Murder

Before long, whistling police cars surrounded the gas station.

Yellow tape completely sealed off the scene.

The sirens and commotion woke the napping city.

Curious people peeked in this direction but were quickly driven away.

Even the surrounding traffic was restricted.

It was as if they wanted to isolate this place from the rest of the city.

The reason was easy to guess.

A murder had occurred here, but it wasn’t an ordinary murder.

According to the investigation, three young employees were all dead, with multiple stab wounds to their abdomens and chests, but these were not the fatal injuries.

The real cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, the reason obvious: the ropes on the ceiling.

But what was chilling was that none of the three bodies showed any signs of pain or terror.

Instead, they all had smiles on their faces, looking straight ahead.

When the police arrived, they were all terrified by the sight of the three bodies swaying in the wind, smiling at them.

It was a good thing it wasn’t late at night, or the eerie scene would have been even more frightening.

However, although it was scary, having dealt with many Anomaly cases, everyone’s adaptability had improved significantly.

The police now had a mature set of regulations for handling such matters—first, they needed to rule out whether it was the work of an Anomaly.

This was now the most important part of the criminal investigation process.

As the person who reported the crime and the first witness, Bai Hai naturally became the focus of the police’s attention.

After a simple questioning, he was taken to a police car to wait for someone to take his statement.

However, because everyone was very busy, no one had attended to him yet.

For a vicious murder case, the number of police officers dispatched was clearly not large.

This was also normal, because no matter how horrifying or vicious a murder case was, it could hardly compare to an Anomaly case.

Sitting in the police car, Bai Hai listened to the sirens and shouts outside and also fell into thought—was this incident a murder or an Anomaly case?

Before calling the police, he had checked the scene without leaving any suspicious traces.

No signs of robbery, no signs of a struggle, no signs of an intruder, no signs of activity by anyone other than these three people.

At the same time, the Source Blood did not issue an alert, and he did not detect any traces of an Anomaly either—

It was as if a ghost had walked in and killed these three people.

But if it was the work of an Anomaly, why go to so much trouble? Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill them directly? Why go through the trouble of stabbing them a few times first and then hanging them?

Or what was the purpose? Whether it was a human or an Anomaly, it was difficult to understand the motive.

Even if we rule out the human option for now and assume it was an Anomaly, what would be the purpose of the Anomaly killing people? The silver spider that was eliminated this morning was to absorb the liquid inside the human body to heal its injuries and become stronger, so the corpses were in a mummified state.

And what was the significance of these three corpses now? Some kind of occult symbol? Did Anomalies have that kind of intelligence?

“Ah ha, when I got the file just now, I guessed it might be you. I didn’t expect it to actually be you.”

A youthful and beautiful female voice, along with the opening of the car door, interrupted Bai Hai’s thoughts.

He turned his head and saw a good-looking female police officer winking at him.

It was an acquaintance—Liu Xiaoxiao.

The female police officer he had met during the incident with Anomaly No. 213 yesterday.

It was also she who had driven the lost (actually, he had detected the appearance of the Anomaly through the Source Blood and walked into the restricted area to observe it up close) Bai Hai home.

Seeing her, Bai Hai was also a little surprised.

He nodded politely and asked, “I didn’t expect to see you again. Are you in charge of this area?”

“No, isn’t it because there have been three Anomaly incidents in a row yesterday and today? There aren’t enough police officers in this area, so I was temporarily transferred over to help… It’s so troublesome. It’s just a murder case, but we can only dispatch so few people. We have to do everything. I’m almost exhausted.”

Liu Xiaoxiao complained to Bai Hai as if they were old friends, but her work attitude was very serious.

Her eyes never left the clipboard in her hand.

This was the brief statement the police had taken from Bai Hai upon their arrival.

“Oh, don’t be nervous. Your suspicion is almost zero. Plus, you’re Professor Jiang Yue’s son. With this connection, the leadership has specifically requested that you don’t need to be taken back to the police station for a statement. You can leave right after you’re done here.”

After reading the record, Liu Xiaoxiao sent Bai Hai a signal of safety as usual.

Generally speaking, the person who discovers a murder case is very nervous and panicked, partly due to the psychological trauma of witnessing a terrifying crime scene, and partly due to the fear of being suspected as the murderer.

Basically, everyone had this kind of catastrophic thinking to some extent, and the so-called detective novels and movies were largely to blame for this.

So when the police questioned them, they would usually try to stabilize the discoverer’s emotions first and help them relax, which was also very beneficial for the subsequent work.

Both her earlier complaints and her current reassurance served the same purpose.

Bai Hai shrugged, indicating that he wasn’t too nervous and was ready for questioning.

However, just as he was guessing whether Liu Xiaoxiao’s first question would be about the scene or the discovery process, she suddenly looked up and stared at him, saying, “According to the record, since you already guessed that someone might have died inside, why did you still rush in?”

Bai Hai was taken aback, a little unable to keep up with the female police officer’s train of thought.

Seeing this, Liu Xiaoxiao added, “According to the surveillance footage at the entrance, you rushed into the gas station almost without hesitation after getting out of the car. When there is a high suspicion that someone has died inside, a normal person should prioritize their own safety. It’s already very brave to dare to call the police secretly.”

“What if it really was a murder case? Weren’t you afraid that the culprit was still inside?”

Only then did Bai Hai come to his senses.

His action was indeed a bit abnormal, mainly because he wasn’t afraid whether there was a murderer or an Anomaly inside.

But it was this very point that made him a little suspicious.

But this was only considered a bit of abnormal behavior and couldn’t prove anything.

