Chapter 34: Chapter 33: Murder Case! Night of the Soul’s Return
A case had come up in Sishui County.
Although it involved only a single death, the police’s level of concern was unusually high—at its absolute peak, in fact!
On the evening of September 27th, the police received a report. The caller claimed someone was crying for help over a live call-in to a radio station.
On the radio, the caller’s voice was wretched, their wails choked with sobs—enough to make anyone who heard it weep.
The moment they understood the situation, the police made every possible preparation.
A large force was mobilized, officers were armed, and negotiators were put on notice. It was imperative to...
...save the caller’s life!
But...
That night, the police arrived at Anshan Reservoir, where they found a body.
A dark silhouette hanging in the night, limp as a willow branch.
It was a woman. Her face was a deathly, bloodless white, her eyes wide open, staring at everyone.
And in their ears, a voice came from the radio station’s broadcast.
"Help... help... me..."
The person was already dead.
She had called for help after she died!
...
...
"Goddamn it, a corpse reported the crime?!"
The morning of September 28th was shattered by a curse.
Li Jianye led his team to the crime scene, his brows furrowing at the sight before him.
The Jiangdong District Criminal Investigation Division wasn’t just responsible for cases in Jiangdong District.
Jiangsan City had three major divisions—Division One, Division Two, and Division Three—which divided all the city’s criminal cases among them. Sishui County fell under the jurisdiction of the Jiangdong District division.
Now, at Sishui County’s Anshan Reservoir.
The once-serene landscape of clear waters and lush mountains, alive with the sounds of birds and insects, was now broken. Countless police officers in blue shirts swarmed the base of the hill, where an endless line of blue-and-white police cars was parked.
At one spot, a yellow police cordon had been set up, with officers moving about constantly inside.
"A corpse can call for help?!"
Li Jianye frowned as he stared at the body before him.
The officers stood before the body, their brows furrowed as they looked at the woman with a noose around her neck.
Can a dead body report a crime?
Obviously not. Based on the state of decomposition, the victim was already dead at the time of the distress call last night.
Li Jianye quickly deduced that the call was most likely a pre-recorded message.
Who recorded it? And who played it?!
Only three types of people could have known about the crime before it was reported.
The victim, the killer, and a bystander.
The victim and any bystanders could be ruled out first. In a case like this, it made no sense for a bystander to have recorded the victim’s cries for help before her death and then arranged for a radio station to broadcast it.
That only left the killer...
But if that were the case, the investigation was plunged into another bizarre mystery.
The killer recorded the victim’s pleas, then murdered her, and then, after her death, called for help on her behalf?!
Where was the logic in that?
"Why would they do that?"
Li Jianye frowned. He had been mulling over this very question on the way to the reservoir, but he still couldn’t make any sense of it.
"The killer reported the crime and called for help on behalf of the victim..."
"And through a radio station, no less..."
Beside him, Zhao Shui also wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Normally, in ninety-nine percent of cases, the killer either hides the body—dumping it far away or burying it nearby—or they flee the scene.
But in this case, the killer had actively reported the crime...
"Take the body down and let’s have a look."
Suddenly, a voice spoke up. Li Jianye turned his head and saw that it was Xu Huo.
Xu Huo was walking over while eating, holding a cup of soy milk in his left hand and an egg pancake in his right.
He scarfed down the rest of the pancake in a few quick bites and stepped over the police tape.
"Now that you’re about done collecting evidence from the scene, you can take the body down."
Last night, Xu Huo had been in a holding cell at the Anshan Police Station. He was only released after the Jiangdong District police sent someone over to confirm that he was, in fact, the special consultant Li Jianye had mentioned.
Li Jianye turned back to his team and nodded. "Take her down."
They hadn’t been at the crime scene for long—just long enough to take photos and conduct a preliminary evidence sweep.
Hearing the order, a few junior police officers found some stools to stand on and carefully took the body down.
Without the rope, the body dropped like a stone tossed into the air.
Fortunately, there were plenty of experienced officers, and they caught her without causing any further damage.
A moment later, the body was lying on a body bag.
"Do we have an ID on the deceased?"
Xu Huo crouched down, studying the body as he asked nonchalantly.
Zhao Shui quickly replied:
"We do."
"We confirmed the victim’s identity around six this morning. She was a reporter for a broadcasting company and was supposed to be on air today, but she never showed up."
"We then compared her information with the body at the scene and confirmed it was a match."
Since the killer had used a radio station to report the crime, the police were paying close attention to the broadcasting company. The company was also aware of the situation, so when they realized someone was missing, they were quick to help confirm the identity.
Xu Huo nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"The victim’s name is Chen Li. She was a twenty-six-year-old journalist with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from a top-tier university. Three days before her death, on the 24th, she was sent to Sishui County to report on the local morning market."
"She disappeared at one p.m. on September 27th. The next time she was seen, she was a corpse."
"After a preliminary investigation, the police found no one who held a grudge against her."
Zhao Shui continued.
Chen Li was the typical "good girl." She came from a poor family and had gotten where she was through sheer hard work. She was known to be optimistic and positive, and she never argued or fought with anyone.
Who would want to kill her?
"First, let’s establish a baseline for this case."
"Captain Li, do you believe in ghosts?"
Xu Huo turned to look at Li Jianye.
"No, I don’t," Li Jianye said directly.
Li Jianye didn’t believe in ghosts or gods, but he still held a certain reverence for them. When it came to a criminal case, however, one had to be a hundred percent atheist. Otherwise, you might as well not even investigate—just go home, go to sleep, and wait for a god to turn himself in.
’As a transmigrator with the power of Dream Control, I have no choice but to be reverent as well.’
But when it came to a criminal investigation, you had to approach it with an atheistic mindset.
"Since there are no ghosts, the distress call on the radio wasn’t some so-called phantom. It was a pre-recorded message that the killer then played over the line."
Xu Huo nodded, voicing the exact thought Li Jianye had earlier.
"And next..."
"This was a crime committed by an acquaintance."
As he spoke, Xu Huo pointed to the wounds on the victim’s abdomen and to the areas the police had marked nearby.
Li Jianye nodded. Then, before Xu Huo could say more, he shared his own thoughts.
"There are no drag marks or signs of a struggle at the scene. There are two sets of footprints; one belongs to Chen Li, and the other most likely belongs to the killer. The footprints are close together and parallel, indicating they were walking side-by-side. It’s highly probable that Chen Li came to the reservoir voluntarily."
"Also, she was stabbed three times in the front. Her expression shows slight shock, suggesting the attack was sudden."
Her expression, the frontal wounds, the lack of other people, the footprints...
Li Jianye was experienced enough to determine with certainty that this was a crime committed by an acquaintance.
As for how he could tell...
It was the same old story. Xu Huo had mentioned it during the ’Modern Jesus’ case: the human body has certain self-preservation mechanisms.
This was one of those mechanisms, which could be described as...
’The human social safety distance!’