Huang Xiaotao finished a phone call and came over to ask me, "Any new findings?"
I shook my head. She called a few officers, preparing to check out the old teaching building. Just before they left, I suddenly stared blankly at the artificial lake nearby. Huang Xiaotao asked what was wrong.
I said, "By the way, can you get some people to dredge that lake?"
"Why? Is there something in the lake? Are you sure?" Huang Xiaotao frowned.
"It's my theory. Since the killer was able to hang the victim on a tree, it means the victim was unconscious at the time. There were no external injuries, so he was probably forced to inhale some kind of anesthetic. But an adult male weighs at least sixty kilograms. To lift such a heavy body and hang it on a tree without leaving marks is very difficult. And if the killer wanted to fake a suicide, why not make it look like drowning in the lake? That would be easier. The killer must have a reason for choosing the tree instead. So I suspect the killer threw something into the lake. They don't want the police to dredge the body and find that thing."
"Right, why didn't I think of that? Song Yang, you're so smart! What's your major?" Huang Xiaotao asked with surprise.
"We're in the electronics department," Wang Dali blurted out, then patted my shoulder, "But Yangzi here is interested in all sorts of things—detective novels, forensic books, you name it."
I gave him a disgusted look. What was "Yangzi"? I instinctively moved a little away.
"Ah, you'd be wasted not being a cop. I'll contact headquarters to send an engineering team for dredging right away!"
Huang Xiaotao left a few officers to handle the scene and took the rest to the abandoned building. On the way, she made a phone call. She wasn't in uniform, so I asked, "By the way, you seem quite powerful. What's your rank?"
...
...
Huang Xiaotao showed her badge. It said "First-class Police Superintendent." I glanced at her ID number and realized she was only 24 years old, just started working recently. I guessed she either had connections or had earned major commendations.
"Sister Xiaotao, you're young and accomplished. First-class Police Superintendent—how high is that rank?" Wang Dali flattered.
"Not that high," Huang Xiaotao smiled.
Wang Dali asked me again what rank a superintendent is. I explained the Chinese police ranks: officer, superintendent, inspector, chief inspector, and commissioner. First-class superintendent isn't very high, but for a fresh graduate, that promotion speed is like riding a rocket.
Soon, we arrived at the abandoned building. Many locust trees surrounded it, casting heavy shadows that wrapped the entire structure in gloom. The gate was chained and padlocked.
Huang Xiaotao asked an officer to find the school's person in charge to open the gate. I waved my hand, "No need. Lend me two hairpins."
"You don't mean you can pick locks, right?" Huang Xiaotao pulled two hairpins from her hair.
I bent the pins open and inserted both ends into the keyhole, fiddled a bit, and the lock clicked open. Wang Dali gasped, "Whoa! Song Yang, you kept this hidden? We've been classmates for four years, and I didn't know you could pick locks!"
"Lockpicking is simple. I'll teach you sometime."
Lockpicking really is simple—modern lock cylinders vary but share the same principles. My grandfather taught me once when I was bored sick from illness, and I learned it in three hours.
"Hey, hey!" Huang Xiaotao called out, "Don't teach this trick around! Locksmiths have to register with the police station."
"Don't worry. I won't use it for bad things." I returned the hairpins.
Huang Xiaotao said, "Forget it, keep them yourself! I have a cleanliness obsession and don't like dirty stuff."
"I'll pay you back later!" I said.
She chuckled, "You clearly have no girlfriend. With such a cute young face, you can't say a sweet word to girls. You could've said, 'Next time I'll buy you prettier hairpins.'"
That hit me right in the heart. I'm not great with social skills, and my face flushed instantly.
But Huang Xiaotao joking with me like that warmed my impression of her. When I first met her, I thought she was a cold, distant police beauty. Now I saw a different side.
Wang Dali seized the chance to flatter, "Sister Xiaotao, I know a girls' shop with cheap and good stuff. After this case, I'll take you to buy some hairpins."
Unexpectedly, Huang Xiaotao replied coldly, "Thanks, but no."
Wang Dali sulked and whispered to me, "Yangzi, why does she talk to you but not me? I'm sure my looks can rival Wu Yanzu, maybe even Peng Yuyan. Maybe she doesn't like rugged handsome guys like me."
I glanced at his messy Eason Chan-like hair and said, "Maybe she's just not familiar with you yet. You'll get along eventually."
"Really?" Wang Dali scratched his head, doubtful.
We reached the third floor music classroom. The hallway was eerily dim even in daylight—like a horror movie set. I guessed it was both due to poor lighting and long abandonment that made it so gloomy.
I asked Wang Dali, "This piano ghost legend, why have I never heard of it?"
"I haven't either," Wang Dali scoffed, "Girls love spreading old ten-year-old stories. They don't talk to us guys anyway. I don't believe in campus ghost stories."
"Then why are you hiding behind me?" I teased.
"What? I was just tying my shoe and fell behind you," he said, flustered.
We saw a classroom door labeled '314 Music Classroom.' Several officers broke in first and soon screamed in terror. We rushed in and saw a headless corpse lying there, blood pooled and congealed.
Wang Dali sucked in a cold breath and scrambled behind me.
"Don't disturb the scene! You, outside, secure the building! You, take photos for evidence!" Huang Xiaotao ordered sharply.
Officers sprang into action. Huang Xiaotao handed me two rubber gloves and asked, "Can you handle it?"
"Whatever a forensic doctor can do, I can do. What they can't, I can do too," I said, staring at the corpse.
"Good. Then I'm relieved," Huang Xiaotao nodded.
We put on gloves. Wang Dali, a coward, clung to my arm, trembling.
"Dali, if you can't take it, wait outside," I said.
"I'm not disloyal! I'll wait outside then." He left.
"You're a funny classmate," Huang Xiaotao smiled.
I crouched to examine the corpse. Judging by clothes, the victim was a student around twenty. He fell toward the door, his head neatly cut off at the fourth cervical vertebra. But that might not be the cause of death.
Huang Xiaotao moved the victim's arm, saying, "Time of death is about ten hours ago."
"You know this too?" I was slightly surprised.
"Seen enough cases. Look, the livor mortis is merging, and rigor mortis in the fingers started. That fits ten hours."
She clearly studied forensic science carefully. Her first-class superintendent rank wasn't just luck, making me respect her.
I pressed my ear to the victim's back and gently tapped the spine, using my "bone echo listening" technique.
"If forensic doctor Qin was here, he'd probably agree with this..."
"So I'm right?" Huang Xiaotao smugly said.
"Unfortunately, time of death should be about forty-eight hours ago, with two hours margin."
"Impossible! The body looks so fresh!" Huang Xiaotao was shocked.
"You can't just trust appearances. If you don't believe me, I'll prove it!" I swiftly removed my rubber gloves.