Bai Hai quickly adjusted his state and said with a somewhat joking attitude, “Because I am a concerned citizen who cares about community safety.”

Liu Xiaoxiao was a little dumbfounded by this answer, and Bai Hai quickly added, “Mainly, I didn’t think too much about the consequences. I got carried away and just thought that someone inside might need help, so I rushed in. Unfortunately, it was too late.”

Liu Xiaoxiao nodded in understanding and quickly jotted down a few paragraphs in her notebook.
Then she looked up and said very seriously, “On behalf of the police and myself, I am very grateful for your heroic behavior. But I hope you can consider your own safety first next time. If this really was a murder case, the culprit might still be lingering at the scene, which would be very dangerous.”

Seeing her solemn expression, Bai Hai could only nod and say that he would listen to the people’s police.

However, from Liu Xiaoxiao’s words, he found something was not right.

“But according to what you mean, this case is not a murder case?”

“No, according to the preliminary investigation, it was a suicide.” Liu Xiaoxiao’s casual words left Bai Hai completely bewildered.

“This… this could be a suicide?” Bai Hai showed a look of confusion.

It wasn’t that he had poor comprehension, but that the scene was indeed too bizarre.

Anyway, he had never seen a suicide scene like this.

“Actually, I find it incredible too. But for decades now, we no longer rely on reasoning and flashes of insight to solve cases. Modern criminal investigation has a powerful investigative tool—surveillance footage.”

Liu Xiaoxiao held up the clipboard in her hand, but her expression was also a little strange. “We immediately retrieved the surveillance footage for playback. Fortunately, the surveillance here has just been upgraded to high definition, so the picture is very clear. You can even see the hairs on a person’s face clearly.”

“According to the playback footage, everything was fine at twelve o’clock noon. The three employees were orderly refueling, organizing the warehouse, and doing other normal work. They were even complaining about their boss behind his back during their free time. But at twelve thirty-eight, something suddenly went wrong—”

“The three employees, as if they had suddenly agreed on it, closed the shop door with strange expressions. Then one of them took a kitchen knife from the kitchen and hacked the other employee’s abdomen and chest several times.”

Hearing this, Bai Hai frowned.

This matter sounded really strange.

However, Liu Xiaoxiao’s following account was even more bizarre.

“Then the employee who did the hacking handed the kitchen knife to the one who had been hacked. The hacked employee then used the kitchen knife to hack another employee several times. Then he handed the knife to the other person, and finally, the first employee who did the hacking was also hacked.”

“By now, all three of them were seriously injured, and blood was all over the floor. But they didn’t collapse. Instead, they threw away the kitchen knife, pulled out three hemp ropes from a shelf, hung them on the rod on the ceiling, and hanged themselves on stools.”

“When we inspected the scene, we also found the discarded kitchen knife. We are currently investigating the social background and relationships of the three people, and we have sent the collected samples to the laboratory to see if we can find any psychoactive drugs.”

After Liu Xiaoxiao finished her account, she shivered with some lingering fear.

It couldn’t be helped. Just telling such a story was scary enough, let alone the fact that she had just watched the whole thing.

And she hadn’t dared to mention one detail for fear of scaring Bai Hai—

The three of them were smiling until they died.

Bai Hai fell into deep thought.

From the course of events, these things were indeed “anomalous” enough.

However, in fact, there were no traces of what the public currently defined as an “Anomaly.”

Perhaps it was indeed the work of some psychoactive drugs.

But was it really that simple? Bai Hai felt that things were not so simple.

“Wait, why did I tell you so much?” Suddenly, Liu Xiaoxiao slapped her head and looked at Bai Hai strangely.

What she had just said was all internal investigation secrets and should not be told to outsiders.

“…You’re asking me? Who should I ask?” The corner of Bai Hai’s mouth twitched.

It wasn’t like he had forced her to say it. He was also wondering why she was telling him so much.

Liu Xiaoxiao immediately showed a panicked expression, secretly cursing her big mouth.

But then she quickly calmed down and said with a somewhat fawning expression, “Well, Mr. Bai, about this police-civilian cooperation…”

“Alright, I know.” Bai Hai waved his hand dismissively, interrupting her.

This was not a refusal, but a gesture that no more needed to be said.

Liu Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, her voice trembling slightly. “No way, you’re really going to report me?”

Bai Hai: “…”

Where did this honest girl come from? Was her brain made of porcelain? Couldn’t she even take a hint?

“I mean I won’t tell anyone.”

Feeling Bai Hai’s helpless gaze, Liu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but blush.

She giggled and changed her tune, “Hehe… then shall we begin? First, from how you…”

This statement was actually dispensable for the current situation.

Bai Hai’s words at most served as supplementary evidence.

After all, the surveillance footage had become a dead giveaway.

The next step was to consider whether it was drugs or some other factor that caused the suicide.

But this had nothing to do with Bai Hai anymore.

After the statement was checked, since Bai Hai’s car was out of gas and couldn’t be driven, and the gas station, as a murder scene, couldn’t refuel it, it was Liu Xiaoxiao who volunteered to help.

She promised to take Bai Hai home first, then call a tow truck to tow the car away and help refuel it.

Bai Hai could pick it up when he had time.

The arrangements were clear, so Bai Hai naturally agreed.

After Liu Xiaoxiao drove away with Bai Hai, the on-site investigation also came to an end.

All the information and samples had been collected, and only the laboratory results were pending.

The remaining police officers and forensic doctors then carried the bodies into the car, preparing to take them back to the station for further autopsy.

No one saw the finger that twitched slightly inside the body bag.