Puzzle

Shen Yin received a call from Wu Zheng before dawn.

They had been busy for most of the night. Finally, they found the corpse’s internal organs in a pork shop and dug the limbs from a trash can. Before they left, they coincidentally found the corpse’s torso in a smelly ditch.

Shen Nian heard the noise and woke up in a daze. However, Shen Yin pressed him back into bed. “Nian Nian, be good. Sleep a little longer.”

She placed a gentle kiss on her son’s forehead, then quietly dressed and went out.

Snoring sounds came from the police station. The officers had not slept all night and were so tired that they sat down on chairs to catch up on their sleep.

When Wu Zheng saw her, he quickly came out to welcome her and explained the situation. “The only thing missing now is the head.”

Meng Heng could not hide the smell of the sewer. He subconsciously stood further away from Shen Yin and awkwardly avoided looking at her.

Zou Sheng smiled and explained, “Little Meng personally led the team down the smelly ditch. If he wasn’t so careful, we might have overlooked the spot.”

“You’ve worked hard. Leave this to me. Go and rest.” Shen Yin put on her gloves and disinfected herself before entering the autopsy room.

“I’m not sleepy. Let me help you.” Wu Zheng followed her example as he readied himself.

Zou Sheng nudged Meng Heng, who was rooted to the ground. “Go and rest. I’ll go help them.”

Shen Yin knew that they would not sleep well until the case was solved, so she did not say anything else.

These dozens of body parts had also been frozen for as long as three months. The surface of the corpse was mottled in the same black and brown as the ten fingers.

Shen Yin remained patient and focused. Her subordinates quickly pieced together the corpse as if fixing a puzzle.

Zou Sheng stood at the side with his eyes wide open in shock. He looked at the scene in front of him as if he was watching a horror movie. He could not imagine what the beautiful, young forensic pathologist had experienced to become so brave.

Shen Yin clapped her hands and breathed a long sigh of relief. She could tell from the skeleton that the victim was male, between the ages of 18 and 25, and between 170 and 175m in height. It was a pity they had not found the head, or they could have narrowed it down further.

However, this information had already made the identification of the victim much easier.

Zou Sheng quickly crossed out many of the possibilities. There were only three possible options left.

One of the three happened to live on Tongjiang Street in the New District.

Shen Yin studied the limbs in her hand in detail. “Combined with the jagged features of the soft tissue fracture on the bone and a certain serrated marks, the tool used to dismember him was probably a saw.”

Wu Zheng said thoughtfully, “It seems that we’ll have to go to Tongjiang Street after dawn. Zou Sheng, what’s the name of the missing boy?”

Zou Sheng’s fingers quickly flicked the tablet screen few times. “His name is Lu Feng. He lives in 30 Huiwen District, Tongjiang Street. Unit 2, Unit 402. He disappeared exactly three months ago. The person who reported it was his mother.”

Wu Zheng nodded. Many details corresponded.

Shen Yin was focused on the internal organs on the autopsy table. She grabbed the thawed heart, and the smell of decay immediately spread through the autopsy room.

But she did not even frown. Her hands methodically searched through the various important organs on the table.

“What is it? Is there a problem?” Wu Zheng frowned, his eyes filled with admiration.

“Yes.” Shen Yin fiddled with a section of the corpse’s intestines with interest. The scene was bloody and terrifying.

She looked up at Wu Zheng and explained seriously, “There’s a knife mark on the victim’s heart and chest. It’s a penetrating wound. It was probably made with a fruit knife. He was killed cleanly, with one stab.”

She casually pointed to several scars on the torso, abdomen, and back of the body. “In addition, there are several scratches on the victim’s body. They’re probably due to the victim’s violent struggle. He must have fought with someone before he died.”

With a sudden strange laugh, she picked up the dead man’s entrails and said thoughtfully, “But that’s not the most interesting thing.”

“What do you mean?” Zou Zou looked at her in horror. He had not known that Dr. Shen was such a scary person?

The beautiful female forensic pathologist was standing at the autopsy table, holding the corpse’s internal organs with a smirk on her face. The light reflecting off the bloody body parts seemed to make her eyes glow red, and she looked like one of those human-eating ghosts in stories.

Intrigued, Shen Yin traced a circle between the legs of the corpse. Her voice was like a murmur from hell. “It’s a man’s most important organ. Where has it gone?”