Compared to previous cases with traceable clues, the tragedy in this small alley has become a complete mystery.
There were quite a few residents in the alley. It stands to reason that such brutal murders would not have occurred without a sound, nor would no one have heard anything.
However, the fact was that the surrounding residents reported no anomalies. In the half hour before the bodies appeared, two people had passed through, and there was nothing then.
Even if all seven or eight deceased people had behaved like lambs to the slaughter, stretching their necks to be killed, it would have taken time.
After collecting evidence from the surroundings, they concluded that the victims were killed in the alley, and there was no situation where they were killed elsewhere and then their bodies were dumped here.
All of them died from excessive compression, as if they had been placed inside something and crushed to death. Hitting them wouldn't have produced such an effect.
However, no traces of any tools were detected on their bodies. The clues that could be found presented a significant paradox with reality, making the case even more perplexing. With a large number of deaths, discovered by the public, and with gruesome death conditions, all these factors combined pushed this cold case onto the front pages of the newspapers.
Several newspaper companies staked out the homes of surrounding residents daily, hoping to dig up some strange anecdotes from them. The stories became increasingly exaggerated, gradually causing panic.
Li Shuangjin, still confined to bed, had to participate in the investigation of this case. As he flipped through the records they had compiled, his brow furrowed deeper.
The forensic doctor also arrived, carrying a thick stack of photographs.
"How is your side of things?"
He handed the photos over. "Didn't you read the autopsy report? It's particularly strange. I went to the scene and saw it. There was no murder weapon that could cause such crushing. Something that could compress a person like this would only be found in large machinery factories, like the presses used in bullet production. The largest machinery factories in Hai City are at least twenty kilometers away. Transporting it by vehicle would take at least half an hour, and vehicles make noise; the surrounding people couldn't possibly not have heard it."
Furthermore, if someone were to commit murder in a large machinery factory, the disposal site would likely be the sea or buried in the earth, not an alley in a residential area.
Li Shuangjin looked at the disjointed chain of evidence. His mind felt like it was shrouded in a fog, separating all the evidence and preventing him from finding any connection.
The three cases that had occurred recently: the first victim was scared to death; the second, seemingly scared to death, was actually crushed to death; the third, crushed to death. One could say they were unrelated, or one could say they were heavily linked.
Unfortunately, Li Shuangjin did not connect them at this moment.
"Have you interviewed everyone nearby?"
"They've all been interviewed, and there are no leads."
Seeing that there was no headway, and with the newspapers writing more and more exaggerated, demonizing the whole affair, the police department also grew restless. Even the chief, who had previously been very lenient with him, personally visited to urge him to solve the case quickly.
Li Shuangjin had no choice but to push his unrecovered body to investigate.
The bloodstains in the alley had not been completely cleaned, and they had now turned black. Although it still looked dirty, it was no longer as terrifying as the gruesome scene that day.
Yet, no one dared to pass through there.
As Li Shuangjin was staring at the crime scene, he suddenly saw someone walk out. His car was parked across the road, and he couldn't see clearly, only that it seemed to be a young girl, dressed very beautifully.
She didn't look like someone who would emerge from such a place.
He went to the nearest household to the crime scene and asked some routine questions. Others had asked these before, all concerning the victims. Sudan Novel Network.
They were a group of idle street hooligans who loitered around the area, extorting money from lone individuals. If they didn't get what they wanted, they would beat them up. Some young girls had also been harassed by them. Previously, a student from the Girls' Academy had fallen victim to them and was later taken away by her family.
Even though those men had died tragically, many people felt they deserved it.
Li Shuangjin listened silently. After the other person finished speaking, he thought of the figure he had glimpsed and asked, "Has there been anything unusual in the area recently? Or any new residents whose behavior is suspicious?"
The elderly woman thought for a moment. "A young girl seems to have moved in recently. I haven't seen her much. She goes out early every day and sometimes comes back very late. Perhaps she's from... that kind of place."
She might not have been referring to the street in the west of the city, but such a description was clearly a one-sided guess.
Li Shuangjin didn't take it too seriously and left after asking.
Still no progress.
As he came out, he had someone turn the car around and head to the previous victim's home.
It had been more than half a month since that case occurred, and people were almost forgetting about it. The deceased's son was also not home. Hearing their knock, a neighbor stepped out and said the house was empty, as the person had gone to a gambling den.
Li Shuangjin then grabbed the person who stepped out and asked if there was anything unusual that day.
The person was intimidated by his imposing aura. Initially impatient, he now obediently recounted what had happened that day.
"She was happy that morning. She had just sold her simple-minded daughter for eighteen yuan and was smiling. Towards the afternoon, it seemed like there was a visitor, but they didn't stay long before leaving. Later, her son returned and found her dead at home, her body already stiff."
Li Shuangjin frowned again. "The visitor, do you know what they looked like?"
He couldn't answer. The woman who had come out in a rush shouted, "A girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, came in a rickshaw. She was dressed very beautifully, like a girl from Bailemen."
The man also shouted, "Have you seen a girl from Bailemen?"
The woman shot him a glare. "Have you!?"
The man lowered his head and fell silent.
This was a middle-aged couple. Li Shuangjin couldn't ascertain from them whether the visitor was from the entertainment district or elsewhere. Crucially, apart from being pretty and attractive, they couldn't recall much about the girl's appearance. He had no choice but to give up.
Hearing this, Li Shuangjin also thought about the young girl he had glimpsed from his car across the road. Fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed beautifully, and not bad-looking, but...
He couldn't see her face clearly.
Li Shuangjin's heart lurched. He instantly felt a sense of questioning his own worldview.
Could it be, as the newspapers claimed, that some demon capable of bewitching people had appeared?
The deaths of these people were all very peculiar, and the evidence didn't match at all. Now, several people said they couldn't remember her appearance. When you think about it, it was indeed a bit strange.
After much deliberation, Li Shuangjin decided to find an opportunity to meet the person in question.