Chapter 301: Executing Revenge (1/2)

The security guard listened to my deductions and admitted he was indeed late this morning, with panic written all over his face. He didn’t think too much about his colleague, Mr. Wang’s absence since he assumed he had already left.

I scanned the room with Cave Vision and noticed a few clues. Outside the security room, I found a glove in the grass beside the road, and the matching one slightly further away.

We followed this lead until we reached a construction site.

At the sight of a large group of policemen, the man in charge came forth and asked what had happened. ”A man wearing a security uniform might have entered the site last night,” I explained. “Was there anyone on duty here?”

The foreman was just about to call someone when anxious shouts suddenly interrupted him. ”There’s a man in the mixer!” exclaimed one of the workers.

We walked over, only to be greeted by the sight of a man submerged in the cement slurry, the security uniform still faintly visible under the grey mess. Unaware of the body, the workers had poured stones and cement into the mixer, allowing the machine to run for a while before it was jammed. Only upon inspection did they discover the body.

It took substantial effort to remove the body from the mixer. Even with careful handling, the body was already torn to pieces beyond recognition, frightening many workers. ”Don't be afraid,” I assured them. “I know it’s got nothing to do with you!”

The current circumstances made it impossible for us to transport the corpses back to the station for examination, though it wasn’t necessary at all with my skills. I connected a water pipe and flushed the cement off the body before beginning the autopsy. Judging from the fatal wound, the security guard had committed suicide by slitting his throat with a sharp stone.

The opacity of the pupils suggested that the time of death was less than six hours ago. I stared at the corpse in a daze as a vague suspicion arose in my mind.

”Song Yang, is there something wrong with the corpse?” asked Xiaotao.

”His body itself is suspicious,” I surmised. “There was no need for Long Bangguo to kill him.”

”Contrary to that, I believe it’s necessary!” argued Xiaotao. “He had to kill the security guard to enter the building.”

I had previously observed the residential area and noticed that the surrounding walls weren’t high. Additionally, the bottom of the wall was decorated with flower beds so all Long Bangguo had to do was exert a little strength to flip himself over to the other side. Long Bangguo’s real motive behind murdering the security guard was to enter the security room and destroy the surveillance records.

After all, he had been a policeman himself so he knew merely deleting the files was useless. Hence, the thorough removal of all the hard disks.

But why?

”Could it be that he got plastic surgery?” speculated Xiaotao.

”When was he released?” I asked.

”According to his sentence, around last week,” she replied.

”That’s out of the question then. The recovery process after cosmetic surgery takes some time,” I remarked. “Besides, he’s a newly released ex-convict. Does he even have the money to get cosmetic surgery? The other thing is, he’s been in prison for the last twenty years, during which Nanjiang City underwent tremendous change. Yet his actions show familiarity with the city. I can’t help but think there’s something strange about that!”

I don't know what it was yet, but my intuition told me whatever it was would be an important breakthrough in the case.

The body was handed over to the police for disposal. Since there wasn’t any need for further examination, it was sent directly to the funeral home for cremation. I proposed we return to the residential area where I continued wandering about, though I found no useful clues.

Some time later, a police car came along with Director-General Zheng, Officer Xun and Officer Luo. Upon greeting them, Xiaotao said, ”Director-General Cheng, the three of you are murder targets. Why are you still swaggering out to handle the case?”

”We came out as bait,” Director-General Cheng flat out replied.

”Bait?” Xiaotao arched an eyebrow.