The relentless, heavy rain continued for days, the gloomy weather never letting up. This constant dreariness pressed down on my already troubled mind, filling it with a dead, low silence.
Inside a landfill, mountains of bagged garbage were being washed by the pouring rain, which had persisted for days. Unable to bear the weight, many piles of trash had collapsed.
The rain had just stopped. Several workers responsible for cleaning up the garbage were busy moving bag after bag onto trucks for disposal.
After working for a while, one worker attempted to heave a heavy, collapsed bag of garbage towards himself to load it onto a truck. Suddenly, he caught sight of a strange object spilling out from the bag. A quick glance made him shudder with a terrified "Whoa!" and he nearly fainted on the spot.
Whoa!
Everyone looked. What had spilled from the bag was actually a headless, limbless corpse, already swollen with decay and covered in crawling maggots. The sight was nauseating. Someone immediately shouted, "Whoa! What the hell is this? So horrifying! Who dumped this here? Call the police, quick!"
That same night, I was sound asleep in my room. The musical ringtone of my phone on the bedside table suddenly blared. I hadn't expected a call to shatter the deep silence of the night and disturb my dreams, finding it intensely annoying.
Half-asleep, I fumbled for the phone on the bedside table, grabbed it, and took a look. The sight immediately made me bolt upright in bed. Knowing something serious had happened, I drove through the night to the landfill where the body had been discovered.
I drove to the landfill. At that moment, it began to rain heavily again. From inside the car, I surveyed the scene outside. Several officers had already cordoned off the area, their uniforms completely drenched by the downpour, leaving them looking utterly bedraggled.
After hanging my police warrant card around my neck, I got out of the car, opened an umbrella, and walked into the cordoned-off area. "What's the situation? What about the body?" I asked.
Senior Inspector Cheung Yu Lei, whom I often privately called the "bootlicker," immediately replied upon my question, "Sir, the body has had its head and limbs severed. Only a decomposed torso remains. It's extremely gruesome. In all my years on the force, I've never seen anything like it. Preliminary observation confirms the victim is female."
"Female corpse!" I thought for a moment before asking, "Who reported it?"
"Those workers over there. They're giving statements now," Cheung Yu Lei answered.
The body had begun to rot and swell. Flies buzzed around it constantly, and the stench was overpowering.
A tent had already been set up over the body to shield it from the heavy rain. Fortunately, a downpour had just occurred here, washing away some of the decomposing odor; otherwise, it would have been even more unbearable.
I carefully examined the body. In all my years investigating cases, I had never encountered a situation quite like this. It seemed the perpetrator was not only vicious but also irrational—or perhaps it was an attempt to destroy the evidence.
The head of the fingerprint unit, seeing me standing there observing the body intently, said, "Inspector Yip, it looks like you won't be able to glean much from this corpse. From a fingerprint analysis perspective, the head, hands, and feet have been cut off. Plus, the continuous heavy rain has likely washed away a lot of evidence. We might face insufficient evidence unless we find the remaining body parts. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to identify the victim."
I hesitated for a moment, then scanned the surrounding area again. The garbage was in complete disarray, a filthy mess. I said to him with a sigh, "Sigh! There's no other way. The case must be investigated. I'm afraid this one will be quite difficult."
Then the unit head looked around and replied, "Inspector Yip, you've been on the force for many years. What kind of case haven't you handled? I've always admired your competence. If you need any assistance, just say the word. I'll be off then."
With that, he patted me lightly on the shoulder twice and left.
Afterward, Cheung Yu Lei came over and asked, "Sir, on the surface, there don't seem to be any new discoveries here. What do you plan to do?"
I thought for several seconds before asking, "Has the coroner been notified to come to the scene?"
"Already notified. They're on their way," Cheung Yu Lei answered.
Right at that moment, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and answered, "Chief Inspector Lee. Yes, yes. The scene conditions are quite harsh. Yes, yes. The team is working hard to search, looking for any new findings. Yes, I'll handle it."
After saying that, I hung up.
At that very time, a coroner and several assistants happened to arrive by car. As soon as they got out, they hurried straight to the tent where the body was placed. Upon catching sight of the corpse, Coroner Ho asked in astonishment, "Don't tell me, Inspector Yip, this is it?"
His sudden question caught me off guard, causing a bit of confusion. "Yes, this is it."
"What about the other evidence?" he asked, staring at me.
Coroner Ho often liked to throw his weight around in front of people, acting as if being a forensic examiner made him untouchable. However, this was commonplace.
"Coroner Ho, I just arrived too, not much earlier than you. Our officers are also trying their best to search for evidence, hoping for new developments."
"Hmm." Coroner Ho scanned the body carefully with his eyes, almost nauseated, then instructed his subordinates, "Set up for photos immediately, then bag the body. Remember to be careful, avoid any damage."
"Okay, we'll get right on it," one subordinate replied.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a police officer who was still searching for clues suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Sir! New discovery! There's a human head here!"
"Human head!"
Hearing this, I was greatly shocked. I immediately went over to look. One glance was enough to make me vomit instantly. The head was truly horrifying.
I then ordered, "Continue searching the other garbage. See if there are any other discoveries."
"Yes, Sir."
Upon hearing this, all the officers continued their diligent search.
They had been searching for another half an hour. Every officer was carefully opening bag after bag of garbage to see what they could find.
The weather tonight was truly unstable. It suddenly started raining again, really leaving us at a loss.
But then, suddenly, "Sir! Found a bag of limbs here!"
"Limbs!"
I ran to the location of the bag of limbs and looked inside. "Whoa! A pair of legs. Keep searching! I refuse to believe we won't find the remaining body parts."
"Yes, Sir!"
The team of officers continued their hard work. The entire area was filthy and swarming with flies.
Not long after, an officer discovered a bag of what appeared to be limbs near roughly the same area and immediately called out, "Sir! Another discovery here!"
Hearing this, I went over to look. It turned out to be another bag containing severed hands. At that moment, I thought: The head, hands, feet, and even the torso have been found. Thank goodness for that. Then, after a pause, I called out, "Everyone, you've worked hard. Keep searching a while longer, see if there are any other discoveries."
At this time, the rain falling from the sky had lessened slightly, not as heavy as before. Simultaneously, the officers were also burying themselves in their work, doing their duty—dusting for prints, taking photos—each with their assigned tasks.