Chapter 390: Romance Fills The Room (1/2)

It was about two kilometers away from the dump site. There was a pool of blood on the ground with some fallen teeth lying around and several tire tracks, including an obvious brake mark. Although few people took this road, there was still the occasional car. After the incident, any vehicle passing by would have interfered with the crime scene, and the pool of blood was run over by tires.

Xiaotao assigned several officers to snap pictures of these tire tracks and take them back for screening. Additionally, she contacted the transportation department and immediately requested for the surveillance videos of this section of the road.

I squatted down, meditating on the road for a while. ”The surveillance cameras definitely didn't catch anything!” I announced.

”Why do you say that?” asked Xiaotao.

I unlocked my cell phone and found a speed limit app used by drivers which I downloaded for handling cases. As soon as I opened the app, I could see the position of the monitoring cameras on this section of the road.

”This road is relatively remote,” I remarked. “There are only two intersections with cameras. The perpetrators avoided these two parts and used the side road.”

I pointed to the sand particles on the brake marks which were mixed with some grassy stems. ”These debris were attached to the tires and were thrown off due to inertia at the moment of impact, landing here.”

I scanned the area and reflected for a moment. ”The perpetrators drove two cars.”

”How can you tell?”

”I can’t tell based on what we currently see. It’s my deduction based on the fact that there were at least five people, including the female victim,” I explained. “Earlier, when I was performing the autopsy, I found that the rape happened two hours ago, which means it started on the road. It's a bit crowded for five people in one car to be having sex. So I think it's more likely they came in two cars! The two cars were in the back and front, sandwiching the male victim in the middle as they forced him to run barefoot on the road. Finally the man’s strength gave out and was hit by the rear vehicle.”

”That makes sense!” Xiaotao concurred.

I walked along the brake marks and came to the edge of the road where I found traces of trampled weeds, indicating that the car stopped at the time. This was probably where they got off and carried the body. There was half a footprint on the dirt road beside the grass, matching those found at the scene.

When I closed my eyes, I could picture the scene at the time–four young people, probably high on drugs, brutally tortured and toyed with the two victims, then ran away after disposing of their bodies in a hurry.

Xiaotao proposed we returned to the station immediately to work the case overnight but I shook my head. ”It's too late. There’s no point working through the night! Go home and rest well. We’ll continue tomorrow morning.”

”I can’t stop thinking about the girl who was tortured to death,” Xiaotao frowned. “I wish I could arrest them right now!”

I patted her on the shoulder. ”I’m just as angry as you are!”

”I’m really depressed. Won’t you accompany me for the night?”

”Alright!” I said.

After Xiaotao instructed the others to go home, we headed back to her place. When she removed her coat, I got a look at her holster that was hanging on her waist, gun still in place.

I turned grave at once, ”Didn't I remind you about this?”