After a thorough external examination of the corpse, the dissection of the corpse officially began. "What do you think of his technique?" asked Xiaotao.

"He’s quite professional,” I admitted. “The rib removal and evisceration were smoothly done. He looks like a coroner with at least 10 years of experience."

"Really, Great Detective Song?!" teased Xiaotao.

"Stop being so dramatic!" I laughed.

Coroners had to examine many corpses and eventually formed a fixed pattern. First, they examined the eyes, the mouth, the body, then the internal organs. This made for a neat and methodical process, but it was easy to overlook certain details.

Corpses weren’t cars on an assembly line, so how could they all follow a similar pattern? After examining corpses for some time, most coroners became numb to it and conveniently conformed to this sequence.

“You hit the nail on the head!” nodded Xiaotao. “When this case is over, I think we should hold a special seminar to improve the coroners’ autopsy methods."

"Are you being sarcastic?" I joked.

"No, I really think so!" Xiaotao shook her head vehemently.

I stared at the screen, watching the internal organs being removed from the corpse. But it wasn’t a live autopsy so many details were unclear after all. Even under careful scrutiny, no information was obtained. I rewinded the video and meticulously observed the victim’s original appearance once more.

When the coroner turned the body over, I was so absorbed in the video I shouted without a second thought. "Dali, bring me my Autopsy Umbrella!"

As soon as I turned around and saw a smirking Xiaotao, I realized my mistake. "Sorry,” I fumbled. “I was too focused."

"You look handsome when you’re concentrating,” she laughed.

Her compliment brought a shy smile to my face but I quickly went back to the video, rewinding to the same point over and over again. Noticing my actions, Xiaotao asked me what I was looking at.

"There’s an injury on his scapula,” I explained. “Look, when the coroner moves his arm, there’s an almost imperceptible protrusion on the skin of his shoulder which might be indicative of a bone fracture! I suspect the murderer must have hit the victim with a heavy object!"

"Your eyes are amazing!” exclaimed Xiaotao. “You can even see a bone fracture from across the screen."

Eyes riveted to the video, I sighed. My inner thoughts at the moment were the same as that of countless perverts who watched porn in the middle of the night–"My turn! My turn!"

The fatal wound was a downward puncture wound on the victim’s back. "The wound seems to have been caused by an awl-shaped weapon,” the coroner hypothesized. “From the angle of the puncture wound, the murderer is taller than the victim."

I replayed this passage five or six times before repeatedly shaking my head. "What a big mistake! The murderer is definitely shorter than the victim and the murder weapon isn’t an awl!"

"What is it then?" asked Xiaotao.

"It's a hook!” I declared. “The murderer pierced the victim's back with a hook from the bottom. If he wasn’t kneeling, then he must be rather short–about 1.6 meters tall. The puncture wound a hook makes is somewhat similar to that of an awl. But because a hook is curved, the sharp end will break the skin when pulled out. Do you see a flap on the left and right side of the wound?"

Xiaotao stuck her face to the screen and took a good look. After a long time, she finally concurred, "You’re right!"

When I asked Xiaotao to fetch a scalpel, she turned to me, puzzled. "What do you want a scalpel for?" she asked.

"You’ll find out soon!" I mysteriously replied.

Xiaotao soon returned from the forensic laboratory with a scalpel. When I compared it to the screen, she suddenly realized, "I see! You’re using the scalpel as a reference. What a good idea!"

The scalpels used by the police were the same standard model. Using the scalpel as a reference would allow me to confirm the length of the wound and determine the size of the murder weapon.

After a quick calculation, I drew a curve on a piece of paper and said, "The murder weapon is about this big!"

"Such a big hook is rather uncommon. Unless… it’s the kind of hook used for hanging meat in a slaughterhouse." she said, resting her chin on her hand.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "There are only three slaughterhouses in Nanjiang City,” she recalled. “I'll send someone to look into them right away!"

With that, she dashed out of the room, more impatient than everyone else when there was a clue.

I continued to watch the video but the dissection part was of little significance to me. However, the contents of the stomach contained important clues. What the victim had eaten could reveal a ton of information. Naturally, a coroner would not neglect this point.

The coroner cut the victim’s stomach open and emptied the contents into an aluminum tray. There were some undigested vegetables and meat. Listening to the coroner’s unhurried analysis of each component of the victim’s stomach contents, I almost wanted to lean in to catch a whiff.

At this moment, the assistant in the video suddenly cried, "What’s this?"

The coroner pulled out a wad of paper from the victim’s stomach. Because it was already stuck together, it would definitely be damaged when unfolded, so the assistant brought it to the technical team for testing.

I immediately turned off the computer and went looking for Xiaotao. "The coroner found a wad of paper in the victim’s stomach,” I said. “Is it in the evidence room?"

"I just sent someone down to the precinct to collect the evidence,” she explained. “It may take a while."

Outside the window, the sky had already turned dark. "Why don't you go back first and come to the station early tomorrow morning?” suggested Xiaotao. “After all, there’s nothing you can do now."

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Wednesday,” she noted. “What’s wrong?"

It was four days till Sunday and the murderer could be looking for his next victim. Perhaps, he might have already found someone and imprisoned them. But I didn't mention it for fear of getting Xiaotao in a fluster.

I was just about to say I would see her tomorrow when Lao Yao excitedly came running towards us. "Xiao Song-song, there's a video!"

"What video?" I asked incredulously.

"The video of the murderer killing the victim,” he smiled triumphantly. “I managed to restore it. Aren’t I the best?"

Then, he went on to explain that videos watched on the internet were actually stored in the CPU cache. Even the creators of the website never imagined that someone could restore it into a video file so they didn’t guard against that possibility.

I quickly phoned Dali. When the line connected, I heard the loud din of an internet cafe through the phone. The idiot had the cheek to lie that he was investigating in the library. "Come over now!" I yelled.

When everyone had gathered in the conference room, Lao Yao turned on the projector. He had managed to restore all the videos that Young Master Wang had previously watched. Once the video was projected onto the opposite wall, Lao Yao giggled, "The quality of the video may be a little bad but it won’t affect your viewing pleasure. Have fun!"

The officers looked askance at Lao Yao but the video soon caught their attention.

At first, all we could see was a sheet of black. The sound of breathing and then a loud roar came from the speakers. "Let me out! Where am I? Help!" a man shouted.

"Do you know what crime you have committed?" said a voice that sounded like it had been digitally altered.

"You fucking madman!” the man cried hysterically. “Fuck you! Let me out now!"

"You used the hands and feet your parents gave you to mistreat your mother,” the voice broke into a cold snicker. “Yet you have no intention of repenting. That's why you’re here to receive hell’s judgment. Before you are two choices..."

At this point, the light suddenly came on. In a secret room, a man dressed in thin clothes was bound in a star-shaped contraption. His hands and feet were fixed in place with a heavy, sharp blade hanging over his arms and thighs, only a few centimeters away from his skin. Upon seeing the situation, he struggled and shouted even harder.

"I designed this contraption just for you,” the voice impassively continued. “Your hands and feet are tied in place but you can still break free with a little force. However, you should note that I’ve placed an electric circuit on the upper and lower parts of your body. If you pull out your hands, you’ll lose your legs and have to climb out of here like a humble sinner. But if you pull out your legs, you’ll lose your hands and have nothing to support you from this day on."

Hearing this, the man growled and cursed but the owner of the voice paid him no attention. "Make your choice! Wash your sins away under hell’s judgement!"