they were having sex. The metal pipe impaled both of them. Blood must have gotten on the killer as well…”

I looked at Guan Zhenglin and said, “We better remove the bodies first.”

The officers nodded but didn’t know where to begin. In the end, Gu Chen frowned and then walked to the bed. He put on the gloves to grab the metal pipe. With a powerful yank, the metal pipe was pulled out. Without the support from the pipe, the female body collapsed onto the bed, and blood poured out from her two wounds. 

I looked at the pipe Gu Chen was holding. It was very sharp, like a spear. I looked closer and noticed the front end of the pipe was pentagonal in shape, and they were grooves running down the side. I turned back to examine the bodies. Their wounds had a pentagonal shape. I believed this wound was extremely rare because the weapon was homemade. 

When the pipe pierced through the bodies, the blood ran through the grooves before it sprayed through the air. The two wouldn’t take long to die. The air would have gone into the blood capillaries to block off blood circulation. 

Gu Chen commented, “This kind of metal pipe will yield little resistance entering the body. In tv shows, we would often see situations where one was knifed, and it was better to leave the weapon inside the body to stop the blood flow. That only works for a smooth blade with no grooves.” Gu Chen shook his head. “But this pipe, it is designed to kill.”