Everyone looked up when they heard what Jane said, and the flashlights illuminated the manhole cover above their heads.
The wind blowing in from above made what looked like strands of hair sway in the air, and in front of them all appeared the head of a woman.
The plumber who was guiding them got scared, tried to step back but slipped and landed sitting in the water.
"Ah!"
Although Jane didn't scream, she was also startled by the scene and, unconsciously, grabbed Larry's arm beside her.
Larry didn't pull away from Jane's hand and instead said, "Don't worry. I'll go up and take a look!"
"You?"
"Yes, wait down here. I'll climb up and check it out."
Jane thought about stopping him but swallowed her words.
"Be careful, it looks like a trap…"
Larry had thought the same, but they had to reach that position, and he was the smartest one in the group, so he said, "Use the flashlights to light it up. Max, give me some scissors."
Storing the scissors in the sleeve pocket of his hazmat suit, Larry grabbed the simple iron ladder attached to the wall and began climbing, step by step.
This vertical shaft rose about seven or eight meters above the water surface. After a while, Larry finally reached the top.
When the manhole cover vibrated, the hanging head began to tremble.
Larry reached out to inspect it. The killer had used the victim's long hair as a rope, tying it to a horizontal steel bar with a double knot.
To remove it, Larry clung to the ladder with his right hand while pulling out the scissors with his left hand and cutting one side of the hair.
This operation, done with one hand in midair, was incredibly exhausting, and after a moment, Larry was drenched in sweat.
Finally, Larry brought the head down. Max, who was nearby, reached out to take it.
Only then did Larry breathe a sigh of relief and hand it over.
Finding the origin of the corpse would be easier with the head. Just as he was thinking this, Jane seemed to kick something while walking. Holding the evidence bag with one hand, she reached into the mud with the other and pulled out another torso fragment.
Larry watched Jane's actions and gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice!"
The burly investigator behind Max lifted a basket. Jane loaded the victim's torso and head into it, and the others behind him carried the basket back the way they came.
Upon returning, Larry patted the plumber, who was panting and leaning against the wall. "Sir, do you know where this opening in the ground leads to?"
"Yes!"
"Captain Jack, have someone in plain clothes follow the plumber up and locate the manhole. But don't touch it. Just mark the surrounding area. Then, before anything else, check nearby surveillance footage. Look through recordings from two to seven days ago."
"Understood!"
"Aren't you going up?"
Larry shook his head. "We've found both torso parts and the head. Let's see if there's anything else. If not, we'll have to sift through all the sludge below."
Larry's words were followed by a collective "Ahhh!" from the officers behind him.
Max turned and looked at the group.
"If you can't do it, say so. We'll switch teams right now!"
Everyone fell silent. Aware of how difficult the task was, Larry kept working side by side with the others, bending down and searching beneath the mouth of the well.
The recovery efforts didn't end until ten at night.
Human bones were found in both passages. On the other side of the search area, they found torso fragments and limb bones, as well as a skull.
Larry and Jane's team recovered two torsos, one skull, and most of the limb skeletons.
These body parts and bones were immediately sent to the center for DNA analysis.
The remains found by Max's group were provisionally labeled as Deceased A, and those found by Larry and his team as Deceased B.
Nearby garbage containers and recycling stations were thoroughly checked, but no traces were found. After all, nearly a week had passed since the murder of Deceased B, making it difficult to find evidence.
Jane left first, eager to check the surrounding surveillance footage. She needed to get it organized.
They now knew the exact place where the body had been dumped, but they had only managed to identify a suspicious area 400 meters from this side of the pedestrian street.
Fortunately, this zone was well monitored, and most of the nearby stores had surveillance cameras.
However, reviewing the footage turned out to be a more complex task. There were no shortcuts; they had to go through each recording one by one.
Jane had no choice but to lead her team in the investigation.
The next morning, at 5:30 a.m.,
Larry arrived at the center, only to meet Jack first. One look between them revealed mutual understanding.
The project meeting on the morning of October 8th, as usual with Jack, was held at the center. Everything was completely confusing.
"Have the remains been recovered?"
Max nodded and raised his hands. "We just retrieved the remains and bones, and you walked in."
Larry had already put on his isolation suit and dissection goggles.
"Let's get started!"
The two assembled the bones and remains on two tables. The bodies of the two deceased were incomplete.
Skeleton A was found by Max and his team in the direction of the pedestrian street. This skeleton was completely boneless.
Skeleton B and its body parts were found by Larry and his team in the direction of the residential area.
The head and torso were almost intact, while the limbs were almost entirely stripped of flesh.
However, among all the skeletons, there were no bones or stumps of hands or feet.
Additionally, B's torso was nearly intact, while the limbs were nearly boneless.
Jack, standing in the room, seemed puzzled. "Judging by the torso of Deceased B, the time of death was three to five days ago, right? But why are the limbs just bones?"
Larry looked up and studied Jack carefully. "This shows that after being dismembered, the muscle tissue and the limbs of the hands and feet were removed."
"And the flesh?"
"What did they do with the human flesh?"
Larry thought for a moment. "Maybe there's a simpler answer. Have Jane check the residential areas within those three zones. Has any resident reported anything unusual lately? For example, a bad smell in the sewers? Or a clogged manhole? Or stray cats and dogs lurking around?"
Jack immediately understood what Larry meant and quickly called Jane, who was still reviewing footage.
She returned a moment later.
"Let's examine Deceased A first."
Larry picked up the skull of Deceased A. The skull was intact with no external injuries, but the jaw and hyoid bone were missing, making it impossible to determine if the person had died from asphyxiation.
He then picked up the few cervical vertebrae that remained and, using a magnifying glass, could easily see cuts on two of them. One had a deep groove.
"It's so deep it looks like it was made while dismembering the body."
"Not necessarily. We'll make a bone cross-section of this vertebra later and examine it closely."
Leaving the cervical vertebrae aside, they both examined the remaining bones of the deceased. Aside from the spotted cuts on the femur and humerus discovered earlier, there was nothing new.
At that moment, Jane pushed the door open and entered.
"Haven't you left?"
"This case has been tormenting me so much I can't sleep. I can smell the stench on my body as soon as I lie down. I decided not to sleep and wanted to come early to take a look, but as soon as I arrived, our boss showed up."
"Max, make a bone cross-section of this cervical vertebra. I'll take a look at it later."
Their collaboration greatly sped up their work. After all, the chubby man's photography skills were extremely professional, and Max was also very good at these delicate tasks.
Jack pointed at the cut marks on the femur of Victim A, his expression puzzled.
"The cut was so deep in the cervical vertebra. Why was it weaker when it came to the femur? Could it be that the killer wasn't the same person?"