Chapter 227

September in Zizhen City is always shrouded in continuous autumn rain.

Gu Changzheng stood in front of the window of the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment, looking through the glass at the drizzling rain curtain outside. The rainwater snaked down the glass, refracting the distant neon lights into distorted light and shadows. He habitually touched his chin, where short, graying stubble remained.

Since his master Lu Haoxuan passed away in the "Supreme Divine Sect" case three years ago, three years have passed, and he has also been promoted from the Jiangdong Branch Criminal Investigation Brigade to the Captain of the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment. However, his career achievements still hadn't changed his lifestyle. Over these years, he had grown old, especially with the presence of that stubble, which made him look even more weathered!

"Captain Gu, the crime scene investigation report is out!" His assistant and disciple Luo Fei pushed the door open and entered, holding a stack of documents still carrying the warmth of the printer.

Gu Changzheng took the report, his gaze stopping on the "Victim Identity" column. Xia Fei, 23 years old, a pediatrician nurse at Zizhen City First People's Hospital. The time of death was between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM on September 23rd. The location of death was a small roadside park in the Huayuan Community of the Jiangnan District. No murder weapon was found at the scene, and there were no signs of a struggle. However, the cause of death column made him incomparably furious! The victim's abdomen and stomach were stabbed 7 times with a sharp weapon. Even more cruel, the victim's abdominal cavity was sliced open, her eyes were stabbed to ruin, and what made him feel nauseated was that the victim's private parts had been cut off and taken away by the murderer!

Forensic doctor Old Zheng wrote in the conclusion: The victim was humiliated after being killed, and then her private organs were cut off.

This is the third similar case this month. The previous two were Yang Xiaoli, a female worker at a textile factory on September 3rd, and Xiao Hualing, a migrant worker at an electronics factory on September 13th. Three cases, three different crime scenes, but the modus operandi was exactly the same! Gu Changzheng tapped his right hand on the table unconsciously. Besides being of similar age, all around 20 years old, no intersection was found in their other social relationships.

"What about surveillance?"

"The crime scenes are all in old neighborhoods. The surveillance is either broken or in a blind spot." Luo Fei sighed, "But this time there is an eyewitness, a taxi driver who works the night shift. He said that around 2:00 AM, he saw a man wearing a gray hoodie coming out of the garden where the victim was later found."

"A gray hoodie?" Gu Changzheng suddenly looked up.

"Yes, the driver said the man was walking very slowly, feeling like he was taking a stroll. But because it was drizzling that day, the driver felt he was quite strange, so he took a few extra looks. But because the man's hood covered most of his face, he didn't see clearly what he looked like!"

"Let's go! Let's go to the scene and take a look!" Gu Changzheng grabbed his coat and stood up.

At this time, it was still drizzling in the sky. The crime scene was one of the more than 100 pocket parks built in Zizhen City in recent years. When the victim Xia Fei was found, a pair of panties was stuffed into her mouth, and she was lying naked on her back under a camphor tree. This kind of tree is everywhere in Zizhen, each one pruned to no more than three meters high, with a huge canopy that is evergreen all year round. Under the tree was a thick lawn of Zoysia grass, and the marks pressed into the lawn by the human body were still there, and under the lawn was a large area of dark red...

Because it was a rainy day and the crime scene was on the lawn, no useful footprints were collected at the scene. The perimeter of the lawn was paved with water-absorbing bricks and gravel, which was already difficult to leave footprints on, and now being washed by the rain, there were no traces left at all!

Gu Changzheng squatted at the place where the victim's body was found, simulating the situation at the time of the crime in his mind. On the city streets in the early morning, although there were few people on the road, in the silent night, if someone shouted for help, someone would definitely hear it. But according to their visits, at the time of the crime, no one heard any similar calls for help!

A healthy adult woman with normal thinking, when attacked by a criminal, didn't even have time to call for help. Could it be that the murderer and the victim knew each other? Or did the murderer subdue the victim instantly, leaving her no chance to call for help? Or did the murderer plan to kill first and then...?

He was thinking in his mind, but his eyes were not idle for a moment. Suddenly, his body leaned forward, his right hand reached toward the lawn near the tree root, his hand stopped in mid-air, and he called out without looking back: "Luo Fei, gloves!"

Luo Fei behind him said "Hey!" and immediately took out a pair of gloves. Gu Changzheng pinched a cigarette butt from the grass with two fingers. Looking at the marks, it should have been recently thrown here. "Send it to the testing department for analysis immediately. This cigarette butt is very likely left at the scene by the murderer."

"Ding-a-ling—" Gu Changzheng's phone suddenly rang. It was a call from the bureau.

"Captain Gu!" Gao Ye's urgent voice came from the phone: "Just received a report, another female corpse was found in the Xinxin Community of Fenghuang Community..."

Gu Changzheng gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. At this time, the rain had also become heavier, as if it wanted to drown the whole city! He knew that this battle with the devil had just begun!