Not long after, some commotion came from outside. I thought it was the hotel manager being brought in. Wang Dali stretched his neck and said, "The anti-prostitution squad took away that fat guy and the girl."
Huang Xiaotao said, "The victim was dressed so revealingly, they must have had sex."
"We can't just guess. Let me confirm." I took a deep breath.
I'm a virgin, after all. Facing a corpse that's been dead for seven days made me a bit uneasy. But since the team had no forensic pathologist, I had to take on all those duties myself. It felt like, if I don't go to hell, who will?
Seeing my hesitation, Huang Xiaotao suggested, "Let Xiao Zhou try, he's more experienced."
Xiao Zhou waved his hands frantically, "I study criminal identification, not autopsy! No autopsy!"
"Fine, I'll do it." I said, parting the victim's legs. Everyone else stepped back.
I won't describe the exact visual, tactile, or smell sensations...
I asked Wang Dali for a flashlight, held it in one hand while inspecting the body with the other, and nodded. "They definitely had sex."
...
I asked Xiao Zhou for some cotton swabs and a small bottle. After opening it, he dipped the swabs in some powder. Huang Xiaotao asked, "What's that?"
"I ground the powder myself, using perilla, magnolia flower buds, yellow peel, bupleurum, kudzu root, and others."
Huang Xiaotao shook her head. "I know nothing about Chinese medicine. Just tell me what it does."
"It helps expel stagnant bodily fluids!"
At that moment, the hotel manager was brought in. Huang Xiaotao said, "I'm going to question him. Song Yang, you keep examining the body."
"Okay." I replied.
The manager was taken to another room. It wasn't to interrogate harshly but to keep the hallway quiet. I needed absolute silence during the autopsy.
I picked up tweezers to carefully examine teeth marks on the victim's neck. The wound edges had begun to darken — bacterial infection. The human mouth hosts many bacteria.
Wang Dali asked, "Yangzi, do you think this was the work of a vampire?"
"No way. 100% human." I said.
Just then, the door knocked. It was the uncle who first picked me up. Seeing Huang Xiaotao absent, he asked, "Where's the team leader?"
"Questioning someone. What do you want to say to me?" I answered.
Without beating around the bush, he said, "I found out the victim's identity. She's a prostitute working at a nearby hair-washing parlor, missing for a week. High turnover, and since it's unlicensed, the owner never reported her missing."
I nodded. "More details?"
"Ma Lizhen, 23, rural hukou, working in the city for five years."
"Wow!" Wang Dali exclaimed. "She started at 18!"
I shot him a glare; he stuck out his tongue and lowered his head.
It was about time. I was about to pull out the swabs and warned everyone to get ready — this was going to get intense. Non-essential personnel had to leave. Wang Dali immediately said, "No problem, my mental strength is ironclad."
"Sure, you said that yourself."
I took out the swabs. A disgusting, sticky, foul smell hit us.
Everyone gasped; some couldn't hold it. Wang Dali covered his mouth and dashed to the bathroom to vomit — but others beat him to it. The smell was so sour, I could even smell the leek-and-egg pancake Wang Dali had for dinner.
Even Xiao Zhou turned pale but held on. Only the uncle seemed unaffected. I secretly admired him.
I examined the swabs closely. There was only secretions — no semen.
I concluded, "The killer had sex with the victim but no direct contact."
"Maybe he wore a condom..." Xiao Zhou guessed.
I smelled again — secretions, vaginal discharge, blood residue, urine, and a lot of decayed uterine fluid — but no lubricant scent.
"No condom."
"How is that possible? Did he…?" Xiao Zhou was puzzled.
I glanced at the corpse. The killer's sweat glands don't secrete. This abnormality points to one conclusion: "The killer is sick! Almost no body fluid secretion."
Xiao Zhou asked, "How does that help solve the case?"
"It helps a lot. The killer can't sweat or be exposed to sunlight. He probably wraps himself up tight, wearing sunglasses and a mask, living like a vampire in this city. Also, did you find any body hair at the scene?"
"Only the victim's."
"Right. The killer's hair follicles have probably atrophied. He has no hair on his body."
Xiao Zhou's face changed drastically. "Is he even human?"
"Of course. Someone who'd stand out in a crowd. This trait should make him easy to find." I smiled.
Huang Xiaotao knocked and came in. "Everyone here? Come, we made a big discovery!"
I took off my rubber gloves, my hands slick with cold sweat. I grabbed a mint from my bag. Being around a corpse all this time made my nose miserable. The fresh minty taste felt refreshing.
I asked Wang Dali if he wanted one. He had just vomited, looking awful, shaking his head hard. "Dude, your mindset is unreal. Eating right after an autopsy? I can't eat a thing."
"Who said your mental strength was ironclad?"
"Don't mock me!" Wang Dali almost cried.
I felt my own mental resilience had grown since before.
We entered a room where a young waiter sat, looking dejected. Huang Xiaotao snapped, "This guy installed hidden cameras in the rooms. Too scared to resist, he confessed right away."
The waiter timidly asked, "Will I be sentenced?"
"Of course. Voyeurism violates Article 42 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law." The uncle said expressionlessly.
"Someone could sue you, and you'd face detention and fines. Police can prosecute too. Depends on your attitude."
The waiter stood up excitedly. "I did it for personal interest, just for fun. I never shared or used the videos for blackmail."
"Personal interest? Why not just watch some porn?" I said.
"That's different. Porn is acted out. Voyeurism is more thrilling. I have to watch before sleeping or I feel uneasy..." He got more animated but quickly realized everyone was staring and lowered his head.
"Did you put up that wallpaper?"
"Yes. I found a hole in the wall during inspection. If the boss saw, he'd tear off the whole wallpaper and replace it, exposing my cameras. So I patched it myself."
"Didn't you see a dead body in that room seven days ago?"
"Man, I installed cameras in several rooms. Hundreds of hours of footage daily. No way I can watch it all. Only sift through some during breaks. I'm busy even on my days off."
"Sounds like quite the colorful life!" I mocked.
"I hate guys like you. Can't get girlfriends, so you spy on others. Disgusting!" Huang Xiaotao said, kicking him. "Bring us all the footage you recorded!"