Hearing Chen Ge's analysis, the officers were all surprised. Chen Ge's usual demeanor was worlds away from the phrase "sharp-minded," but whenever he stepped onto a crime scene, he always managed to find something. It was as if this guy was born to crack murder cases.
"Let's go check the tenth floor of the other buildings." Captain Yan held the severed arm, and the group hurried downstairs, heading for Building Two.
Just as Chen Ge had guessed, they found another arm in a room on the tenth floor of Building Two.
"Take photos first. Don't disturb the scene. The killer probably left something behind when hiding the body."
After Li Zheng finished taking photos, the group entered Building Three.
This building was only half-constructed. There weren't even railings installed in the stairwell, and one careless step could send you falling straight down.
"Be careful!"
Hugging the wall, the group made their way up, spending a considerable amount of time before reaching the tenth floor. But something unexpected awaited them.
After searching every room on the tenth floor, they found no body. All they saw was a large chunk of wall that had been carved out in one of the rooms.
"Someone got here before us?" Chen Ge ran his fingers along the edge of the wall and recalled the electric scooter he had seen earlier inside Building One. "Captain Yan! Do you remember what I told you earlier — someone rode an electric scooter past the police car? That person could be the killer! He took the woman's legs!"
"Building Four, now!"
The group rushed to Building Four without a moment's rest, but they were already a step too late. The killer had been very clear about his objective and knew exactly how to make trade-offs. After taking the woman's legs, he had withdrawn decisively, abandoning the woman's hands entirely.
"Risking exposure just to come back and take the legs — there must be critical evidence on them," Tian Lei analyzed from the side, while Captain Yan stood in the center of the room with a grim expression.
"Stealing a woman's legs right under the police's noses — this killer's nerve is something else." Chen Ge picked up the debris from the floor and tried fitting the pieces together. "The suspect came equipped with professional tools — hammers, iron chisels, things like that. What I'm more curious about is how the killer knew we were coming. Did he leave someone watching in the Mingyang Residential Complex? Did he get wind of us in advance? Or could the killer actually be someone we've already run into tonight?"
Chen Ge was ninety percent certain that the person who had stolen the woman's legs ahead of the police was Jia Ming. Tonight, the only person who knew the police were coming was Jia Ming. And there was one more detail — Jia Ming had an electric scooter at home; it was on that very scooter that he had gotten into his car accident back in the day.
Captain Yan understood what Chen Ge was implying, but he had his own considerations. "The eye-gouging case, the dismemberment case — these two cases from the western and eastern suburbs share one thing in common: a sense of ritual. Could there be some connection between the killers?"
"Probably not? The methods are completely different." Chen Ge was taken aback by Captain Yan's intuition. The door in Liwan Town going out of control was tied to the Weird Talk Association, and the changes in the Mingyang Residential Complex were technically caused by Liwan Town. So if you really traced it back, the case hidden within the Mingyang Residential Complex could very well end up connected to the Weird Talk Association.
Twenty-five minutes later, personnel from the Dongcheng Police Station arrived.
Four police cars were parked in the middle of the Mingyang Residential Complex. Having received their first homicide case in nearly half a year, the Dongcheng Police Station had gone all out, mobilizing virtually every officer they could reach.
"Captain Tian! We're here!"
"Stand by and follow Captain Yan's orders." Tian Lei walked over to Captain Yan. "Captain Yan, our people have arrived. Three groups in total."
"Group one — pull up nearby surveillance footage and locate a person riding an electric scooter. Group two — secure the scene and carry out evidence collection. Group three — monitor several individuals for me." Captain Yan rattled off a list of names, which included both Jia Ming and Huang Ling.
Chen Ge was standing right there. He had originally been prepared to catch Jia Ming off guard with a surprise move, but after seeing Captain Yan's arrangements, he didn't dare make a move on Jia Ming. "Captain Yan, is there anything you need me to do?"
"I'll let you know tomorrow once we have results. Solving cases is, after all, our job as police officers. You've already done more than enough." Captain Yan turned his head toward Tian Lei. "Find someone to drive Chen Ge back. There's no way to get a taxi from here, and he's had a long night."
"Xiao Qing! Come here — I have a mission for you."
"Here!" It was Xiao Qing's first time participating in a major case investigation, and he was a little nervous.