Chapter 376: The Floating Corpse (2/2)

”No, I mean, this is the original crime scene of Zhang Bing's murder. It seems like we’ve got the right place. The person who kidnapped Luo Youyou is the murderer!”

I reached out to pull the body towards the edge.

“Aren’t you going to wait for the police?” asked Bingxin.

”There’s no point waiting for them. After all, it’s my duty to perform the autopsy!”

I tugged at the victim’s collar and dragged the body towards the edge. Upon raising the head, I discovered it was Zhou Yang. With Bingxin’s assistance, I managed to lift Zhou Yang's body to the ground.

We laid the body beside the pool. Like the previous cases, Zhou Yang had also been smashed in the head, and then thrown into the water. The preliminary time of death was about four hours ago. If he and Luo Youyou had been kidnapped at the same time, Luo Youyou was probably beyond help by now.

”There are no other wounds except in the back of the head,” observed Bingxin. “It seems that the murderer has quite a lot of experience. He knows the more clues he leaves, the easier it is to catch him.”

”You’ve neglected something!” I said, shaking my head. “Look here!”

I uncovered Zhou Yang's T-shirt. There was a puncture wound made by a needle in his back and the surrounding flesh was inflamed. The needle was probably left in his flesh for a considerable amount of time after the murderer injected him with something. We had to wait until we got back to the lab since there was no way of testing the components of the drug now.

I noticed a small bruise on his neck that suggested the victim was squeezed by a large, powerful hand. ”Zhou Yang might have been grabbed from behind before the murderer inserted a syringe into his body, threatening to inject poison if he moved. This is a common kidnapping method.”

”It could’ve been water!” stated Bingxin.

One of Zhou Yang's belt loops was ripped off, and since most people hung their keys here, the murderer must have taken his keys and stolen his car.

Without any of my equipment with me, I couldn't perform an in-depth autopsy so I covered the body with a plastic sheet I found nearby.

Standing at the edge of the pool, I looked down at the murky waters, wondering if there was anything under the surface. Drown victims supposedly floated to the surface upon death but I had to confirm Luo Youyou’s body wasn’t below. After removing a wooden plank from the scaffolding, I poked around the pool and stirred the muddy waters.

The wooden plank was caught onto a heavy object. My heart sank with the fear of discovering Luo Youyou’s corpse.

Noticing my expression, Bingxin asked what was wrong but I motioned for her to keep quiet as I stuck my ear to the wooden plank and slowly tapped with my fingers. This was another way to use echolocation, though the unsteady flow of the water affected my hearing.

After listening carefully for some time, I asserted, ”It’s not a corpse! We’ll get the officers to salvage whatever’s down there when they arrive.”

Bingxin breathed a sigh of relief, ”Thank goodness!”

We were suddenly interrupted by a call from Dali. ”Dude, come quickly. I found Luo Youyou’s–” he panicked.

I felt my chest tighten as I waited for the rest of his sentence. Dali gasped, ”Backpack…”

”You scared me half to death!” I rebuked. “Where are you? I'll be there right away.”

Bingxin and I headed to Dali’s location. Song Xingchen was already there. Without waiting for us, Dali had already overturned the contents of Luo Youyou's backpack on the ground and said, ”Everything’s here.”

A pile of clothes and daily necessities, and some cash–the murderer never touched her backpack.

Then, Dali grabbed a corner of the backpack and faltered, ”The thread on the top is loose. Luo Youyou has a habit of pulling the thread whenever she’s nervous. She must be in danger.”