When snails crawl, they leave behind slime on the ground, forming a crystalline trail along their path.
Hanhai City has seen the emergence of a "snail man."
The deceased crawled several meters on the ground, leaving behind a bright red trail.
During the crawl, the severed intestines oozed from the abdomen, dragging along and slowly moving as he struggled to crawl, leaving a trace of his movement.
Just like a snail.
June 2nd.
After Xu Liang reported the case, at 12:40 a.m., the Hanhai City Hongfu District Major Crimes Unit exploded into action.
Captain Chen Changchun urgently made calls throughout the night, waking up each sleeping detective.
At 1:30 a.m., the crime scene, right in front of the Conscience Law Firm, was cordoned off with yellow-black police tape.
Numerous police officers sealed off the area in the dark.
At 4:30 a.m., the body was taken away and sent to the funeral parlor for preservation.
...
Morning.
5:30 a.m.
"The deceased is named Chen Wei, age 23, male, height 175 cm, educational level is middle school diploma."
"There was no murder weapon found at the scene. The stabbing took place 30 meters away from where the body was found, and there are several blood footprints different from the victim's, leading away in the opposite direction."
"Preliminary judgment is that the footprints belong to the killer."
"The victim was stabbed in an alley 30 meters from the body, ran to the place where he died, causing blood flow to accelerate due to running, then collapsed and crawled again, resulting in three injuries, ultimately leading to death from blood loss."
"Additionally, there are multiple facial wounds on the deceased, and the killer inserted the weapon into the victim's temple, suspected to have been done postmortem."
The sky is dim, a gray canvas overhead, the cold air invigorates the lungs, arousing alertness.
Major Crimes Unit Captain Chen Changchun took a deep drag on his cigarette.
His gaze swept past the grayish silhouettes of passersby, eventually resting on the detectives nearby.
"Have the family been contacted?" Chen Changchun asked.
"The family reported the case this morning, the dispatcher immediately locked it down, they are currently at the police station to claim the body, and their emotional state is very poor."
Detective Sun Jin shook his head and said.
Upon hearing, Chen Changchun understood, after receiving basic information, he asked:
"Has the case been classified?"
Sun Jin shook his head and said:
"It's too early, investigation work is difficult to carry out, the victim's family and social circle haven't been explored yet."
"The murder process wasn't captured by surveillance, only showing the victim entered the alley willingly before being injured, then ran out and died."
"With only crime scene information, the motive and cause of death are unknown, classification is not yet determined."
Chen Changchun nodded.
Indeed, it's still early, with the report at 1 a.m., personnel assembled by 1:30 a.m., scene investigations and evidence collection completed by 3:30 a.m., body handled by 4 a.m., and now just 5 a.m.
Still 5 a.m., this time besides detectives everyone else is asleep, unable to conduct investigations.
"Push forward with the investigation work, don't forget the family."
"You know the importance of classifying the case, no need to say more, the sooner the better!"
Chen Changchun instructed, Sun Jin nodded and noted it down.
"By the way, where's my apprentice?" Chen Changchun suddenly asked, looking around but didn't see his apprentice.
"Uh... seems to be with the informant." Sun Jin replied.
The informant?
Chen Changchun paused, then asked:
"Where's the informant?"
"Not far, at the breakfast stand."
"Take me to him."
...
...
Breakfast stand.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
"Have we?"
"Haven't we?"
Meanwhile, at a breakfast stand 30 meters away from the crime scene.
Sitting on a folding stool, Xu Liang looked up while eating breakfast and glanced at the policeman standing beside him.
"What's your name?"
"Wang Chao, rookie officer."
Rookie officer Wang Chao spoke.
He is 190 cm tall, with above-average looks, short hair in a crew cut, the most memorable about him is the broad physique and developed chest muscles.
Holding a notebook, he looked at Xu Liang with skeptical eyes, feeling like he had seen him somewhere before.
Xu Liang glanced at him, "Officer Wang has good chest muscles."
Wang Chao's mouth slightly curled up, his two large chest muscles twitched, but his face remained stern.
"Good eye!"
"But, I'm here for official business."
"Did you see or hear anything during the crime? Any suspicious people at the scene?"
Xu Liang casually ate a piece of pancake, "Didn't I already do a transcript at the police station?"
"Do it again." Wang Chao said.
"Alright."
Xu Liang nodded, paused slightly, then said: "But my answer is still the same as in the transcript."
"The victim's time of death was around 10 to 11 p.m., I found the body about an hour later, around midnight."
"Besides me, no one else was seen at the crime scene… of course, it's possible someone saw it but left without reporting."
"Saw no suspicious figures, fleeing or similar scenes, don't know who the murderer is."
"Heard no sounds of fighting, speaking or other human voices before the crime."
"Additionally, besides the fishy odor from the victim's death, no other clearly unusual smells at the scene..."
After speaking a series of words, rookie officer Wang Chao suddenly froze, then hurriedly began taking notes.
"Slow down, I'm having trouble keeping up!"
Xu Liang froze briefly, then looked at the other with speechless eyes.
"A contract worker hired by society? Just started the job?"
"Never mind that!"
Wang Chao's face stiffened, then suddenly asked:
"Right, where did we leave off?"
"Talking about the smell."
Xu Liang replied, but he didn't intend to dwell on this issue.
He sized up this rookie with a glance, suddenly set down his bowl and chopsticks, smacked his lips and said:
"Forget about it, you're here to assign a classification to the case, right?"