Chapter 580

His voice was not loud, but to everyone's ears it sounded like a thunderclap, leaving all of them stunned.

We're still investigating the kidnapping case—how did another murder pop up?

"Wasn't the search operation already over?" Lu Zhongxin looked at him in confusion:

"How did you find it?"

He's called a police officer, but he's actually the deputy chief of the local police station, assigned to join this search mission.

The men this deputy chief brought were mainly responsible for searching the southern area.

After finding the taxi, they were about to pack up and leave.

But a patrol officer reported that the southern side still had one unfinished building unsearched, and fresh footprints had been spotted along the perimeter—clearly someone had been here.

Following the principle that since they'd come this far, the deputy chief decisively ordered his men to split into two teams and begin ascending from both sides simultaneously.

They didn't find anyone, but discovered a male corpse on the third floor.

After the deputy chief explained the situation, Lu Zhongxin immediately led his team to the unfinished building, while colleagues from the technical division followed closely behind to examine the scene.

"Male, approximately twenty-two to twenty-five years old."

A technical division officer, while examining the corpse, reported:

"The carotid artery was completely severed; preliminary judgment is death by excessive blood loss leading to loss of consciousness and cardiac arrest."

He then carefully prodded and turned the corpse from head to toe, scrutinizing every part of it:

"Rigor mortis has spread throughout the body, with no signs of softening yet—estimated time of death between ten p. m. last night and one a. m."

As he spoke, he gestured to a colleague beside him; two officers immediately moved to the corpse's side and gently lifted its upper body, pulling up its shirt to reveal its back.

"Lividity is on the back—this means the body was not moved after death."

The officer pointed to the lividity on the corpse's back and said:

"Also, based on the blood distribution at the scene, the victim struggled for at least one minute after his throat was cut."

This was only a preliminary examination; further confirmation is still needed, but this was already enough for Lu Zhongxin and his team.

First, it's certain the victim was murdered.

Second, based on the lividity and blood distribution, this is the original crime scene.

The time of death was last night, meaning the victim likely intended to spend the night in this unfinished building.

Could this man have been one of the kidnappers?

Yu Dazhang observed the surrounding environment, then walked to the building's edge and gazed into the distance—he noticed this spot offered a clear view of the suburban highway.

The height of this floor was ideal; the first and second floors were too low to see the highway at all, but the third floor could see the road clearly and allowed for a quick escape if needed.

Yu Dazhang's mind stirred—he remembered the tire tracks found at the abandoned house.

Those tire tracks had vanished at the highway.

If the kidnappers hadn't fled directly onto the highway, but instead entered it, then exited via another side road and hid in this unfinished building…

Thinking of this, Yu Dazhang slowly walked along the edge of the third floor, his gaze sweeping downward.

Just as he reached the halfway point, he suddenly stopped.

"Qian Ge, come here."

Yu Dazhang shouted to Qian Cheng, who was examining the scene nearby:

"Come over here."

Qian Cheng looked over and saw him standing at the building's very edge; after hesitating, he walked toward him.

At the same time, Lu Zhongxin realized his apprentice might have found something and followed Qian Cheng over.

"Spit it out—I'm busy," Qian Cheng said, stopping just before him.

Yu Dazhang waved him over:

"Come closer—you can only see it from here."

Qian Cheng really didn't want to go—he had a bit of a fear of heights—but since he was on duty, he gritted his teeth and walked to the edge.

"Look at that mound of dirt down there," Yu Dazhang pointed to a dirt pile below and said:

"The one next to the pile of construction debris."

Qian Cheng followed his finger and soon spotted the mound, but could only make out its general shape.